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Over the last six weeks, we have been going through the first several chapters of Revelation.
In chapters two and three of Revelation, Jesus addresses seven historical churches.
Thus far, we have seen him address five of these churches. And in each one, he gives his evaluation as to where the church is health -wise.
The first church was Ephesus. What we saw with Ephesus is that this was a doctrinally sound church.
This soundness in doctrine enabled them to detect false teaching. Jesus commended them for their strong doctrine and discernment, but he had a major concern.
His major concern was that their love for him had waned, and he told them to return to the love that they had at first.
The next church we looked at was Smyrna. What was interesting about Jesus' address to this church is that he offered no correction.
This was a mostly healthy church that was especially faithful in enduring persecution.
And Jesus told them that more persecution was coming, and he encouraged them to be strong in faith to be able to endure the coming persecution also.
Then we looked at the third church that Jesus addressed, the church in Pergamum. This church also withstood persecution from the surrounding culture, but they made the great error of allowing within their church false teaching and the false living that came from that false teaching.
Jesus rebuked them, calling them to repent. Then the fourth church that Jesus addressed was the church in Thyatira.
This church had lots of good qualities that Jesus praised them for. They were full of love, full of faith, full of service, and also endured persecution.
But there was a cancer within their midst that they were not dealing with. There was a false prophetess that was leading people down the wrong path, teaching the people to use the grace of God as a license to sin.
What this led to was immorality abounding among some within this fellowship. Jesus called this church to repentance, much like the church in Pergamum.
Then the church we looked at last week was the church in Sardis. This church had the reputation of being alive, but in reality they were largely dead.
This church was judged by outward appearances, which were deceptive, and they were to conform to being truly alive like the few faithful that were present at this church.
Now this leads us to the sixth of seven churches that Jesus addresses. As I mentioned earlier in the service, this is the church in Philadelphia.
Jesus gives his evaluation of this church in Revelation chapter 3, verses 7 through 13.
So this time I encourage you to turn there with me. If you do not have a Bible with you, we do have the red
Bibles in the pews where you can follow along. And the sermon is titled,
Christ's Message to His Church. And this edition is, once again, Philadelphia.
And I'm going to begin by reading the text. Revelation chapter 3, verses 7 through 13.
These are the words of the Lord Jesus. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write the words of the
Holy One, the true One, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.
I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut.
I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie.
Behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you, because you have kept my word about patient endurance.
I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to try those who dwell on the earth.
I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have so that no one may seize your crown.
The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it.
And I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new
Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Every sermon is calling you to do something, calling our church to do something, and here's what this one is calling us to do.
Endure hostility from the world to receive the greatest reward.
Endure hostility from the world to receive the greatest reward. And in this text, we will see one reason why that I will share at the end.
But let's begin by looking at verse seven where Jesus gives his introduction to the sixth church where once again, he addresses the angel of the church in Philadelphia.
And he says, the words of the Holy One, the true one who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.
So he addresses the angel of the church and once again, the angel is not a spirit being sent from heaven, this is the pastor.
Since the Greek word for angel means messenger. This pastor of the church is to receive the message of Jesus and then pass it on to the church.
And the specific church that Jesus is addressing is once again, the church in Philadelphia. And I made a joke earlier, right?
This isn't Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This is an ancient city called Philadelphia.
Now, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is called what? The city of brotherly love.
Now, my Vikings played in the NFC Championship game a few years back and the Vikings fans who traveled would not describe the
Eagles fans that way. But it is called the city of brotherly love.
One of the Greek words for love is philo and adelphos is the Greek word for brothers.
So when you put the two together, you get brotherly love. All of these churches we are looking at were located in fair proximity to each other.
One week ago, we looked at Sardis. Philadelphia was located 30 miles southeast of Sardis.
The city still stands today, but goes by a different name. That name is
Alisa here. It is located inland in modern day Turkey. The city was founded in 190
BC by the Pergamum King, Attalos II. And you might think the city was called
Philadelphia because there was so much love, right? So much love that we're just gonna call it the city of brotherly love.
But that's not the case. It was named this because King Attalos II had a noticeable devotion to his biological brother.
And I won't say anything further. The city was located beside a fertile valley where they grew wine grapes, that is.
It was also located on a major trade route, making it a significant place for commerce. Like the other churches, this was a city full of false religion.
And you see this pattern, right? Humans are religious. If you don't worship the true God, you're gonna find something else to worship.
Archeological discoveries have shown that they worshiped Zeus and other Greek gods and the
Roman emperor. They in fact renamed the city Neos Caesarea in honor of the emperor who helped rebuild the city after the major earthquake in AD 17, which as we saw one week ago, also destroyed nearby
Sardis. Now as Jesus addresses this church in Philadelphia, he once again opens by saying something glorious concerning himself.
And once again, what he says is relevant to this specific church that he addresses.
And we'll see that. What Jesus says concerning himself first is that he is the Holy One. This is to say that he along with the
Father and the Holy Spirit are completely set apart from sin. Then he says that he is the true one.
Now, this speaks to the fact that every word that comes out of his mouth is the truth and there is no phoniness in him.
One week ago, we saw the phoniness of the church in Sardis, right? They had the reputation of being alive, but they were dead.
When we talk about Jesus, it's never that way. Never. He is the most genuine, authentic, true person there is.
This is in contrast to most humans. And the only humans who are authentic are the ones who become like him.
Then Jesus says that he is the one who has the key of David. And that he is the one who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.
The mention of David brings us to the Old Testament. King David was promised a line of kings that would go on forever in 2
Samuel 7. And this can only be fulfilled in one man, the
Messiah, who will reign forever. As the forever king,
Jesus is the one who holds the keys to his kingdom. In Revelation 118,
Jesus describes himself as the one who holds the keys of death and Hades. In John 14 6, he said famously,
I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me. What he is saying is that through him, it is only through him that people are either sent to heaven or to hell.
To the one who sincerely trusts in him for the forgiveness of sins, through his atoning work on the cross, that person will receive entrance to heaven.
To the one who rejects him, that person will be sent to hell. Jesus is the gatekeeper.
He has the keys. He has the keys to heaven and he has the keys to hell.
And here we see two truths side by side. Does Jesus send people to heaven and hell?
The answer is yes. But it is also true that people choose their eternal destiny.
By either receiving Christ or rejecting him. No one can be indifferent to Jesus.
He has the keys. The questions that are asked, the question that is asked to sinful humanity is this.
Will you enter through him or be locked out forever? It's a sobering thought.
He has the keys. Now in verse eight, Jesus gets to his specific address to this church in Philadelphia.
He says, I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut.
I know that you have but little power and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
What we see here is that once Jesus gets to the specific evaluation, he always starts with the same words.
Those words are, I know. To all the seven churches, he says,
I know. When Jesus gives an evaluation, his evaluation is 100 % accurate because he is the
God man. He knows exactly what is going on in every church. And he knows what's going on in this church, the church in Philadelphia.
And he is going to tell them exactly what he thinks about how things are going.
One week ago, we saw him come out guns blazing with the church in Sardis. Jesus was so angry at this church that he just forgot about the sandwich approach.
He just cut right to the chase. And he told them, you think you're alive. Your reputation is that you are alive, but that's false.
You are dead. And then he tells them, you know, there's a few people here who are alive, but largely speaking, your reputation does not match your character.
But with Philadelphia, he goes back to start out with the positive. And what we will see is that he stays positive in his evaluation.
He starts out by sympathizing with their situation. He tells them in the second half of verse eight that he knows how little power they have, but they have kept his word and have not denied his name.
But before he praises them in the second half of verse eight, he informs them why what he said in the introduction is relevant to them.
Remember, in the introduction, he told them that he has the key to open and close the door and no one is able to close an open door or open a closed door.
In the first half of verse eight, he focuses on the open door. This would be greatly encouraging for this church because the closed door does not apply to them.
Only the open door applies to this church. In John 10, Jesus describes himself as the door.
The seven I am statements in John. One of the I am statements is I am the door.
In verse nine of John 10, he says, I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and find pasture.
Jesus describes himself as the door and those who walk through him to fellowship with God are forever his.
They cannot be pushed outside this door and the door shuts behind them.
This is a good thing for this door to be shut behind you. It means you're forever his. You're forever locked in with him.
And the opposite is what is so sad about hell. Once the door is shut on someone, that person can never have the sweet fellowship with their creator that they were made for.
We are made to know God. And anybody in hell is shut off, shut out from that sweet fellowship.
Luke 16 gives a vivid description of this in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. And what is pictured in this parable is this chasm that cannot be penetrated between heaven and hell.
The rich man is in hell. Lazarus is in heaven. And there's this separation.
The door is forever shut on this side and the door is forever shut on this side.
In this case, it's good. In this case, it's really bad. Once you belong to God through his son,
Jesus, you can never be banished from his presence. And how glorious that is.
And we sing that song in this church before the throne of God above. In that song we sing before the throne of God above,
I have a strong and perfect plea. A great high priest whose name is love, whoever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on his hands. My name is written on his heart. I know that while in heaven he stands, which is eternally, no tongue can bid me thence depart.
No tongue can bid me thence depart. How sweet those words are. As Jesus addresses this church in Philadelphia, he knows that they need to hear this.
The door that only he can open is forever open for them because they are real.
They are to forever have sweet fellowship with him. The church in Philadelphia, like the church in Smyrna, which was the second church, has been beaten down by the opposition from the outside world.
Jesus tells them that they hold no power in society.
They are not a strong majority with special interest groups that are in the ears of the governing authorities where government policies are put forward to benefit them.
Truly, the governing authorities care nothing about what they say. They don't have any power.
The Christian message is not popular in this ancient city, Philadelphia.
And the governing authorities and the surrounding society are going in a different direction. This environment in Philadelphia made persecution inevitable.
The surrounding culture, as I have mentioned, was worshipping false gods and the Roman emperor. All of the people were pressured there to follow the spirit of the age.
And worshipping these Greek and Roman gods like Zeus and following the emperor was the spirit of the age.
And in some measure, we can relate to the church in Philadelphia. Right now, we are seeing this up close across the river in Minnesota, my home state, and some of you live in Minnesota.
What Christians all across America are realizing is that for centuries, Americans have enjoyed being in a place of power in society.
What do I mean by this? What I mean is that more than anything else,
Christianity has influenced American government and society. So what has resulted is a nation that in some measure has held
Christianity in high regard. This environment made it so that churches and Christian institutions benefited from this culture.
The mainstream culture saw Christianity as a benefit to society. You're tax exempt.
You're a benefit to society. Even though they didn't agree with everything, but because they saw churches and Christian institutions as a positive, there was little to no persecution in America.
The worst thing you might get is, well, you're a little crazy for believing that, but you're an
American. You have the right to believe that. But in many places, those days are gone.
And we see this across the river. Governor Tim Walz and the legislatures are passing anti -Christian legislation at high speeds.
And I think the most recent one was marijuana. My alma mater, Crown College, along with Northwestern, these two
Christian colleges are experiencing the negative effects of a state government that does not see them as a benefit to society any longer.
For two decades, Crown and Northwestern have had post -secondary students on campus.
Post -secondary is where state governments give funding to in -state colleges to enable advanced high school students to start college while they're in high school.
In the last month, because these two colleges are faith -based and against the LGBTQ agenda, their future funding has been pulled.
It passed the legislature. This move by the Minnesota state government is clearly religious discrimination and against the
U .S. Constitution, but the governor and the legislatures don't care.
They want to push their agenda forward, and that's what they are doing. Crown and Northwestern are both taking the state of Minnesota to court for this discrimination.
And by the way, I'm actually a proud alum. Lately, I've been a really disappointed alum when it comes to my alma mater, but they're finally taking it instead.
Once you deal with this, then go deal with all the woke stuff that you let into your college. But anyway, so churches and Christian institutions in Minnesota can relate to what
Jesus is saying to the church in Philadelphia in verse eight. I know that you have but little power.
Little power does not mean that they are spiritually weak. What Jesus is saying is that they have little power because they are small in number and greatly outnumbered by the godless society around them.
There are countries all over the world where this can be said much more. Christians in many countries are very small in number and hold no political influence.
And this is a reminder that as the church does its work and grows, the church should gain influence in the culture, and this is a positive because Christianity is always a blessing to the surrounding society.
If Christianity is the dominant force in a society, it will be a prosperous society because you're doing things
God's way. And when you do things God's way, it works. There's peace, there's prosperity.
But the church in Philadelphia was not in this place. They had little power compared to many other evil forces.
But even as they were outnumbered, what Jesus is commending them for in verse eight is that they kept his word and did not deny his name.
There was great pressure to fall to the ways of the surrounding society, but this church in Philadelphia would not.
Once again, he encourages them by saying in verse eight that this door where they were invited to be with him forever will never be shut on them.
They are forever welcome in his presence. They are forever his. And what a beautiful truth that is.
And why is Jesus saying this to this church? Why is he so confident about their future blessing?
This is so because true salvation, true salvation, which is true faith, always involves true works.
This is why the letter of James was written. Of course, we believe that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and that we know the truth through the
Bible alone, and it's all for the glory of God alone. Those are the five solas of the
Reformation. We believe that firmly as a church. But any true teaching also recognizes that true faith is accompanied by works.
The letter of James writes this. Reformer Martin Luther once said, "'The faith that is alone is never alone.'"
This church in Philadelphia showed their true faith by following Jesus faithfully. And as their faith was tested, they passed the test as they endured the hostile culture around them.
As I've mentioned, this persecution came from the Romans, who worshiped false gods, and the emperor.
But there was another group present who was also hostile to them. And let's see this in verse nine.
Behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.
In the first half of verse nine, Jesus says that they have been slandered. What does it mean to be slandered?
Slander is similar to gossip, but it's a little bit different. We looked at this a few weeks back, but let's look at it again.
In Jerry Bridges' book, Respectable Sins, he looks at the sins of the tongue, and he says that gossip and slander are accepted, sadly accepted too often in Christian circles.
And what he says there is that gossip is sharing true information with someone who has no business knowing, while slander is spreading false information, just telling lies about people.
The Lord hates slander, as Proverbs 12, 22 says. Lying lips are an abomination to the
Lord, and this is what the Lord will do to that person as Psalm 101, verse five says. Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly,
I will destroy. What we saw several weeks back is that the church in Smyrna had been slandered as well, and they were slandered by the same group as this church in Philadelphia.
The group of people saying false things about both churches were the Jews, as Jesus says in verse nine.
And this is interesting that the church in Smyrna and the church in Philadelphia had the same false religions that surrounded them.
What is interesting is that these two cities were not located as close as some of the others, but they just happened to have the same false religions.
Worship of the Roman gods, worship of the emperor, and unbelieving
Jews who had a hold in this place. And these
Jews were not the Jews of the Old Testament. You know, Moses, Abraham, David, Daniel, the faithful,
Rahab, Ruth, Esther, these were not the faithful. These were the Jews that were following the traditions of the
Pharisees. They added to the Bible. They created a works righteousness system where you have to earn favor with God through your works, not through faith alone as the
Bible teaches. And we know what Jesus thinks about this false Jewish system from what we saw in our journey through the
Gospel of Matthew. Everywhere in Matthew, we learned that he hated this false
Jewish religion that formed. It was a works righteousness system built on pride, a glorified man to show what wonderful works, notice my quotations, one did to receive
God's approval. But as Isaiah 64, six says, the Lord viewed these works like a polluted garment.
Jesus, the Messiah disapproved of this false Jewish religion and they were every bit as bad as the pagans, as the
Romans who worshiped false gods and worshiped the emperor. Jesus is making it very clear in verse nine who these
Jews in Philadelphia were really following. He calls them a synagogue of Satan.
In Smyrna, he said the same thing to those Jews. You are a synagogue of Satan.
A synagogue was a place that Jews historically gathered to worship the Lord. But now their worship was misplaced.
These Jews rejected the Messiah and they were really worshiping Satan. That's as strong as a condemnation that one can get.
During Jesus' ministry, he told the false Jewish leadership in Jerusalem this very thing in John 8, 44.
He told them, you are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires.
And we must understand that any movement away from God, any false religion, as good as it looks, sometimes it might even look good, they're actually following the devil.
Once you depart from the Bible, that's who you are following. By opposing the
Christians in Philadelphia, these Jews were doing exactly what Satan wanted. He didn't care that they claimed to follow the
God of Israel. He knew they weren't following the God of Israel. They didn't know it, but they were opposing the truth and advancing falsehood.
They were advancing Satan's agenda. And Jesus, in his typical fashion, does not hold back in calling a spade a spade.
He calls these Jews in Philadelphia what they really are, a synagogue of Satan. And if you use that language today, you'll get in trouble.
But Jesus did it, why can't we do it? To this point, the Christians in Philadelphia had endured the persecution from these
Jews, and he praises them. He tells them once again that they have kept his word and not denied his name in this poisonous culture.
And what Jesus says next is that there is a great reward for those who stand with him in the midst of opposition.
And actually the reward comes even before verse 10, because at the end of verse nine, he says, that these people, that they will learn that I have loved you.
In other words, you guys have followed me, and they haven't, and they're gonna see how much
I love you. And how sweet that is. But in verse 10, he says this.
This is the reward. Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to try those who dwell on the earth.
What John is describing is a great reward for the faithful on earth. This great reward is not only promised for the church in Philadelphia, but for all that belong to the church.
In verse 10, what Jesus is describing is the glorious event described throughout the New Testament known as the rapture.
Now, before we started looking at Jesus' address to the seven churches of Revelation, I preached two sermons on the rapture.
The word rapture comes from 1 Thessalonians 4 .17, where the apostle
Paul writes, we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. Isn't that amazing? Like, the Bible teaches that. Like, you can be going through your day, and all of a sudden, boom.
You're gonna be snatched up. That's what the English word rapture means. It means to be snatched.
I mean, this time of year, we see eagles flying. You ever seen an eagle catch its prey? It's flying, and it goes down low to the ground, and all of a sudden, it just snatches something.
It snatches its prey right off the ground and lifts that prey right into the air. Obviously, you don't wanna, in that case, it's a bad thing, right, to be snatched up, but in this case, it's gonna be a good thing, right, as Jesus snatches his people to meet him in the air.
And what's gonna happen is that believers will spend seven years with Jesus in heaven, and then after those seven years are over,
Jesus will come to the earth with his people to reign for 1 ,000 years. And then after the 1 ,000 years, believers will dwell with God on the new earth for all eternity.
And this is a very brief description of how the end times will play out, but our focus here is on this promise that Jesus gives to the church in Philadelphia in verse 10.
Verse 10 describes the church being spared from the judgment, and what judgment is it?
Verse 10 clearly tells us. It's the judgment that is coming on the whole world.
It's the hour of trial to try those who dwell on the earth. Once again,
Jesus says to the church in Philadelphia, because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world.
This ancient church, Philadelphia, is representative of all true churches, all true churches in this age that we live, including our church.
What this means is that the promise of the rapture is for the church, and every believer in this age must understand that as you walk in faithfulness, like the church in Philadelphia did, you will be spared from the great tribulation that is coming on this earth at the end of the age.
Whatever believers are alive at the time, that's gonna be part of your reward. You will be spared.
If the rapture happened when this ancient church lived, they would have been spared from that trial that is coming on the whole world.
Now in verse 10, there has been much debate about two Greek words.
Okay, these two words are tereso ek. Tereso means keep from.
Ek means out of, to keep out from.
In English, these two words mean to keep from or to keep out from. And those who hold to a post -tribulational view, which means that the rapture and the second coming are one event, what they say is that this means the
Lord will protect believers from his wrath that is poured out on the earth during the final seven -year tribulation.
But there's a big problem with this because the word ek carries the meaning of from, out from, or away from.
Okay, like you're being removed. With that in mind, the best way to take this is the
Lord is going to remove his people from the period of trial that is coming on the earth. If Jesus intended to cause his people to endure through the seven -year tribulation, he would have said that he would keep them through the trial, which is a different Greek word than he uses here.
He would not have used ek, he would have used dia. Anyway, you don't need to get into the Greek words, but what
I'm saying is that exegetically speaking, the view that you will be taken from the earth before the tribulation is much stronger than the other view.
It makes perfect sense based on what the text says here. It is truly remarkable to see how clear the
Bible is concerning this great snatching of God's people from the earth. To know these details about the end times is to be blessed.
Revelation 1 .3 says, blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.
To miss out on these details is to miss out on this joy that all believers can have right now as we anticipate that great snatching when
Jesus suddenly takes his people from the earth to meet him in the air. But what is sad is that in the
American Evangelical Church, there's been an effort to simplify the end times, to smooth over the details and miss out on the glory that is there.
To say there is only one coming of Christ after the seven year tribulation is to simplify the end.
Some even say there is no future 1 ,000 year reign of Christ before the eternal state, which frankly diminishes
God's great plan for the world with all of its intricacies. The Bible has much to say, and we should be diligent to see those details like this one in Revelation 3 .10.
A detailed understanding of the end times, which is what the Bible teaches, brings more glory to God.
A fascinating story with all these twists and turns is more glorious than a basic one.
Yet one of the signs of the lethargy of the church, I believe, is either a neglect of the study of the end times or a misunderstanding of it.
A misunderstanding of it is largely running over the abundant biblical data that is there in both
Old and New Testaments. It's amazing what's there. 27 % of the Bible is about the end of the story.
So should we focus on that 27 %? I think so. And that's what we do at this church.
By the way, we want to teach everything. We teach everything in this church. And that's why we do expository preaching. We cover every topic.
We're going to do 1 Peter after this. We're just going to go wherever Peter takes us. And wherever it takes us, that's where we will go.
So what a joyful hope this is. What a blessed hope this is to anticipate this snatching from the earth.
And this promise of being taken as we keep his word and do not deny his name is not only for the church in Philadelphia, but it's for us.
And as Jesus describes the rapture, this is what he says in verse 11. He says, I am coming soon.
Hold fast what you have so that no one may seize your crown. Last week, we heard
Jesus tell the church in Sardis that he was coming like a thief. And what I explained there is that this was not referring to the rapture or the second coming, but rather the soon judgment that was going to come upon that church for their spiritual lethargy.
But here, given what we have seen in the context in verse 10 with Jesus' mention of the rapture, what he says in verse 11 clearly has an end times focus.
He tells them, I am coming soon. And with that in mind, they are to hold fast what you have so that no one may seize your crown.
And you see this throughout the New Testament. I am coming soon. I am coming soon. This is the imminence of Christ's return.
You know what I love? Dwayne Rasmussen, who goes to this church. Dwayne Rasmussen, is he 93 or 94?
He's 94. You'd think he was 64. But yeah, he's a very youthful man. Dwayne talks more about the end times than about his death.
He talks more about the return of Christ than his death. And I'm thinking, that's really neat because such a focus of the
New Testament is on, I am coming soon. We always need to be anticipating that. And as we anticipate him coming to this earth, it makes us that much more faithful as we know he's coming.
He's gonna, it could be in my lifetime. And when he comes, I want him to be pleased when he comes.
And we're either gonna meet him, right, when we die or when he returns. But we want him to be pleased when he comes.
So, earlier we saw Jesus come in this church. And in verse nine, he told them that they were small in number and outnumbered.
But in the midst of that difficult environment, had kept his word and not denied his name. They are to continue in their faithfulness.
And as they did, they would receive the crown promised to them, the crown of life.
Now, Revelation 2 .10 describes the crown of life. This is eternal life. It's not a literal crown.
If you are a genuine believer of Christ, you have the crown of life. You have eternal life that can never be taken from you.
So, he gives this great encouragement to this church. You're gonna be spared from the hour of trial if you're around when it comes.
You have the crown of life that you deserve because of your faithfulness.
And after giving this encouragement to this church, as he has watched them closely, Jesus once again describes the faithful as those who conquer.
In verse 12, he says, the one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. So, he's describing the faithful as those who conquer.
And this has been a theme. Do you understand that every church that he addresses, all seven churches, he says to them that the faithful are those who conquer.
In Romans 8, you know what Paul writes? We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
You know why Paul said that? Think about Alexander the Great. Alexander the
Great conquered the known world. Did he keep his kingdom? He went to another group, didn't he?
Another nation took over after him. So, we are more than conquerors, meaning that we conquer with Christ.
Christ is gonna forever reign. And because we are allied with him, no one will ever take that glory from us as we reign with him.
Think about how amazing that is. We are more than conquerors. So, he's telling each of these churches, you are conquerors, you are conquerors, you are conquerors as you are faithful.
Everybody wants to be a conqueror, right? Only if you are allied with Christ will you be a conqueror.
When he died on the cross and rose from the dead, he conquered sin, Satan, and death.
And he will reign forever. And this church that experienced persecution from the
Romans and the unbelieving Jews, they were on the narrow path, showing their true faith in Jesus.
And since Jesus does not give this church one criticism but calls them conquerors, he tells them the encouraging words as to what belongs to the ones who conquer.
What he says is that he makes believers a pillar in God's temple. The pillar describes the secure place a believer has in God's eternal kingdom.
And the temple describes God's dwelling. His followers will forever be secure in his presence.
The sweet promise continues in his address to this church in the middle of verse 12, as he says, his people never shall go out of it.
And we saw this earlier. The door will never be shut on his people where they are locked out of his presence.
The unbelievers locked out, the believers locked in. Then Jesus says that the name of his
God, his Father, will be on those who follow him. In biblical times, names that were assigned were supposed to communicate something of the person's character.
Right, parents, you name your kids, you want the name to match their character. In the same way, the name of God, unbelievers, communicates that they are forever his.
Then Jesus communicates that his followers will have the name of the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem, on them.
This communicates the eternal citizenship that Christ's followers have in the capital city of the new earth, which is described in Revelation 21.
This city, the new Jerusalem, is in heaven right now. And as the end of verse 12 says, this city will come down from God out of heaven.
Jesus said, in my Father's house there are many rooms. This is his Father's house. His Father's house is gonna come to this earth.
And this new Jerusalem is gonna be an enormous city. The dimensions, look at the dimensions of Revelation.
It's gonna be a gigantic city. And Christ is gonna be there. His glory is gonna shine from it. This is your future dwelling as his follower.
Lastly, in verse 12, Jesus says that his followers will know him by a new name. The mention of name in the
New Testament sometimes describes the totality of the person. Jesus is not saying that we will call him by a different name.
Rather, what he is communicating is that what we know of him right now is small. But once we see him face to face, we will have a new understanding of his greatness.
We'll fall to the ground when we see him, when we're in the presence of his greatness. These glories are what belongs to the faithful, to those who conquer.
As you conquer, you're greatly rewarded. And these words that Jesus communicates are so important.
It was important for this church, and it's important for every church, including our church. It's also important for us individually to motivate us to follow him that much more closely, to be that much more faithful to him.
The focus of this passage is that he calls us to be faithful to the end in the midst of opposition from the outside world.
And you see this in the parable of the sower, as Jesus describes in Matthew 13. In this parable, he describes four soils.
The fourth soil is who we want to be. In fact, that picture on the back wall describes the fourth soil.
The fourth soil is the one who hears the word of God, and the word plants deep in that person's heart, and the person bears fruit for God.
These are the people who stand with Christ no matter what. But in the parable, there are those who do not endure because their faith is not real.
The second soil describes those who appear to be believers, but once persecution arises, these people fall away.
They're showing their devotion is not to Christ, but to something else. The call is to be faithful to Christ in the midst of opposition from the outside world, and not to follow the ways of the world.
This is such a call of the New Testament. Don't be like the world. It's gonna be tempting.
I went to a conference yesterday where this professor got fired from his school because he stood against the liberal drift of the school, and it's alarming, the stories he was sharing about all of these guys who just want to keep their jobs, and they're willing to compromise the truth to keep their jobs, and they love the world.
They want to have a good appearance before the world. This is so rampant in our world, and we don't want to be like that.
We want to be different. This is the call to Jesus. If you are different, if you are on the narrow path, if you are faithful, you conquer with me.
You will be rewarded. This is your future. I will not be ashamed to say your name before my
Father and the holy angels. So as Jesus gives this message to the church in Philadelphia and all the churches, including
Eureka Baptist, he says be very careful to what he is saying. In verse 13, he says, he who has ears to hear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches. So listen closely. So here as we wrap it up, endure hostility from the world to receive the greatest reward.
And in this text, we've seen one reason why, and here's the reason why that's in your bulletin. That reason is that the faithful are spared from doom to instead experience
Christ's sweet presence eternally. The faithful are spared from doom to instead experience
Christ's sweet presence eternally. So those who follow
Jesus have the promise of being spared from the judgment at the end of the age when God pours out his wrath on the earth, and his faithful will also be spared from the eternal wrath that God pours out on those in hell, his eternal disfavor toward the ungodly.
What is so incredible is that the followers of Jesus are not only spared from judgment, but we get to enjoy
Christ's glorious presence forever. In the heavenly city, with Christ on the throne, there will be fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore.
And I'm gonna repeat this, I love saying this. In Christ, you will be fully joyful forever.
Think about how amazing that is. Isn't that what every human wants? And in Christ, that's yours.
Fully joyful forever. And so what he's saying is be faithful. No matter what the world says, no matter what the world does, don't listen, don't follow them, stand with him.
And may we do this individually and as a church. Now next Sunday, Jesus addresses the final of the seven churches.
This is the church in Laodicea. And this is one of those where he really goes after them.
But there's a message that he wants us to hear as we look at this church. But this time, let's bow our heads in prayer.
Father, the call is clear, and the reward is clear as well. And so my prayer is that this would be a room full of faithful Christians.
People who are not ashamed of the gospel. People who are not ashamed of you, but will stand with you through thick and thin.
People who do not care what the world thinks, but are willing to look like a fool to the world because we love you.
And the future could not be brighter. And we need to be reminded of that in this crazy world we live in.
The future could not be brighter for the faithful. And so Lord, give us the grace to stand with you in Jesus' name, amen.