The Church in Philadelphia: Small but Solid

Text:  Revelation 3:7-13

Introduction:

A.     Most of us can think of a personal experience with an unfaithful congregation.

B.     Moments like this remind us of how thankful we should be for faithful congregations of the Lord’s Church.

C.     In this text Jesus exhorts and edifies the Church at Philadelphia for their faithfulness to God in trying times.

D.     In Revelation 3:7-13, Jesus encourages and edifies faithful congregations and Christians to remain faithful upon three bases.

I.  Christ’s Credentials (vs. 7)

A.     His nature is Holy (I Pet 1:15)

B.     His character is true/genuine (Eph 4:21).

C.     His divine role is mediator (Isa 22:22; I Tim 2:4-5)  In verse 7c-d Jesus is quoting from Isaiah 22:20-23 to illustrate his role as mediator.  In the context of Isaiah 22, Isaiah prophecies of the demotion of a bad governor (Shebna) and the promotion of a good governor (one who gives access to the King, Eliakim).  Likewise, Jesus is the one who provides access to the true King, God.

D.     Therefore, to be like Jesus (I Pet 2:22, Acts 4:13) I must be holy (2 Pet 3:10-12), genuine (Mk 7:6), and faithful to my mediator (Jn 14:15).

II.  Christ’s Commendation (Vs. 8).

A.     God is all knowing (Acts 1:24, 15:8; Lk 16:15, Heb 4:13).  This can be good for some, but bad for others.

1.      For the faithful this is good (I Cor 15:58; Rev 14:13).

2.      For the unfaithful this is very bad (2 Cor 5:10; Rom 2:6).

B.     In this context the Lord lists four characteristics He knew this faithful Church possessed: 

1.      They were evangelistic (I Cor 16:9)

2.      We too must be evangelistic (Mk 16:15, 2 Cor 4:13).  How many doors has Jesus opened for us and we turn around and slam them in His face?

3.      They were small but faithful.  The Greek word for “strength”, is dunamis (see Rom 1:16).  Thayer’s says this refers to little, “power and resources arising from numbers.”

4.      They were faithful to the Word of God.

5.      We must be faithful to the Word of God (Col 3:17, Acts 4:7)

6.      They had not denied the name of Christ (Matt 10:32-33).

III.  Christ’s Consolation (vs. 9-10, 12).

A.     To the Church at Philadelphia the Lord made three consoling promises:

1.      False teachers would fall down at their feet (possibly a reference to false teachers submitting to and obeying the gospel) (vs. 9).

2.      Because of their patient endurance in the gospel they would be saved in trying times (vs. 10).

3.      After this life is over they were promised a permanent state in Heaven (vs. 12).  The Lord uses three geographical illustrations to bring this fact to clarity in the mind of the first century reader:

a.       The city of Philadelphia was often riddled by earthquakes with would destroy anything that was not firmly planted.  One of the main things that it did not destroy was the pillars to the temple of God (possibly the meetinghouse of the saints).  Even today, there are pillars left that are believed to be from the first century or earlier.

b.      Because the city of Philadelphia was so prone to earthquakes and their devastating damage, most of the people actually lived in small huts outside of the city for safety.  Therefore, when Jesus says, “you shall go out no more”, he is reminding them of their permanency in Heaven.

c.       During the first century A. D. the city of Philadelphia really bobbled between three names; Atallus founded the city and named it Philadelphia in  A. D.2, then, after the earthquake of A. D. 17, Tiberius rebuilt the city and tried to change its name to Neocaesarea, then during the reign of Vespasian the city was called Flavia.  While the latter two names never really stuck permanently, they did stick just enough to be a menace.  In contrast, Jesus is saying that we will receive three new names that will never be changed.