Small, but Powerful

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Intro story: Yoda. Judge me by my size, do you?
Our next stop on the tour of the churches of Asia Minor is Philadelphia. But this is not the Philadelphia of Pennsylvania, obviously. The name Philadelphia, as you may know, means brotherly love. It comes from the combination of two Greek words: phileo, meaning love, and adelphos, meaning brother. In English, we use a single word for love, though it can be used in a variety of ways to communicate different types of love. When I say “I love you” to my brother it means something very different than when I say it to my mother, and is different than when I say it to my wife. In Greek, there are a number of words used to express love, but the verb use also tells us which love is being expressed. The word phileo speaks of a close connection between two people, but not necessarily a romantic love. So this love may be the love of a friend or relative.
Like Smyrna, the church in Philadelphia had no glaring issues for which the Lord was planning to chastise them. Philadelphia was also a rather insignificant city compared to the other six. Philadelphia was stable, but it was not a major player like some of these port cities or even Sardis who was prosperous because of their gold discovery and the network of highways that ran through it.
So let’s read what the Lod had to say to the church in Philadelphia:
Revelation 3:7–13 NASB95
“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this: ‘I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name. ‘Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you. ‘Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. ‘I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown. ‘He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; 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 out of heaven from My God, and My new name. ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
Again, Christ introduces himself in a peculiar way. He is he who is holy and true and he is the one who has the key of David. As the possessor of the key of David, he is the opener and closer of doors which no one can do. If he opens a door, no one can close it. If he closes a door, no one can open it. This speaks of authority. There is no one who can override Jesus. The key of David appears to be a reference to Isaiah 22:20-22, where Eliakim became the manager of Hezekiah’s household. He was given authority and access. While Jesus s not Eliakim, there are some who suggest Eliakim was a type of Christ in this regard. The point is here that whatever Jesus says, goes. That will be important here in just a minute.
Just like the previous letters, Jesus sees their deeds. But like Smyrna, there is no appearance of misconduct. Jesus is not chastising this church for any compromises or unbiblical behaviors. He commends them for having kept his word and having not denied his name. They are also described as having a little power. Because of these things, he has put before them an open door, which because of the previous verse, we know no one can shut.

The church who holds fast to Christ has the power to seize the opportunity he sets before them.

Remember this church is a part of a rather insignificant city compared to the cities surrounding it. The church itself may be rather small and seemingly insignificant, but Jesus recognizes they have a little power. It is because of this power that they have an open door before them. Right now, in this church, we already have the power necessary to do the things Jesus is calling us to do. Do you realize that? Whether the church has ten in attendance or ten thousand, it already possesses the power needed to do what Jesus is calling it to do. This comes from a recognition of a very important principle:

The church can seize opportunity because its power flows from its submission to the Holy Spirit, not from its members.

When Jesus left his disciples, he did not tell them to go to work immediately. He told them to wait for the Holy Spirit who would come and empower them. So for a week and a half, they gathered and prayed. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon them and empowered them so that they wet into the streets and shared the gospel. Had they tried to do this at any point prior to that moment, they would have tried to operate in their own power and their own strength and they would have failed because they did not do as they were instructed.
Now you and I already have the Holy Spirit in us, but as I said last week, it is entirely possible to do church absent of the Holy Spirit. When we begin relying on our own knowledge and our own wisdom, we begin to depend on the Holy Spirit’s guidance and direction more and more. Our dependence on him is what drives us to do ministry from his power and knowledge and wisdom rather than our own.
As we look at the church in Philadelphia, we see that they may be small, but their size has nothing to do with their might. The Lord took twelve men who were willing to die for a cause and turned the world upside down. Our home church, Champion Forest Baptist, is now a multi-site megachurch of thousands of members, but it began with a membership of six people. First Baptist Church in Three Rivers has been here for 107 years because there has always been a faithful group who would do anything to keep the mission going. Size does not matter but the power of God does.
Over half the churches in America have fewer than 100 people in attendance every week. Congratulations. You are in the majority. I quoted a man named Karl Vaters a couple weeks ago who wrote the book, Small Church Essentials and the reason for writing the book was that he felt so much writing came from big church guys trying to help small church guys grow to become big church guys. He started thinking, “What if God made your small church to be small on purpose?” So he wrote the book to help small church guys embrace the idea of doing small church ministry on purpose, leading the conversation to be about church health rather than church growth. He recognizes that small church ministry should be Spirit-empowered ministry as much as any other church, because that is what a healthy church looks like.
"Just because we're small doesn't give us an excuse to do ministry with anything less than Christ-honoring, people-serving, world-transforming passion. In short, small churches are not a problem to be fixed, a virtue to be praised, or an excuse to do shoddy work. We're normal, and normal doesn't need fixing."
The church’s power stems from its submission to the Holy Spirit, not from its members.

Through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, the church will overcome obstacles.

In verse 9, he says:
Revelation 3:9 NASB95
‘Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you.
In other words, the Lord is going to go before the church and pave the way for their success. The synagogue of Satan was also referenced in the letter to the church in Smyrna. Remember that the synagogue of Satan refers to a Jewish group working against the church. They are liars about what they represent. But the Lord will show them who he is and the truth about his church.
Jesus then issues a series of promises. First, he is coming quickly. I realize that there has been a great span of time from when this was written to today, and Jesus still hasn’t returned, but we understand that the Lord’s timetable is not ours. What seems like a long time to us is nothing to him.
The church in Philadelphia was called to hold fast to what they have so that no one will take their crown. Remember that the crown of life is given to those who remain faithful until death. The only way the crown is withheld or taken is if one does not remain faithful until death.
The promise to make one a pillar in the temple of God is of course symbolic of a permanent placement in heaven for believers. This verse screams with language speaking of true and final ownership of the believer to God. This new temple, which is the new Jerusalem, which will be an actual city, will be the permanent home of all who believe. We will be perfected and sealed, forever free from falling away.
APPLICATION
GOSPEL Presentation
Rely on the Holy Spirit
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