Love Letters To The Church
Part 6
Philadelphia—The Loving Church
Rev. 3:7-13 “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 (the opener and closer of doors), 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, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown…13 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’
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Today we’re looking at the 6th church in our Love Letters to the Church series. So far we’ve explored:
Ephesus—the lacking church.
Smyrna—the loyal church.
Pergamos—the lax church.
Thyatira—the loose church.
Sardis—the lifeless church.
When you look at what Jesus knew about these individual churches it’s intriguing:
Jesus told the church in Ephesus that He knew their WORKS,
To the church in Smyrna that He knew their WORRIES,
The church in Pergamum that He knew their WHEREABOUTS, where they lived.
The church at Thyatira that He knew about the WOMAN in their midst.
He told the church at Sardis that He knew of their WITHERING.
And He tells the church at Philadelphia that He knows their WEAKNESS.
Yet though weak, they were known as the loving church.
The NT town of Philadelphia got its name from Attalus Philadelphus, the king of Pergamos, who died B.C. 138.
It was built on high ground—900 feet above sea-level.
Philadelphia was in the midst of a region that suffered many frequent earthquakes which caused many of the surrounding towns to become deserted.
But because Philadelphia had rich soil for the growing of grapevines, and was built so high above sea level, it didn’t suffer the desertion the others had.
In fact, of all the seven churches, it had the longest life as a Christian city.
Next to Smyrna, Philadelphia also had the greatest number of Christians.
It was just twenty-eight miles southeast of the church at Sardis.
Philadelphia is one of only two churches in which Jesus finds no blemishes—The other was Smyrna.
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Philadelphia means “brotherly love.”
The American city named after this church was founded in 1682 by William Penn, an English Christian and champion of religious freedom.
As a little aside—Our Philadelphia played a historic role as the central meeting place for the nation’s founding fathers whose plans and actions in Philadelphia ultimately inspired the American Revolution and the nation’s independence following the Revolutionary War.
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As we’ll see, the church at Philadelphia lived up to its name as—the Loving church.
It faithfully proclaimed the love of God via the door for evangelism God had opened!
Now, let’s explore what we can learn from this church.
First,
I. Jesus opens doors of opportunity
Revelation 3:7a “I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close.”
Jesus had opened for them a wonderful door of evangelism.
And Jesus assures them—“When I open a door, no one can close it!”
Whether it is an open door for receiving salvation,
Or open doors for ministry he brings before you,
Or an open door for employment,
Or an open door in answer to a prayer you’ve prayed,
Or an open door for a godly friendship or relationship,
One thing is clear—the Lord Jesus places open doors of opportunity in our path!
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In the Greek the phrase “an open door” could be translated “a door having been opened.”
The fact is that God has already created open doors of opportunity for us—But we often fail to spot them!
—Sometimes it’s a door for soul winning.
We go to the store, and we’re in such a hurry that we fail to notice the troubled look of hurt on the face of the cashier. She was ready for the gospel if we had discerned it.
—Or it could be a door of opportunity to minister Jesus to a person in need.
A friend calls up with a burden, but we’re so busy that we put them off with some quick, pat answers so we can get back to work—or so we can get back to watching the TV show we’re in the middle of.
—Or it could be the open door of opportunity for you yourself to be saved!
Someone shares Jesus with you, or invites you to an evangelistic event, and you fail to realize that God himself has presented you with an open door of opportunity to be saved!
One day Jesus looked out over Jerusalem and wept, saying:
“How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes…because you did not know the time when God came to save you.”—Luke 19: 41,44 NLT
We (I include myself here) often just don’t want to be inconvenienced or “put out” with doors of opportunity and as a result, we miss out.
—Jesus noted that there’s no shortage of open doors, but there is a shortage of Christians that will enter them.
In Luke 10:2 he said, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
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Secondly, we learn from the Philadelphia church that:
II. They didn’t let weakness stop them
3:8 “You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me.”
The sense here is that this church had passed through some great trial of persecution, or some other difficult, devastating trial from which they emerged with yet “a little strength.”
They had not denied Jesus, nor failed to obey the Lord.
Even though though they were weak, they were FAITHFUL with the strength and resources they still had!
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The church at Philadelphia was faithful in spite of their weakness, so Jesus placed before them an open door of evangelism.
And he also promised to give them three things.
FIRST:
VINDICATION—he would make their Jewish enemies admit that they were loved by God.
“Look, I will force those who belong to Satan’s synagogue—those liars who say they are Jews but are not—to come and bow down at your feet. They will acknowledge that you are the ones I love.”—3:9 NLT
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Then God promises:
RELIEF: Verse 10 “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.”
This may refer to deliverance from some terrible trial the church at large faced in the first few centuries.
There were many earthquakes in and around Philadelphia, and possibly this promise was about a short term deliverance from a catastrophic event like a quake.
It may have had to do with the lifespan of the church.
Of all the 7 churches, the church at Philadelphia lasted the longest.
While we don’t know for sure, you can rest assured some kind of deliverance came to them from God!
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And the third blessing from Christ for their faithfulness in their weakness would be:
REWARD: Jesus said, “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.”—3:11-12
The church is often referred to as a TEMPLE in the NT.
God is saying that those who persevered even in weakness would become like pillars of strength in the early church.
And the Lord writing his name on that person simply means that everywhere they go it will be clear that they belong to Christ!
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Do you have but a little strength today?
Have tough trials hit you hard where you just don’t feel very strong?
God says, Watch for new doors of opportunity, and for his vindication, relief, and reward!
“He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him!”—Heb. 11:6