Text: Rev. 3:7-13

Message to Philadelphia

REVIEW: 3 things we learned from last Sunday’s message – Church of Sardis

• Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. (Matt. 26:41(NASB) 41 “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”)

• The message to Sardis is a warning to all “great churches” that are living on past glory. The church had grown comfortable and content and was living on its past reputation. There was reputation without reality, form without force. In fact, even what they did have was about to die! Why? Because the believers had gone to sleep.

• He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life,** but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
  **Luke 10:20 (KJV) 20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. (written = recorded/NASB; registered/NLT)

The Message to the Church in Philadelphia

Revelation 3:7 - 13 (NASB)

7“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:

COMMENDATION

8‘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.

9‘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.

10‘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.

11‘I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown.

12‘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.

CONSOLATION

13‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

• As in the letters to the other churches, Jesus here stated that he knew their deeds—all the things you do—yet he had no words of rebuke for the believers. The church may have been small (you have little strength) and may have had little impact upon the city, but it had obeyed and had not denied God. They had been faithful in a difficult area.
• The phrase “I have opened a door for you that no one can shut” may mean that the church had a prime location for missionary activity—they had an open door that no one could shut. The meaning, however, may refer to the Jewish believers who had been excommunicated from the synagogue for their faith in Jesus. While the door to the synagogue may have been closed to them, Jesus had opened a door that no one can shut. The door to eternal life stood open to them, and Christ held the keys. No one could keep them out if they trusted in Jesus.
• As most people know, Philadelphia means “love of the brethren.” Certainly, brotherly love is an important mark of the Christian. We are “taught of God to love one another” (1 Thes. 4:9): by God the Father (1 John 4:19), God the Son (John 13:34), and God the Spirit (Rom. 5:5).

Be a Berean: “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” Acts 17:11