Anyone else tired of all the road construction going on around here? It’s so frustrating to not be able to go on the street you want to, or to have to wait and wait and wait for your turn to go because of all the new construction. Road blocks and road diversions can be frustrating! Road blocks are a lot like closed doors. They can be so frustrating and depressing.
Open doors, on the other hand, can be exciting, inviting, and sometimes scary. Open doors can be exciting, yes, but they are useless if we do not or will not go through them.
Christ brings to our attention a church in the 1st century in Asia Minor, the church in Philadelphia that was prepared and ready for an exciting opportunity for ministry.
What a great opportunity they had before them!
What a great opportunity we have before us!
Will we open up ourselves to the great opportunity for ministry before us like this early church? To learn how we can take advantage of the great opportunity for ministry before us, let’s look at what Christ says to this church in Revelation 3:7-13...
In order for us to take advantage of the open door of ministry opportunities before us, we must operate in God’s strength, keep His word, and not deny His name.
Before we look at what Christ says to this church, let’s first find out how Christ describes Himself. Look at verse 7...
1. THE DESCRIPTION OF CHRIST (v. 7)
• He is Holy
Jesus Christ is God! He is the Holy One. He’s not a created being.
He’s the Creator! He is completely free of all sin. And because He is the holy God, He has the right to call all those who choose to follow Him to a live of holiness. Listen to 1 Peter 1:14-16...
1 Peter 1:14-16 “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’”
Christ is not only holy, He is also...
• He is True
The Greek word used here has a double meaning to it. Christ is true in the sense that He is genuine and real. He’s the real thing! (Like the Coke commercial) Others have come and gone, others will come and go, but there is only one true Christ.
He’s the real thing!
The other sense of the word is that He is also trustworthy and reliable. You can depend on Jesus! Others will lie to you. Others will lead you astray, but not Jesus! You can count on Him!
There’s an authenticity to Christ that we must emulate if we want to truly follow Him. It’s hard for many of us to show our true selves. We hide behind masks. We’re afraid of what others might think of us if they knew the real me.
Tim Hansel speaks about this when he writes these words:
“Afraid to fail, we no longer risk. Afraid that someone will see behind our image, we no longer share. Afraid that we will appear to need help, we can no longer be vulnerable. Afraid to appear not religious enough to some, we no longer can confess. We withdraw into a petty world consumed in emptiness and fear, covered with the thick shell, worshipping an impotent God. The tragic result...is that in our fear of becoming childlike, in our fear of becoming a fool for Christ, in our fear of being seen as we are, we discover all too late that it’s impossible to be fully human and fully alive.”
We must be like Jesus here and be true and authentic.
We have nothing of any value to lose by being real and authentic.
• He is Sovereign (“who holds the key of David”)
Now, what does this refer to? It’s a reference to Isaiah 22:2.
Back when Hezekiah was king of Judah, his chief of staff was a guy by the name of Shebna. Shebna ran the whole palace.
Shebna got involved in taking a kickback in exchange for his influence in the palace. This made God angry, so God replaced him with a godly man named Eliakim. And this is what God said about Eliakim: Isaiah 22:22 “I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.”
Now, what Jesus is doing is applying these words to Himself, as it relates to the ministry of a church.
He is the one who shuts doors of opportunity for ministry. He is the one who opens doors for ministry opportunity. And what He shuts, no force on heaven or earth can open. And what He opens, no force in heaven or on earth can close.
In other words, ministry opportunities for any church in any community happen because the Lord of the church, Jesus Himself, wants them to happen. He is the Sovereign God!
So, Christ has described Himself as holy, true, and sovereign.
What does He say about the church at Philadelphia?
2. THE DESCRIPTION OF THE CHURCH (v. 8)
Before we look at the description of the church, let’s find out something about the city where this church was...
“Philadelphia” = city of brotherly love (like Philadelphia, PA) It was founded in 140 B.C., so it’s a relatively young city compared to the other cities we’ve looked at so far. It had a lot of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The city itself was completely destroyed in 17 A.D. After every earthquake, many citizens would leave the city, but they would eventually work their way back and rebuild the city. It was a city that had a lot of agriculture around the city. Over the years, a small faithful group of Christians formed a church.
How does Christ describe His church there in Philadelphia?
Look at verse 8... [take the verse back to front]
• It was a faithful church (“yet you have kept My word”)
A faithful church is true to God’s Word, the Bible.
This is true today just as much as it was then.
Some churches have replaced God’s Word with “feel good” sermons and “self help” teachings and philosophies.
Some churches teach that the Bible is a myth, a bunch of stories.
They deny God’s Word!
I think it’s very interesting that we chose Bible to be our middle name. Why?
Because...
...if we want to be a faithful church
...if we want to experience God’s blessing
...if we want to experience an open door for ministry
Then we must keep God’s Word!
We must remain true to God’s Word!
Well, how do you remain faithful to God’s Word?
Believe it! Obey it!
How do you remain faithful to God’s Word?
You remain faithful to God’s Word, the Bible, when you reflect Jesus in your life. And it is only when we individually and collectively remain faithful to God’s Word that the Lord of the Church opens doors that cannot be shut.
But...
...if we refuse to search out Christlikeness in God’s Word
...if we try to take shortcuts in our faith that disobey what God teaches in His Word...
He will slam shut the doors of opportunities for ministry.
Christ provided a great opportunity for ministry to this church because it kept God’s Word.
It was a faithful church.
It was also...
• It was a small church (“you have little strength”)
Christ is not saying that the believers there were weak.
What He is saying is that they were small in number.
“Little is a lot when God is in it!” Amen?
It doesn’t matter how small a group they were.
God can use them to turn the world upside down for Him!
Look at what God did with the ragamuffin disciples! Right?
And, you know what?
God can do the very same thing right here with us!
The church in Philadelphia was not this dynamic, high-powered, well-oiled machine with programs for every age group and every life situation. This was no Crystal Cathedral! No Saddleback!
This church was small, but it was powerful! Why?
Because it was faithful!
God is call us to faithfulness, even if we are small.
This church was no only faithful, not only small, but it also...
• It had a good reputation (“and have not denied My name”)
The 3rd reason that ministry opportunities are going to be opened up to this church, that no one will shut, is because they did not deny Jesus’ name. They stood up for Christ.
Well, I would never do that!” Peter the disciple thought the same thing, didn’t he? And yet, he denied Christ 3 times in one evening.
We deny the name of Christ when we do not stand up for Him.
We deny the name of Christ when we put up with people taking His name in vain in our presence.
We deny the name of Christ when we fail to walk through open doors of opportunities for ministry.
There was a wide open door of opportunity for ministry before this church in Philadelphia. This leads to the 4th description of the church:
• It had a great opportunity
(“I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut”)
Stop right there, for a minute!
Do you understand what Jesus has just said?
When God puts a ministry “open door” before a church...
...no amount of persecution
...no lack of financial ability
...no amount of opposition from the city
...no amount of neighborhood indifference
...no amount of evil or persecution will be able to shut that door of ministry!
Christ wants His church to see the great opportunity it was giving to them. This city was on a major trade route going from Rome to the Orient. It was on a critical spot on the map.
What a great opportunity!
Christ Himself had opened wide the doors to share their faith!
And, you know what?
God has flung open the doors for us as well!
What do I mean? I mean, look at where we live!
We live in one of the fastest growing parts of the United States.
I know that many of us don’t like that, but we have a wide open door of opportunity for ministry in our neighborhoods, in our schools, at our workplace.
What a great opportunity!
And, look at how God has blessed our congregation!
Look how He has graciously and faithfully provided a place to worship. Look at His faithfulness to this His church during the more than 100 year. Look at how He has provided this place.
And now look at how He has provided land for us to build...
...a place to worship
...a place to extend and expand ministry
...a place to reflect the name of Christ
This is a God-thing! I believe it! He has done it!
He has flung open the doors of opportunity for ministry to expand and advance His kingdom!
The question for us...the challenge for us...
Will we walk through that door?
Maybe we’re waiting for a sign from the Lord.
Hey, how much clearer can it get?
I feel like Jeff Foxworthy here...”Here’s your sign!”
Now, the ball is in our court.
What are we going to do?
I heard a startling statistic this last week, and I’m not saying this is true of our church, but, it we are average, 98% of us never witness to others. Imagine! 98%!!!
If our mission truly is to bring people into a devoted relationship with Jesus Christ, and if we are average, then we are not going to complete our mission! That’s just not going to get it done!
We’ve got a wide open door of opportunity for ministry in front of us. I say, let’s walk through that door, for the sake of Christ.
The church in Philadelphia went through that door, and Christ commends them for it.
BUT...be warned!
...Going through doors
...Stepping out in faith...
Will not be easy!
When walking through open doors by faith, times of discouragement and attack by the enemy will come.
And because they will come, Christ promises 4 things to bring encouragement:
3. THE PROMISES TO THE CHURCH (vv. 9-12)
• Its enemies will be humiliated (v. 9)
As you step out in faith and begin witnessing, be prepared to be ridiculed for your faith. But don’t give up!
Christ is still in control! He still loves you!
That’s what Christ seems to be saying here in verse 9.
And with that comes another promise. Look at v. 10...
• It will not go through the Tribulation (v. 10)
Wow! What a promise! Christ promises the church deliverance from the Tribulation. Where will the church be during the Tribulation? In heaven! 1 Thessalonians 1:10 “and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead – Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.”
Christ teaches about this in Matthew 24. The Tribulation will be a terrible time of distress, unlike anything that has ever been known in human history. If you keep reading in Revelation, you’ll see some pretty graphic descriptions of this time.
But the promise to the church is that it will be delivered from this trial. The word that’s used in v. 10 literally means “out of.”
The Greek phrase used here translated “keep from” doesn’t mean “to preserve through something” but “to preserve outside the sphere of something.” There’s a big difference between the two.
Jesus is saying that He will protect His church from the Tribulation by keeping them away from it. He will remove them from the earth before the 7 year judgment begins. This is a clear reference to the rapture of the church before the Tribulation begins, as described in 1 Thessalonians 4.
Maybe an illustration from sports will help us understand the difference here. An injury might keep an athlete from playing in a game, but it the coach takes an athlete out of a game, or if, by some strange reason, an athlete is actually kicked out of a game, then he is actually outside the game because he can’t play in it.
• It will receive a crown (v. 11)
What’s this crown that Jesus is talking about? When you serve Christ, you will receive a crown. It refers to your opportunity for service and ministry in heaven (not salvation). Your crown is your opportunity for even greater service for King Jesus.
Can this crown be taken away? Can I lose this crown? Yes. How? Unfaithfulness. What a tragedy for us to lose out on an opportunity for even greater service to Jesus and with Jesus in heaven. There’s a 4th promise given to the church in verse 12...
• It will receive a new identity (v. 12)
Do you realize what this meant to the small church in Philadelphia?
No more shaky foundations! No more earthquakes!
No more leaving town!
Christ is telling His church, “With Me, you are secure! When you come into My house, My city, you don’t have to leave anymore!”
Isn’t that great? What a promise!
Jesus is saying that...
...when you operate in His strength
...when you remain true to His Word
...when you depend on His name...
Then you will become a secure and permanent fixture in the advancement of His Kingdom.
You will become a vital part of what He’s trying to do to bring people to Himself. Your faith, your life, your gifts, your work for Christ – will all have eternal consequences.
That’s something to live for! Amen?
This last promise of a new identity has to do with 3 names. Those who hold on will be given 3 names:
1. Name of God
2. Name of God’s city
3. A new name identified with Christ
1. Name of God (v. 12a)
Why does Christ use this kind of language?
It’s like we are branded. We belong to God! We belong to Him!
We are branded for life and no one can touch us! What a promise!
2. Name of God’s city (v. 12b)
The last two chapters of Revelation give a beautiful description of the New Jerusalem, coming down from heaven.
[Read Revelation 21:2]
What a beautiful picture of a beautiful bride meeting her groom!
It’s a picture of loving intimacy.
This kind of intimacy belongs to those who hold on.
What a beautiful promise!
By the way, speaking of the New Jerusalem, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, where is your real citizenship? In the U.S.? No!
We belong to the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem.
We are citizens of heaven!
We’re really refugees here on earth!
We’re pilgrims just passing through!
Our true citizenship is in heaven!
3. A new name identified with Christ (v. 12c)
What is this new name that Christ talks about here?
We’re not sure, exactly. We don’t know yet what that new name will be, but Jesus knows! Whatever that new name is, it will show that we are identified with Christ.
Can you imagine? We are identified with Christ!
He chooses to have us identify with Him! Amazing!
Finally, look at what the Lord of the church says in verse 13...
4. CONCLUSION & APPLICATION (v. 13)
(1) With all the shaky foundations around us...
...with marriages falling apart
...families breaking up
...homes being shattered
...with our society’s values being shaken to the core
...with churches splitting left and right
We have a sure and solid foundation in Jesus Christ!
He is Holy! He is True! He is Sovereign!
Let’s renew our commitment to Him.
Let’s be faithful to the One who is always faithful.
O Lord, how great is Your faithfulness!
(2) What an open door for ministry opportunities open before us!
What a great opportunity!
Let’s be faithful in introducing people to Jesus Christ!
Even though we are small in number, like the church in Philadelphia, yet we can have a powerful influence in this community!
What an opportunity before us! What an open door!
In order for us to take advantage of the open door of ministry opportunities before us,
We must operate in God’s strength,
We must keep His word, and
We must not deny His name.
The question for us is this:
Will we walk through that door?
