How We Trust Matters: We Are Not Powerless
End of Days • Sermon • Submitted
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· 5 viewsOur job is to keep His word and not deny His name. His job is to keep us till the end.
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How does it feel to be powerless?
How does it feel to be powerless?
The Senate of the United States of America voted Thursday on party lines - 51 to 50 with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie - to proceed with debate on the legislation entitled the “Equality Act.”
The bill passed the house on a 224-206 vote with three Republican representatives voting for it - 2 from New York and one from Pennsylvania.
What this bill does is it adds “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as protected statuses in federal civil rights law.
Should the Senate pass this bill, President Biden is sure to sign it - he or whoever is creating policy for him, stated this was a priority for his first 100 days in office.
While no Christian should stand for the harassment and harm of any person since we are all created in the image of God, this bill will create a platform for a group to be harassed and harmed - Bible believing Christians.
This bill would make it illegal for us or any religious organization to hire based on our belief that God created us male and female and that marriage is between a man and a woman, both biologically created that way.
There are no provisions in this bill to respect religion.
You might ask, would this not violate the Constitution’s First Amendment right to freedom of religion?
In our current political environment, do you truly believe that will matter?
What can we do about it?
We could, and should, write our Senators.
I’m not optimistic about changing their minds.
Rev. Raphael Warnock is a proponet of black liberation theology, a theology with its roots in Latin American Marxism.
When you read the bio of our other Senator, Jon Ossoff, well, he may have been born in Atlanta, he didn’t grow up like any of us.
We need to write or call our Senators, but I don’t expect we’ll change their minds.
Here’s the deal, this bill is not about what it says it is about.
The abortion debate, the sexual orientation and gender identity debate, the fight is not about those things.
This is a fight about worldviews.
This is a fight about faith, about what we believe about God.
As complex as it seems, it really is fairly simply defined.
One group believes that God created all humanity, that He created them in His image, that He created them male and female with different yet complementary roles and that He created marriage for the conception and nurture of children and the creation of a Godly society guided by His commands that define the boundaries of what makes a content and joy filled life.
The other group believes that humanity has no ultimate law-giver, that we evolved and we continue to evolve and as such, we need to evolve beyond the superstition of religion.
And right now, the other group is so much louder and had taken advantage of the Christian’s “go along to get along” philosophy until now when they may be in the position to implement whatever they want.
How does it feel to be powerless?
Revelation 3:7-13
“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.
“ ‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.
Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.
I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.
The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
The church at Philadephia knew this feeling.
The city of Philadelphia was a pretty neat place to live - it was the smallest of the seven cities and it seems to have had a small town charm.
We believe it was named after a ruler whose name was a form of the word Philadelphia and I suspect most of us know that the world philadelphia comes from two greek words meaning “brotherly love.”
The city was aptly named.
It was one of the easternmost cities of the Roman empire and their mission was to introduce and instill Roman culture into this near Eastern geography.
And they did and they did it in a way that the locals embraced it.
Not long after the city started growing, the entire region adopted Greek as their primary language, without a fight.
I suspect it had something to do with their primary industry - Philadelphia was perfected suited to grow grapes that just happened to make a very popular wine.
This little town was no different from the other 5 churches that we studied.
It was extremely diverse - it had multiple places to worship idols, it had trade guilds like every other city, but Jesus letter to this church reveals something that no one else had - a Synagogue of Satan.
Again, words matter.
They had a sizable Jewish population that regularly worshipped at their synagogue and they believed with all of their hearts that they were right.
And that this little church was wrong.
Both groups would study the Old Testament but they came to wildly different conclusions.
The Christians beleived Jesus was the promised Messiah and the Jews didn’t.
And obviously there were more Jews, and obviously the Jews were pretty sold out to the culture like the church at Sardis was and they didn’t need someone who could be associated with them rocking the boat.
So they went after this little church.
There’s a lot to be said here, but let’s leave it with this.
Jesus calls them the Synagogue of Satan.
Satan’s methods are to accusation, deception and lies.
Satan’s goal is destroy anything to do with God.
If you are paying attention to state and national events, this should sound familiar.
“I know your works. Behold,… I know you have little power...”
This is going to mean something to us, pay attention.
Jesus opens the letter with five characteristics about Himself and He closes the letter with five things He is going to do for this church.
Five things - number 1 - Jesus is holy.
Here this word means He is totally devoid of sin.
He opposes it, hates it, abhors it.
Number 2 - Jesus is true.
This is a continuation of the thought from Revelation 1:5 where Jesus is described as the faithful witness.
Jesus is the only person who knows the Father.
Jesus is the only person who has experienced being resurrected to new life.
What Jesus says is true, it is to be believed and lived out in his follower’s daily life.
Number 3 - He holds the keys of David.
As you would expect, this is an Old Testament reference.
Isaiah 22:22
And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.
This is refering to a ruler of Israel named Eliakim that Jehovah uses to foreshadow Jesus.
The keys of David means he has ultimate authority over everything.
Number 4 and 5 refer back to Isaiah 22 but it comes from somewhere else too.
The oldest book in the Bible is not Genesis, it is Job.
Job 12:13-14
“With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding.
If he tears down, none can rebuild; if he shuts a man in, none can open.
This is one of the earliest confessions of faith - that God is wise and strong.
That He communicates with us and He understands us.
And, if He tears it down - don’t try to rebuild it.
If He shuts the door, don’t try to open it.
Why did Jesus use these words to describe Himself?
Your power is small, but my power is great.
Your power is small, but my power is great.
“I know your works. Behold,… I know that you have little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”
“I know your works,” that’s the same thing Jesus said to Sardis.
The difference you’ll remember is that Sardis had sold out to the culture - they were essentially Christians in name only.
They were Christians at church and no where else.
Their society was good with that - that’s where our society wants us to be.
But the church at Philadelphia was different.
Now this is important, don’t miss it - this tiny little church is praised by Jesus because “You have kept my word and have not denied my name.”
That’s all they did.
So you can win a trivia game, the Greek word for little is the word micron.
We use that word today as a unit of measure.
A micron is one one millionth of a meter - that a decimal point with 5 zeros before the one.
That’s small.
This church had micron power - not much.
They had no influence.
They had no political clout.
They didn’t have crowds on Sunday or a wide reach for their podcast.
It would be very easy for them to be despondent and depressed and to really think its not worth it anymore.
It would be extremely easy to quit mentioning Jesus in public.
I suspect it was kind of dangerous in their environment, really - we certainly feel hesistant to mention Jesus.
But, Jesus hailed them like heroes for doing three things.
They kept Jesus’ word.
The knew what they believed and it made a difference in their life.
They did not deny Jesus’ name.
When it was appropriate, they didn’t hesitate to talk about Jesus.
And in verse 10, “Because you have kept my word about patient endurance.”
They just didn’t give up.
Listen to what Jesus says, “I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to those who dwell on the earth.”
What Jesus is saying is that he will deliver them from the evil one - the hour of trial is the tribulation.
The tribulation is the beginning of the punishment of God on the disobedient world.
Jesus will see to it that His people who live through this time will not be destroyed by the evil one.
They will ultimately overcome everything Satan and the world throws at them.
When it is all said and done, God’s church will be found standing.
What does it look like to stand?
What does it look like to stand?
Verse 8, “I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut.”
Guys, this doesn’t sound like much, but it really is everything.
Our very own government right now wants us to go away - Jesus says here we never will.
He has opened the door for us to live a Godly life in an ungodly society.
He has opened a door for us to speak boldy about Jesus in every place we are called to speak.
No one can shut that door.
We do not need to be afraid - the church will not be consumed by this Godlessness.
One of the earliest confessions of God’s sovereignty is that what He opens, no one can close.
Go Church.
Live the Word.
Speak the Word.
Stand on the Word.
Never, ever give up.
We cannot be overcome.
“I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.”
There is a word picture hidden in here that is important.
This is not going to be a begruding bowing down - it’s not the conqueror forcing the conquered to bow down.
The word picture here is of a dog licking the hand of its master.
Its a willingness to humble themselves when they realize that the God whose word we keep loves us and protects us.
“I will keep you from the hour of trial...”
The hour of trial that is coming on the whole world is designed to make people take sides.
I’m not sure - in fact I’m really convinced - that a great number of people have no clue they don’t believe in God.
They live their lives - there is a tip of the hat to the man upstairs - but there is no allegiance, no devotion or dedication.
The trials God will send will force every man and woman alive to take sides and most will hate God for this.
Jesus says those who keep His word and do not deny His name will not be tested like that.
He will spare them that trial.
We can live in constant assurance.
The world around us is nuts - our very government has become hostile to God.
When Greg Stube, a Republican representative from Florida, essentially said that accepting transgenderism is “making a statement that God didn’t know what he was doing when He created them,” Representative Jerry Nadler replied, “Mr. Stube, what any religious tradition describes as God's will is no concern of this Congress."
We have little power to change it.
Yet Jesus said that our power to keep His word, to not deny His name and to keep his word about patient endurance is enough to guarantee we will be found standing when the dust settles.
You see, Jesus guarantees our future.
Revelation 3:12
The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.
Here are the five things Jesus is going to do for every person who follows His word, does not deny His name and endures to the end.
First, He will make him a pillar in the temple of my God.
You’ve heard the phrase, “Pillar of the community?”
Yep, that will be you.
Second, “Never shall he go out of it.”
Regardless of what anyone says, you belong to the Lord, you will never be lost.
Third, “I will write on him the name of my God.”
Fourth, “I will write on him…the name of the city of my God.
Fifth, “I will write my own new name.”
All of these are an Old Testament allusion to Aaron’s dress to enter the temple.
On his turban was a gold “name tag” that said, “Holy to the LORD.”
When anyone saw him wearing it, they knew who Aaron was, they knew His relationship to God, they knew their relationship to God.
To bring this into modern terms, these are like ID badges you would wear for your company.
By this you know what company you belong to, what department you are assigned to and that you have the highest security clearance available.
And it can’t be revoked, it can’t be stolen and it can’t be taken away.
What Jesus opens, no one can close.
What He closes, no one can open.
We are safe in Him forever.
It is not our faith that guarantees this though.
What guarantees our success is Jesus’ faithfulness.
I can’t help but think of a scared child who is scooped up in His father’s arms, surrounded, protected and assured that he will be alright.
You hear that right, when Jesus says, “They will learn that I have loved you.”
They will know, because you will stand.
How we trust matters.
We are not powerless.
We have the power to trust.
We have the power to obey.
We have the power to endure.
Surprisingly enough, that is God’s game plan for victory.
But now there is one last troubling little thing we’ve left out.
Revelation 3:11
I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.
Is Jesus saying I can lose my salvation, my crown?
It kind of sounds like it, but that’s not what this means.
Consider something Jesus said, John 3:16-17
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Listen closely so you can understand.
Salvation has been yours to have from the moment of your birth.
‘Whoever beleives,” Jesus says.
‘That the world might be saved,” Jesus says.
Jesus is saying in John and again in Revelation, don’t let anyone or anything steal your salvation.
It is yours to have.
God offers it to you as a free gift.
The only requirement is that you keep His word, you do not deny His name and you patiently endure until He comes.
Don’t let someone steal your crown.
Not a husband or a wife.
Not a friend or a foe.
Not your job or your sin.
Don’t let you steal your crown.
Salvation is yours to have if you will have it.
When you trust Jesus to save you, all of the things we talked about - they are yours.
If you refuse, your crown will be seized and we’ll be talking a lot about how that will end for you very soon.
Pray with me.