Latest / THE BELIEVER'S CHURCH | Let’s Build Our Faith Together / Philadelphia The Faithful Church, Part 1 (Revelation 37) John MacArthur

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Philadelphia The Faithful Church, Part 1 (Revelation 37) John MacArthur · THE BELIEVER'S CHURCH | Let’s Build Our Faith Together

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Open your Bible to Revelation chapter 3, and we are
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  Speaker 1: looking at verses 7 to 13, the letter from the
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  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus to the church in the city of Philadelphia.
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  Speaker 1: In our study of this section of letters to the churches,
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  Speaker 1: these churches in cities in ancient Asia Minor, we have
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  Speaker 1: learned that each one of the churches was unique. Each
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  Speaker 1: of these churches had distinguishing marks. Because of that, each
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  Speaker 1: provides for us a sample of the kind of churches
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  Speaker 1: that exist through all the history of the church. As
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  Speaker 1: I have reminded you every time, these were real cities
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  Speaker 1: with real churches. But also, they set for us seven
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  Speaker 1: samples of kinds of churches. and thus are instructive for
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  Speaker 1: the church throughout all of its history. For example, we've
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  Speaker 1: seen a church which fought valiantly against error, fought against heresy,
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  Speaker 1: hated evil, but was condemned for a lack of love.
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  Speaker 1: We've seen a church which exhibited love, only to be
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  Speaker 1: condemned for a lack of sound doctrine. and a tolerance
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  Speaker 1: of sin. We've seen a church spiritually alive in every
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  Speaker 1: way only to be killed physically, martyred for Christ. We've
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  Speaker 1: seen a church physically alive in every way only to
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  Speaker 1: be spiritually killed by sin. We've seen a church that
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  Speaker 1: thought it was poor but God says it is rich.
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  Speaker 1: In our next study, we will see a church that
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  Speaker 1: thought it was rich, but God says it's poor, destitute
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  Speaker 1: of holy things. And so we've seen all different kinds
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  Speaker 1: of churches, and they can portray for us the way
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  Speaker 1: the church always is. There are those churches known for
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  Speaker 1: their stand on sound doctrine but without love. There are
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  Speaker 1: those churches known for their love without sound doctrine. There
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  Speaker 1: are those churches that fight against evil. There are those
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  Speaker 1: churches that tolerate evil. There are those churches that are
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  Speaker 1: spiritually alive and suffer for their testimony. There are those
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  Speaker 1: churches that are spiritually dead and suffer nothing because no
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  Speaker 1: one persecutes a dead church. There are those churches that
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  Speaker 1: think they have very little but they have a lot,
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  Speaker 1: and those who think they have a lot and they
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  Speaker 1: have nothing Now in the study for tonight, we come
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  Speaker 1: to a church that was faithful. Along with the letter
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  Speaker 1: to the church in Smyrna over in chapter 2 verse 8,
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  Speaker 1: this letter, chapter 3 verse 7 to Philadelphia, is written
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  Speaker 1: to a church that needs no warning, that needs no chastening,
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  Speaker 1: that needs no threatening, because here you have a true church.
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  Speaker 1: Two of the seven churches have nothing condemning them in
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  Speaker 1: the letter because they are the regenerate church. The church
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  Speaker 1: at Smyrna, the church at Philadelphia were faithful, godly, loyal, effective.
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  Speaker 1: We see these two churches as the models throughout all
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  Speaker 1: of church history of good, solid, regenerate faithful churches. I
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  Speaker 1: don't want to make a point that really isn't here,
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  Speaker 1: but it does strike me that the blood-bought, redeemed, saved
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  Speaker 1: church is in a chaotic mixture. Did you notice that?
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  Speaker 1: Only two out of seven, only two out of seven
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  Speaker 1: were completely faithful. Now if that's some kind of a
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  Speaker 1: typical percentage, then the weak, sinful church is the more
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  Speaker 1: common church. But this church is a blessing. Let's read
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  Speaker 1: the letter, verse 7. To the angel or the messenger
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  Speaker 1: of the church in Philadelphia write,' He who is holy,
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  Speaker 1: who is true,' who has the key of David, who
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  Speaker 1: opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and
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  Speaker 1: no one opens, says this, I know your deeds. Behold,
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  Speaker 1: I have put before you an open door which no
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  Speaker 1: one can shut because you have a little power and
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  Speaker 1: have kept my word and have not denied my name. Behold,
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  Speaker 1: I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan who
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  Speaker 1: say they are Jews and are not, but lie. Behold,
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  Speaker 1: I will make them to come and bow down at
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  Speaker 1: your feet and to know that I have loved you.
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  Speaker 1: Because you have kept the word of my perseverance, I
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  Speaker 1: also will keep you from the hour of testing, that
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  Speaker 1: hour which is about to come upon the whole world
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  Speaker 1: to test those who dwell upon the earth. I'm coming quickly.
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  Speaker 1: Hold fast what you have in order that no one
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  Speaker 1: take your crown. He who overcomes, I will make him
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  Speaker 1: a pillar in the temple of My God, and he
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  Speaker 1: will not go out from it anymore. And I will
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  Speaker 1: write upon him the name of My God and the
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  Speaker 1: name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem,
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  Speaker 1: which comes down out of heaven from My God in
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  Speaker 1: My new name. He who has an ear, let him
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  Speaker 1: hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Letter number 6.
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  Speaker 1: carried by messenger number six, here designated by the term angel, angelos,
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  Speaker 1: which means messenger. As I told you, this group of
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  Speaker 1: seven men left John on the Isle of Patmos, carrying
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  Speaker 1: these letters back to the seven churches along with the
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  Speaker 1: whole book of the revelation of Jesus Christ. And as
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  Speaker 1: they reached their cities, the group became smaller. Now there
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  Speaker 1: are only two left. And after this letter is delivered,
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  Speaker 1: there's only one left. to deliver his letter to the
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  Speaker 1: final church at Laodicea. As this letter is given, it
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  Speaker 1: is given to a faithful church. Always these letters identify
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  Speaker 1: the correspondent, first of all. Let's look at that in
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  Speaker 1: verse 7. He who is holy, who is true, who
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  Speaker 1: has the key of David, who opens and no one
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  Speaker 1: will shut, and who shuts and no one opens says this.
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  Speaker 1: The Lord never introduces Himself by simply using His name.
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  Speaker 1: He never says, I, the Lord Jesus Christ, say this.
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  Speaker 1: He always introduces Himself with a description of His character,
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  Speaker 1: a description of His person. Up until this point, every
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  Speaker 1: description has been drawn out of chapter 1. Every description
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  Speaker 1: in the initial note of each letter has come out
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  Speaker 1: of chapter 1. Something that described Him in chapter 1
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  Speaker 1: is pulled into chapter 2 and 3 to describe Him again,
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  Speaker 1: until now. Here we have a letter that does not
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  Speaker 1: draw its description of the writer, who is the Lord Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: from chapter 1. This is a unique description. It fits
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  Speaker 1: this faithful church. It has four distinct elements. It is
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  Speaker 1: very Hebrew. It is very Old Testament in its nature.
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  Speaker 1: First of all, verse 7 introduces the correspondent, the Lord Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: the one who writes, the author, as He who is holy.
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  Speaker 1: Now this refers to no other than God. Such absolute
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  Speaker 1: holiness belongs to God and God alone. If you go
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  Speaker 1: back into the Old Testament, you see this. God repeatedly
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  Speaker 1: is identified as the one who is holy, thinking most
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  Speaker 1: of Isaiah chapter 6 because it's so familiar. We read
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  Speaker 1: these words, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.
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  Speaker 1: His attribute of holiness being repeated three times, perhaps to
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  Speaker 1: emphasize that attribute which is most inimitable to His character.
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  Speaker 1: He is called the Holy One in many passages, Isaiah 40, 25,
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  Speaker 1: Isaiah 43, 15, Psalm 16, 10, Habakkuk 3, 3. He
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  Speaker 1: is called the Holy One. This identifies Him as absolutely sinless,
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  Speaker 1: absolutely unstained, unblemished, flawless. In Revelation 4, 8, if you
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  Speaker 1: take the trip in chapter 4 into heaven, You'll hear
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  Speaker 1: the four living creatures and they say this, holy, holy,
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  Speaker 1: holy is the Lord God the Almighty. Clearly then, it
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  Speaker 1: is the character of God that is described as holy.
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  Speaker 1: He is holy. What does it mean? Separate. From what? Sin.
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  Speaker 1: The word holy means separate. And He is utterly separate
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  Speaker 1: from sin. Thus He is utterly unlike us. To take
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  Speaker 1: that a step further, this is also a common title
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  Speaker 1: for the Messiah. In Mark, for example, chapter 1, we
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  Speaker 1: read that Jesus in verse 21 went into Capernaum and
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  Speaker 1: He began to teach and He entered into the synagogue.
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  Speaker 1: They were amazed at His teaching. He was teaching as
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  Speaker 1: one having authority, not like the scribes. Verse 23 of
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  Speaker 1: Mark 1, just then there was in their synagogue a
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  Speaker 1: man with an unclean spirit. Here's a demon-possessed guy, and
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  Speaker 1: he screams, and this is what he says,' What do
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  Speaker 1: we have to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have
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  Speaker 1: you come to destroy us?' And he's speaking on behalf
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  Speaker 1: of other demons. And then he says this,' I know
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  Speaker 1: who you are, the Holy One of God.' Even the
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  Speaker 1: demons know His messianic title. He is the Holy One
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  Speaker 1: of God. In Luke 1, quite another testimony, this one
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  Speaker 1: not from a demon but from Mary. Mary talking to
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  Speaker 1: the angel and asking, how can this be because I'm
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  Speaker 1: a virgin? How can I have a child? And Mary
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  Speaker 1: came to believe and affirm what the angel said. The
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  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of
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  Speaker 1: the Most High will overshadow you. And for that reason,
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  Speaker 1: the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God.
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  Speaker 1: The demons called Him the Holy One. The fallen angels
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  Speaker 1: called Him the Holy One. The holy angels called Him
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  Speaker 1: the Holy One. And Mary, of course, affirmed it. In
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  Speaker 1: John's Gospel, chapter 6. Toward the end of that long
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  Speaker 1: chapter in verse 69, Simon Peter says, we have believed
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  Speaker 1: and come to know that you are the Holy One
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  Speaker 1: of God. We find this repeated as well in the
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  Speaker 1: book of Acts where Jesus the Messiah is designated as
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  Speaker 1: the Holy One. Peter says in Acts 3.14 to the Jews,
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  Speaker 1: condemning them, you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and
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  Speaker 1: asked for a murderer to be granted to you. You
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  Speaker 1: chose Barabbas over the Holy One. And so it goes.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus identifying Himself as the Holy One then is saying,
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  Speaker 1: I am God. The Lord Jesus shares the holy, sinless,
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  Speaker 1: pure nature of God. He is God. He is God
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  Speaker 1: the Holy One. Because He is holy, listen carefully, He
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  Speaker 1: can't tolerate sin. 1 Peter 1.15, but the Holy One
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  Speaker 1: who called you says, be holy yourselves in all your behavior.
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  Speaker 1: The Holy One demands holiness. He can't tolerate sin. That's
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  Speaker 1: fascinating to me. Why? Because He introduces Himself as the
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  Speaker 1: Holy One, and obviously He's separate from sin, cannot tolerate sin,
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  Speaker 1: and yet looks at this church with His penetrating eyes
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  Speaker 1: and His omniscience indicated when He says, I know your deeds.
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  Speaker 1: And as holy as He is, and as omniscient as
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  Speaker 1: He is, He gives no rebuke, He gives no threat,
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  Speaker 1: no warning, no judgment whatsoever. No condemnation on this church.
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  Speaker 1: This speaks well of them. If the Holy One commends
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  Speaker 1: this church, indeed they are to be commended. Secondly, in
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  Speaker 1: verse 7, he introduces himself as he who is holy
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  Speaker 1: and then says, who is true. He who is holy,
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  Speaker 1: who is true. You find that combination in chapter 6,
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  Speaker 1: verse 10. How long, O Lord, holy and true. holy
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  Speaker 1: and true. The combination of those two attributes is repeated
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  Speaker 1: many places in Scripture to identify God. God is often
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  Speaker 1: described in the magnificent attributes of absolute holiness and absolute truth.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, we find that description all through the book
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  Speaker 1: of Revelation. You can see it in chapter 15, verse 3,
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  Speaker 1: great and marvelous are Thy works. O Lord God, the Almighty,
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  Speaker 1: righteous and true are Thy ways. You see it in
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  Speaker 1: chapter 16, verse 7. You see it in chapter 19,
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  Speaker 1: verse 2, verse 11. What is the point? Here is
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  Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus Christ who is holy, and even though
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  Speaker 1: He's absolutely holy and cannot tolerate sin, looking at this church,
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  Speaker 1: there's nothing to rebuke which tells you what a wonderful
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  Speaker 1: church this was. Not that they were perfect, but that
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  Speaker 1: they were faithful and they were dealing with their sin.
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  Speaker 1: Not only that, He is true. He is true in Himself.
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  Speaker 1: He is the author of truth. He is the revealer
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  Speaker 1: of truth. And He looks at this church, and He's
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  Speaker 1: got the highest premium in the universe on truth, and
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  Speaker 1: He has nothing to condemn them about. Here is a
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  Speaker 1: holy church. Here is a church committed to the truth.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, in John 14, 6, John calls Jesus... by
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  Speaker 1: His own words, the way, the truth, and the life.
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  Speaker 1: In the midst of so much that is false, in
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  Speaker 1: the midst of so much that is perverted, in the
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  Speaker 1: midst of so much error, the Lord Jesus is truth.
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  Speaker 1: And there's something even more there. The word that is used, aleithanas,
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  Speaker 1: can also have the idea of genuine truth. authentic as
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  Speaker 1: opposed to that which is fake or unreal. So you
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  Speaker 1: have the true One, the genuine One, the real One,
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  Speaker 1: the true Messiah, the true Son of God, the genuine God,
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  Speaker 1: the One who is truth in all He says, truth
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  Speaker 1: in all He does. The one who has placed the
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  Speaker 1: ultimate premium on truth. The one who says, I've exalted
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  Speaker 1: my word above my name. Psalm 138 too. And this
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  Speaker 1: one looks at the church and finds them only to
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  Speaker 1: be commended. What an encouragement. The reason I think that
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  Speaker 1: Jesus selected these descriptive terms for John to write is
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  Speaker 1: because this would be an immense encouragement to this church.
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  Speaker 1: The earlier church in Smyrna, They were encouraged to find
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  Speaker 1: out that the first and the last who was dead
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  Speaker 1: and has come to life says this. In other words,
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  Speaker 1: they were going through some terrible persecution, and Christ encourages
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  Speaker 1: them by introducing Himself as the one who gives resurrection life.
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  Speaker 1: Here He encourages the Philadelphia folks by saying, I am
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  Speaker 1: absolutely holy, and I put a premium on truth, and
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  Speaker 1: my holiness and my truth have scrutinized you, and there
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  Speaker 1: is nothing to condemn. And that poses the reality for
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  Speaker 1: me and for all of us that it is possible
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  Speaker 1: for a church, a human church, a church with people
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  Speaker 1: like us to be looked at by the Holy One
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  Speaker 1: and the true one and to be commended. While we
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  Speaker 1: want to admit that we are human and that we
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  Speaker 1: fail and we struggle and we sin, we must see
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  Speaker 1: in this the graciousness of our God and of our
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  Speaker 1: Lord to see in us Something to be commended. There's
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  Speaker 1: a third descriptive phrase used of Christ. He who is holy,
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  Speaker 1: who is true. I love this. Who has the key
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  Speaker 1: of David. Who has the key of David. Now David
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  Speaker 1: symbolizes the messianic office. In chapter 5, verse 5, and
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  Speaker 1: over in chapter 22, verse 16 of Revelation, we read
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  Speaker 1: about the root of David. This is the key of David,
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  Speaker 1: but it also has messianic significance. A key is a
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  Speaker 1: very simple symbol in the Scripture. Whenever you see a key,
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  Speaker 1: you can equate it with authority. And if the word
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  Speaker 1: authority gives you problems, try the word control. Whoever has
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  Speaker 1: the key has control. Whoever has the key has authority. Now,
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  Speaker 1: this term, the key of David, is a direct reference
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  Speaker 1: back to Isaiah 22, 22. I'll explain it to you.
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  Speaker 1: You don't need to turn to it. You want to
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  Speaker 1: write it down. Isaiah 22, 22. In that text of Isaiah,
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  Speaker 1: the Scripture speaks about a man named Eliakim, the son
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  Speaker 1: of Hilkiah. Now, at that time, Hezekiah was king. Hezekiah
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  Speaker 1: had a treasury, he had a treasure house. And Eliakim,
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  Speaker 1: the son of Hilkiah, was given the key to that treasury.
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  Speaker 1: It was the royal treasury, so it was the treasury
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  Speaker 1: of David because David's was the royal line. And the
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  Speaker 1: accumulated treasury of David kept mounting and mounting until the
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  Speaker 1: time of Hezekiah when it was loaded with massive riches.
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  Speaker 1: Now Eliakim had the key to that, which means he
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  Speaker 1: had the authority, the control of it. He could open
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  Speaker 1: its riches. He could shut them. The key of David
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  Speaker 1: then was the authority over royal riches. And here Jesus says,
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  Speaker 1: I'm the one who has the key of David. I'm
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  Speaker 1: the one who can open the treasure house and pour
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  Speaker 1: out on you royal riches. You see how congratulatory the
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  Speaker 1: whole spirit of this is? I think, again, sometimes we
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  Speaker 1: assume that the Lord is never happy with any of
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  Speaker 1: His churches. Not so. There's no such thing as a
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  Speaker 1: perfect church because there's no such thing as a perfect person.
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  Speaker 1: And if there's not even one perfect person, then every
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  Speaker 1: church is an assembly of a whole lot of imperfect people.
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  Speaker 1: So the problem is significantly compounded. But it is possible.
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  Speaker 1: It is within the realm of reason and biblical revelation
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  Speaker 1: to assume that the Lord can look at a church
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  Speaker 1: and feel like it is worth celebrating. How encouraging. He
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  Speaker 1: introduces Himself as the one who can unlock the treasure
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  Speaker 1: house and by His sovereign authority and His sovereign power
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  Speaker 1: open up its riches to those He chooses. He has
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  Speaker 1: the key to all the riches and He will dispense
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  Speaker 1: them at His own discretion. There's a note of sovereignty
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  Speaker 1: in this, by the way, there goes along with that
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  Speaker 1: authority a certain amount of sovereignty, He can determine who
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  Speaker 1: gets into the treasure house to experience the blessings. This
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  Speaker 1: phrase also seems to put another feature before us and
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  Speaker 1: that is this, that the Lord Jesus also has complete
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  Speaker 1: control of the entrance to David's house. And this, I think,
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  Speaker 1: may be a secondary implication here, but I wouldn't be
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  Speaker 1: faithful to my own understanding of Scripture if I didn't
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  Speaker 1: give it as much latitude as I can. I think
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  Speaker 1: if we take it back to Isaiah 22, 22, it
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  Speaker 1: has to do with opening the treasure house, which means
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  Speaker 1: pouring out blessing and pouring out blessing to those who
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  Speaker 1: are deserving. But I see also in this the possible
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  Speaker 1: implication that this key unlocks David's house. What is that?
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  Speaker 1: The kingdom. that Jesus Christ not only is able to
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  Speaker 1: bless His own who are faithful, but He alone can
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  Speaker 1: open the door to let anybody into the kingdom. No
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  Speaker 1: one comes unto the Father, He said, what? But by Me.
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  Speaker 1: If you're going to come, you've got to come by Me.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus said it another way. You remember in John's gospel,
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  Speaker 1: He said, I am the way, John 14. In John 10,
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  Speaker 1: He said, I am the door. Here He says... I
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  Speaker 1: have the key. I have the sovereign authority to let
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  Speaker 1: you in the kingdom. And there he's talking about salvation
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  Speaker 1: coming into the kingdom of heaven. He's also talking perhaps
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  Speaker 1: eschatologically about letting you in the great future messianic kingdom.
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  Speaker 1: In both cases he has the key. Obviously there were
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  Speaker 1: some hostile Jews attacking this church. Verse 9 calls them
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  Speaker 1: a synagogue of Satan. And they would have denied that
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  Speaker 1: Jesus had the key of David. They would have denied
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  Speaker 1: that He could open the treasure house of God's blessing.
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  Speaker 1: They would have denied that He only could give entrance
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  Speaker 1: to the kingdom. But they were wrong. Jesus, it says
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  Speaker 1: in chapter 1, verse 18, had the keys to hell
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  Speaker 1: and death. And here He has the keys to salvation
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  Speaker 1: and blessing. He could send people to hell. or He
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  Speaker 1: could open the door and send them to heaven. He
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  Speaker 1: can shut the treasure house, or He can open it.
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  Speaker 1: Believe me, He came with the purpose of opening the
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: door and letting people in the kingdom, opening the treasure
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: house and pouring out riches. That's why He said, I
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: am come that you might have life, that's salvation, and
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: have it more abundantly, that's the treasure house. I want
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: to let you in, that's life. I want to pour
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: out the treasure on you. That's abundant life. So the
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus, the Holy One, the true One, God of
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: very God, is the source of salvation and the source
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: of blessing. And then a fourth element is given, and
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: this one too is very rich. Again, it describes the author,
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: back in verse 7, as the one who opens and
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: I just love that. What that simply means is that
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: whatever He does, that's it. If He opens the door
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: to the kingdom to somebody, nobody can shut it. If
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: He shuts it, nobody can open it. If He opens
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: the door of blessing and pours it out, no one
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: can shut it. If He decides to leave it shut,
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: no one can open it. Only He has the power.
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: Here you see His omnipotence, His power. Without Christ, no salvation.
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: With Christ, no one can stand against His saving purposes.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: Without Christ, no blessing. In Him, we are blessed with
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies, and no one can
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: gainsay it. No one can stand against Him. There's another
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: component here that I feel I need to share with you.
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: I believe that there may be an implication here. And again,
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: I can't be dogmatic because it's hard to know every
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: detail since it doesn't explain it all. But it also
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: could say here that He opens and no one shuts
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: and shuts and no one opens in terms of doors
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: of opportunity for service, for evangelism. In fact, in verse 8,
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: he even makes that application, and that's why I think
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: you've got to see it in verse 7. He says,
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: In other words, I've given you an opportunity. You say, well,
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: maybe he means the open door of salvation, and that's
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: what he's talking about. Or maybe he means the open
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: door of a blessing and rich treasure. That may be.
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: But it's very possible also that he means the open
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: door of spiritual opportunity for service and evangelism because in
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: verse 9 he describes a marvelous evangelistic enterprise that's going
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: to take place. But in any case, whether it is
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: His saving work, whether it is His blessing work, or
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: whether it is His opening and closing doors of opportunity
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: of service and evangelism, the point of this statement is
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: that He opens and nobody else can shut it. He
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: shuts it and nobody else can open it. He is sovereign,
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: El Shaddai, the Almighty God. And as we noted in
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: our previous study, He is the one who is absolutely sovereign.
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: We saw it in chapter 1 in His moving through
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: the church, sovereignly controlling the church. If you go back
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: to the Old Testament, you will read throughout the Old
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: Testament of the sovereignty of God. You hear those very
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: familiar and majestic words of Isaiah the prophet in chapter 46.
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: As he speaks about God's almighty and sovereign power, remember
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: the former things long past. I am God and there
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: is no other. I am God, there is none like me,
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: things which have not been done, saying my purpose will
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: be established and I will accomplish all my good pleasure.
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: In other words, God is saying, look, I'll do exactly
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: what I want and no one can stand against me.
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: So the correspondent or the author is the Lord Jesus Christ.
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: He identifies Himself as God, holy God, true God, sovereign God,
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: powerful God. What a commendation. God who is all of these.
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: That God sees them, knows them, And looking at them
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: closely through His holy eyes, through the eyes of His truth,
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: through His sovereignty, through His power, He finds nothing to
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: rebuke and nothing to correct and nothing to condemn and
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: nothing to chasten and nothing to warn them about what
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: an unbelievable encouragement this is to faithfulness. What a happy
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: day it must have been in the little church. And
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: it was a little one. We'll note that in a moment.
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: In the little church in Philadelphia when the guy got
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: up and read that. You can imagine that as he
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: read the first few words, he who is holy and
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: true and has the key of David and opens and
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens,
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: says this, that they were beginning to cringe, figuring holy, true, sovereign,
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: powerful God is going to nail us for something. And
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: they flow through waiting for the one paragraph that never comes.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: God looked. and they were not perfect. But God looked
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: and they were not wanting. The key had opened salvation.
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: The key opened blessing. The key opened opportunities for service
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: and evangelism. And they were faithful. So we meet the correspondent,
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: and his identification is encouraging. It encourages my heart. Secondly,
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: let's look at the city. What do we know about
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: the city of Philadelphia, not to be confused with one
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: in our own country? Philadelphia was located about 30 miles
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: southeast of Sardis, the church described in the prior letter.
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: It was founded about 189, 190 B.C. by a man
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: named Attalus, who was king of Pergamos, and he came
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: over and founded this city. He had a very unusual
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: love for his brother. Because of the unusual love that
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: he had for his brother, he was nicknamed Philadelphia. And
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: since he was the founder of the city, his nickname stuck.
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: This land was rich in agriculture, had noticeable elements of
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: volcanic ash because it was on a very, very active
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: volcanic line. The city actually stood on a hill, on
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: the slope of a hill looking over a long valley. It,
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: like our own area, had experienced numerous earthquakes. The people
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: who lived there were devastated on many occasions by massive
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: earthquakes that literally destroyed their city and it was rebuilt
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: on a number of occasions. They were used to aftershocks.
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: They were used to not knowing what to expect. in
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: the movement of the earth. The city, moving fairly well
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: east from the hub of Greco-Roman culture and pushing its
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: way into the Orient really, was kind of an outpost
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: for Greek missionary activity. I don't mean the spiritual kind,
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: I mean selling the Greek culture to the Orient. It
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: was kind of the Far East outpost. And what they
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: wanted to do was spread the Greek language. And they did.
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: By 19 AD, the native language, Lydian, was gone. The
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: people spoke Greek. They pushed Greek culture to the Orient.
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: The city was located on a trade route, not only
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: a trade route running to the east, but what was
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: called the Imperial Post Road, where the mail went, where
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: all the messages went. It was an Imperial Post Road stop.
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: throughout the first century A.D., even now when this letter
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: is being written. At one time during the Byzantine era,
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: historians tell us it was the single greatest trade route
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: in Asia Minor. Just to give you a pinpoint of history,
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: in A.D. 17, a powerful earthquake destroyed 12 cities in
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: the area, including both Sardis and Philadelphia. So it would
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: have had to been rebuilt by the time John is
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: writing in about 96 A.D. The people lived in a
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: fear of earthquakes. Around A.D. 60, Laodicea was totally destroyed
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: by an earthquake. Emperor Tiberius had helped to rebuild Philadelphia,
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: and so they erected a monument to him. We might
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: say the place shook a lot, but the church stood firm.
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: And that leads me to the third point, the church.
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: What about the church? What do we know about the church?
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: Basically nothing except what's in this letter. There's no mention
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: of it anywhere in Scripture. People always want to know
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: how it was founded. There is no answer to that.
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: Probably back to Acts 19.10 again, the tremendous effective ministry
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: in Ephesus and the word of the Lord spread throughout
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: all Asia Minor. Somehow when Ephesus was being planted and
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: strengthened in the three years of the ministry of Paul.
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: Some people left there and went to this city of Philadelphia,
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: planted a church. That's all we know. The character of
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: the church we're going to see. The fourth point that
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: we've been dealing with in our little outline about these
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: letters is the condemnation, and there isn't any. Like the
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: church in Smyrna, nothing. So there's nothing to discuss except
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: to say it doesn't mean the church was perfect. It
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: just means there was no glaring flaw. So we turn
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: then to the fifth point, happily, after all that we've
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: been through with the condemnations in the last few letters,
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: to the commendation. This is absolutely thrilling material. There are
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: some gems of truth in this assessment of their commendation
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: by the Lord in verses 8 to 10. He starts
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: out with those familiar words, I know your deeds. And
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: it's almost a reminder of the fact that, look, I
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: know the real story, folks. I don't read your press releases.
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: I know what you're really like. Omniscience again. The holy, true, sovereign, almighty,
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: omniscient Lord knows everything there is to know. It's a
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: penetrating look. And with all of that, He only commends them.
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: And He commends them for several things, and I'm going
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: to give them to you because I think they're still
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: the things for which the Lord commends a church. I
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: would like to believe that our church is like Philadelphia,
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: not like Smyrna so much because we're not a persecuted
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: church like the churches in Eastern Europe or other parts
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: of the world, but we're probably more like the church
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: at Philadelphia. I would like to believe we are. I
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: wish the Lord would write us a letter. I'd like
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: to read it I don't know what he'd say but
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: I hope it would be something like this one he
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: says there are several things that characterize you first power
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: power I know your deeds he says I know you
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: I I know how you work I know all about
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: you and then you'll notice further down in the verse
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: he says you have a little power You have a
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: little power, a little dunamis, a little dynamite. You're a
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: dynamite church. Now you say, well now wait a minute,
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: it sounds to me like you're saying you're pretty feeble. No.
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: It is best to understand this because it is a
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: commendation as simply saying, you're not very big, you're not
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: very large, but you've got power. You're small but mighty.
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: This is a small church. No doubt, just a few.
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: But they had had some influence in the city. This
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: isn't a sin issue. He's not saying you have a
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: little power and you ought to have a lot of power.
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: He's saying you've got power for your smallness. You have
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: spiritual power. You're just not very large. All alone, you
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: aren't going to change the world. But you've got a
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: little power for a small group. Not unreasonable to assume
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: that they were much like Jesus' description of His disciples
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: in Luke 12, 32, when He said to them, you're
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: a little flock. You're so small. This little group had
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: some power. They may have been few in number, most
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: likely were. Probably poor, probably low class, probably general run-of-the-mill,
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: undistinguished citizenry. But isn't that the stuff that power comes from?
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: Doesn't that remind you, it certainly does me, of 2 Corinthians,
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: that great principle that the Apostle Paul identifies in 2
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 9 as he gives his
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: own testimony of some of the struggles in his own life,
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: and he sums it up by making this great statement,'
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: Therefore I am well content with weakness, with insults, with distresses,
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: with persecutions, with difficulties for Christ's sake, for when I
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: am weak, then I am strong.' And he says back
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: in verse 9, I boast about my weakness that the
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: power of Christ may dwell in me. Sometimes in the
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: weakest vessel comes the delivering of the greatest power. Like
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: a grain of mustard seed maybe? Spiritual power was flowing
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: in that church. What does that mean? It means lives
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: were being transformed. That's what it means. People were being changed.
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: Powerful spiritual power. Movement. You have power. That's what I
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: would wish for our church, wouldn't you? To have power.
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: to see the transforming power. We see that, don't we,
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: in our baptismal service? That's power. People come in this
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: church and they sit in a chair. That's a very
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: physical thing to do. And they hear me talk. That's
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: a very physical thing to hear. And they just sit there.
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: It's a very physical thing. There's a guy there who's
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: just a human being and he's talking and he's saying
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: just these words. And I'm sitting in this wooden thing
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: with cloth on it. And this is just a brick
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: place and it's all very physical, but amazingly the power
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: of God flows and lives are changed. This church had power. Secondly,
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: it was characterized by obedience. It says at the end
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: of verse 8, 8, He says, you have a little power.
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: You're small but mighty. And you have kept My Word.
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: You kept My Word. They were bound to the Scripture.
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: They did not deviate from a pattern of obedience. I
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: gave you my word and you kept it. That's just
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: another English word for the Greek word that means to obey.
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: You obeyed it. You did what it told you to do.
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: It reminds us, doesn't it, of John chapter 14 where
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: Jesus defines the nature of discipleship in these words. John 14, 23,
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: if anyone loves me, he'll keep my word and my
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: Father will love him and will come to him and
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: make our abode with him. This was a saved church.
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: These people obeyed the Lord. That's the characteristic of a believer.
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: He who doesn't love me doesn't keep my words. Verse
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: 23 and 24 sum it up. You keep his words,
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: you belong to him. You don't keep his words, you
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: don't love him. In John chapter 15, the same thing
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: is repeated again. Verse 13, greater love has no one
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: than this that one lay down his life for his friends.
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: Now you are my friends if you do what I
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: command you. If you obey my word, you're my friends.
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: You're my children. You belong to me. These people were obedient.
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: They were bound to the word. The word was preached
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: and they applied it. That's always been a thrilling thing
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: about our church. I remember a number of years ago
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: when I was preaching a series... on the family out
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: of Ephesians in the early 80s. And some of you
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: will remember that it stirred up a huge controversy in
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: the city of Los Angeles. And you will remember that
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: we were picketed by some women who were calling me
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: a chauvinist, and they were parading in the patio with signs.
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: And you remember that the networks were here, ABC, NBC, CBS,
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: and they were going around with microphones interviewing women. And
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: then they would play it on the news. And one
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: night I was on the news, the NBC news, when
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: Jess Marlow was the anchor on NBC, and they interviewed
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: me quite at length about what in the world kind
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: of church is this? What are you people saying about
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: women being submissive to their husbands and women being keepers
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: at home and raising babies and that women find their
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: fulfillment in the bearing of godly children? Where are you
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: coming from? This is absolutely bizarre kind of... alien information.
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: And they were really on our case. And it hit
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: the front page of the Times newspaper that I was
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: a chauvinist. I didn't know it was even coming until
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: I picked up the paper and saw it there. And
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: you remember so many people came in the next few weeks,
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: we couldn't...we had to take the choir out of the
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: choir loft and seat people up there and they were
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: all over the place to hear this raving maniac. And
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: so the They were interviewing these people and I was
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: eavesdropping on one interview and it was so wonderful because
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: they were interviewing this lady and they were saying, well,
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: why do you come to this church? Why do you
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: sit there and listen to this? Certainly you don't accept this,
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: do you? Certainly you're a liberated woman. You're not going
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: to stand for this. And her answer was very simple. Oh,
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: she said, it's very easy for us to accept this because,
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: you see, we already accept the fact that the Bible
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: is the Word of God, so whatever it says, we obey. And,
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: you know, the reporter was just absolutely nonplussed and turned
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: to me and put the microphone under my mouth and
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: asked me a question. The next time when I was
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: on Jess Marlow, he sat me down. The first thing
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: he said to me was this. This is how he
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: started the conversation. We have noted that the women in
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: your church seem intelligent. That's what he said. How in
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: the world can you get them to buy this stuff?
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: That was his opening shot. His closing one was even
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: more strange. He asked me what I thought of the
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: uniforms on the Ram cheerleaders. Now where that came from,
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: I'll never know. But the whole idea of having a
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: congregation of people who just do what the Bible says
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: is what pleases the Lord of the church. This is
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: an obedient church. You keep my word, what it says
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: you do. There's a third element. Not only did they
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: have power and obedience, but they had loyalty. He says,
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: you haven't denied my name. Now I suppose they were
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: under some kind of pressure. I wouldn't doubt that there
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: was some heavy persecution from the synagogue of Satan in
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: verse 9 as designated. That would be a local Jewish
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: synagogue and they would be hammering like crazy on these
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: people in this little church, trying to get them to
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: deny in fact that Jesus was the Messiah. I don't
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: know who all the detractors were or the persecutors or
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: the intimidators or how even fierce the persecution might have been.
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: But through it all, he says, you have not denied
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: my name. You stuck up for me. His name, as
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: I have noted on many occasions, means all that he is.
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: You stood by me. You were faithful. You were loyal.
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: I love the attribute of loyalty. Didn't matter what it
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: cost them. Revelation 14, 12 says, here is the perseverance
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: of the saints who keep the commandments of God and
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: their faith in Jesus. They persevere. They hang in there.
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: They don't deny His name, the mighty, powerful name of
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, the name which is above every name, the
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: name that causes ultimately every knee to bow. They do
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: not deny. Doesn't matter what you do to them, they
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: won't deny it. They won't recant their faith. They were loyal.
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: And then the fourth component, endurance. This church had power, obedience, loyalty,
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: and endurance. Verse 10, because you have kept the word
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: of my perseverance. I like the way the NIV translates that.
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: It's clearer. You have kept my command to endure patiently.
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: It wasn't always easy. Sometimes it was hard. Lots of
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: things come in and out of the life of a church.
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: Some people patiently, faithfully, perseveringly endure through it all. Some don't.
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: This church did. You were there in the good times
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: and you were there in the hard times. You were
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: there when everything was going up and you were there
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: when everything was going down. That is a very, very
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: wonderful characteristic of spiritual strength. It endures. It takes the
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: bad times. It takes the trials. It takes the difficulties
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: and stays faithful. This is the kind of endurance that
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: our Lord Himself displayed. In fact, you could even translate
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: this with that kind of emphasis. You have kept the
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: word of my perseverance in the sense that you have
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: done it the way that I did it. If anyone
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: ever persevered, it was Jesus, right? He endured faithfully, patiently,
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: until they killed him. The patience of Christ The endurance
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: of Christ is certainly our model of ultimate endurance. In
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: 2 Thessalonians 3, 5, Paul prays, May the Lord direct
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: your hearts into the love of God and into the
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: endurance or the steadfastness of Christ. So He is saying,
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: you have kept My command to endure patiently. There's another nuance, too,
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: you could throw in there. You have kept My command
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: and My example of enduring patiently. Either is possible in
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: the Greek, and so maybe the Holy Spirit wants us
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: to take both. The Lord requires this. We read about
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: it so many times in The Gospels, how He asked
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: for His followers to endure. Think of Matthew 10, 22.
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: You will be hated by all on account of My name,
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: but it is the one who has endured to the
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: end who will be saved. This is a faithful church.
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: This is an enduring church through trials, persecution. Faithful Christians
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: took it all patiently in hope of God's care and
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: God's deliverance. So here's a little church. Not big. Not
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: famous in the world, but there was really nothing wrong,
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: nothing scandalous, nothing devastating. They had power, they had obedience,
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: they had loyalty, they had endurance. And because of this,
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: the Lord gives them some absolutely astounding promises. Look at
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: verse 8. Behold, I've put before you an open door
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: which no one can shut. Because you have a little power,
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: have kept my word and not denied my name. Because
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: of these qualities, first premise, I have put before you
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: an open door which no one can shut. And that
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: ties right into how he introduces himself in the prior verse.
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: What does that mean? Let's go back and say what
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: we said before. Kingdom admission. You have a place in
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: my kingdom. This is evidence of your genuine salvation. I
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: see your power. I see your obedience. I see your loyalty.
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: I see your endurance. And I say to you, the
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: kingdom is open to you and nobody can close it.
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: I welcome you to my kingdom. I welcome you to
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: the sphere of salvation by grace through faith. And someday
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: I'll welcome you into my earthly messianic kingdom. The Jews
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: may try to shut it. They may try to keep
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: Christians out. They may try to keep Gentiles out. They can't.
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: What's the promise? Eternal salvation, eternal security. And there's another
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: element also. Remember I told you that the idea of
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: the key that opens can be the treasure house? Perhaps
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: He is saying here, there is an open door. not
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: only into the kingdom, but an open door into the
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: treasure house where you can collect all the blessings that
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: are yours in Christ, Ephesians 1, 3. But there's that
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: third element. And I think maybe that's what he has
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: in mind here when he says, I have put before
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: you an open door which no one can shut. And
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: he's saying, I'm giving you service opportunity. I'm giving you
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: evangelistic opportunity. You're going to be an instrument for salvation.
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: I'll tell you, folks, that to me is the greatest thrill.
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: Do you know I talk to pastors who go through
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: a year in a church and never see someone come
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: to Christ? There are some churches that probably haven't seen
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: anybody come to Christ in years because God isn't opening
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: any door for them. But where you have a church
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: that is powerful and obedient and loyal, enduring, The Lord says,
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: the first thing I'm going to do for you is
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: open up the door of opportunity. An open door, by
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: the way, was an image that Paul used a lot.
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: And he used it when he wanted to talk about
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: freedom for proclaiming the gospel. In 1 Corinthians chapter 16
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: and verse 9, he says, a wide door for effective
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: service has opened to me and there are many adversaries.
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: That's the door of service. In 2 Corinthians 2, 12,
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: he says, when I came to Troas for the gospel
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: of Christ and when a door was opened to me,
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: and it was a door for service, ministry, evangelization. In
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: Colossians chapter 4, he says in verse 2, devote yourselves
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving,
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: praying at the same time for us as well that
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: God may open up to us a door for the Word.
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: So the key opens a lot of things. It opens
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: the kingdom. It opens the treasure house. It opens opportunity
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: for ministry. And the Lord says to this church, you're powerful,
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: you're obedient, you're loyal, you're enduring. I'm going to open
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: the door of opportunity and I'm going to use you
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: as an instrument of salvation. I'm going to use you
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: as my ministers. And that little city on the trade
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: route on the imperial post road was in a vital
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: location for spreading the gospel. It had done very well
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: in spreading the gospel of Greek culture. Now it could
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: spread the saving gospel of Christ. And then there's another
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: promise that has to be related to that point regarding
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: opportunity for evangelism. Look at verse 9. You've got to
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: love this. Behold, and he uses that word three times
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: in this letter, like, wow, can you believe this? I
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: they are Jews and are not, but lie. Behold, I'll
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: make them come and bow down at your feet and
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: know that I have loved you. What he says is,
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: the very Jews that are persecuting you are going to
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: get saved. There was a local Jewish synagogue there. In
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: the Old Testament, Psalm 74, 8, they called the synagogue
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: the synagogue of God. I'm sure they still call it
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: the synagogue of God, only Jesus says it's the synagogue
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: of Satan. They don't worship God there. They worship Satan.
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: They don't know it, but they do. Go back to
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: chapter 2, verse 9. It was the same kind of
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: thing that the church in Smyrna had. There's another mention
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: there of people who say they're Jews and are not,
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: but are a synagogue of Satan. Listen, I'm telling you,
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: the Jews can persecute the church mercilessly. They've done it
• 54:10
  Speaker 1: all through the years. of the church's life and even
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: still it is done. But I'm going to take those
• 54:20
  Speaker 1: people in that synagogue, those Jews, he says, who say
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: they are Jews and are not but lie. What in
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: the world does he mean by that? Well, they claim
• 54:33
  Speaker 1: to be true Jews, sons of Abraham, sons of God.
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: They lie. Genetically, they're Jewish. Legally, Jewish. Ceremonially, Jewish. Spiritually,
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: they're not. And he is a Jew who is one inwardly,
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: the Scripture says. And circumcision is that which is of
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: the heart, Romans 2, 28 and 29. So the church
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: was being hit by the hostility of this group of
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: Jews who hated the fact that they were saying Jesus
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: is the Messiah, Jesus is God, because the Jews had
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: cried for His blood to be shed. They wanted Him dead.
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: And so He says, behold, I'm going to take that
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: synagogue of Satan, those who say they are Jews and
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: they aren't but lie. Behold, he says it again. Wow,
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: he throws this interjection in again. I'll make them come
• 55:32
  Speaker 1: and bow down at your feet and to know that
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: I have loved you. Bowing down at someone's feet was
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: the ancient posture of a humbled, defeated enemy. I'm going
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: to bring these enemies in and they're going to bow
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: down at your feet. That imagery is so vivid. The
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: vanquished foe. the humbled antagonist, the defeated enemy. Perspective on
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: that comes if you look into Isaiah. Let me just
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: share this and we'll draw this to a conclusion. Isaiah 45,
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: 14 says,' Thus says the Lord, the products of Egypt
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: and the merchandise of Cush and the Sabaeans, men of stature,
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: will come over to you and be yours,' he says
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: to the Jews.' All these non-Jewish people are going to
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: come and belong to you. They'll walk behind you. They'll
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: come over in chains. They'll bow down to you. They'll
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: make supplication to you. Surely God is with you, and
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: there is none else, no other God. He says, all
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: these nations are going to bow down to you. Now,
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: that's the things the Jews thought. They believed that all
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: the whole world eventually would bow down to them. These
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: nations are going to bow down to you, said Isaiah.
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: Over in chapter 49, verse 23... Thus says the Lord God,
• 56:47
  Speaker 1: I'll lift up my hand to the nations, I'll set
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: up my standard to the peoples. They will bring your
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: sons in their bosom, and your daughters will be carried
• 56:54
  Speaker 1: on their shoulders. Kings will be your guardians, princes your nurses,
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: and I'll make them bow down to you with their
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: faces to the earth and lick the dust of your feet,
• 57:05
  Speaker 1: and you'll know I am the Lord. In other words,
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: the whole world of kings and nations are going to
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: bow down and lick the dust on the Jews' feet.
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: Chapter 60 of Isaiah... In verse 14, the same thing.
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: The sons of those who afflicted you will come bowing
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: to you, and all those who despise you will bow
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: themselves at the soles of your feet, and they will
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: call you the city of the Lord. What is Isaiah saying?
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: The day is going to come when the whole world
• 57:30
  Speaker 1: bows down to the Jews. But do you know what
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: the letter from Jesus is saying here? It is saying
• 57:36
  Speaker 1: that day hasn't come yet. For now, the Jews are
• 57:39
  Speaker 1: going to bow down at your feet. That would be
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: more than those Jews could bear to hear. It's reversed here.
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: So he says, they're going to come, they're going to
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: bow down at your feet, and they're going to know
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: that I, God, have loved you. You're the objects of
• 58:01
  Speaker 1: my love. What's he saying here? Jews are going to
• 58:04
  Speaker 1: get saved in your little church. Some of those people
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: in the synagogue of Satan are going to get converted.
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: That's historically what it meant. What does it mean to
• 58:16
  Speaker 1: a faithful church? I believe this. Listen carefully. I believe
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: that a faithful church throughout the history of the church,
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: faithful churches have an impact on Jews. You know, I
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: thank God this church probably through the years has had
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: more Jewish Christians than any church I know of across
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: the country. I thank God for that. I rejoice in that.
• 58:38
  Speaker 1: And I think that's because God has blessed our church
• 58:41
  Speaker 1: with this same kind of promise. But there's even an
• 58:45
  Speaker 1: eschatological perspective here. There is a day coming in the
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: future when the whole nation Israel is going to bow
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: before Christ, right? Romans 11, so all Israel will be saved.
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: Zechariah 12, they'll look on Him whom they've pierced and
• 59:02
  Speaker 1: mourn for Him as an only Son and a fountain
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: of blessing will be opened to Israel and their sins
• 59:06
  Speaker 1: will be washed away. Historically, this little church saw the
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: synagogue that persecuted them get converted through the history of
• 59:15
  Speaker 1: the church. Think about it. Jewish people have been converted.
• 59:18
  Speaker 1: They've come and bowed the knee before the church and said, yes,
• 59:22
  Speaker 1: God has loved you and I want to be in
• 59:25
  Speaker 1: on that love. Just in modern times, In England, a
• 59:31
  Speaker 1: converted Jew named Joseph Fry had a dream of being
• 59:34
  Speaker 1: called to reach London Jews. He labored under the London
• 59:37
  Speaker 1: Missionary Society as a missionary to Jews for five years
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: and founded the London Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Among Jews.
• 59:44
  Speaker 1: In 1842, Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Among
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: Jews began. In 1876, the Mildmay Mission to Jews, the
• 59:51
  Speaker 1: Kilburn Mission to the Jews began. In 1896, by the
• 59:55
  Speaker 1: end of the 19th century, there was one Christian missionary
• 59:58
  Speaker 1: for every 1,000 Jews in the British Isles. And God
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 1: began to give the church Jews who came down and
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 1: bowed the knee and said, yes, God has set His
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: love on you. I want to be a part of that.
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: I think about Europe, even in the Protestant movement in
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 1: 1800 in the Netherlands. The London Jewish Society had a
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 1: tremendous evangelistic outreach. In 1849, Carl Swartz established a mission
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 1: college to train people to reach Jews. In 1844, the
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 1: Netherlands Society for Promoting Christianity Among Jews was founded. The
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 1: first mission to Jews was in Norway, was in 1844.
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: In Sweden, 1856. In Denmark, 1885. In Switzerland, 1825. In Germany, 1820.
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 1: And it's gone that way through Europe. to Russia, Poland, Latvia, Estonia.
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 1: Alexander I was interested in converting Jews and got a
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: converted Russian Jew by the name of Moritz to be
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 1: an evangelist to his people. In Italy and Spain and
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 1: Portugal and France and Belgium and Hungary and Czechoslovakia between
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 1: 1850 and 1900, tremendous outreach to Jews and many were
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: converted to Christ. In Palestine in 1821 was founded the
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 1: American Board of Commissioners, and the London Jews Society. Jews
• 1:01:18
  Speaker 1: have been coming to Christ all these years. In 1902, 40,000
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 1: Jews in Palestine were under the direct influence of the gospel.
• 1:01:29
  Speaker 1: In Asia, the gospel has gone to Jews in Turkey, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, India, Persia.
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: Over in Africa, the London Jewish Society went into Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria,
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: on and on it goes. And we all know about America.
• 1:01:47
  Speaker 1: And I'll tell you, those churches that are faithful like
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 1: the church at Philadelphia are the ones the Lord gives
• 1:01:52
  Speaker 1: an open door to and causes Jewish people to be
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 1: attracted and bow the knee and say, I want the
• 1:01:57
  Speaker 1: love that God has given you. So He promises the
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: faithful church, first of all, the doors open to salvation
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: and the kingdom, the doors open to blessing, and the
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 1: doors open to opportunity for service and evangelism. And the
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 1: second thing I'm promising you is that your persecutors among
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 1: the Jews are going to bow the knee to Jesus Christ.
• 1:02:21
  Speaker 1: There's another promise, absolutely overwhelming. Come back next week. I'll
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 1: tell you what it is. Let's pray. Father, we rejoice
• 1:02:34
  Speaker 1: in our wonderful fellowship tonight as we have gotten a
• 1:02:38
  Speaker 1: glimpse of this wonderful church. We want to be like
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: this church, not for our own sake, but for Your sake.
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 1: Bless these truths to our heart. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.
• 1:02:55
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• 1:02:58
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