Sermon Notes - Revelation 3:7-13 - Letter to Philadelphia - Littleby Baptist Church - June 27, 2021
1.
Five letters so far and we see re-occurring themes.
a.
Love God more than anything else.
b.
As followers our Hope is in our Jesus and our
Name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
c.
Trust in the Word of God, make it a priority.
d.
Let our Love for God and His Word, drive us to
serve Him and Others.
e.
Sounds like what we would call a normal Christian
walk.
2.
Philadelphia
a.
With Sardis we finished 3 sides of a rough
parallelogram.
b.
From Sardis we are heading 28 miles to the southeast,
mostly east.
c.
Named for Attalus Philadelphus king of Pergamos,
who died 138 BC.
d.
Area is plagued with earthquakes but has fertile
land so many farmers and few city dwellers.
e.
Today is called Allah Shehr, the City of God
with a population of 40K.
f.
Had a strong Christian and Catholic presence
until about 100 years ago.
g.
6th of the 7 letters, but the 2nd
of 2 that Jesus does not rebuke.
3.
Revelation
3:7
a.
Isaiah 22:20-23
b.
Eliakim was given authority over the royal
household.
i. He
had the keys of power.
ii. God
gave him the authority to rule.
c.
Jesus, the Holy one who has the Key of David,
has complete authority.
i. We
have seen in chapter 1 that Jesus has the Key, authority, over death and hades.
ii. Here
as the holder of the Key of David, Jesus has complete authority.
iii. He
decides who can enter Glory and who faces an eternity of weeping and gnashing.
iv. Only
Jesus can open the gates of Heaven and of Hell.
v. Jesus
has the Key; He has complete authority.
4.
Revelation 3:8 – The Good
a.
Once again Jesus tells the church that He knows
exactly what they were doing.
b.
Placed an open door that no one can close:
i. May
have been in response to the faithful being expelled from the Jewish temple.
ii. Jesus
has given opportunity to witness to others.
iii. He
has granted them access to Him and the Holy Spirit that they cannot be stopped
by any man or demon.
iv. Likely
a promise that they will be accepted into Glory because of their continued
faith in Jesus.
c.
Little power, little strength, small in number compared
to the people of the town.
i. Outnumbered
in what was likely a hostile environment.
ii. On
the political and societal outskirt, had little to no clout or influence.
iii. God
can and does use whoever He chooses, regardless of how the world sees them.
iv. No
matter the mountain before us, God can and will use us to carry out His will.
d.
Kept Jesus’ Word and did not deny:
i. Stayed
true to the Word of God and did not renounce their faith when the Jews turned
on them.
5.
Revelation 3:9
a.
Not the first time we have heard the synagogue
of Satan.
i. Jesus
was expressing that the Jews in question were standing against true faith.
ii. They
had resorted to lying and attacking those who believe that Jesus is the
Messiah.
iii. We
will disagree with others, but lying and attacking are not how we handle the
disagreements.
b.
Fall down at your feet…
i. Normal
for Jews to expect the Gentile to take a back seat.
1.
Jews were chosen, Gentile’s were not.
ii. Jesus
is telling the church in Philadelphia that their will come a time when the Jews
will realize that the Christians were correct.
iii. They
will realize that the Messiah loves those who follow Him.
1.
The ones the Jews were attacking.
6.
Revelation 3:10 – Starting to get interesting.
a.
Because you have kept my command to endure…
i. An
encouragement to the Philadelphian church.
ii. A
message for all who follow Jesus from that day forward.
b.
I will also keep you…
i. The
church of Philadelphia will not endure the hour of trial.
ii. If
representative of those who faithfully follow Jesus.
1.
Those who follow Him will not endure the hour of
trial.
c.
This is one of the key verses that people debate
over when discussing the End of Days.
d.
I would say there are two questions we have to
come to terms with.
i. What
is meant by ‘keep you from’?
1.
Does that mean to make sure someone does not
have to face the temptations?
2.
Or does it mean to protect them through it?
3.
Is there a time when Jesus pulls his followers from
this world before the temptation comes to the whole world?
ii. The
second is, what is meant by ‘hour of testing’?
1.
Since it is going to hit the whole world, it was
not limited to just this church.
2.
Does it represent the whole of the Tribulation
that starts in Revelation chapter 6?
3.
Does it represent the wrath that hits just
before the Lord’s coming?
iii. Lots
of opinions on these questions.
iv. My
$0.02 is that at some point the faithful followers of Jesus will no longer be
on earth.
v. When
really depends on how the events truly stack up.
1.
Remember Revelation is a guideline to prepare us
for what is to come, not a play-by-play prophecy.
vi. 1
Thessalonians 4:13-17
1.
At some point between today and the second
coming of our Lord Jesus, the raising of the dead as well as Jesus calling the faithful
believers to His side.
2.
What we commonly call the rapture.
3.
This is before the final judgement, but when it
will happen, no one knows.
vii. 2
Thessalonians 2:3
1.
Written to followers, we will see the unveiling
of the anti-Christ.
a.
If that happens before seals are opened that we
see in chapter 6, it will support believers not being here during the tribulation.
b.
If it happens later, it will mean a
mid-tribulation or pre-wrath rapture.
7.
Revelation 3:11
a.
Coming soon… not here soon but when He comes it
will be suddenly and swiftly.
b.
If we are not paying attention, we will get
caught unaware.
c.
Hold on to what you have… Hold on to your faith.
Continue to trust in Jesus. Continue to trust in the Word of God.
d.
Don’t be one who loses their crown because they
were not paying attention.
8.
Revelation 3:12
a.
Overcomer… those who repent and turn to Jesus. Those
who follow Jesus.
b.
‘I will make a pillar in the temple of my God,
and he will never go out again’… a permanent presence in the temple or presence
of God.
i. If
we repent of our sins, if we follow Jesus, we will be with our God forever.
c.
I will write on him the name of my God…
i. The
high priest of the Old Testament wore a golden plate on his forehead with the
name Jehovah.
ii. Believers
will be identified as belonging to Jesus.
1.
Some take this to be some physical mark
differing from the mark of the beast.
2.
But it might not be a physical mark at all, it may
also be an anointing or holiness, it may be that there is enough of the Holy
Spirit in you that people can tell.
iii. The
new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven…
1.
The New Jerusalem, the new city that is created
after the final judgement.
9.
The Letter to Philadelphia
a.
Was for the faithful church at that time and was
telling them that the future will be better.
b.
It is for those who are faithfully following
Jesus today.
c.
Those who are living at the time of testing,
will be kept from it.
i. How
much will we see? Only God knows.
d.
Tells us that we will be with Jesus forever.
e.
We will be marked as children of God.
f.
We will dwell in the New Jerusalem, something we
will spend more time in later in the Book of Revelation.
10. Revelation
3:13
a.
As we se with each letter… we need to pay
attention to what God is telling us.
i. Pay
attention to what the Word says.
ii. Watch
what is happening in the world, don’t obsess but watch.
iii. Let
the Holy Spirit be our guide.
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