Sermon Tone Analysis

*Philadelphia*

* *

Rev 3:7-13  And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;  (8)  I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

(9)  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

(10)  Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

(11)  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

(12)  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, /which is/ new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and /I will write upon him/ my new name.

(13)  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Philadelphia is today a rather prosperous little Turkish town.

It is located in a very beautiful valley that is inland a great distance, about 125–150 miles from the coast.

The city got its name because of the love that Attalus II had for his brother Eumenes who was king of Pergamum.

Attalus had a great love and loyalty for his brother, and because of that it is called “the city of brotherly love.”

·  *Geographically – *

o        The valley is a very wide one which runs north and south, and the Cogamis River of that valley is a tributary of the Hermus River.

o        The city was built on four or five hills in a picturesque setting.

Today it is spread out a great deal, and it is a typical Turkish town.

o        Philadelphia is in a country where erosion is at work; the soil is quite alluvial, but it is very fertile soil.

o        It was particularly celebrated for its excellent wine.

Great vineyards covered the surrounding hills, and the head of Bacchus was imprinted on their coins.

o        Philadelphia is in an area that is subject to earthquakes.

o        Actually, In a.d.

17 a great earthquake struck this city and totally destroyed it.

The same earthquake totally destroyed Sardis and many other Lydian cities throughout that area.

Tiberius, the emperor at that time, allocated a vast sum of money for the rebuilding of these cities, and they were then restored.

·  *Historically *–

o        However, this city has had continuous habitation from its very beginning.

o        The Lydian language was spoken there at first, but by the time of the apostles, the Greek language had taken over, and it was a typical Greek colony.

o        This was the outpost of Greek culture in a truly Asiatic and Anatolian atmosphere.

It was called a “little Athens” because of the fact that it was in this area and yet was truly Greek.

·  *Militarily *–

o        It was a fortress city used to waylay the enemy who would come in to destroy the greater cities like Ephesus and Smyrna and Pergamum—those were the three great cities.

o        These other cities were largely fortress cities where garrisons were stationed either to stop the enemy or delay him as he marched toward the western coast.

·  *The Church*-

o        This is the one church besides Smyrna for which our Lord had no word of condemnation.

Why?

Because it had turned to the Word of God.

o        It is interesting concerning the two churches which He did not condemn that the places are still in existence, although the churches have disappeared.

However, in Philadelphia there is the remains of a Byzantine church, which reveals that Christianity was active there up until the twelfth or thirteenth century.

o        Philadelphia is the place where Christian and Saracen fought during the Crusades, and in 1922 Turkey and Greece fought in Philadelphia.

o        There are apparently a few Christians there today, but they are under cover because they would be severely persecuted.

o        This church was in a very strategic area to be a missionary church, and that is actually what it was.

I have labeled it the revived church because it returned to the Word of God and began to teach the Word of God.

[1]

*Rev 3:7* -  *And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia *

*1.       **The Character of the Lord*

*a.      **These things saith he that is holy – *

*                                                                     i.

*This refers undoubtedly to the Lord Jesus.

*                                                                   ii.

*The appellation holy, or the holy one, is one that befits him, It is not only an appellation appropriate to the Saviour, but well adapted to be employed when he is addressing the churches.

*                                                                 iii.

*Our impression of what is said to us will often depend much on our idea of the character of him who addresses us, and solemnity and thoughtfulness always become us when we are addressed by a holy Redeemer.

b.      *He that is true - *Another characteristic of the Saviour well suited to be referred to when he addresses people.

It is a characteristic often ascribed to him in the New Testament (Joh_1:9, Joh_1:14, Joh_1:17; Joh_8:40, Joh_8:45; Joh_14:6; Joh_18:37; 1Jo_5:20), and one which is eminently adapted to impress the mind with solemn thought in view of the fact that he is to pronounce on our character, and to determine our destiny.

c.       *He that hath the key of David - *This expression is manifestly taken from Isa_22:22, “And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder.”

i.

As used by Isaiah, the meaning here is, that as David is represented as the king of Israel residing in a palace, so he who had the key to that palace had regal authority.

d.      *He that openeth, and no man shutteth, ... – *

                                                                      i.

He has free and unrestrained access to the house; the power of admitting anyone, or of excluding anyone.

ii.

Applied here to the Saviour, as king in Zion, this means that in his kingdom he has the absolute control in regard to tire admission or exclusion of anyone.

iii.

He can prescribe the terms; he can invite whom he chooses; he can exclude those whom he judges should not be admitted.

iv.

A reference to this absolute control was every way proper when he was addressing a church, and is every way proper for us to reflect on when we think of the subject of our personal salvation.

v.

*He that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth*;

1.       he *opens the Scriptures,* which are shut to a natural man, as he did in his own personal ministry, when here on earth, and now by his Spirit; and none can shut them, either men or devils, or hinder the spread of light and knowledge by them:

2.      he *opens the door of the Gospel,* and gives an opportunity to preach it, and liberty of mind and expression to his ministers, and a door of utterance to them, and of entrance for it into the hearts of men, which none can shut, or hinder:

3.       he *opens the door of the church*, which is himself, and lets in his sheep into the sheepfold, into a Gospel church state, and the ordinances of it; and

4.      he *opens the door of heaven* by his blood and righteousness, and gives his people liberty and boldness to enter into the holiest of all, and brings many sons to glory in spite of all the opposition of men and devils: on the other hand,

5.       when he pleases,

6.      *he shuts up the Scriptures*, and the eyes of men from seeing what is in them;

7.       *he shuts up the door of the Gospel*, and forbids the preaching of it in this and that place; and

8.      the *door of heaven will be shut* by him at the last day, when all called to the marriage of the Lamb are entered, and there will be no opening.

9.

This shows the sovereignty, power, and authority of Christ, and which he will exercise in this church state

2.      *The Commendation*

a.       *Rev 3:8* - *I know thy works *

                                                                      i.

*Behold, I have set before thee an open door - *Referring to his authority as stated in Rev_3:7.

The “open door” here evidently refers to the enjoyment of some privilege or honor; and, so far as the language is concerned, it may refer to any one of the following things - either:

                                                                    ii.      the ability to do good - represented as the “opening of the door.”

iii.      the privilege of access to the heavenly palace; that is, that they had an abundant opportunity of securing their salvation, the door being never closed against them by day or by night.

iv.      it may mean that they had before them an open way of egress from danger and persecution.

b.      *And no man can shut it - *No one has the power of preventing this, for he who has control over all things concedes these privileges to you.

c.       *For then hast a little strength – *

                                                                      i.

The words “little strength” may refer either to the smallness of the number - meaning that they were few; or it may refer to the spiritual life and energy of the church - meaning that, though feeble, their vital energy was not wholly gone.

ii.

The Saviour saw among them the evidences of spiritual life; and in view of that he says he had set before them an open door, and there was abundant opportunity to employ all the energy and zeal which they had.

iii.

It may be remarked that the same thing is true now; that wherever there is any vitality in a church, the Saviour will furnish ample opportunity that it may be employed in his service.

d.      *And hast not denied my name – *

                                                                      i.

When Christians were brought before pagan magistrates in times of persecution, they were required to renounce the name of Christ, and to disown him in a public manner.

ii.

It is possible that, amidst the persecutions that raged in the early times, the members of the church at Philadelphia had been summoned to such a trial, and they had stood the trial firmly.

iii.

It would seem from the following verse, which the efforts which had been made to induce them to renounce the name of Christ had been made by those who professed to be Jews, though they evinced the spirit of Satan.

iv.

If so, then the attempt was probably to convince them that Jesus was not the Christ.