Post by Benjamin on Oct 10, 2015 4:55:21 GMT
This is the seventh sermon in my series in Revelation.
Below is the full text, and I'll upload PDF for those who prefer that, as always.
This is the Letter to the church at Philadelphia - the sixth of the seven churches, and the second faithful church (Smyrna being the first).
There was an awful lot to cover in this sermon, and you'll notice that there are points that I haven't even begun to address. Those things have been left out due to the time constraints of preaching, but will be addressed in later sermons as I continue through the book of Revelation.
THE PDF: 7 The Church at Philadelphia - the Church t....pdf (514.21 KB)
A LINK TO SCRIBD, FOR THOSE WHO CAN'T VIEW PDFs: www.scribd.com/doc/284261829/7-the-Church-at-Philadelphia-The-Church-That-Would-Be-King
Philadelphia: The Church that would be king.
Revelation 3:7-12
We’re going to be continuing this morning in our series through the book of Revelation. We’ve now reached the church of Philadelphia. This is the sixth of the seven churches that we’ll be studying, and is just the second that has nothing negative said about it. Philadelphia is often termed ‘the faithful church’, and indeed that’s most likely the heading you’ll see above the text in your Bibles as we read this morning.
Turn with me, please, to Revelation chapter 3 and verse 7.
Before we begin, let’s open with a word of prayer.
Father, as we open your word this morning, I pray that we would be willing listeners to the words that your Holy Spirit would have us hear. I pray that as we study your letter to the church at Philadelphia, that we would see, both in word and in truth, the glory of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and that we should come to see what incredible promises and blessings you have stored up for those who believe in His name. Father, I pray that you would cause the scales to fall from our eyes, that we might truly understand how real, how precious, and how powerful the promises of God are for His children. Lord, I pray that we might see Jesus Christ in every letter, every word, every phrase of this passage today, and that in seeing Him, we might be filled with a passion for your Name, and for the glory of the Lamb that was slain.
In Jesus’ holy name,
Amen.
Turn with me in your Bibles, if you would, to Revelation, chapter 3 and verse 7.
Revelation, chapter 3 and verse 7.
7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,
‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”:
8 “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.
9 Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.
10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
11 Behold,[e] I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.
12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. 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 I will write on him My new name.
13 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’
I’m going to start this morning in much the same way that this letter ends: with a name.
I’ve entitled this sermon “The Church that would be King”. Now that might seem like a provocative title, and in many respects I hope that it is – but it’s a theme that we’ll see employed repeatedly throughout this letter. When I last preached, on the letter to the church at Sardis, I spoke a little bit about the future and destiny of the church. Here, in the letter to Philadelphia, we’ll see that same theme repeated, but with a very different kind of imagery.
So, let’s begin to break this down. In order to show you ‘The Church that would be King’, I’d like to focus on three elements of this letter. Those three elements are The Church; the character of the King, and the Crown.
Let’s begin by looking at the Church.
In looking at the church this morning we’re going to see most strongly the physical condition of the city of Philadelphia, and the church within that city. This is important because everything that the Lord Jesus reveals about Himself later in this passage directly reflects upon Philadelphia’s current condition; and so, what we see here in physical terms, in the city, in the church, we’ll also see reflected in spiritual terms later on, in the person of Jesus Christ.
One aspect that we haven’t examined in great detail up to this point in our series is the geographical layout of each of the seven churches. Of the seven, only two (Ephesus and Smyrna) are on the coast of modern-day Turkey. The remaining five churches, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea, form a relatively straight line from northwest to southeast along an ancient Roman road. We’ve seen in previous studies that this Roman Road brought great trade to cities like Thyatira, and provided opportunities for temples and shrines to prosper, as in Pergamos and Smyrna. The city of Philadelphia is somewhat different to each of those we’ve looked at so far, in that its primary function was as a military outpost. What we’re going to see this morning, however, is that this is a city, and a church, that had persisted despite opposition, and had grown - and flourished – even in difficult circumstances.
Let’s look briefly at the history of this city. Philadelphia was established by the King of Pergamon, Eumenes the 2nd, in 189BC. We have already encountered Eumenes during our studies in the book of Revelation, though in something of an indirect way – as it was he Eumenes who was primarily responsible for the expansion of the great Library at Pergamos. Eumenes named the city in reference to the love that he held for his brother, Attalus, using the Greek “phileo”, meaning ‘friendship’ or ‘affection’, and “adelphos”, meaning ‘brother’ – thus “Philadelphia: the city of brotherly love”.
I mentioned a moment ago that Philadelphia was built upon the Roman Road that runs through many of the cities we’ve already studied. While that’s true, its location was more significant than that. You see, Philadelphia was built at a crossroads heading West to Smyrna and Ephesus, North to Sardis and Pergamos, East to Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe, and South to Laodicea and Colossae. It served effectively as the gateway to the major cities of Asia Minor, built on a chokepoint of sorts leading up to the large plateau on which the great cities of the province were built.
Despite being a significant military outpost, Philadelphia was also known for its production of wine, which, along with textile and leather industries, formed the economic base of the city and its inhabitants. The farmland to the north of the city was extremely productive, but also extremely volatile. You see, what made Philadelphia’s plateau so rich for agriculture was the volcanic activity of the region immediately to the north. That region was known as the ‘Caracecaumene’, meaning “the burnt land”, which was filled with active volcanic cones, driven up through the earth by the Anatolian fault beneath. This made Philadelphia particularly susceptible to earthquakes. Now, you may remember from our study in the church at Sardis that there had been a major earthquake in Asia Minor in 17AD. That earthquake was centered on this region. The historian Tacitus records that the cities of Sardis and Philadelphia were the hardest hit; and in fact the city was so badly damaged by this earthquake that the Roman Emperor Tiberias granted its inhabitants a five year exemption from paying taxes. He also dedicated ten million sestertii from the royal coffers to help fund the rebuilding effort in each of the 12 cities that had been seriously damaged.
In an expression of their gratitude the citizens of Philadelphia renamed their city Neocaesarea, in honour of Tiberias and his generosity. The only problem was that the funding received from Tiberias was merely a contribution toward the cause; and while cities like Sardis had wealth of their own with which to rebuild, Philadelphia did not. Continued aftershocks and the comparatively poorer populace meant that the funds received at Philadelphia were insufficient to truly recover, and only the rich vineyards on the outskirts of the city allowed its inhabitants to cling to life. By the time of Tiberias’ death in 37AD, parts of Philadelphia still lay in ruins, and the majority of its citizens were living in hastily built homes outside the city walls. Perhaps tellingly, an inscription was discovered in the remains of Sardis in the 1960s that praised the emperor for having rebuilt the “12 Cities destroyed in the great earthquake” of 17AD. Of those 12 Cities, 8 sent notaries whose names were etched as signatories on the plaque. Philadelphia was missing.
In the years that followed, Philadelphia suffered a shaking of a different kind. After years of fluctuating fortunes and thwarted attempts at rebuilding, the Emperor Vespasian, who ruled from 69AD to 79AD, committed funds and resources to the rebuilding of the city. For a time, it seemed that the Philadelphia’s fortunes would be restored. To the city’s residents, it must have seemed as though a door had been opened through which Philadelphia might finally regain some of its former prosperity. Under Vespasian, the city once again had its name changed; this time to ‘Flavia’, a name chosen to reflect Vespasian’s family and heritage.
Once again, however, the city would be let down. While Vespasian had committed to aid in the rebuilding process in Philadelphia, his son was not so kind. As the city began to recover, the vineyards began to expand. In rich volcanic soil, these new plantations flourished, and exports began to increase. In just a few short years, that trade threatened to overtake the vineyards of Rome itself, and as quickly as that, the open door slammed shut. Vespasian’s son and successor, Domitian, issued a decree that the vineyards of Philadelphia were to be destroyed. He betrayed the very people whose fortunes his father had helped restore, and crushed the city and its economy. By the time John wrote down the words dictated by the Lord Jesus, the church and city of Philadelphia were impoverished and clinging to life with what little strength they had left.
So, that’s the history of the church – and no doubt you can see some of the parallels here yourself at this point
…but how does this relate prophetically?
The Prophetic Application
The church at Philadelphia correlates to the Missionary Church. Historically, this is the period from around 1750 through to the Rapture. This is a church that still exists (at least in some measure!) today, and will continue to do so until the Lord returns. There is a distinct correlation, as with each of the books, between the historical and the prophetic elements. This church, like that at Philadelphia, lay at the crossroads of the world. It is during this period that the church regained its missionary zeal, and began to send faithful believers out into all the world.
This time period, from 1750 to the present, has been without doubt the period of greatest upheaval in the history of mankind – and escalating upheaval, at that. From the birth of the Industrial Revolution until now, there has been a great shaking throughout the world. Nations have risen and fallen, there have been wars, and rumours of wars, technology has increased and grown at an exponential rate, the global climate has changed, and continues to change, and in fact if we stand back and look at the world as it stands today, there can be little doubt that we are rushing headlong toward the Tribulation: the Day of the Lord.
This rapid advance, while enabling great evil in the world, also served to facilitate the spread of the gospel throughout the world. Technology that we take for granted today – reliable sea travel, air powered flight, even the power of the internet, has enabled the church of Jesus Christ to bring the gospel to the far corners of the globe. The constantly improving technology in the print industry, together with the mission-minded church, saw the production of Bibles in numerous languages.
Just anecdotally, I once sat in a history class at University in which the lecturer, an avowed atheist, declared without any sense of irony at all that the greatest advances in world literacy were due almost entirely to the production of the Word of God in people’s native tongues. He wasn’t far wrong. Philadelphia’s “open door” was indeed truly open, and once opened, it became a door that no man could shut. The gospel would grow and prevail, and nothing could stand in its way.
It’s important to note that there were two major doctrines that were revived during this time period. The first of these was one that we covered in some depth in our study of the letter to Sardis: the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. What we saw in that letter was that the church had fallen asleep. They had forgotten to watch and to wait for the Lord’s return, and had eventually taken their eyes off the Lord Jesus Christ entirely. The Missionary Church had remained focused, and kept their eyes on Christ.
This is why Jesus says, “…you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.”
This is a church that was awake. They “had a little strength”, and had held fast despite the many challenges they faced.
…there was a second doctrine that this church held to, and it’s hinted at in this verse too.
“You have kept my word”, the Lord says.
The church here at Philadelphia, the Missionary Church, had managed to accomplish that which the church at Sardis failed to do. Where the church of the Reformation reclaimed the doctrine of sola scriptura and re-established the nature of salvation, by faith alone, through grace alone, in Christ alone, they had failed to apply the same scrutiny to their eschatology, or to their methods of interpretation. In the Missionary Church, however, we see for the first time in many hundreds of years the reclamation of the literal interpretation of Scripture. “You have kept my Word”, Jesus says, “and have not denied my name.”
The restoration of the literal interpretation of Scripture became key in this church regaining an Eschatology that acknowledged the reality of the soon return of the Lord Jesus Christ; which in turn led to a church that was faithful, watching, waiting and serving their King.
This church was not without opposition, however.
“Indeed, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie – indeed, I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.”
I’m not going to go into a great deal of detail on this today, though I do understand that it’s a confronting verse, and one that needs to be addressed. We last saw this term, “the synagogue of Satan”, in the letter to the church at Smyrna. In that letter, I explained to you that the primary application of the phrase was in reference to the Jews of Asia Minor; who, having rejected the Messiah, turned to persecuting the church of Jesus Christ throughout the Middle East, and indeed in many of the churches that we’ve studied thus far. But what we saw as a Synagogue of Satan in Smyrna, we now see in its fulfilment as the Synagogue of Satan here in Philadelphia. There’s a subtle distinction in the language here, not only in terms of the fact that this passage uses the definite article, “the”, rather than the unspecific “a” used in Smyrna, but also in the fact that the Lord stresses the false nature of their state twice. These people “say they are Jews and are not – but lie”. In historical terms, the Synagogue of Satan was those who claimed to be Jews, but rejected Jesus Christ and continued to adhere to the Mosaic Law. In prophetic terms, however, I believe there is another fulfilment to this verse. In our own churches today, there are many who would consider themselves to be the ‘Israel of God’, who have replaced and supplanted the Jews as God’s Chosen People. This is utter falsehood, and it is a doctrine that the Lord despises, primarily because it compromises His character, and renders His promises to Israel as little more than lies themselves.
I believe in all honesty that the Lord tolerated this doctrine inasmuch as He allowed the tares to grow with the wheat – and for a time, He left such error unpunished. I also believe that time is rapidly coming to a close – and that churches who have traditionally rejected Israel are now suffering both numerically and spiritually for their refusal to take the King of Kings at His Word.
…and with that, we reach our next point – the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ: The King of Kings
In each of the previous letters that we’ve studied here in the book of Revelation, we’ve seen the Lord Jesus presents Himself as the solution to the problem that each church was facing. In each case so far, we’ve seen Jesus Christ refer to Himself in terms that are directly translated from John’s glorious vision of the King in Revelation Chapter 1. Here, however, in the letter to Philadelphia, the Lord Jesus Christ breaks with the previously established pattern and refers to Himself in terms that are not found in any of the previous chapters.
Look at verse 7.
“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia, write,
‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens.’”
To begin with, let’s take the first half of this verse. Jesus Christ is “holy and true”.
There are two character traits at work here, and one reinforces the other. First, the Lord Jesus, in identifying Himself as “holy”, is declaring Himself to be completely other, completely separate, to what the church in Philadelphia have experienced. He is, in portraying Himself in this manner, placing Himself in direct contrast to the rulers of this world that had so frustrated the church in Philadelphia. We saw earlier that on more than one occasion, Roman Emperors had presented themselves as being great saviours and benefactors toward Philadelphia in the wake of the great earthquake of AD17. In each case, however, these emperors failed to follow through – or worse, in the case of Vespasian, actively chose to betray the city he had promised to rebuild. Jesus Christ, these verses declare, is completely ‘other’, completely separate, completely different from these rulers. Whatever their experience, whatever their suffering, whatever betrayals they faced, whatever disappointment they dealt with, Jesus Christ is Holy. He is entirely different, entirely pure, entirely good.
…and He is also faithful.
The faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ, both here in Revelation Chapter 3, and in the previous chapters, and those to come, is expressed almost exclusively in two contexts. The first of these is regarding the trustworthiness of His testimony. That which He presents to the church and to the world regarding Himself is true. He is the “faithful witness and the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth”, from chapter 1 verse 10.
The second of these is that Jesus Christ is faithful in upholding and preserving those who have been committed to Him by the Father.
Listen to these verses from John chapter 10,
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
Likewise Philippians 1:6 says “that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
This is Jesus Christ; and He is utterly faithful.
Remember what the church in Philadelphia had suffered. Quite literally nothing in their entire experience was stable. Nothing in living memory was dependable, or consistent. Even the land itself was a fickle testament to the ups and downs of life. Jesus Christ, however, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, “is the same yesterday, today and forever.”
Now, for a group of people living in such uncertain times, and in such difficult circumstances, this must have been of some comfort. For us, however, the point is no less emphatic.
What the Lord Jesus is revealing to us here, what He is stressing to us, and to the church at Philadelphia, is that His faithfulness to us is in no way dependent upon our ability to remain faithful to Him; rather, it is entrenched in and irrevocably tied to His own character. 2 Timothy 2:13 says that even “if we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”
…but that’s not all that Jesus Christ reveals in this verse. Look at verse 7 again:
"These things says He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens.”
As you can see here, the manner in which the Lord Jesus Christ identifies Himself to this church is entirely distinct from every other representation we’ve looked at in these letters. Here, for the first time, the King of Kings makes an allusion to His character that is not contained within the previous Revelation of the King, from chapter 1. This particular description comes from Isaiah chapter 22. Turn with me to that passage.
Isaiah 22, starting at verse 20.
‘Then it shall be in that day,
That I will call My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah;
21 I will clothe him with your robe
And strengthen him with your belt;
I will commit your responsibility into his hand.
He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem
And to the house of Judah.
22 The key of the house of David
I will lay on his shoulder;
So he shall open, and no one shall shut;
And he shall shut, and no one shall open.
23 I will fasten him as a peg in a secure place,
And he will become a glorious throne to his father’s house.
I’d like to read to you from Robert Hawker’s commentary on this passage – if for no other reason than the fact that I love his enthusiasm. Listen to how Hawker gets carried away by the idea that what Isaiah is presenting here is not merely Eliakim, but Jesus Christ Himself:
“The Prophet gives, in these verses, a very pleasing account of the character of Eliakim, and of the Lord’s approbation of him. I confess myself inclined to drop all considerations of the servant, to look at the master; for very certain it is, a greater than Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, is represented. I venture to set this down as a fixed and certain thing, because the Lord Jesus himself, when making himself known to his servant John and sending him to communicate what he saw and heard to the churches, declared who he was by this very insignalia, of the key of David.
… so can we refrain a moment, from having our very souls led, instinctively as it were, to all precious, all-glorious Jesus; whose robe of salvation is the everlasting clothing and glory of his redeemed; and whose girdle the faithfulness of the whole covenant, for his people to lay hold of, and hang by in time, and to all eternity? Who but Jesus hath indeed the key of the house of David?”
I agree wholeheartedly with Hawker: these verses look not only to Eliakim, but beyond, to the King of Kings Himself, Jesus Christ. …but it’s the manner and meaning of this allusion that strikes me. We see from these verses that Jesus Christ “has the key of David”, and it is He “who opens and no one shuts, and shuts, and no one opens”, but what does this mean? I think there is only one logical conclusion here, and I’d like to draw your attention to Scripture to support it. Turn with me now to the book of 2nd Samuel, chapter 7. We’re going to begin reading from verse 12.
What we’re reading here is an encounter between King David and the prophet Nathan. Prior to these verses, David had expressed his desire to build a house for the Ark of the Covenant; to build a temple. Nathan initially agreed with David, saying “go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.” God, apparently, had other ideas. He gave Nathan the prophet a vision, in which He said that it would be He that would build David a house – and it is here that we pick up. Verse 12.
“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. 15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.”’”
There’s a lot to absorb there, but what we need to understand is this: the key of David opens the house of David. …and what is the house of David? It’s the house of the King; and you’re invited to enter!
What the Lord Jesus Christ is doing here, in identifying Himself this way, is not only laying claim to the eternal line of Kingship upon the throne of David – “your throne shall be established forever”, but also opening that same door for those who are in Christ. This is a promise for every believer! It is a promise for you and I, here and now. This is Jesus Christ, “who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”. What the King of Kings offers to those who believe in His name – to those who overcome, as we’ve seen in each and every letter – is the opportunity to rule as Kings with Him. …and this brings us to the Crown.
A Crown from the King of Kings
Now, in case you think I’m making something out of nothing here, let’s look at this concept. Verse 11. “Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.”
Did you catch that?
The crown of Kingship isn’t something to be obtained, it’s something already obtained – and given to those who are in Christ. Your Kingship in Christ was bought, paid for, and is guaranteed by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is a door opened by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and it is a door that no man may shut. Bob quoted this verse to us a couple of weeks ago, and it remains relevant to us here, revealing to us not only the ownership of our crowns in Christ Jesus, but also the means by which it has been guaranteed. Turn with me to Ephesians 2.
Ephesians 2, starting at verse 4.
4 "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."
I want you to notice here that being seated with the King, and bearing a crown in His name, is our current condition. This is not just the future destiny of the church, but is expressed here as a present reality. Revelation 3:11 says “Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown”. Take in the magnitude of that verse! As a Christian, in this broken world, you may feel mundane at times; you may feel defeated, you may feel woefully inadequate in the light of your own humanity, and no doubt in human eyes we are mundane indeed – but in Christ… in Christ, the reality far exceeds your feelings! You are raised up, you are evidence of the exceeding riches of His grace, you are saved, and you are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms!
Read verse 10 again with me.
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."
It should never stop to amaze the Christian to realize that we are His workmanship. What we are, who we are in Christ, and who we shall be in His Name, as He carries this work on to its completion in the day of Christ Jesus, is a masterpiece of grace. And it is only here, only here… in the person and the power and the glory and the majesty, the resurrection and the risen radiance of the King of Kings, that broken vessels made whole, lifted up, and crowned on high with Christ to the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Turn with me back to Revelation 1, and verse 4.
Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.
To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.[/font]
This is the promise. If you are united with Christ in His death, if you have risen with Christ in His resurrection, if you hear Him and know His voice…
You will rule with Him over the Kings of the earth. …and that crown is yours now. That’s just how certain these promises are in Christ!
And if your life is in Christ, look at the response of the King. Turn back to Revelation 3, verse 11.
"Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. 12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. 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 I will write on him My new name."
What The Lord Jesus Christ is stressing here… is ownership. If you’re in Christ, you’re His – and He will not let you go. There is such certainty in these verses! What does Isaiah say? “I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine.”
In fact, you are so precious to Jesus Christ that He will snatch you out of this world to spare you from the hour of trial that is coming upon the earth. He will stamp His name upon you, and the name of His God, and the name of the city of His God, so that all heaven and earth will know that you are His!
…and ultimately, that’s what this is all about.
All the promises, all the crowns, all the glory, all the blessings that are ours in Christ – they’re not given to glorify us, but to glorify Him, because He alone is worthy… and He deserves to have the prize for which He died.
Turn with me, in closing, to Revelation 4. We’re going to read the whole passage together as we close.
After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”
2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. 3 And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
6 Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. 8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:
“Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come!”
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:
11 “You are worthy, O Lord,
To receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things,
And by Your will they exist and were created.”
This is the destiny of the church of Jesus Christ.
He said that He would place an open door before the church at Philadelphia… and so He did. It’s right here in verse 1 of chapter 4. When He opens that door, no man can close it. …but when He closes it, no man can pry it open.
This is the question, then, for you this morning.
Are you seated with Christ in the heavenly realms? Has your sin been dealt with? Have you been washed in the blood of the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world?
If you can honestly say this morning that you have, that you have new life in Christ, then there is a rest for you in His Name. He is faithful, and cannot be shaken.
…but if you’re not in Christ today, if you’ve never knelt before the King of Kings and asked Him to forgive your sin and wash you white as snow, then won’t you do that today? Time is so very short, and soon this door will close – and no one will open it again.
Let’s pray.
Below is the full text, and I'll upload PDF for those who prefer that, as always.
This is the Letter to the church at Philadelphia - the sixth of the seven churches, and the second faithful church (Smyrna being the first).
There was an awful lot to cover in this sermon, and you'll notice that there are points that I haven't even begun to address. Those things have been left out due to the time constraints of preaching, but will be addressed in later sermons as I continue through the book of Revelation.
THE PDF: 7 The Church at Philadelphia - the Church t....pdf (514.21 KB)
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Philadelphia: The Church that would be king.
Revelation 3:7-12
We’re going to be continuing this morning in our series through the book of Revelation. We’ve now reached the church of Philadelphia. This is the sixth of the seven churches that we’ll be studying, and is just the second that has nothing negative said about it. Philadelphia is often termed ‘the faithful church’, and indeed that’s most likely the heading you’ll see above the text in your Bibles as we read this morning.
Turn with me, please, to Revelation chapter 3 and verse 7.
Before we begin, let’s open with a word of prayer.
Father, as we open your word this morning, I pray that we would be willing listeners to the words that your Holy Spirit would have us hear. I pray that as we study your letter to the church at Philadelphia, that we would see, both in word and in truth, the glory of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and that we should come to see what incredible promises and blessings you have stored up for those who believe in His name. Father, I pray that you would cause the scales to fall from our eyes, that we might truly understand how real, how precious, and how powerful the promises of God are for His children. Lord, I pray that we might see Jesus Christ in every letter, every word, every phrase of this passage today, and that in seeing Him, we might be filled with a passion for your Name, and for the glory of the Lamb that was slain.
In Jesus’ holy name,
Amen.
Turn with me in your Bibles, if you would, to Revelation, chapter 3 and verse 7.
Revelation, chapter 3 and verse 7.
7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,
‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”:
8 “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.
9 Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.
10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
11 Behold,[e] I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.
12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. 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 I will write on him My new name.
13 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’
I’m going to start this morning in much the same way that this letter ends: with a name.
I’ve entitled this sermon “The Church that would be King”. Now that might seem like a provocative title, and in many respects I hope that it is – but it’s a theme that we’ll see employed repeatedly throughout this letter. When I last preached, on the letter to the church at Sardis, I spoke a little bit about the future and destiny of the church. Here, in the letter to Philadelphia, we’ll see that same theme repeated, but with a very different kind of imagery.
So, let’s begin to break this down. In order to show you ‘The Church that would be King’, I’d like to focus on three elements of this letter. Those three elements are The Church; the character of the King, and the Crown.
Let’s begin by looking at the Church.
In looking at the church this morning we’re going to see most strongly the physical condition of the city of Philadelphia, and the church within that city. This is important because everything that the Lord Jesus reveals about Himself later in this passage directly reflects upon Philadelphia’s current condition; and so, what we see here in physical terms, in the city, in the church, we’ll also see reflected in spiritual terms later on, in the person of Jesus Christ.
One aspect that we haven’t examined in great detail up to this point in our series is the geographical layout of each of the seven churches. Of the seven, only two (Ephesus and Smyrna) are on the coast of modern-day Turkey. The remaining five churches, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea, form a relatively straight line from northwest to southeast along an ancient Roman road. We’ve seen in previous studies that this Roman Road brought great trade to cities like Thyatira, and provided opportunities for temples and shrines to prosper, as in Pergamos and Smyrna. The city of Philadelphia is somewhat different to each of those we’ve looked at so far, in that its primary function was as a military outpost. What we’re going to see this morning, however, is that this is a city, and a church, that had persisted despite opposition, and had grown - and flourished – even in difficult circumstances.
Let’s look briefly at the history of this city. Philadelphia was established by the King of Pergamon, Eumenes the 2nd, in 189BC. We have already encountered Eumenes during our studies in the book of Revelation, though in something of an indirect way – as it was he Eumenes who was primarily responsible for the expansion of the great Library at Pergamos. Eumenes named the city in reference to the love that he held for his brother, Attalus, using the Greek “phileo”, meaning ‘friendship’ or ‘affection’, and “adelphos”, meaning ‘brother’ – thus “Philadelphia: the city of brotherly love”.
I mentioned a moment ago that Philadelphia was built upon the Roman Road that runs through many of the cities we’ve already studied. While that’s true, its location was more significant than that. You see, Philadelphia was built at a crossroads heading West to Smyrna and Ephesus, North to Sardis and Pergamos, East to Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe, and South to Laodicea and Colossae. It served effectively as the gateway to the major cities of Asia Minor, built on a chokepoint of sorts leading up to the large plateau on which the great cities of the province were built.
Despite being a significant military outpost, Philadelphia was also known for its production of wine, which, along with textile and leather industries, formed the economic base of the city and its inhabitants. The farmland to the north of the city was extremely productive, but also extremely volatile. You see, what made Philadelphia’s plateau so rich for agriculture was the volcanic activity of the region immediately to the north. That region was known as the ‘Caracecaumene’, meaning “the burnt land”, which was filled with active volcanic cones, driven up through the earth by the Anatolian fault beneath. This made Philadelphia particularly susceptible to earthquakes. Now, you may remember from our study in the church at Sardis that there had been a major earthquake in Asia Minor in 17AD. That earthquake was centered on this region. The historian Tacitus records that the cities of Sardis and Philadelphia were the hardest hit; and in fact the city was so badly damaged by this earthquake that the Roman Emperor Tiberias granted its inhabitants a five year exemption from paying taxes. He also dedicated ten million sestertii from the royal coffers to help fund the rebuilding effort in each of the 12 cities that had been seriously damaged.
In an expression of their gratitude the citizens of Philadelphia renamed their city Neocaesarea, in honour of Tiberias and his generosity. The only problem was that the funding received from Tiberias was merely a contribution toward the cause; and while cities like Sardis had wealth of their own with which to rebuild, Philadelphia did not. Continued aftershocks and the comparatively poorer populace meant that the funds received at Philadelphia were insufficient to truly recover, and only the rich vineyards on the outskirts of the city allowed its inhabitants to cling to life. By the time of Tiberias’ death in 37AD, parts of Philadelphia still lay in ruins, and the majority of its citizens were living in hastily built homes outside the city walls. Perhaps tellingly, an inscription was discovered in the remains of Sardis in the 1960s that praised the emperor for having rebuilt the “12 Cities destroyed in the great earthquake” of 17AD. Of those 12 Cities, 8 sent notaries whose names were etched as signatories on the plaque. Philadelphia was missing.
In the years that followed, Philadelphia suffered a shaking of a different kind. After years of fluctuating fortunes and thwarted attempts at rebuilding, the Emperor Vespasian, who ruled from 69AD to 79AD, committed funds and resources to the rebuilding of the city. For a time, it seemed that the Philadelphia’s fortunes would be restored. To the city’s residents, it must have seemed as though a door had been opened through which Philadelphia might finally regain some of its former prosperity. Under Vespasian, the city once again had its name changed; this time to ‘Flavia’, a name chosen to reflect Vespasian’s family and heritage.
Once again, however, the city would be let down. While Vespasian had committed to aid in the rebuilding process in Philadelphia, his son was not so kind. As the city began to recover, the vineyards began to expand. In rich volcanic soil, these new plantations flourished, and exports began to increase. In just a few short years, that trade threatened to overtake the vineyards of Rome itself, and as quickly as that, the open door slammed shut. Vespasian’s son and successor, Domitian, issued a decree that the vineyards of Philadelphia were to be destroyed. He betrayed the very people whose fortunes his father had helped restore, and crushed the city and its economy. By the time John wrote down the words dictated by the Lord Jesus, the church and city of Philadelphia were impoverished and clinging to life with what little strength they had left.
So, that’s the history of the church – and no doubt you can see some of the parallels here yourself at this point
…but how does this relate prophetically?
The Prophetic Application
The church at Philadelphia correlates to the Missionary Church. Historically, this is the period from around 1750 through to the Rapture. This is a church that still exists (at least in some measure!) today, and will continue to do so until the Lord returns. There is a distinct correlation, as with each of the books, between the historical and the prophetic elements. This church, like that at Philadelphia, lay at the crossroads of the world. It is during this period that the church regained its missionary zeal, and began to send faithful believers out into all the world.
This time period, from 1750 to the present, has been without doubt the period of greatest upheaval in the history of mankind – and escalating upheaval, at that. From the birth of the Industrial Revolution until now, there has been a great shaking throughout the world. Nations have risen and fallen, there have been wars, and rumours of wars, technology has increased and grown at an exponential rate, the global climate has changed, and continues to change, and in fact if we stand back and look at the world as it stands today, there can be little doubt that we are rushing headlong toward the Tribulation: the Day of the Lord.
This rapid advance, while enabling great evil in the world, also served to facilitate the spread of the gospel throughout the world. Technology that we take for granted today – reliable sea travel, air powered flight, even the power of the internet, has enabled the church of Jesus Christ to bring the gospel to the far corners of the globe. The constantly improving technology in the print industry, together with the mission-minded church, saw the production of Bibles in numerous languages.
Just anecdotally, I once sat in a history class at University in which the lecturer, an avowed atheist, declared without any sense of irony at all that the greatest advances in world literacy were due almost entirely to the production of the Word of God in people’s native tongues. He wasn’t far wrong. Philadelphia’s “open door” was indeed truly open, and once opened, it became a door that no man could shut. The gospel would grow and prevail, and nothing could stand in its way.
It’s important to note that there were two major doctrines that were revived during this time period. The first of these was one that we covered in some depth in our study of the letter to Sardis: the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. What we saw in that letter was that the church had fallen asleep. They had forgotten to watch and to wait for the Lord’s return, and had eventually taken their eyes off the Lord Jesus Christ entirely. The Missionary Church had remained focused, and kept their eyes on Christ.
This is why Jesus says, “…you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.”
This is a church that was awake. They “had a little strength”, and had held fast despite the many challenges they faced.
…there was a second doctrine that this church held to, and it’s hinted at in this verse too.
“You have kept my word”, the Lord says.
The church here at Philadelphia, the Missionary Church, had managed to accomplish that which the church at Sardis failed to do. Where the church of the Reformation reclaimed the doctrine of sola scriptura and re-established the nature of salvation, by faith alone, through grace alone, in Christ alone, they had failed to apply the same scrutiny to their eschatology, or to their methods of interpretation. In the Missionary Church, however, we see for the first time in many hundreds of years the reclamation of the literal interpretation of Scripture. “You have kept my Word”, Jesus says, “and have not denied my name.”
The restoration of the literal interpretation of Scripture became key in this church regaining an Eschatology that acknowledged the reality of the soon return of the Lord Jesus Christ; which in turn led to a church that was faithful, watching, waiting and serving their King.
This church was not without opposition, however.
“Indeed, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie – indeed, I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.”
I’m not going to go into a great deal of detail on this today, though I do understand that it’s a confronting verse, and one that needs to be addressed. We last saw this term, “the synagogue of Satan”, in the letter to the church at Smyrna. In that letter, I explained to you that the primary application of the phrase was in reference to the Jews of Asia Minor; who, having rejected the Messiah, turned to persecuting the church of Jesus Christ throughout the Middle East, and indeed in many of the churches that we’ve studied thus far. But what we saw as a Synagogue of Satan in Smyrna, we now see in its fulfilment as the Synagogue of Satan here in Philadelphia. There’s a subtle distinction in the language here, not only in terms of the fact that this passage uses the definite article, “the”, rather than the unspecific “a” used in Smyrna, but also in the fact that the Lord stresses the false nature of their state twice. These people “say they are Jews and are not – but lie”. In historical terms, the Synagogue of Satan was those who claimed to be Jews, but rejected Jesus Christ and continued to adhere to the Mosaic Law. In prophetic terms, however, I believe there is another fulfilment to this verse. In our own churches today, there are many who would consider themselves to be the ‘Israel of God’, who have replaced and supplanted the Jews as God’s Chosen People. This is utter falsehood, and it is a doctrine that the Lord despises, primarily because it compromises His character, and renders His promises to Israel as little more than lies themselves.
I believe in all honesty that the Lord tolerated this doctrine inasmuch as He allowed the tares to grow with the wheat – and for a time, He left such error unpunished. I also believe that time is rapidly coming to a close – and that churches who have traditionally rejected Israel are now suffering both numerically and spiritually for their refusal to take the King of Kings at His Word.
…and with that, we reach our next point – the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ: The King of Kings
In each of the previous letters that we’ve studied here in the book of Revelation, we’ve seen the Lord Jesus presents Himself as the solution to the problem that each church was facing. In each case so far, we’ve seen Jesus Christ refer to Himself in terms that are directly translated from John’s glorious vision of the King in Revelation Chapter 1. Here, however, in the letter to Philadelphia, the Lord Jesus Christ breaks with the previously established pattern and refers to Himself in terms that are not found in any of the previous chapters.
Look at verse 7.
“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia, write,
‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens.’”
To begin with, let’s take the first half of this verse. Jesus Christ is “holy and true”.
There are two character traits at work here, and one reinforces the other. First, the Lord Jesus, in identifying Himself as “holy”, is declaring Himself to be completely other, completely separate, to what the church in Philadelphia have experienced. He is, in portraying Himself in this manner, placing Himself in direct contrast to the rulers of this world that had so frustrated the church in Philadelphia. We saw earlier that on more than one occasion, Roman Emperors had presented themselves as being great saviours and benefactors toward Philadelphia in the wake of the great earthquake of AD17. In each case, however, these emperors failed to follow through – or worse, in the case of Vespasian, actively chose to betray the city he had promised to rebuild. Jesus Christ, these verses declare, is completely ‘other’, completely separate, completely different from these rulers. Whatever their experience, whatever their suffering, whatever betrayals they faced, whatever disappointment they dealt with, Jesus Christ is Holy. He is entirely different, entirely pure, entirely good.
…and He is also faithful.
The faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ, both here in Revelation Chapter 3, and in the previous chapters, and those to come, is expressed almost exclusively in two contexts. The first of these is regarding the trustworthiness of His testimony. That which He presents to the church and to the world regarding Himself is true. He is the “faithful witness and the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth”, from chapter 1 verse 10.
The second of these is that Jesus Christ is faithful in upholding and preserving those who have been committed to Him by the Father.
Listen to these verses from John chapter 10,
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
Likewise Philippians 1:6 says “that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
This is Jesus Christ; and He is utterly faithful.
Remember what the church in Philadelphia had suffered. Quite literally nothing in their entire experience was stable. Nothing in living memory was dependable, or consistent. Even the land itself was a fickle testament to the ups and downs of life. Jesus Christ, however, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, “is the same yesterday, today and forever.”
Now, for a group of people living in such uncertain times, and in such difficult circumstances, this must have been of some comfort. For us, however, the point is no less emphatic.
What the Lord Jesus is revealing to us here, what He is stressing to us, and to the church at Philadelphia, is that His faithfulness to us is in no way dependent upon our ability to remain faithful to Him; rather, it is entrenched in and irrevocably tied to His own character. 2 Timothy 2:13 says that even “if we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”
…but that’s not all that Jesus Christ reveals in this verse. Look at verse 7 again:
"These things says He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens.”
As you can see here, the manner in which the Lord Jesus Christ identifies Himself to this church is entirely distinct from every other representation we’ve looked at in these letters. Here, for the first time, the King of Kings makes an allusion to His character that is not contained within the previous Revelation of the King, from chapter 1. This particular description comes from Isaiah chapter 22. Turn with me to that passage.
Isaiah 22, starting at verse 20.
‘Then it shall be in that day,
That I will call My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah;
21 I will clothe him with your robe
And strengthen him with your belt;
I will commit your responsibility into his hand.
He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem
And to the house of Judah.
22 The key of the house of David
I will lay on his shoulder;
So he shall open, and no one shall shut;
And he shall shut, and no one shall open.
23 I will fasten him as a peg in a secure place,
And he will become a glorious throne to his father’s house.
I’d like to read to you from Robert Hawker’s commentary on this passage – if for no other reason than the fact that I love his enthusiasm. Listen to how Hawker gets carried away by the idea that what Isaiah is presenting here is not merely Eliakim, but Jesus Christ Himself:
“The Prophet gives, in these verses, a very pleasing account of the character of Eliakim, and of the Lord’s approbation of him. I confess myself inclined to drop all considerations of the servant, to look at the master; for very certain it is, a greater than Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, is represented. I venture to set this down as a fixed and certain thing, because the Lord Jesus himself, when making himself known to his servant John and sending him to communicate what he saw and heard to the churches, declared who he was by this very insignalia, of the key of David.
… so can we refrain a moment, from having our very souls led, instinctively as it were, to all precious, all-glorious Jesus; whose robe of salvation is the everlasting clothing and glory of his redeemed; and whose girdle the faithfulness of the whole covenant, for his people to lay hold of, and hang by in time, and to all eternity? Who but Jesus hath indeed the key of the house of David?”
I agree wholeheartedly with Hawker: these verses look not only to Eliakim, but beyond, to the King of Kings Himself, Jesus Christ. …but it’s the manner and meaning of this allusion that strikes me. We see from these verses that Jesus Christ “has the key of David”, and it is He “who opens and no one shuts, and shuts, and no one opens”, but what does this mean? I think there is only one logical conclusion here, and I’d like to draw your attention to Scripture to support it. Turn with me now to the book of 2nd Samuel, chapter 7. We’re going to begin reading from verse 12.
What we’re reading here is an encounter between King David and the prophet Nathan. Prior to these verses, David had expressed his desire to build a house for the Ark of the Covenant; to build a temple. Nathan initially agreed with David, saying “go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.” God, apparently, had other ideas. He gave Nathan the prophet a vision, in which He said that it would be He that would build David a house – and it is here that we pick up. Verse 12.
“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. 15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.”’”
There’s a lot to absorb there, but what we need to understand is this: the key of David opens the house of David. …and what is the house of David? It’s the house of the King; and you’re invited to enter!
What the Lord Jesus Christ is doing here, in identifying Himself this way, is not only laying claim to the eternal line of Kingship upon the throne of David – “your throne shall be established forever”, but also opening that same door for those who are in Christ. This is a promise for every believer! It is a promise for you and I, here and now. This is Jesus Christ, “who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”. What the King of Kings offers to those who believe in His name – to those who overcome, as we’ve seen in each and every letter – is the opportunity to rule as Kings with Him. …and this brings us to the Crown.
A Crown from the King of Kings
Now, in case you think I’m making something out of nothing here, let’s look at this concept. Verse 11. “Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.”
Did you catch that?
The crown of Kingship isn’t something to be obtained, it’s something already obtained – and given to those who are in Christ. Your Kingship in Christ was bought, paid for, and is guaranteed by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is a door opened by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and it is a door that no man may shut. Bob quoted this verse to us a couple of weeks ago, and it remains relevant to us here, revealing to us not only the ownership of our crowns in Christ Jesus, but also the means by which it has been guaranteed. Turn with me to Ephesians 2.
Ephesians 2, starting at verse 4.
4 "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."
I want you to notice here that being seated with the King, and bearing a crown in His name, is our current condition. This is not just the future destiny of the church, but is expressed here as a present reality. Revelation 3:11 says “Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown”. Take in the magnitude of that verse! As a Christian, in this broken world, you may feel mundane at times; you may feel defeated, you may feel woefully inadequate in the light of your own humanity, and no doubt in human eyes we are mundane indeed – but in Christ… in Christ, the reality far exceeds your feelings! You are raised up, you are evidence of the exceeding riches of His grace, you are saved, and you are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms!
Read verse 10 again with me.
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."
It should never stop to amaze the Christian to realize that we are His workmanship. What we are, who we are in Christ, and who we shall be in His Name, as He carries this work on to its completion in the day of Christ Jesus, is a masterpiece of grace. And it is only here, only here… in the person and the power and the glory and the majesty, the resurrection and the risen radiance of the King of Kings, that broken vessels made whole, lifted up, and crowned on high with Christ to the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Turn with me back to Revelation 1, and verse 4.
Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.
To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.[/font]
This is the promise. If you are united with Christ in His death, if you have risen with Christ in His resurrection, if you hear Him and know His voice…
You will rule with Him over the Kings of the earth. …and that crown is yours now. That’s just how certain these promises are in Christ!
And if your life is in Christ, look at the response of the King. Turn back to Revelation 3, verse 11.
"Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. 12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. 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 I will write on him My new name."
What The Lord Jesus Christ is stressing here… is ownership. If you’re in Christ, you’re His – and He will not let you go. There is such certainty in these verses! What does Isaiah say? “I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine.”
In fact, you are so precious to Jesus Christ that He will snatch you out of this world to spare you from the hour of trial that is coming upon the earth. He will stamp His name upon you, and the name of His God, and the name of the city of His God, so that all heaven and earth will know that you are His!
…and ultimately, that’s what this is all about.
All the promises, all the crowns, all the glory, all the blessings that are ours in Christ – they’re not given to glorify us, but to glorify Him, because He alone is worthy… and He deserves to have the prize for which He died.
Turn with me, in closing, to Revelation 4. We’re going to read the whole passage together as we close.
After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”
2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. 3 And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
6 Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. 8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:
“Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come!”
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:
11 “You are worthy, O Lord,
To receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things,
And by Your will they exist and were created.”
This is the destiny of the church of Jesus Christ.
He said that He would place an open door before the church at Philadelphia… and so He did. It’s right here in verse 1 of chapter 4. When He opens that door, no man can close it. …but when He closes it, no man can pry it open.
This is the question, then, for you this morning.
Are you seated with Christ in the heavenly realms? Has your sin been dealt with? Have you been washed in the blood of the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world?
If you can honestly say this morning that you have, that you have new life in Christ, then there is a rest for you in His Name. He is faithful, and cannot be shaken.
…but if you’re not in Christ today, if you’ve never knelt before the King of Kings and asked Him to forgive your sin and wash you white as snow, then won’t you do that today? Time is so very short, and soon this door will close – and no one will open it again.
Let’s pray.
