WEAK BUT FAITHFUL – THE CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA

1. Christ’s messages “to the Angel of the church in Penge” WEAK BUT FAITHFUL – THE CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA Penge Baptist Church 1st December 2013

2. Revelation 3:7-13 • “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.

3. Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

4. Where was Philadelphia? • Now called Alashehir • Trading city and gateway to plateau • Relatively recent construction • Means “brotherly love”

5. The eternal Christ • “These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David.” • “What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.” • “I am coming soon!”

6. Being faithful…. • “I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.” • But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

7. ….under persecution • “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently” • “those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars”

8. Christ’s promises to the weak and faithful • His knowledge of their situation • “I know your deeds” • Enemies will be humbled • “I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you “ • An open door to the future • “See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut” • “On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.” (Revelation 21:25)

9. A promise of resurrection • “I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.” • “we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

10. A promise for eternity • “Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.” • I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. (Revelation 21:22-24)

11. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22:3-5) • He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. (Revelation 21:5-7)

12. Christ’s urgent warning • “Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.” • “Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:8) • If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. (1 Corinthians 3:14-15)

13. “How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:29)

14. And us? • Would people call us “Philadelphians”? • Are we faithful like the Philadelphians? • Are we weak like them? • Does the door stand open for us? • Are we worthy of a crown and a new name? • Are we listening to Christ’s warning?