The Last Man Standing — Carter Conlon

The Open Door to the Church in Philadelphia

Revelation chapter 3, beginning at verse 7. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, these things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that has the key of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth.

I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. For thou hast a little strength, and has kept my word, and has not denied my name. Behold, I'll make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie.

Behold, I'll make them come, and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

Behold, I come quickly. Hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. He that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out. And I'll write upon him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God.

And I will write upon him my new name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches. In Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 13, the apostle Paul says, wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

This was the desire of Paul for his church, for his own life as well, that having stood for the gospel of Jesus Christ in the midst of whatever kind of a generation may come his way, that when it was all over, and of course, God fulfilled this in Paul's life.

He was a man who was able to say at the end of his days, I have run my race, and I have finished my course. And from this time forward, there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness, not for me only, but to all those who love his appearing.

It can be rightly said that among the churches of revelation in its area, Philadelphia was and is the last man standing. It's worth looking into this church, because it's a church that has, in effect, in the physical respect at least, withstood the test of time.

I want to read to you something from the pulpit commentary, tells us about this church in Philadelphia. In Roman times, it was not equal to Ephesus or even Laodicea. And for law courts, the citizens of Philadelphia had to go to Sardis.

Nevertheless, it has outlived all these three and still continues on the same site, perhaps within the same walls as of old. At the close of the 14th century, it was the last Byzantine city to surrender to the Turks.

And when it did succumb, it made better terms than any of the others. To this day, it retains the privilege of free Christian worship, with the use of bells for worship and processions in public, a thing allowed by the Turks in no other inland city of Asia Minor.

It has a bishop and a dozen churches, and it is said that about a third of its 15 ,000 inhabitants are Christian. Its modern Turkish name is Allahseher, the city of God. Amazing. God said to this little church of Philadelphia, I set before you an open door, and no man can close it.

Christ as the Keeper of the Open Door

That's an amazing thing. We look down through the 2 ,000 or so years since then, and the door, whether or not it's completely utilized in the Christian sense, is still open to this church. And even the influx and surrounding of Islam is not able to close this door.

When Jesus says, I open the door, he means I open the door. I invite you to come through, and I have the keys to it. And he said, nobody can close it. In verse 7, he says, these things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that has the keys of David, and opens, and no man shuts, and shuts, and no man opens.

Now, Christ is described as holy and true. He has the keys not only to the destiny of every man, but to creation itself. He holds the keys to everything, the past, the present, the future. Everything is in his hand.

The Father has given to him all power, all authority. It's all his. Not just your destiny, but your future. Not just this world, but the world to come. Not just the world to come, the entire universe.

And even beyond what our natural minds can comprehend, Christ himself holds the key. He is, in effect, the word used actually means regent. And it's the same word which was used for Joseph, for example, when he had the keys in Potiphar's house.

He walked through the house, and whatever door he opened, anyone who was invited could go through. Whatever door he closed, no matter how hard people tried, they were not allowed to go through that door.

It's an amazing thing to understand that we're living at a time when Jesus said, I've set before you an open door. There's an invitation now to go through this door. And it's an invitation to everybody who sits here listening to my voice today.

In verse 8, he said, I know your works. I know your works. And because of it, in effect, I've set before you an open door that no man can shut. Now, what was it that this church was doing? I don't think it was necessarily great in the sight of men, because he tells them later on, you have a little strength.

I don't even know if they had the reputation. Sardis had a reputation, but they were dead. I don't know if Philadelphia had a reputation. I'm not sure that what they did was necessarily seen before men.

I believe that Jesus is telling them, he said, I know your heart, and I see that secret inward desire which you have for me alone. I see it. It's beyond all of the exterior things, and it's beyond your worship, and it's beyond all of the trappings that are all around you, or even what kind of a building you might have built.

I see something. And he said, because I see it in you, and it's secret, I've set before you an open door. Now, I can prove this. In Matthew 6, verse 6, Jesus said, pray to the Father which is in secret, and the Father which sees in secret shall reward thee openly.

Chapter 6, verse 18 talks about fasting. He said, when you fast, fast to your Father which is in secret, and your Father which sees in secret shall reward thee openly. I've set before you an open door.

Jesus the Door to Salvation and Abundant Life

Now, we ask ourselves, what is this door? Go to John chapter 10 with me, please, for a moment, just to lay the groundwork for this. What is the door that nobody can shut? Is it increased religious service?

Is it more reputation in the community? What is the door? Now, John chapter 10, verse 7, we get our answer. Then Jesus said to them again, verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. That's amazing.

It's so simple. Jesus said, it's me. I'm the door, and I'm standing before you. And I'm inviting you into the door. I'm inviting you in through, into everything, all of the supply, the life, all the victory that I want on Calvary, I'm inviting you in.

Because I see in you a secret inner desire. I know you're not playing religious games with me. You want me. Verse 80 said, all that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.

I am the door. And by me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. The thief cometh not but for to steal, to kill, and to destroy. I'm come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.

Amazing. He said, I'm the door. And if you'll just walk in to this new life that God gives you through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, he says, you're going to find what you need. In me, you're going to find pasture.

In me, you're going to find your sustenance, your supply. You're going to find your strength. You're going to find healing for your past. You're going to find hope for your future. You're going to find stability for your present.

And not only that, he said, you're going to find it abundantly, more abundantly than you've ever known, than anything in this world could ever have offered you. As you walk through the door into my life, you're going to find this abundant supply, which is never ending.

It's inexhaustible. That's what caused him to cry the last day of the feast. He said, if you're still thirsty, if religion has not done it for you, if mediocre attendance to the house of God and the once in a while observance of religious things is not satisfying your soul, come to me and drink.

If you believe on me, out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water. Out of your belly, there'll be revelation knowledge to raise your children in the fear of God, to speak in the future generations of the wondrousness of what God is able to do to every heart that trusts in him.

Making Calling and Election Sure

Second Peter chapter one, verses 10 and 11, Peter says, wherefore, the rather brethren, give diligence to make your calling and your election sure. If you do these things, you shall never fall. For so an entrance shall be ministered to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Panic Conversions and the Danger of False Foundations

Now back in Revelation chapter three again, verses nine and 10. He says, behold, I'll make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they're Jews and are not, but do lie. I'll make them to come and worship before thy feet and to know that I have loved thee.

That's an incredible thing. Historians say that John wrote these words of Jesus somewhere between AD 69 and 96. Now the warning of Christ was either immediately before or shortly after the Roman invasion of Jerusalem when the Roman soldiers went in and they destroyed both the temple and the city.

There was a fleeing as it is, an exodus out of Jerusalem at this time of refugees, panic stricken. Everything that they had trusted in, you remember they were warned, don't say the temple this, the temple that, Jesus himself stood with his disciples and they were pointed to the temple as if that was their security.

And Jesus told them, no, not one stone is here going to be left upon another. And of course, not many years later, that very word was fulfilled. And so these refugees went through all the churches of Asia and in particular, many of them ended up in Philadelphia.

They're people whose foundations and trusts are destroyed and they're coming to find solace or they're coming to find comfort from those who are still standing. Remember 9 -11, for those of you who were here in the city when the towers came down and the Pentagon was attacked and another plane crashed in Pennsylvania.

And we saw these in a sense, it's a similar thing in a physical or spiritual sense. We saw people literally rushing in to the house of God. Those that were here, you might remember the nights we met every night here.

We were already meeting. We just continued on meeting every night. I remember the night I had to ask people to stop kneeling in the aisles. All the way to the back, they were on their knees giving their lives as it appeared to Jesus Christ.

But you see folks, panic conversions are not always genuine. People who are seeking comfort are not always seeking Christ. And this is exactly what happened in Philadelphia. You've got this sudden influx of panic conversions and it looks like revival.

It looks like, God, this is so good. You have destroyed the false foundations and people are streaming into the house of God. And this is one finally, they have seen or are seeing what we see, but that's not necessarily the case.

People come in, yes, because we are still standing. And that's what happened in Philadelphia. The church was still standing. The people were still worshiping. They're perhaps concerned, but not moved because of what had just recently transpired or was about to transpire in Jerusalem.

You see, but what happens is when the dust settles, the Philadelphia church found themselves in a battle with Judaizers. And these are people who, their own foundations, ironically, has collapsed. And they come running into the house of God, looking for comfort, and they appear to find Christ.

I have a question to ask you. Where are the hundreds, if not thousands, that apparently came to Christ right after 9 -11? In this house, we saw them literally like a wave in a storm come rushing into the house of God.

Then when the dust begins to settle and we realize that the attacks are somewhat isolated, it's not this massive destruction of all of our society, our economy is hurt, but still standing, then they begin to brush themselves off of all the panic and then begin to say, well, the old ways were not so bad after all.

And thank you, Jesus, for the nice comfort you gave me. Thank you, Times Square Church, for opening your doors. But I'm just gonna go back now, the dust has settled, and see what's left of my former foundation and start to rebuild my life on it.

And this is exactly what happened. When the refugees came into the Church of Philadelphia, and when the dust began to settle and they looked around, somehow they had found comfort, but they hadn't found Christ, not in his fullness.

And they began to argue now with the believers in Philadelphia, saying, no, there's a better way to do things. Yes, Christ is necessary, but it's also necessary to have circumcision, and it's also necessary to observe times and months and seasons and ceremonies and all of these other wonderful things.

We must be careful that we don't jettison these for what appears to be just a simplistic message of trusting and believing in this one person whose name is Jesus, apparently the Son of God. And here they are now starting to try to chip away at the foundation of Philadelphia, when ironically their own foundation had collapsed and failed them.

That's exactly what human nature is like. That's why Paul says in Galatians 2, if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. If righteousness could come by the law or by human effort, then Christ is dead in vain.

If there's anything I can add to this salvation, if there's anything I can bring in, ideas from the natural mind or natural strength, if I try to bring these things in, I am putting Christ as it is to an open shame before men.

I'm making a declaration that his sacrifice on the cross is just simply not enough for my redemption and for the supply that God has promised to me. Verse 10, he says, because you've kept the word of my patience, I'll also keep you from the hour of temptation that shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth.

End-Times Testing and the Call to Separate from Worldly Influences

Now, of course, he's speaking to Philadelphia, but I also am very aware, as you probably are, that when Christ speaks, his words move right into eternity. He's not bound by time. He can speak about a thousand years as if it was yesterday or tomorrow.

There's no limitations. And he speaks to the church of Philadelphia. Of course, there's an hour of trial and temptation that comes to every church, every era, every believer. You're not going to escape it, and neither will I.

There's an hour of testing that comes to every person. But there is an hour that Paul talks about that is coming to the whole world. It is conceivable, at least that we are on the threshold if we're not well into it at this season in history.

Paul says in 2 Timothy 3, in the last days, perilous times are going to come. Now, what will be, when we think of peril, we think of natural calamities and disasters. And of course, Jesus did talk about some of these coming, and we do see them, perhaps on an increase.

But here are the peril that Paul is really speaking about. He says, men will be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. There'll be this pleasure madness that grips the world. It's gripped America, there's no doubt.

America is right in the, pleasure madness has American and Canadian society and Western society by the virtual throat. People are looking for pleasure. And of course, the more they look away from God to find what fulfills, the more perverted this pursuit of pleasure is becoming.

There's a sense in my heart, and my wife spoke to me about it just the other day. I forget, we were just driving somewhere. She said, do you have a feeling in your heart that this all is not well in this society?

And I said, I feel it more every day. I feel there's a madness that is just on the border waiting to break out, just waiting for an opportunity to manifest itself because people are feeding on absolute unspeakable trash now.

They're feeding their minds, they're feeding their spirit. And only, I believe the restraining hand of God is holding it back. Only the testimony as it is of the church of Jesus Christ. If ever there were a time when we are called to be separate to the Lord, it's now.

If ever there was a time, you and I should be pressing in to the life of Christ, it is now. Many, many people who are playing games with God don't realize they're gonna be swallowed by this whirlwind.

They're gonna be caught in this parade as it is. It's heading into this moral abyss. They're not gonna be able to escape it because they have played too lightly with the things of God. That's why we stand in this pulpit and we preach grace, but that grace also constrains us to preach the warnings of God.

Last, remember that Christ said, if any man draws back, my soul has no pleasure in that man. We're not to draw back. We are to draw deeper into this invitation of life in Christ, especially as we see this hour approaching.

The Form of Godliness Without the Power of Christ

Paul says that in the church, in verse five, he said, there'll be a form of godliness, but it's a denial of his power. And Paul says, from such turn away. Maybe in the last hours of America, there'll be more talk about God than ever before.

God bless you, God bless this, God bless that. God give us this, God do that. And there'll be a form and the outsider looking in would say, oh, this is righteous. This is an incredible society. They talk so freely about God, but it's a form.

But that form is like a lifeless statue. There's no power in it. There's nothing that animates it. There's nothing that makes it out of the ordinary. It says, God bless you, as each man is as dead as people around him who don't know God and have no living relationship with Christ.

And Paul said, this is the peril, that this form of godliness will come gradually and people will not be aware of it. And those who have played games with God are not going to be aware that it's very, very gradually coming upon them.

It's a form, it's form that allows us to come in to the house of God. And as long as we are putting in our time, wearing our suits and carrying our Bibles and saying praise God to at least six people, it's somehow we're in right relationship with God.

It's a form, but there's no power in it. There's no life of Christ. There's no evidence that Christ has risen from the dead. Nobody asks for a reason for the hope that is within you. And folks, I want to tell you something.

If nobody's asking, it's quite possible there is no hope in you. People don't see it. If Christ is in you, those who are outside of Christ can see it. They can hear it in your voice. They see it in your eye.

They watch it in your step. There's something about you that they don't understand. It's the life of Christ within you. Hebrews chapter 12. The writer of Hebrews says, speaking about Jesus now, he said, whose voice shook the earth, but now he is promising once more, I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.

And this word yet once more signifying the removing of those things that are shaken as of those things that are made, that those things that cannot be shaken may remain. Once more, there's going to be a shaking.

Once more, in New York City, we may experience an infusion of people seeking comfort and not necessarily Christ. Once more, something may come that so shakes and shocks society that the houses of God are filled once again.

And those who don't have a discerning eye, look and say, oh, this is great, this is revival. Not necessarily so. But here's the promise to this church. He said, he that overcomes, I'll make a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go no more out.

Overcoming Through the Shaking

Now this is, I want you to stop here just with me for a moment, because there's a touch of humor in John's, actually the words of Jesus. This area of the world had known devastating earthquakes. And in 1817, the city of Philadelphia was virtually destroyed by an earthquake.

And for 20 years or more after, many years after actually, there were serious aftershocks that shook almost everything that was in these areas. Now there were even temples as well as the temple of the Lord in Philadelphia.

And there were many pillars in these temples. And they had a propensity as it is for carving the pillars in the images of men. They even renamed the city after the goodness, the financial gift was given from a man in power.

And they renamed the city after a time in this particular man's name. And people would go into these heathen temples and they would look at the pillars, apparently holding it up were carved in the images of men.

And perhaps on the base of these pillars or around them were inscriptions that were ascribing as it is some kind of power or greatness or benevolence or kindness or goodness. But time and again, the earthquake aftershocks would come and these pillars would fall.

And the people were used to seeing construction workers carrying them out of the house of God. Amazing. And this was something that they were familiar with. And Jesus says, but if you overcome, if you overcome this argument that comes your way that says Christ is not enough, if you overcome all of the Judaizing influence that wants to bring the ideas of man into the Christian life, wants to bring the strategies of man into building the kingdom of God, because that's what Judaizing was all about.

It was bringing human effort into a completed work. And he says, if you will overcome these things, I will write my name upon you. I'll make you a pillar and you will no more be carried out of the house of God in defeat.

No more. People will look at your life and I will make you stand. You will not be as so many who have built their ministries on themselves. Have you seen that over the, if you've been around any amount of time, you've seen it.

People come in and they add all this infusion of themselves into the kingdom of God and they present themselves to be pillars only to be carried out shortly after. We see it in our generation. Carry them out.

I could give you a list of names that have been carried out of the house of God in the last 10 or 15 years, who built their ministries and built everything on themselves and drew the people to themselves only to be carried out.

He says, he that overcomes, I will make a pillar and he will go no more out. And I will write upon him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God.

And I'll write upon him my new name. I'll write upon you, he says, the name of my God. Now, the name of my God is I am. It's simple. I am ever present. I am ever active. I am involved. I am powerful. I hear and save those who call upon me.

He says, I will write my name, the name of my God upon you. People will look at you in the midst of whatever calamity comes and you will stand. You'll need no exterior thing to hold you up. Nobody will have to carry you in and they won't have to carry you out.

But you will walk with the name of your God written upon you. There'll be an evidence of stability. You're not shaken by the things that are shaking the society all around you. He says, I'll write upon you the name of the city of my God.

In other words, your hope is not in anything present or anything made with human hands, but that which is promised and eternal. You'll have an eye not to the present because that's not where your stability is found, but you'll have an eye to the future.

You will see something that men without God don't see. Men without God, even in the house of God, all they can see is what is before them. All that is their stability is even if they're using the name of Jesus, is everything that this world, this crumbling society has to offer.

He says, no, I'm going to write upon you the name of God and I'm going to write upon you the city, the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem. You'll be a people infused with hope for the future.

You're going to have something in your voice that the society is someday soon going to be longing for. And then he says, and I'll write upon him my new name. Now go with me to Revelation 19. I want to show you something on this.

The Revealed Name of Christ

Revelation chapter 19. Now we know Jesus by many names, don't we? And John says in Revelation chapter 19, in verse 11,. And I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse. And he that sat upon him was called Faithful.

We know him by that name and True. We know him by the name of Truth. And in righteousness he does judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that no man knew, but he himself.

And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. We know him as the Word of God. The armies in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

Out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nations. He should rule them with a rod of iron. And he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he has on his vesture and on his thigh a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

So we know him as Faithful. We know him as True. We know him as the Word of God. We know him as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But he has another name. And it's written on him, on his head. Well, actually, no, it was a crown on his head, he said, but he had a name written that no man knew, but he himself.

Now, what is this name? Go to John chapter 16 with me, please, if you will. What is this name that no man can know? John chapter 16 and verse 13. Jesus said, how be it when he, the Spirit of truth, is come?

He will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak. And he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me, and he shall receive of mine, and shall show it to you.

All things that the Father has are mine. Therefore, said I, that he shall take of mine, and he shall show it to you. If you really look it up, what he's really saying, he said, I have a name, and no natural man can know it.

No man who walks in his own imagination, by his own strength, by his own reasoning, no man who looks for comfort, no man who looks for his future in any other direction but me can know my name. They can know me as the things that are revealed.

They can know me, in a sense, as I am revealed in the pages of Scripture, but they cannot truly know the power of my name. It is a name of everything that God is in Christ, that he said, I will write upon you.

If you have a heart for me, if you go through this open door that I invite you to come through, if you resist or overcome these people who try to tell you that I'm not enough, that you need me and you need seven steps to this, you need me and you need a survey in your neighborhood, if you just know that I'm enough, I'm going to write a name on you that no man can know.

Only the Holy Ghost knows it. He searches the deep things of God, and he knows everything that I have won for you. Everything that God has planted in Christ because of Calvary is mine, and the Holy Ghost will write it upon me as I go through the door and become a seeker of Jesus Christ.

And in my heart, I say, Jesus, you are sufficient for me. You're all that I need. I don't need men's reasoning. I don't need seven steps to anything. I just need you. I need you to write your name in my mind.

I need your laws in my heart. I need your very nature in my being. No man can know this name. Only the Spirit of God knows it. It's too deep for the natural man to understand. We could start, and we could say, the name is freedom.

The name is deliverance. The name is power. The name is sound thinking. The name is absence of fear. The name is love beyond all comparison. The name is courage to walk through the fire. But even then, we fall short of everything that is in the name of Jesus.

Bearing the Character of Christ

Hallelujah. He says, this is the name. I'll write it on you. Just like an invisible hand came to Nebuchadnezzar's table when he was toying with the holy things of God. He's playing with the holy things that came out of the temple, drinking and having a wonderful party in the name of God or his gods.

And a hand came and wrote on the wall, your kingdom is over in the same way as a hand. It's the hand of God, and it begins to write the name of Jesus. Begins to inscribe things of the character of Jesus Christ that only God could place in us.

The Philadelphian temples were famous in some measure for the ornate carvings of the image of man, which couldn't stand the shaking. Every time it came into society, he said, no, I'll put an ornate carving in you.

I'll carve the character of Christ into your character. And when everything that can be shaken is shaken, you will still stand. You will not be moved by the adversities. Hallelujah. You'll be a pillar in the house of God that doesn't have to be carried out every time there's a crisis.

You walk in, praising God. You walk out, praising God. You give glory because you know that what's come into your life is not of your own making. It's not of your own reasoning. It's not of your own power.

It's supernatural. Every morning you get up, you see new mercy in God. Hallelujah. He says, I come quickly. Verse 11, hold fast that which you have, that no man take your crown. Hold it fast. Don't let it go.

Weakness as the Doorway to Christ's Strength

You might be the weakest of weak of all saints in this house today, and there might be people coming to you with ideas about how you can get the victory, or you're going to some Christian bookstore with men who are writing ideas that come out of the natural mind.

You're letting the hand of man fashion you, not the hand of God. You come in all encouraged, and you get carried out time and again. Failed, faltered. Every time a crisis comes, you topple over, and your poor handmade self-image doesn't stand when crisis and shaking comes to it.

He said, hold fast what you have. Well, what did they have? And he also says to him that overcomes, I'll make a pillar. So what were the characteristics of these overcomers? What did they have that made them overcomers?

Well, you find it in verse 8. He says, because you have a little strength. That was the first characteristic. They knew they weren't strong. This is what made the door open to Christ. They knew they weren't strong.

Every one of these believers perhaps became believers because they knew they were weak. But the Judaizers will always come to try to take that away. And in their weakness, they found Christ as their strength.

They found him as their redeemer. They found him as everything they will ever need or require, not only for time, but for eternity. It's a good thing. If you only have a little strength this morning, you are way ahead of the man who thinks he's strong.