Church of Philadelphia Pt1

Revelation 3:7-13 and the Church of Philadelphia

Prayer, please.

Yes, sir. That's right.

I'll follow God again and thank you for who you are and who we are in Christ. Thank you, Lord, for gathering us.

You say that they are Jews, and they are not, and they lie. But I will make them come and bow down at your feet and make them know that I have loved you because you have kept the word of my perseverance, and I also keep you from the hour of testing.

That hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. I am coming quickly. Hold fast what you have so that no one will take your crown, and he who overcomes, I will make him as a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will not go out from it anymore, and I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God and my name.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. Well, the city of Philadelphia was part, if you remember when we started weeks and weeks ago, there was an empire of Pergamum. Remember, Pergamum was that little small area.

Pergamum was the capital city. And one of those kings' name, the one that actually, if you remember telling you the beginning of parchment, how parchment paper came about, Eumenes II, he had a brother.

And his name was Attalus II, and he loved him very much. And his name was Attalus II Philadelphus. And if you know anything about the word phila and delphoi, that is the meaning of brotherly love or lover of his brother.

So in honor of his brother, he named this city after his brother. This would have been probably late to mid -2nd century BC. Obviously, over time, it got bequeathed into the Roman Empire when one of the Italian dynasty kings died.

So this was absorbed into the Roman Empire, not by conquer, but basically by inheritance that was given to them. Well, the city was built on a fault line. Meaning lots and lots and lots of earthquakes.

If you remember when we started a few weeks ago back on Sardis, it was also built on a, it was near that fault line. So there was constant earthquakes. Well, Philadelphia was so close, not Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but Philadelphia, the church, was so close on that fault line that for decades and decades, they dealt with tremors and earthquakes.

And in doing so, people didn't really build within that city a whole bunch anymore. There was a major earthquake, one in 17 AD, which obviously the same time around Sardis, that Tiberius also told them, hey, we're going to suspend your taxes as well, to give you an opportunity to at least do something with your city.

I mean, the city was very small. It wasn't much of the city. So Tiberius then telling them, hey, don't worry about any more taxes, so you can try to get your act together, basically. They were not an industrious city.

They were not like Sardis or any of the other. When I say small, very insignificant city. But he gave them the opportunity. And in doing so, they tried to bring up something good about their city name, by changing it to Neo-Caesarea, which is the new Caesar city.

And it never really caught on. So if you're ever reading any commentaries and you hear Neo-Caesarea, that is actually the city of Philadelphia, which is very small, very insignificant. But there was something about the city that was good, in the sense of what it could do industriously.

But because it was on a fault line, and because it did endure many, many lava eruptions that came up when the city did break around it, there was a lot of ash and lava deposits and minerals that came up, so it made the place plush for farming.

So it was known for its vineyards. So it did produce a lot of good grapes. It produced a lot of good wine, and that was about the extent of it. Shortly after this book was written, or this letter was written, cuz I hold the early date, Domitian later came in.

And because the land was so plush for farming, he said, I'm cutting your ability to make vineyards anymore, and you're gonna start growing corn, and you're gonna do it at the expense of your own land, and you're gonna do it for Caesar.

Well, why would he want them to plant corn to feed his armies? He no longer wanted them making their own money off of doing their vineyard and selling and doing their own thing. In the 90s, or late 80s, 90s AD, they suffered greatly from Domitian's edict to do so.

But that brings us to the church. It brings us to the Church of Philadelphia, which is very small, very insignificant, but if you call it on, and we'll get to it when we get down towards the bottom of the letter, that there's obviously a synagogue there.

So there was obviously Jewish people there. There was a small Jewish community, but enough Jewish community to have a synagogue there, and we'll get to that when we get to verse nine. So in the middle of verse seven, we'll pick up.

The Holy and True One and the Key of David

It says, he who is holy, who is true, who is the holy one? It is Jesus speaking. Who has the ESV?

ESV, anybody got the ESV?

What does it say? Does it have a definite article there? Andy, what is the New King James? I can't remember. Does it say the same thing mine says?

Yeah.

One or two translations I think actually says, he who is the holy one and who is the true. I like that translation better. Because it's making a direct connection back to an Old Testament statement about Yahweh.

You go back to Isaiah 43, and it talks about God being the holy one of Israel. What happens when we get into the New Testament, and we see the holy one? We see Jesus, actually I think it's in Mark chapter one.

They're coming through Capernaum, good morning. They're coming through Capernaum, and he has just picked up his disciples. They're going to teach in a synagogue, and he goes in. Anybody remember what happens when he goes into that synagogue?

A demon possessed man says, no, no, no, no, no, no, you're not here yet, are you, to punish me before the time? He says, we know who you are, you're the holy one of Israel. So hey, even the demons knew in the synagogue that he was the son of the living God, and would be the risen savior that would come and take away the sins of his people.

And it says he is true. Well, how do we know that he is true? Because let every man be a liar, and God be true. So I prefer the definite, although in the Greek, it's not a definite article. It uses the indefinite article.

I do prefer the translation that says, he who is the holy and the true. And then it says, who has the key of David? Now, we've already seen Jesus having some keys already in this book. We also see Jesus having the keys, and who does he give those keys to?

He gives them keys to Peter. What were those keys? What are the keys to the kingdom? So don't think of Jesus as some sanctified, glorified janitor, okay, with all these keys.

Anybody know, I'm talking like every man.

I do some work in a big office building over there in Bay Meadows, and you talk about an authoritarian complex from the janitor, but he's got the keys to everything. It's funny. Anybody going in here, Mike?

Nobody's getting in here without me. I've got the keys.

Well, Jesus is not a glorified janitor, okay? It's saying that he has the authority to open and shut anything. So it says, when he has the key of David, you might remember anything in the Old Testament where the key of David was even brought up.

Anybody remember? Because we've been reading through Isaiah in the mornings on Sunday. If you remember me telling you at all, over 80 allusions in the book in Revelation point back to Isaiah. If you think about how many chapters are in the book of Isaiah, there's 66.

That means there's more than one per chapter, and in many times, there's multiple in the book of Revelation that point back to Isaiah. Why don't we just look at it? Turn over Isaiah, I think it's Isaiah 22.

No, it is.

It's 22. Go to 2215.

2215.

Now, this brings up a narrative of an administrator in the house of the king. His name's Shibna. And we're gonna read, well, I'll just probably read it on from 15 to 23. No, I'll read to the end, because then it talks about how he raises someone else up in his place.

So let's read 15 through 23, and then we'll walk through it, and then we'll get back to Revelation, because this is important to how we understand it. It says, thus says the Lord God of hosts, come, go to the steward, to Shibna, who is the charge of the royal household.

What right do you have here, and whom do you have here, that you have hewn for yourself out a tomb, and you have hewn a tomb on the height, you have carved out a resting place for yourself in the rock?

Behold, the Lord is about to hurl you headlong, oh man. He is about to grasp you firmly. He's gonna roll you up tightly like a ball, and he's gonna cast you into the vast country. That's what God just said he's gonna do to this dude.

There you will die. There you will be, your splendid chariots will be. Your shame of your master's house, and I will depose you from your office. And I will put you down from your station. Then will come about in that day that I will summon my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him with your tunic.

I will tie your sash securely about him. I will entrust him with your authority, and he will become the father of the inhabitants of Jerusalem and of the house of Judah. And here it is. And then I will set the key to the house of David on his shoulder.

And when he opens up, no one will shut. And when he shuts, no one will open. And I will drive him like a peg, firm in a place. And he will become a throne of glory to his father's house. So they will hang on him the glory of the father's house, an offspring and an issue, and all the least of the vessels from the bowls of the yards.

And in that day, declares the Lord, that peg driven in a firmly place will give way. And it will be given to break away and fall, and a load hanging on it will cut it off, for the Lord has spoken. What he is saying here, back in Isaiah 22, is there was a man that was put in a place that then over pride or whatever the reasoning is, or arguments on whether Shibna was raised up with pride or if he even had the lineage of even being in that position.

But as I read it, I think he's swolled up with pride because it says, look, you've made for yourself, you've done what kings did for them, you did. Who in yourself out of a tomb to be like a king and all these things.

Well, it says that God's gonna depose that man and the very thing that gave him the authority to the throne. Did you see that? To the house of David. He said, I'm gonna take it from you and I'm gonna give it to Eliakim.

And Eliakim is then going to be the one who has access to the throne, who has access to the throne of David. So when it says here that he is the one that has the key to the keys of David, he is speaking of that messianic throne.

Who ultimately has the key to the messianic throne? Jesus, why? Because he was the long awaited Messiah. The messianic kingdom falls under the kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ. David was only a type.

And I don't care who had that key to have access to the throne, whether it was to see Hezekiah, Uzziah, anyone. All those men were a type and shadow that pointed to the one that would be faithful and true and would actually have the authority to open and no one shut.

That's why it says here that he has the key to David and who opens and no one shuts. If someone has the ability to open, what does that show about the character and nature of that person? Certainly power, but first and foremost, the authority.

I would agree with you, it is power. He has the authority to open up. Just like that janitor, he felt like he had the key to open up any door, he immediately has the authority. He has that key. This shows the sovereign power of Jesus Christ as the risen God-man, having the authority to open up the messianic kingdom to whomever He wants.

He doesn't answer to anyone. Just as Shebna eventually had to answer to Eliakim and would be deposed, Jesus answers to no one.

Why?

Because He is God Himself. He is the Holy One of Israel. He is the faithful and true. It says here, and who shuts, no one opens. That is also speaking of His power. Look, when Jesus opens up, is there anybody else going to come along and try to shut that door?

Is He going to be able to grab that door and He's going to be able to push so hard He can shut it?

No. Why?

Because Jesus has opened that door. What did Nebuchadnezzar say? After he was made to eat grass on the ground, rolled fingernails like a bear, toenails like a bear claw, and had hair on his back grow like feathers, what did he say when he actually came to his senses?

And then he said, whatever God puts His hand toward, no man can stop it. No man. So Jesus right here saying, I'm the one with the key to the messianic kingdom, and what I open up, nobody can stop it. Whoever I open that door to, nobody can shut it.

And then He says right here in verse 8, He says, but I know your deeds. Once again, that statement has come up multiple times, and it's neutral. There are times we've seen where He says, hey, I know your deeds, and those things were good.

Then you had other times where you go, hey, I know your deeds, and it was very, very bad. What about Sardis? How were their deeds? Their deeds were bad, because what did He say? I know your deeds. You have a reputation of being alive, but I'm saying you're dead.

He called them a corpse. He says, I know your deeds, and behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut. Once again, we're seeing the authority and power of the Son of God who's opening up a door that no one can shut.

Now, when you and I think of an open door, how do we understand an open door in Scripture? Just, anybody got any comments or any looking back through in your reading, is there any times in Scripture where God opens doors?

Yes, sir.

He did.

In 2 Corinthians, He did. Actually, in one of those passages in 2 Corinthians, He says that God opened up a door for Him, and right after that, it says the Holy Spirit opened up a door for Him for ministry, and then it says, but He was troubled in His spirit.

Just as a good reminder, don't trust your inner peace for believing that what God's doing is right, okay? I mean, what God's doing for you is the correct way, because you say, hey, man, I pray for peace, pray for peace.

God, give me peace. This is the right thing to do. Paul said right there that God opened him up a door for ministry, and he had turmoil in himself. So don't use that as peace within yourself, as the way of knowing what you're doing is right, because Paul said, hey, I had turmoil knowing where I was going, one, because Titus wasn't there, if you remember.

But there are other places, too, where it says an open door. It says that God opened the door to the Gentiles to hear the gospel. They were going in Acts 14. I think in Colossians chapter 4, I just thought about it.

Let me look over here. I'm trying to see if I remember where it was. In Colossians chapter 4, it talks about God opening up a door for them to go into to proclaim the gospel. Is it 2 or 3?

Is it?

Yeah, it says right here. In verse 2, devout yourselves to prayer. Keep alert in it with the attitude of Thanksgiving, praying at the same time for us as well that God would open up for us a door for the word so that we may speak for the mystery of Christ for which I have also been imprisoned that I may make it clear in the way that I spoke it to you.

Look, once again, we're seeing this is an opportunity for ministry. Jesus is saying He has made an open door for this church in Philadelphia, small church, insignificant financially, probably had little resources.

He says, but I have opened a door for ministry for you which no one will be able to shut. Here's why He says He doesn't. Because you've had little power. Look, Jesus wasn't looking for the biggest and the boldest.

Think about Ephesus. Would that have been an affluent, significant church?

Yes?

Yeah.

And why?

They had the temple of Diana. They had commerce. They had banking.

Yes, they would have.

Trade route.

That's right. It was by the port. They'd have had cash. Smyrna the same way. It would have had affluence. There would have been a place for them to have good industry, lots of people coming in and out.

Even Sardis. What was good about Sardis? It was the blue-collar textile of Asia Minor. They would have had a lot of cash. Why do you think Jesus said, you look alive but you're dead? They had every outward appearance of being good.

And when we get to Laodicea, they're going to be, I would say they would be the model of what you would think would have been a thriving church. Well, the Son of God says, hey, I've opened a door for you because you have little power.

Tiny, little itty bitty. I think that was to their advantage. Does God use proud people?

No.

What's that? Who said it?

No.

No, why? He can't. He degrades to the humbled. He debases the proud and he raises up and exalts the lowly. He says here, and it's because you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Now, and obviously you can't see this in the English, but in the church at Philadelphia, when they had kept his word and they were put to the test and they did not deny his name.

Now, if you, you might disagree with me and that's fine. But I specifically think that that's what he is. He's talking about here. These people were put to the test. They had the opportunity to deny his name for whatever reason.

Persecution, an opportunity for false teaching to come in. And Jesus says, you did not deny my name. You kept my word. Man, what have we not heard about this church? We ain't seen no Jezebel. We hadn't seen no teaching of Balaam.

We haven't seen anything about them not loving their people or loving God. And we don't have any indication by what Jesus has already said about this church that they were dying. From all means and purposes, this church would have looked like they were just really insignificant.

And what does Jesus say about them? He says, man, you have kept my word. You have kept my word. I wouldn't care if we were a family church. Y 'all have kept my word. I wouldn't care. Yeah, they rejected the Messiah.

The Jewish leaders, if you look through the Gospels, they weren't like the multitudes. The multitudes at times go, man, is this the one? Is it not the one? Man, is this the one? This is what they said we were waiting for.

Even when he fed the 5 ,000 and John, he fed the 5 ,000. It says that, hey, this is the one. This is the prophet that Moses spoke of. This is the one. And what did they want to do? They wanted to make him king.

So the multitudes had an understanding of what was to come, but the leaders of the Jewish leaders, they had the Scriptures. Who did Jesus blast the most? Was it ever the multitudes? He never blasted the multitudes.

All they cared about was, like you were saying, they wanted to keep their religious acts. They wanted to keep up the religiosity of temple worship. He wasn't saying they were of the loins of Satan. He was saying, you're caring.

Did it come time to pay? They didn't want to pay. They didn't want to do what they were supposed to do. So he sent a commissioner to go collect.

What did they do?

They killed him. And he says, oh, wait a minute. I'll send another one. Maybe they made a mistake. They'll listen to another one.

They'll send another one.

What did they do to that one?

Whacked him.

Whacked him, yeah.

And then he's like, well, hold on.

I know what I'll do. I'll send my son.

I'll send my son.

You know, he's royalty. They won't kill him. And it talks as they come. They saw that son coming off into the distance, and it says, if we kill him, we'll take the whole vineyard. And Jesus says, that's you.

That's what you're going to do to me. You saw me coming. You saw that I was here. And what do you want to do? You want to kill me. And if you look at the end of that parable, it even says that when he finished speaking, they knew that they were talking about them.

That's why they're a synagogue of Satan, not because they were bowing down and worshiping some satanic picture of a pentagram. Oh, that's a relatively new invention. But anything that opposes Christ is of Antichrist.

Not the Antichrist, but of Antichrist. Remember at this point, John had already said there are many Antichrists coming to the world. And it's that what opposes, that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.

What did the Jews say? That Jesus was not God in the flesh. They say there are Jews and they are not. So is Jesus saying, hey, they're not the descendants of Abraham? Is that what he's saying?

No, he's saying they're not the true Jew, Abraham.

I agree with what you just said. I said that very thing to a seminary doctorate professor at Master Seminary. And he said, you know what? He said, Mike, he said the Bible doesn't talk in those terms of true Israel and false Israel.

I'm telling you, that's exactly what he told me. I was like, man, you probably shouldn't be teaching anymore. I said, it's because you're looking for a actual statement. True Israel, false Israel. I said the Bible doesn't speak in those terms.

We made that to make something clear. But when Paul tells them you are of the false circumcision, that means there's a true circumcision. That true circumcision is those who, as you said, believe in Abraham by faith and we are of the true Israel.

True Israel, Abraham's Offspring, and the Lawless Vinedressers

Hey, turn over to, I think it's in Galatians real quick. Galatians chapter 3, I believe. It's right there at the end.

Yeah.

It says, therefore, verse 24. Therefore, the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

For all who are baptized into Christ are clothed yourself with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ.

And if you belong to Christ, what does it say? Then you are Abraham's descendants and heirs to him according to the promise. Hey, that right there, to those who want to make a distinction between Israel and the church, they have to do hermeneutical hopscotch to get around that.

Look, if you have placed faith in Christ, you are of the descendant of Abraham. Abraham was just a picture of that which would come. Yes, was he the first Hebrew? Yes, he was. But that was only a picture and it would grow into something bigger.

Why do you think it even says that through Abraham's seed all the what would be blessed?

Not just the Jewish people.

Nations.

All the world, yes. All the nations. Would be blessed.

Yes, and that's an interesting point. It's kind of like what he says in Romans 9.

Same thing.

He says there is your life. To them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises. But it's not as though the word of God has failed for not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel and not all are the children of Abraham because they are his offspring.

I used that very passage with that guy and he said that's not what that's talking about.

Don't you love when they say that?

Unlike.

That's what that's talking about.

And then I said, well, why don't you explain to me how it's not? And it was, well, because of the Abrahamic promises and what God promised Moses that had not yet been fulfilled and I had to tell him, well, you need to go back and read your Bible because Joshua said everything that was given to Moses had not fallen to the ground and was fulfilled in the time of Joshua.

Case closed.

Now, that leads to do we believe in some type of replacement theology? And I think I've said this once before. I do not believe in replacement theology. I believe there's expansion. But there is a part of because the Jewish people did deny that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, that God has turned from them in a certain way.

Go back to the lawless vinedressers. It's in Luke and it's in Matthew and I think it is in Luke too. You look at that and it says, because you didn't do what I told you to do, I'm going to take the kingdom from you.

And he goes, I'm going to give it to somebody else. I'm going to give it to them because they'll produce fruit. Well, if he takes it from the Jewish people, what were they supposed to be to the nations?

They were supposed to be a light to the Gentiles. That was a prophecy when it says that Jesus was born. It says that light has come, that light which was going to go into the world was going to be a light to the Gentiles.

That was prophesied in the Old Testament. So when Jesus comes and He says, you've not done what you're supposed to do, I'm going to take it from you. And who am I going to give it to? I'm going to give it to the nations because the nations will then be a light to the world.

So there is a part of it where God does take the commission of being salt and light. And He says, I'm taking it from you because you failed and now I'm going to give it to those who will be faithful. And that is part of the promise of the New Covenant.

So Jesus wasn't saying, hey man, you guys aren't really Jews. Those who are really Jews are those who have placed faith in Him and they're heirs to the promises. And He says, and I will make you...

Oh, we've got enough time.

It says, and I will make them come and bow down at your feet and make them know that I have loved you. You know, in Isaiah 60, this is a quotation from Isaiah 60, God was talking about what He was going to do with the nation of Israel.

The nation of Israel was going to be that light. And He says, you know what's going to happen? Because you're supposed to be that light and you're supposed to be that light up on a hill that would cause the nations to come to you.

You know what's going to happen? They're going to come to you and they're going to bow down and they're going to worship at your feet. You know how the Jewish person took that? They're going to come down and worship me.

No, no, no, that's not what Jesus said. That's not what Yahweh was saying. He's saying they're going to come and they're going to worship you. Why? Because y 'all were the ones who had the message of forgiveness.

The message of forgiveness to Yahweh. And in this case, who's He saying is going to come and bow down at their feet?

Here.

The Jew.

So you have what's called a redemptive reversal. He's saying what they thought you were going to come do to them, He says, because I'm going to show them that I have loved you. They have rejected me. The Jews have rejected me.

I'm going to show them that I have loved you and they're going to come and they're going to bow down at your feet and they're going to worship me at your feet because you're going to be the ones that bring them the Gospel.

Think about what Paul said. Paul said you could have kept on reading in that Romans 9 passage. He went to the Gentiles. What was the purpose of going to the Gentiles to do? Paul says it in Romans 9. Make them jealous.

Make them jealous. What an evangelistic model. Hey, let's go preach it to somebody else and they'll get angry and jealous and then come. We don't think that way, but Paul, he says, look, as I go to these Gentiles, I'm going to be preaching the risen King, the Messianic kingdom is open to all and as I preach that, they're going to see these people coming in to the heirs and promises that were given to Abraham and that should create with them jealousy to come.

Did it? Not in the way we would think. We would think it would have come in droves, but they did not. It caused actually a hardness of heart that says there's even a veil over their eyes today when the Scriptures are read.

Remember, when that word goes out, it's light unto light and darkness to darkness. It's life unto life and death unto death. We don't know what that's going to do when it's preached. It may harden one heart.

It may soften another. That's up to God. He says, I'll make them bow down at your feet and make them to know that I have loved you because you have kept the word of my perseverance. Once again, we're seeing him say what a faithful church this was.

What did they do? They did not deny His name. And it says two times they have kept the word of His perseverance. I do think here that when it says the word of my perseverance, and y 'all, some other men in here may have a different conclusion, I think specifically it's talking about Jesus looking at Jesus' perseverance of His life.

I don't think it was like just some word of perseverance. I think it was actually looking at the faithfulness and perseverance of Jesus Christ. Did Jesus Christ in the last three years of His life that we have some pretty detailed explanations of what He did, was that not a model of perseverance?

Yes, name some.

You know, Him walking sentiments that they had against Him. You know, wanting to persecute Him, kill Him. You know, trying to trash His name in the synagogue. I mean, it was... He kept on continuing to teach the people, be faithful, you know.

He did.

He did.

And even in His passion, even when He stood before Pilate, and Pilate asked Him that question, what is truth? And He was looking at truth incarnate.

Okay?

He could at that point, even in the Garden of Gethsemane when Malchus got his ear cut off, he says, do you not know I could call legions of angels to come down here? That baffles me. Because we know what one angel did in one night.

He killed 185 ,000 people in one night. Jesus said, I'll call legions of them. They'd have destroyed the earth.

Okay?

And He says He didn't do that. Standing in front of Pilate. He could have whacked Pilate because he was a coward. He had the power to let him go. And He even said, do you not know I have the power to let you go?

And He didn't.

Then when He was standing, being in front of the people after being beaten, and they said, behold the man. Look, here's the king.

And what did they do?

They wanted a robber instead of Him. They let Him go. Jesus at that point could have said, I'm an innocent man. Did He speak a word?

He didn't.

Even when He was led to Calvary, and He was nailed to a tree, He was erected. The criminal next to Him said, if you're the Son of God, let us down from here.

He could have.

Did He speak a word?

Nope.

Then the Pharisees, what did they say? Oh, when He cried out, Eli, Eli, He said, oh look, He's crying on Eli to come get Him. Maybe He'll come. And they mock Him. Jesus at that point could have spoke the word and incinerated them.

And what did He do?

He spoke not a word. It says, He plucked His beard. They punched Him in the face. They slapped Him. And you can think about the high priest. He got slapped in front of the high priest immediately after He was arrested.