Philadelphia – The Faithful Church – Sermon 22 September, 2013

Philadelphia – The Faithful Church

Rev. 3:7-13

So far, we have examined five of the seven churches in the book of Revelation; the Church in Ephesus, the Church in Smyrna, the church in Pergamum, the church in Thyatira and the church of Sardis. The church of Ephesus did many good deeds, but they had forsaken their primary love. Therefore Jesus calls them to repent and turn back to their first love. The church of Smyrna had faced many persecutions and kept the faith and Jesus was happy to award them with the crown of life. The church of Pergamum was tolerating the teaching of Balaam who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and the teaching of Nicolaitans. Jesus orders them to repent. The church of Thyatira had compromised the Gospel and followed the teachings of the woman Jezebel, which was unacceptable to God. Jesus commands them to repent and for those who have not followed her teachings to hold what they had. The church of Sardis had some who had not soiled their clothes and they are promised to walk with Jesus dressed in white. But there were many who had to wake up and do what they had to do.

Today we will look at the Church in Philadelphia.

The word Philadelphia comes from two Greek words: PHILEO, which means, “love” and the word ADELPHOS, which means “brother“. Thus the name Philadelphia means “brotherly love“.

Philadelphia was founded in 140 BC to create a gateway to the central plateau of Asia Minor. This city was often damaged by earthquakes, which resulted in a fear that kept a large part of the population from living within the city walls. Today there still exist a town on the ancient site of Philadelphia called Alasehir in Turkey, having a population of around 15,000.

The Condemnation:

Christ had no condemnation for this church. This church appears to be a small church, but one that is obeying the teachings of Christ. The church of Philadelphia, as the name implies, must have loved one and another, even their enemies.

The Introduction:

“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.” (3:7)

Christ addresses himself as holy and true.

Being holy means that Jesus as God He is perfect and righteous. Being true means that every word that He speaks is the true word of God and that every promise He made will be kept.

We can put all of our trust in Jesus Christ for He is perfect and trustworthy. He will never leave us nor forsake us. He will always be with us through whatever trail we may go through. Christ is holy and true.

Christ holds the key of David.

The only other place where the key of David is referred to is in the book of Isaiah 22:20-22.

“In that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.”

Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, was given the key to the house of David during the reign of King Hexekiah. The key was carried on a cord hung over the shoulder and the key unlocked the house of David which contained all the treasures of the kings of Judah and also housed the government. So Eliakim controlled who could come into the house of David and also who could not.

Jesus in the same sense holds the key of the New Jerusalem; thus He controls who gets in and who does not. There is no one else who can open or close this door. Christ has the authority to say who will enter the kingdom of God and who will not. No one comes unto the Father except through Christ.

The Commendation:

“I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.” (3:8)

Christ knew their deeds, just as He knows our deeds. There isn’t anything that we do, or anything that we say, or anything that we think, that Jesus doesn’t know. Christ knew their hearts and He knew that they had truly accepted Him as their Saviour and Lord. Thus Jesus had opened the door to eternal life in heaven for them and no one could take that away from them.

Today God opens a door before the church inviting its members to commitment and service. If we accept His call and commit ourselves to that service, God will bless the work we do and will give us more responsibility in His vineyard. He expects from us to abide with His commands and do what He asks. And then He will bless us and entrusts with more responsibility and at the same time promising to be with us.

The Christians at Philadelphia had kept the word and teaching of Christ and had done their best in spreading the word of Christ, even though they had little strength. They were probably few in numbers and not wealthy, but they were rich in the blessings of Christ and they always put Him first in their lives. They were probably witnessing every day and those whom accepted the Word, Christ open the door for them, those who did not, Christ shut the door to them.

“I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars– I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.” (3:9)

Christ is referring here to the false religions and cults of today that claim that they are Christians. The day will come when these so called Christians will fall down at the feet of the Christians and acknowledge that they are the true children of God.

“Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.” (3:10)

The Christians of Philadelphia kept the commands of Christ and they endured trials patiently. They will be spared from the great trail.

“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.” (11-12)

Because of His love to the church Christ gave His appreciation and exhorted them to do more. His call was to persevere and do more for the glory of God. If the church faithfully accepts His call, then its award will be greater and it will be awarded with being a pillar in the temple with a new name return on it. The church has to take Christ’s call seriously and continue its mission faithfully until victory.

If we overcome, as did the church of Philadelphia, we will be honoured in God’s temple and always be with Him and we will always be His church. When we accept Christ as our Saviour our names are written in the Book of Life. We belong to God and nothing can take that away from us. When we accept Jesus as our Saviour, we take on God’s name and we belong to Him forever. We will live with Christ forever in the New Jerusalem to come.

The Warning:

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (3:13)

Again Jesus warns us that we need to listen to what He is saying to the seven churches for it applies to us today just as much as it applied to the seven churches of Asia.

Today we have looked at a church that Jesus was well pleased with. He was pleased with the works of the church and the people. They didn’t criticize the sermons, or the choice of music. There wasn’t a power struggle on who would make the decisions on how the church was to be run. Everyone got along. They loved everyone. They didn’t complain or get angry. They loved Christ so much that all they wanted to do was to please Him and obey all of His teachings. Wouldn’t it be great if the church was like that?

Today we have learned the Jesus holds the key to heaven and hell. He is the one who knows if we have accepted Him and faithfully do what He asks us to do.

Krikor Youmshajekian