Lord, Make Us Like Philadelphia
The Holy Spirit Speaks To The Churches
The Spirit today is speaking to those who will listen, but He doesn't
speak to just individuals. Revelation 3:13 says, "He who
has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
Are you listening, Christian? Is your church listening? The
Spirit is continually striving with us, prodding us toward truth and
righteousness and away from attachment to this dying world.
Today we want to hear what the Spirit is saying to us as individuals
and to our church through the church of Philadelphia
(Revelation 3:7-13).
The City Of Philadelphia - Its Culture And Philosophy
We want to first make note of this church's circumstances. The city
of Philadelphia was founded in 140 B.C. at the juncture of
the approaches to three major provinces of Asia Minor: Mysea, Lydia
and Phrygia. It was called the "Gateway to the East."
The city was prosperous, partly because of its flourishing grape industry.
Dionysus was its patron god, though temples
throughout the city were erected in honor of other gods as well. The
city was founded as a missionary center for Hellenism, that
is, for spreading the pagan culture and thought of Greece. Into this
city had come the gospel of Jesus Christ, that God had sent
His Son as the atonement for our sin, and some had turned away from
the pagan culture and philosophy of the Greeks to Jesus
Christ.
The Church Of Philadelphia - Faithful But Having Little Power
We need to hear what the Spirit of God wants to say through this church
of Philadelphia. This church, and the one in Smyrna,
were the only ones of the seven specifically mentioned that the Lord
did not rebuke. Some 230 years after the founding of the
city, John the Revelator was told by the Lord Jesus to write to this
church under these circumstances: "I know your deeds. . . .
you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied
My name" (Revelation 3:8).
It was a little church. It was a small group of people in the midst
of a powerful, prosperous center founded in a strategic
location for the sake and purpose of propagating paganism. This church
was not great in number. It did not have a lot of
power. When this church spoke, no one necessarily listened. They were
small, they were insecure, they were threatened. And
apparently, they became the object of accusations and attacks from
what John calls the synagogue of Satan: "I will cause those
of the synagogue of Satan,who said they are Jews, but are not, but
lie - behold, I will make them to come and bow down at
your feet, and to know that I have loved you" (v. 9). In the midst
of it all, they had been faithful to Jesus.
The Church Of Philadelphia - Deteriorating Circumstances With No Increase Of Power
Besides the immediate circumstances, there was something else looming
on the horizon that would make them feel smaller still:
"the hour of testing, that which is about to come upon those who dwell
upon the earth" (v. 10).
. . . . the immediate application to those people in that time was that,
in 95 A.D., one of the most severe persecutions of the
Roman Empire was about to descend upon the Christians. And as this
message was being written to the Philadelphia faithful,
and with us in mind as well, they are aware, there is a sense of foreboding,
there's a strong feeling that something is about to
descend upon them, and they feel little and they feel small, they feel
insignificant and they feel insecure.
The Church Of Philadelphia - Comforted Through The Lord's Knowledge Of Them
How wonderful that Jesus says to them in verse 8, "I know your deeds."
They're only little, they're small, they're insignificant,
but Jesus knows them. What does Jesus know about them? "I know your
deeds. You have kept My word, you have not
denied My name." That's what Jesus knew about them. Can the same be
said of us?
These people loved God's word. These people didn't compromise God's
word. These people loved Jesus because of what He
did for them on the cross to save them from their sins. And they were
not ashamed to bear the name of Jesus in the midst of a
negative, hostile environment. Jesus said, "I know your deeds and that
you have little power, yet you have kept My word and
not denied My name." What a comfort for Christians to know that Jesus
knows the pretenders, and He knows those who are
taking it on the chin by refusing to deny His name. What comfort that
He knows both the compromisers and those who keep
His word.
The Church Of Philadelphia - Their Source Of Confidence
Notice this church's confidence. As small as they were, as insignificant
as they were, their confidence was in Jesus Himself.
Verse 7 says, "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 [I
know] you [only] have a little power" (v. 8). This church is saying,
"Lord, we've been faithful to you, but things are getting
worse. We've been trying to stand for you in the midst of this paganism,
in the midst of an environment that's hostile to us, but
Lord, we're tired. We're tired of standing,we're tired of fighting.
We're tired." Have you ever felt like that as a Christian? Have
you ever felt tired of the battles like those of the Philadelphian
church? "Lord, we're tired. And we see what's coming down the
pike. We see this hour of testing, we see the rumblings of it, we see
the hints of it out in the world. We see that it's coming,
Lord, and we're tired. We don't know if we can stand anymore, we don't
know if we can take it anymore. We don't know if
we'll be able to take it when the onslaught comes."
Will they stand, only having a little power? Notice that Jesus didn't
say to them, "Buck up, pull yourself up by your bootstraps,
you can do it, positive thinking." No. Do you know how Jesus gives
these people hope? He talks about who He is - who HE
is! We've forgotten who Jesus is. We say too quickly He's the Savior,
He's the Lord. We don't even stop to think what these
words mean. We don't stop to think when He says, "I am the way and
the truth and the life," or when the Apostle Paul says He
is "all in all."
Jesus says to the Philadelphians who are tired of fighting: "I am holy
and true." What good does that do these people? They are
trying to be holy, they are trying to be true. Jesus is saying, "I
know My sheep. I know every one of My people in every corner
of the earth, even in a small insignificant church in Philadelphia,
who are seeking to be holy and true. And they have a special
claim upon Me because I am holy and true."
Look again at what He says: "I have placed before you an open door that
no one can shut." Here's this little church feeling
beaten down and defeated and hopeless and despairing and belittled
and nullified. Ask yourself: who are WE in the midst of
such circumstances today? We have just a little power. But Jesus says,
"Look at MY power. I am the One who opens and no
one shuts and shuts and no one opens." Do we see a Jesus who is all
powerful in these verses? We are too impressed by the
power of governments and the power of oppressors and the power of men,
and Jesus says, "Turn your eyes upon ME. You
only have a little power but I have opened a door for you and no one
can shut it." So in the midst of their circumstances, being
small and little, things threatening them in their midst and things
on the horizon, the Lord says to them, "I am your confidence.
You're weak, but I know your heart. I know you're faithful. I will
open a door for you that no one can shut, not even the
Roman Emperor." Their responsibility, and ours, is to be faithful.
Jesus would take care of the rest.
The Church Of Philadelphia - Called To Stand Fast To The End
Then Jesus encourages them by saying, "I am coming quickly." He doesn't
necessarily mean, "I am coming immediately." What
He means is, when He makes His move, events will happen decisively.
There will no longer be any hesitation. And as we see
more prophecy being fulfilled in our midst, Jesus is saying to us,
"When I put My hand on the doorknob of heaven, I will come
quickly - it will be decisive - and events will immediately fall into
place and there's not anything that's going to stop it from
happening." So He says to us as He said to the early Philadelphian
church: "Hold fast to what you have, in order that no one
take your crown" (v. 11).
The Church Of Philadelphia - Powerless, Yet Holding Onto A Promise
Despite their faithfulness, Jesus didn't promise He'd remove the bad
circumstances they found themselves in at the moment. But
He promised they would be rewarded with what escapes them in this present
life - stability, safety, rest, security - when He
returned. In verse 12, Jesus promised the Philadelphians, "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 upon
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."
When you think of a pillar, you don't think of something insignificant
and insecure. You think of strength and stability and
permanence. And here's this little church and Jesus says, "I know you
have little power and I know you're threatened on all
sides, but to those who overcome, I'm going to make you pillar in the
temple of My God." He's promising them stability and
rest if they will remain faithful. And He promises them that God's
name and the name of the New Jerusalem and His own new
name will be written upon them. If you know the book of Revelation,
you know what's coming shortly. Everyone who does not
have 666 written upon him will not be able to buy or sell. Everyone
else is going to have a name, a number, written on them.
But those who are faithful to the Lamb of God are not going to take
that number. Jesus is saying to all the beleaguered saints,
"The world will have its number, but you will have 'God' written across
you. And when they inherit the wrath of God, you will
inherit the Kingdom of God."
The Church Of Philadelphia - Then And Now
The message that the Spirit of God spoke to the church at Philadelphia
has a special relevance to us today. What is that
message? The message is that in many ways people today feel small and
insecure and overwhelmed by their adversities. And
many who are seeking to be serious disciples of Jesus Christ and live
for Him are getting tired in the battle and are feeling like
members of the little Philadelphian church - we only have a little
power and we can see the darkness descending and the
problems continuing and worsening. Many today can identify with the
little Philadelphian church.
Some who are trying to be faithful to the word of God and the name of
Jesus are feeling like they have little power because of
intense personal problems. I am not speaking of those suffering adversity
who live selfish, world-centered lives hardly
distinguishable from worldlings around them. Such are the Philadelphians.
Some are under Satanic attack DESPITE their
faithfulness to the Lord. They're not under attack because they've
been unfaithful, but DESPITE remaining faithful. Yet their
future does not seem as secure as it once did. And if our theology
says to us that we're never going to have a problem if we're
faithful to Jesus, then we've got a bad theology. There's not a verse
in the Bible to support that kind of theology. How can we
read chapters like Hebrews 11 - the great faith chapter - and believe
such things?
Others feel they have only a little power because of what is happening
all around us in the churches. Jesus said, "Because of the
increase of wickedness, the love of many will grow cold" (Matthew 24:12).
How many Philadelphians are left today in the
Church, people who say they will be faithful to God's word and Jesus'
name, and who won't compromise either one? Answer
that question in your own heart. Are you a Philadelphian, having little
power and feeling small, yet remaining faithful to your
Lord?
And finally, people today feel small and of little power because of
the present onslaught of evil in our nation and around the
world. The evil we see in our society today will increase from this
point to the end of this decade, making our present pain
seem trivial. The problem with America is not economic - it is moral
and spiritual because we no longer want God in this
country - except for the little Philadelphians. We have not seen the
half of it when this juggernaut of evil comes down the pike.
Serious believers are going to increasingly sense that they are small
with little power when the invited evil invades our entire
house and is glorified.
We are even now identifying with the Philadelphians of the first century.
The darkness is descending. The party is over. The
time will test us and only the spiritual Philadelphians will stand.
Today's Philadelphian has to seriously ask the questions: "What
shall we do?" and "How shall we live?"
Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Realize we now a minority as the people of
God.
Focus on the power of Jesus, not on our weaknesses.
Do not lose heart. Know that He has called
us to be faithful in our weakness, knowing we can't totally change or stop
what's happening.
Remember, no one can steal your crown, but
you can forfeit it through unfaithfulness and the denial of Christ's name.
Help prepare our families and friends and
those in the church for the dark times ahead.
Remember, Jesus said, "I am coming quickly. Hold fast to what you have."
Our prayer must be, "Lord, make us like
Philadelphia."