Revelation Sermon - 9
Revelation Series • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 3 viewsNotes
Transcript
Revelation: An Open Door
Revelation 3:7-13
1. Introduction – It’s important for us to know the historical context and setting of these cities because each letter dictated by Jesus to John seems to draw on something that happened or is happening in the city.
a. Philadelphia is no exception. Let me tell you about the city.
i. Philadelphia was situation on a plain, a volcanic runoff plain. Though the surrounding volcano was inactive, its previous eruptions had made the land around Philadelphia very fertile.
1. Particularly, the land was great for vineyards – and wine making because of that.
a. Philadelphia was a commercial centre. It was a strategic city – situated on the main highway that connected the Roman Empire with the land in the east.
b. However, even though it was situated perfectly, even though it had fertile soil and was a wonderful place for vineyards – there was one major problem with Philadelphia.
i. It was prone to earthquakes. It was situation right on a fault line. The ground was shaky in the city. The buildings were insecure, and no one knew when the next earthquake would come and topple the city.
1. It had already happened once before. In AD 17, a massive earthquake struck and completely leveled Philadelphia, Sardis and 10 other cities.
a. And Jesus references a couple things that happened in Philadelphia in the aftermath of this devastating earthquake.
c. After the AD 17 earthquake, the Emperor at the time, Tiberias, gave Philadelphia copious amounts of money and excused them from paying taxes to help them rebuild their city.
i. Because of his generosity, the city renamed itself Neocaesarea – the new city of Caesar.
1. A little later in their history, the city was once again renamed, this time it was renamed Flavius – in honour of the Emperor Vespasian, who was ruling at that point in history.
a. But each time the city was renamed it eventually reverted to being called Philadelphia.
ii. This is why at the end of the letter, Jesus promises that God’s name will be written on the faithful.
1. The Philadelphians knew all about new names – only the name given to the faithful ones will be eternal, never to be taken away.
d. Also, after the devastating earthquake, Philadelphia was tormented by aftershocks and tremors for more than a year afterwards.
i. This caused widespread panic throughout the city.
1. In fact, the citizens were so worried about another earthquake that they would work in the city during the day, but most residents left the city at night.
a. They were constantly going in and out of the city.
ii. And so, at the end of the letter, Jesus says to these Christians that they will never have to leave the city of God.
1. The people of Philadelphia were used to the constant coming and going – not being in one place for too long.
a. But Jesus says, “If you are faithful to me, you will take up residence in God’s city – a city so secure and so solidly built that you will never have to leave it.
2. The Church – And in this city is a small, weak and seemingly insignificant church.
a. The Christians in the city were experiencing persecution at the hands of the Jews. Many of the Christians in the city were Jewish, but after being converted to Christ, after proclaiming Jesus to be holy and true – they were kicked out of the synagogue and were persecuted by the Jewish community.
b. When reading this letter, I get the feeling that Jesus loved dictating this letter.
i. I imagine that there were a few Jesus didn’t like, maybe the letter to Sardis or next week’s letter to Laodicea – but this one, to this small but faithful church, I think this was one of Jesus’ favourite letters.
ii. So, what does Jesus say to the Christians in Philadelphia? Well, Jesus has nothing but praise for this church.
1. Did you notice that there was no “I have this against you” portion of the letter?
a. Last week Sardis wasn’t doing anything of substance – and this week the church in Philadelphia was being completely faithful.
c. The issue in the Philadelphia church was that they seemingly lacked power – they had little strength.
i. Maybe that meant they were few in numbers, or maybe they even lacked physical strength.
1. But what the church lacked in size or energy, they hade up for with their faithfulness.
a. And I think that this should serve as a warning to us. Our world views size as a sign of success.
i. Even in church, we see big churches and automatically think they are successful. And sometimes that is the case, but small churches can be successful too.
ii. We are small, and if he so chooses, God can bless us with an influx of people, but the number of people in the pews is not an indicator of success.
1. Jesus tells the church in Philadelphia that they’re small, but that they are successful. And they’re successful because Jesus measures success differently; he measures success in terms of faithfulness not size.
a. So even if God does bless us with an influx of people – we must make sure that we are still being faithful to Jesus and to the things Jesus has called us to do.
3. Jesus’ Message – So how does Jesus encourage this small but faithful church?
a. Jesus makes a series of promises to this church. He makes several statements that start with the phrase “I know” or “I will.”
i. This morning we are going to very quickly look at each promise that Jesus makes and see how we too can find some encouragement from this letter.
4. I know – The letter starts in a familiar place. Jesus, remember this picture from chapter 1 – Jesus is standing in the middle of the lampstands, and the lampstands represent the church.
a. So, Jesus, standing in the middle means that Jesus knows intimately what’s going on in each church.
i. He tells the Philadelphians that he knows what’s happening in their church – he knows their comings and goings.
1. He knows about their small size, their lack of strength and the persecution they are under.
a. “I know,” Jesus says.
5. I have opened – And he goes on to say something incredible to them. “I have opened a door for you.”
a. Why is this significant? Well, there’s something else we need to know about Philadelphia.
i. It was founded to be a missionary outpost of sorts. The city of Philadelphia was seen as the gateway to the east.
1. The city was founded as a means of influencing the barbarous culture that lay beyond it. Philadelphia was founded as a city to spread the Greek culture and Greek language to the land beyond.
a. They were the doorway to the east. That was the city’s main purpose when it was founded.
b. And so, Jesus says to this church, you are a doorway for far more important things that the Greek language.
i. Jesus tells this church that he has opened a door for them, and no one else can shut it.
c. The Bible uses this image of a door quite a bit. Paul, on multiple occasions, refers to God opening a door of opportunity for him to preach.
i. In 1 Corinthians 16, Paul tells the church in Corinth that a wide door for effective ministry has been opened for him.
1. In 2 Corinthians 2 Paul writes again that a wide door was opened for him in Troas, and in Colossians 4, Paul asks the Colossae church to pray that a door be opened for him.
a. The door that Paul is referring to and what Jesus is referencing here in Revelation 3 is a door of opportunity.
i. The church in Philadelphia is small, they are weak – but Jesus has opened a door of opportunity for them to do effective ministry – to continuing being a missionary outpost.
1. Not spreading Greek culture – but using the door of opportunity to spread the gospel.
6. I Will Make – Next, Jesus says he will make those who are opposing the church to bow down to them.
a. Not literally. What is happening here is a role reversal of a prophecy.
i. In Israel’s history, there’s a prophecy that all the nations will one day acknowledge Israel as the people of God.
1. But what Jesus promises here is that those who oppose the church – from whatever nation they happen to be from, Jew or Gentile – will acknowledge that the church are the ones whom Jesus loves.
7. I will Keep You – Next, Jesus says to this small, seemingly insignificant church, “I will keep you.” Or, “I will protect you.”
a. Jesus will protect the faithful ones from God’s wrath. A couple aspects of this I want to point out to you.
i. I want us to keep this promise in mind as we make our way further into this book.
b. Jesus will protect his people. Notice that the trial to come is directed to those who belong to this world.
i. In other words – God’s wrath will be poured out on those who aren’t faithful to him.
1. Keep that in mind; we don’t have to fear God’s wrath if we are faithful to him. Jesus will protect his people.
c. Secondly, we must understand that this protection is more of a spiritual idea.
i. As we’ll see later in Revelation, followers of Jesus may still lose their physical life – but their souls will be kept safe.
1. Protection may not necessarily be physical, but it is most definitely spiritual.
8. Promises – And we already briefly looked at some of the promises Jesus made at the end of this letter.
a. The faithful will be part of God’s temple – the only temple that is built to last.
i. In a city where citizens feared that buildings would fall on them at any moment, Jesus promises his people safety and security in God’s house.
1. In a city used to switching names – Jesus will write the permanent name of God on his people.
a. In a city used to coming and going every night out of fear and insecurity – the faithful will never have to leave the beautiful new Jerusalem.
b. What an encouraging letter – for the Philadelphians and for us.
9. For us Today – And for us today, we share many similarities to the church in Philadelphia.
a. We are small in number, maybe the world looks at us and sees us as week and insignificant.
i. Maybe other churches see us that way too – maybe we even see ourselves that way.
1. But here’s the truth of it – Jesus has opened a door for us and no one except him can shut it.
a. There is a door of opportunity for us to share the good news of Jesus.
b. Remember that Philadelphia was a missionary outpost – well, in the post-Christian world we live in we are all living in missionary outposts.
i. There is a door of opportunity for us, right here in our own community.
c. In our world today, people are desperately seeking truth – and they will find it anywhere they can.
i. People are looking for hope, meaning and reason to live – and as God’s people we must make sure that we are spreading the truth of God to as many people as we can, as often as we can.
1. We must see our searching world as a door of opportunity.
d. Jesus said to the church in Philly, “Look! I have opened a door for you!” And that door of opportunity isn’t shut yet. It is still open for us to walk through.
i. There’s an opportunity for us to spread the gospel.
1. So here is our response to this message to the church in Philadelphia. We’ve heard Jesus’ words, now we must respond.
e. First – if you can’t see an open door of opportunity – pray for one. Paul asked the Colossian church to pray that God would open doors for his ministry – so we too must pray the same prayer.
i. Pray that God will you open doors to share his good news with your unsaved family members, friends, coworkers, or random people you meet on the street.
1. Pray for God to open doors so that as a church we’ll see gospel spreading opportunities.
f. That’s kinda broad, so here’s a specific and personal application.
i. Pray for 10 people you know who don’t know Jesus as their Saviour.
1. Pray that God will invade their lives – pray that they will be overcome by God’s love for them.
g. Jesus has opened doors. Look around – see them – walk through them.
i. Pray for more doors to be opened and pray for your 10 names this week.
1. Pray specifically and fervently for their salvation.
a. Look! An open door. Jesus has opened it, and no one can shut it.
h. Next week – Laodicea. 3:14-22.