Message

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In the last lesson, reputation among people was considered spiritual deadness before God. Being spiritually being alive or dead is a serious problem to everyone. We thank God for Jesus’ command, “Wake up.” He wants each person to wake up from heavy spiritual slumber and be on the watch and live by the Spirit. In today’s passage Jesus speaks to the church in Philadelphia. Of all the seven cities Philadelphia receives the greatest praise. Jesus said “I have placed an open door.” Let’s think about what this word means and why the church could receive this blessing. First, Jesus’ holding the key of David (1). Look at verse 1. “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true...” Holy is the description of God himself. It is written in Isaiah, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty...’To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?’ says the Holy One…“I am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator, your king.” (6:3; 40:25; 43:15). All through the Old Testament God is the Holy One; and now that title is given to the Risen Christ. Not only is this his title, but also his person. He is holy and true. And here “true” is “Alethinos” in Greek meaning real. As the holy and true one he is real. He speaks to the church of every generation. Look at verse 1 again: “…who holds to the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.” We all know that a key is very important. With a key we can enter a certain place or use a certain thing. Without the key we cannot. Then what is the key of David? We can refer to Isaiah 22 where a man named Eliakim was mentioned. Hezekiah had a faithful steward called Eliakim, who was over all his house and who alone could admit to the presence of the king. Isaiah heard God say of this faithful Eliakim: “and I will place on his shoulder the key of David; he shall open and none shall shut: and he shall shut, and none shall open” (Isaiah 22:22). Eliakim had the key of David with which he could enter the presence of King Hezekiah who was in the line of King David, and took care of the house. At the time of his reign King David established a theocratic kingdom and ruled his people with love and peace. But it lasted only a short time and was gone. Afterward the people of Israel longed for the kingdom of David. Jesus came into this world as a descendant of David (Mt 1:1; Ro 1:3). He did the work of the Messiah, opening the eyes of the blind and making the deaf hear and the mute speak and even raising the dead. Then his disciples dreamed of the Messianic kingdom which they thought Jesus would establish on the earth, defeating all the enemy countries like Roman Empire. However, the Messianic kingdom was an invisible kingdom. Jesus founded the Messianic kingdom through his death and resurrection. This kingdom of Christ is the kingdom of God and it is eternal. Jesus, who died for man’s sins and rose again from the dead, has the key to this kingdom. He admits those who put their personal faith in him into the kingdom of God. So the key of David is the key of salvation and the key to the kingdom of God. And Jesus holds the key. Revelation 7:10 says, “…Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” We cry out to him for the salvation of our loved ones and God’s flock of sheep, for he has the key. Jesus clearly said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6). Acts 4:12 says, “Salvation is found in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” All people of the world must know that Jesus holds the key of David. The key of David also implies the key for all the blessings of God. And this key is the key and solution to all the human problems. So Jesus is the one before whom we should humble ourselves. There was a blind man called Bartimaeus. He knew that Jesus had the key to open his blind eyes. So when he heard that Jesus was passing by, he began to shout, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!” Then people around him were bothered and told him to be quiet. But he shouted all the louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Finally, Jesus responded to his cry and let him be brought to him. Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” Then Jesus blessed him, saying, “Your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight. On another occasion there was a woman whose daughter was demon-possessed. Her agony as a mother was more than one could say. When she heard about Jesus, she was sure that Jesus had the key to heal her demon-possessed daughter. She was a Gentile undeserved to receive Jesus’ mercy according to common sense. Yet, she came to Jesus and fell at his feet. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. To her dismay she was rejected, being treated as if she were a dog. At this situation she could have given up in humiliation and disappointment and sorrow. However, she was determined to receive his blessing. Humbling herself, she asked for his mercy again, and finally she got what she wanted through her humble, unyielding faith. The demon was gone and her daughter was completely healed. Truly, we must humble ourselves before him and beg for his blessings and the solutions to all problems, for he has the key, the key of David. Second, Jesus’ placing an open door. Look at verse 8. “I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.” Here we need some background information on the city Philadelphia. The name Philadelphia was originated from “Philadelphos”, which is Greek for one who loves his brother. Attalus II was Pergamene king in 159-138 B.C and he was called Philadephos, and it was after him that Philadelphia was named. It was situated where the borders of Mysia, Lydia and Phrygia met. It was founded with the deliberate intention that it might be a missionary city of Greek culture and language to Lydia and Phrygia. Three centuries before, Philadelphia had been given an open door to spread Greek ideas in the land beyond; and now there has come to it another great missionary opportunity to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. For the spreading of the gospel the door must be opened. We remember Paul’s writing in Colossians 4:3, “…pray for us…that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.” On another occasion he wrote in 1 Corinthians 16:8,9, “…I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.” So it is a great blessing that Christ has placed before the church of Philadelphia an open door that no one can shut. In this blessing of an open door, what the city had been for Greek culture, it was now to be for the Christian gospel. The Philadelphian church seemed to have spread far and wide the good news of God’s grace and kingdom. So historically, for centuries it was a free Greek Christian city amid a pagan people. It was the last bastion of Asian Christianity. Look at verse 8 again. “…See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.” Often in Scripture an open door is a door of opportunity. For the fallen mankind, the door of salvation is most important. In history people had been waiting for this door of salvation for long, long years. At last the door of salvation is open through the coming of Jesus Christ. So there is a song, “Rock of ages cleft for me.” From the outset of his earthly messianic ministry Jesus proclaimed the good news of God, saying, “The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news.” This door is open for all. But Jesus said in Matthew 7:13, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Each one should make a choice to enter through the narrow gate or wide gate. And he said in Luke 13:24,25, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside, knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’” Here we see that the open door also implies there will be a time for the door to be closed. The door of salvation will not open forever. When the door of opportunity is open, we must be positive and even forceful. Jesus said in Matthew 11:12, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.” The contradiction of capitalism is that the rich becomes richer and the poor becomes poorer. But in the spiritual world it is not a contradiction but an acceptable secret and principle. Jesus said, “Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him” (Mk 4:25). Spiritual blessing multiplies to those who consider it precious and take it whole-heartedly. It is a great blessing that the door of Bible study is open to us. Those who study the Bible more and more with a humble and earnest heart will have more and more treasures, while those who do not will lose even what they have acquired. Also, what a blessing it is that we can pray to God in Jesus’ name! The more we pray, the more we have prayer spirit. The less we pray, the less our prayer spirit becomes. Spiritual blessing does not stand still. It is increasing or decreasing for love, faith, obedience, service, etc. In all the areas of our life when the door of opportunity is open, we should make the most of the opportunity. When the prophet Elisha was about to die, he wanted to bless Jehoash king of Israel who came to see him. Elisha let him shoot arrows through a opened widow. When the king did so, Elisha declared, “The LORD’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram! You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek.” Then Elisha said, “Take the arrows and strike the ground.” Jehoash king of Israel struck it three times and stopped. At this the man of God Elisha was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times” (2 Kings 13:15-19). Later on, he defeated Hazael king of Aram three times only, because the king struck the ground three times. An open door is a blessing, but it demands doing our best and making every effort. It is because we don’t know when the door of opportunity will be closed. As for the students, when the opportunity to study is given, they should study with their best. We should serve God and do his work in our youth and when we have strength, for the time will come soon when our youth and strength are gone. When the opportunity of service is given, we should not make excuses which are subtle and specious. We are going to have the 2009 Canadian SBC. We believe that God is going to pour out his blessing upon this conference. The door of God’s blessing is open. We pray that all our Bible students may take this opportunity and enter through this open door for the heavenly blessing at this time of their lives. As for the gospel servants, once again the door of the serving opportunity is open. May all gospel servants newly enter through the door of service so that our serving heart and power be increased and the gospel work of U of T campus pioneering advanced. Third, Philadelphia’s having little strength. Look at verse 8b. “I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.” In NASB and NKJV, there is the conjunction “because” or “for” at the head of this sentence. The reason why Jesus has placed before them an open door is that with little strength they have kept Jesus’ word and have not denied his name. Humanly speaking, they did not have much strength, probably almost no strength. But they kept their life of faith obeying Jesus’ word and remaining true to his name. How beautiful it is to overcome any and every difficulty with little human strength! The people in Philadelphian church must have had the strength of faith when they had little human strength. In A.D. 17 there came a great earthquake which destroyed Sardis and ten other cities. In Philadelphia the tremors went on for years – “city full of earthquakes” (The ancient historian Strabo said). The district was dangerously volcanic. The people there could have lived in constant fear and complaint. And most probably, the majority of the church members came from low stratum of the society. Their human conditions were not favourable at all to them. But when the gospel of Christ Jesus came, they learned to depend on God in their little human strength and live by faith. They must have remembered and held to the words of God, “Without faith it is impossible to please God…”, “Everything is possible for him who believes, or “Have faith in God” (Heb 11:6; Mark 9:23b; 11:20; Phil 4:13). And with faith in God they obeyed the words of God’s command such as “You give them something to eat,” or “Feed my lambs” (Mk 6:37a; Jn 21:15). And before anyone they did not deny the name of Jesus but rather testified it boldly. In this way they must have pleased their Savour and Lord Jesus Christ. A church of little strength became the church of an open door, God’s immeasurable blessing. Most people are ashamed of or complain about their little human strength. They want to have much human strength and then be proud of themselves through their achievements and accomplishments. But we really must know that Christian life is not to live with human strength but with the strength of God and reveal his power and glory. The Bible teaches us that when we offer what we have, 5 loaves and 2 fish, to God, he can feed 5,000 people. Even with little things offered to him, God can do his mighty work. He wants us to learn faith that offers 5 loaves and 2 fish to him. He wants us to believe his words, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” When we think of David, we regard him as a born-fighter and a man with much human strength and abilities. But according to the Bible, he always felt that his enemies were stronger than he. But at each time God’s help he defeated the enemies. Like the Philadelphian Christians, may we learn to overcome little human strength with faith in God. God’s blessing for the Philadelphia continues. Look verse 9. “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.” What a promise of victory! We are reminded of Isaac in Genesis, who looked weak humanly with little strength but to whom high authorities of the world came and confessed, “We saw clearly that the LORD was with you…” (Ge 26:28). God is eager to reveal his name, his power and glory through our lives of faith in this world. And verse 10 says, “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.” Even if the whole world would be in turmoil, Jesus’ perfect protection would be there because of their obedience to his word. The Philadelphian church was praiseworthy and pleasing to God. Yet, they needed a direction. Look at verse 11. “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.” Jesus wanted them to be victors in life to the end by hold on to what they had. Look at verse 12a. “Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it.” Philadelphian Christians might live in fear of earthquake shocks, but nothing will shake them when they stand as pillars in heaven. And the promise continues, “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 from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.” Jesus would write three names on the one who overcomes: the name of God, the name of the city of God and his own new name. In this way Jesus would make sure that he would be God’s treasured possession and the citizen of the kingdom of God. May God help us to deeply recognize that Jesus holds the key of David. In his blessing our life be the life with an open door though with little strength, and we may make every effort to go through the open door.

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