[Originally preached 9 March, 2003]
Revelation 3.7-13
We’re on to our next congregation, the church at Philadelphia. And as we look at this church, I hope you’ve noticed its claim to fame. It is one of only two of these churches in Asia Minor that receives Jesus’ commendation without any rebuke. The other congregation the church in Smyrna. Now, this is something to sit up and notice. And it should provoke a question. ‘What is it about this church that Jesus commends? What is it that maybe we could imitate so that we also might be approved before our Lord?’ There are several things that Jesus refers to in His letter to this church, but I am going to focus on one. Jesus points to the weakness of this congregation.
I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Revelation 3:8
This is a church with ‘but little power’. It is weak. What specifically is Jesus referring to here? In what way was this church weak? Jesus doesn’t say. It could be that it was a small congregation. It could be that Jesus was referring to the lack of any civic influence being wielded by this group, that it had no power among the other citizens. It might also be that Jesus was talking about their poverty as He did with the church at Smyrna. It could even be that He was pointing to all of these things and more. We don’t know. But this weakness of the church, however it evidenced itself, fits with the pattern Jesus followed with some other churches.
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29
One is almost tempted to say that Jesus likes weak churches.
Here, in our text, we have a church that is weak and yet did you notice that Jesus commends them for keeping His word and not denying His name, their weakness notwithstanding. Here is a congregation of saints who obeyed when they heard Jesus speak by means of His Word. And those of you who have been at it for a while know that there are times when obedience to Christ is hard. But these folk, this weak church, did just that. Here is a congregation of saints who also felt the pressure to conform. Could it be that the Jews, whom Jesus calls a synagogue of Satan, where trying to get them to stop this talk of Jesus as Messiah? Were they persecuting these believers? And yet, this weak church didn’t cave in. They didn’t deny Jesus’ name. So, on the one hand, this was a congregation that in many ways was not significant – they were weak. Yet, on the other hand, they were pretty impressive in their walk with their Lord, being faithful and obedient even when the pressure was on.
I find it interesting that the two congregations that Jesus commended without rebuke – Smyrna and Philadelphia – were both strapped with some sort of weakness. There is a lesson in that.
Now, listen to how Jesus responds to this faithful congregation.
Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. Revelation 3:8
This ties in with a title that Jesus uses at the beginning of this letter.
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.’ Revelation 3:7
Jesus holds the key. And He has opened a door for this church. Now, again, that presents us with a question. What is this ‘open door’? As with so much within Revelation, there are many options offered for this image. I’m going to talk about just one of them. In light of how this image is used in other parts of the New Testament, it appears that Jesus is talking about a door of opportunity. Listen to some of these other places where this kind of language is used.
But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. 1 Corinthians 16:8-9
At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— Colossians 4:3
In these cases, Paul was referring to an opportunity to spread the Gospel. I think that this notion is included in our text as well. Jesus is giving the church in Philadelphia an opportunity to serve Him in the spread of the Gospel. And there is a certainty about this opportunity. When Jesus opens a door it’s open! But also note that when He closes it, it stays shut. Opportunities to spread the Gospel abroad are granted – and removed! – by Jesus. The church in Philadelphia is being told that Jesus is giving them a window of opportunity to see the Gospel grab hold of lives. This is His response to their faithfulness.
Now, some of you might be thinking something like this. ‘Didn’t Jesus just finish saying that this church has just a little strength, that they are weak? What good is an opportunity if you don’t have the ability to take advantage of it?’ Ah, but there is an interesting twist here. Being weak is a prime requirement for a church – or an individual – to serve Christ. Listen to Paul.
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 2 Corinthians 11:30
For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10
What is this? There is a premium on being weak. Why? Listen to Jesus’ comment to Paul and Paul’s response.
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
We are so prone to depend upon our strengths and to look to them to get the job done. Christ will not use people who do this. And the reason is simple.
God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. 1 Peter 5:5
When we hear ourselves talk about how we are so capable when it comes to accomplishing this or that, when we talk about that ‘can-do’ spirit, when we look to our strengths, we are following the path of the proud. And Jesus doesn’t use proud people. He uses those who are weak. In these, His ‘power is made perfect’.
‘Okay, so weakness is a necessary qualification for serving Christ. But how can someone serve Him if he is weak? What can he do if he is weak?’ Well, think about it. What does someone do when he understands his weakness, his inability? Think about a person’s conversion. Beforehand, he is confident of his ability to deal with life and, if he’s religious, he is confident of his ability to deal with death and with God. A person in this state will never be converted. He sees no need to be. What is needed is a dose of reality. This person needs to see that he actually isn’t able to deal with life and death and God. He must come to see his own weakness in these things. This is the first work of the Gospel, disclosing to our hearts our true weakness. But once he grasps the real situation, what happens? What does he do? He cries out to Jesus. This is the second work of the Gospel, pointing people who now see their weakness and utter inability to the One who is able. A good illustration of this is Peter as he is drowning in the water that he was just walking on. Gaining a dose of reality, he cries out, ‘Lord, save me.’ He knows that he is unable to deal with anything so he calls to the One who can deal with everything. True appreciation of your weakness, what I called a dose of reality, leads to prayer, sincere, heartfelt and impassioned prayer. A person who knows his own weakness and Jesus’ power will look to Christ to act. This is true at conversion. And it never changes. It’s true for the rest of the Christian life. The need to see your weakness, and to see it in the context of the power of Jesus.
And that is what Jesus expected the church at Philadelphia to do. He opened a door of opportunity before them. He expected them to take full advantage of that opportunity. He expected them to pray. And what were they going to pray for? It could be a host of things: the boldness to speak, the ability to love the people who were making life hard, the grace that would make it possible for them to have a deep, rich and abiding joy in the face of real hardships. It could be almost anything. It all depended on the needs of the moment. But, bottom line, they would pray that Jesus would act in them and through them. So, the promise of an open door for service, plus the clear awareness of weakness, of the inherent inability to take advantage of those opportunities, will lead to prayer, a calling on Jesus to provide grace.
This leads to one of the promises of our text.
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. Revelation 3:9
This, obviously, has to do with the Jews who were persecuting the members of this church. To understand what is going on, you need to see this in light of some things in the Old Testament. Listen to Isaiah.
The sons of those who afflicted you
shall come bending low to you,
and all who despised you
shall bow down at your feet;
they shall call you the City of the Lord,
the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 60:14
Thus says the Lord:
"The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,
and the Sabeans, men of stature,
shall come over to you and be yours;
they shall follow you;
they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
They will plead with you, saying:
'Surely God is in you, and there is no other,
no god besides him.' " Isaiah 45:14
The Jews of Jesus’ era read these words and expected the unbelieving Gentiles, who had given them such a hard time through the years, to come and bow before them, to admit their error. In our text Jesus does apply this to the unbelievers but not the Gentile unbelievers. Rather, He applies to the Jewish unbelievers, the ‘false Jews’, and says that these will come and bow before the true Israel, His Church, specifically in this case, the church at Philadelphia. They will come, bowing low, and will declare, ‘Surely God is in you and there is no other, no god besides him.’ What is this all about? Jesus is telling His saints in Philadelphia that some of these Jews who had been persecuting them, would be converted. They would see the truth, that Jesus is God in the flesh, God among them, and that He is Lord. The door of opportunity to serve Christ was going to be opened and there would be conversions as a result.
But please note how this happens. It’s not just that these saints admit their weakness, pray, and then Jesus zaps these Jews. This does not fully grasp the important role of weakness. Jesus actually uses the display of the obvious weakness of the Christians at Philadelphia as the means to convert these Jews. The world is watching the Church. If the Church deals with life in pretty much the same way that the world does, by looking to its strengths, depending upon its presumed abilities, then the world is right is disregarding our message. But if the Church deals with life out of the sense of its own weakness, if the Church appeals to her Lord and doesn’t try to establish a measure of strength that it can depend on, and then succeeds at life, well, that is impressive. That gets noticed. And that is what Jesus is telling these saints in Philadelphia. ‘I know your weakness. I will give you the grace you have been asking for so that you can continue on as faithful disciples. Then I will send My Spirit to open the eyes of some of these who have been afflicting you so that they will see what is really going on. So, they will come and admit that you are right, that ‘God is in you’. Then they also will come and follow Me.’ Jesus provides the open door and the grace to take advantage of the opportunity. We provide the sense of weakness that prays and then reveals the power of Jesus.
Our culture is based on things like strength, power, influence. And that shows in terms of things like the lust for money, political power, popularity. We need to understand that since we live in this culture, all of this affects us. And you can see the times when churches are fooled into following the cultural model and try to establish a base of strength. That will always fail. The Church will succeed in its mission on the earth only when it strives after it in the context of its weakness. That doesn’t mean that we should ignore our strengths and try to become weak. Rather, we need to get to the point that we see that we have no strength, that we really are weak. And we’ll know that we are growing in that understanding when we get to praying. One key sign of a mature church that profoundly knows its weakness is that it is thoroughly committed to prayer, sincere, heartfelt, impassioned prayer; the kind of prayer that says, ‘Lord, if you don’t act it just won’t happen’. We’re not there yet.
I am of the opinion that the door of opportunity to spread the Gospel in our culture is still open. I can see a day when it might be closed, but I don’t think that we are there yet. But an open door is only part of the need. What also is needed is a church that takes advantage of the open door. What is also needed is a church that prays so that it might shine with the Gospel and be the means that Jesus uses to draw many to Himself. I like to think that that is a goal worth aiming at.
Revelation 3.7-13
We’re on to our next congregation, the church at Philadelphia. And as we look at this church, I hope you’ve noticed its claim to fame. It is one of only two of these churches in Asia Minor that receives Jesus’ commendation without any rebuke. The other congregation the church in Smyrna. Now, this is something to sit up and notice. And it should provoke a question. ‘What is it about this church that Jesus commends? What is it that maybe we could imitate so that we also might be approved before our Lord?’ There are several things that Jesus refers to in His letter to this church, but I am going to focus on one. Jesus points to the weakness of this congregation.
I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Revelation 3:8
This is a church with ‘but little power’. It is weak. What specifically is Jesus referring to here? In what way was this church weak? Jesus doesn’t say. It could be that it was a small congregation. It could be that Jesus was referring to the lack of any civic influence being wielded by this group, that it had no power among the other citizens. It might also be that Jesus was talking about their poverty as He did with the church at Smyrna. It could even be that He was pointing to all of these things and more. We don’t know. But this weakness of the church, however it evidenced itself, fits with the pattern Jesus followed with some other churches.
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29
One is almost tempted to say that Jesus likes weak churches.
Here, in our text, we have a church that is weak and yet did you notice that Jesus commends them for keeping His word and not denying His name, their weakness notwithstanding. Here is a congregation of saints who obeyed when they heard Jesus speak by means of His Word. And those of you who have been at it for a while know that there are times when obedience to Christ is hard. But these folk, this weak church, did just that. Here is a congregation of saints who also felt the pressure to conform. Could it be that the Jews, whom Jesus calls a synagogue of Satan, where trying to get them to stop this talk of Jesus as Messiah? Were they persecuting these believers? And yet, this weak church didn’t cave in. They didn’t deny Jesus’ name. So, on the one hand, this was a congregation that in many ways was not significant – they were weak. Yet, on the other hand, they were pretty impressive in their walk with their Lord, being faithful and obedient even when the pressure was on.
I find it interesting that the two congregations that Jesus commended without rebuke – Smyrna and Philadelphia – were both strapped with some sort of weakness. There is a lesson in that.
Now, listen to how Jesus responds to this faithful congregation.
Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. Revelation 3:8
This ties in with a title that Jesus uses at the beginning of this letter.
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.’ Revelation 3:7
Jesus holds the key. And He has opened a door for this church. Now, again, that presents us with a question. What is this ‘open door’? As with so much within Revelation, there are many options offered for this image. I’m going to talk about just one of them. In light of how this image is used in other parts of the New Testament, it appears that Jesus is talking about a door of opportunity. Listen to some of these other places where this kind of language is used.
But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. 1 Corinthians 16:8-9
At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— Colossians 4:3
In these cases, Paul was referring to an opportunity to spread the Gospel. I think that this notion is included in our text as well. Jesus is giving the church in Philadelphia an opportunity to serve Him in the spread of the Gospel. And there is a certainty about this opportunity. When Jesus opens a door it’s open! But also note that when He closes it, it stays shut. Opportunities to spread the Gospel abroad are granted – and removed! – by Jesus. The church in Philadelphia is being told that Jesus is giving them a window of opportunity to see the Gospel grab hold of lives. This is His response to their faithfulness.
Now, some of you might be thinking something like this. ‘Didn’t Jesus just finish saying that this church has just a little strength, that they are weak? What good is an opportunity if you don’t have the ability to take advantage of it?’ Ah, but there is an interesting twist here. Being weak is a prime requirement for a church – or an individual – to serve Christ. Listen to Paul.
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 2 Corinthians 11:30
For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10
What is this? There is a premium on being weak. Why? Listen to Jesus’ comment to Paul and Paul’s response.
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
We are so prone to depend upon our strengths and to look to them to get the job done. Christ will not use people who do this. And the reason is simple.
God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. 1 Peter 5:5
When we hear ourselves talk about how we are so capable when it comes to accomplishing this or that, when we talk about that ‘can-do’ spirit, when we look to our strengths, we are following the path of the proud. And Jesus doesn’t use proud people. He uses those who are weak. In these, His ‘power is made perfect’.
‘Okay, so weakness is a necessary qualification for serving Christ. But how can someone serve Him if he is weak? What can he do if he is weak?’ Well, think about it. What does someone do when he understands his weakness, his inability? Think about a person’s conversion. Beforehand, he is confident of his ability to deal with life and, if he’s religious, he is confident of his ability to deal with death and with God. A person in this state will never be converted. He sees no need to be. What is needed is a dose of reality. This person needs to see that he actually isn’t able to deal with life and death and God. He must come to see his own weakness in these things. This is the first work of the Gospel, disclosing to our hearts our true weakness. But once he grasps the real situation, what happens? What does he do? He cries out to Jesus. This is the second work of the Gospel, pointing people who now see their weakness and utter inability to the One who is able. A good illustration of this is Peter as he is drowning in the water that he was just walking on. Gaining a dose of reality, he cries out, ‘Lord, save me.’ He knows that he is unable to deal with anything so he calls to the One who can deal with everything. True appreciation of your weakness, what I called a dose of reality, leads to prayer, sincere, heartfelt and impassioned prayer. A person who knows his own weakness and Jesus’ power will look to Christ to act. This is true at conversion. And it never changes. It’s true for the rest of the Christian life. The need to see your weakness, and to see it in the context of the power of Jesus.
And that is what Jesus expected the church at Philadelphia to do. He opened a door of opportunity before them. He expected them to take full advantage of that opportunity. He expected them to pray. And what were they going to pray for? It could be a host of things: the boldness to speak, the ability to love the people who were making life hard, the grace that would make it possible for them to have a deep, rich and abiding joy in the face of real hardships. It could be almost anything. It all depended on the needs of the moment. But, bottom line, they would pray that Jesus would act in them and through them. So, the promise of an open door for service, plus the clear awareness of weakness, of the inherent inability to take advantage of those opportunities, will lead to prayer, a calling on Jesus to provide grace.
This leads to one of the promises of our text.
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. Revelation 3:9
This, obviously, has to do with the Jews who were persecuting the members of this church. To understand what is going on, you need to see this in light of some things in the Old Testament. Listen to Isaiah.
The sons of those who afflicted you
shall come bending low to you,
and all who despised you
shall bow down at your feet;
they shall call you the City of the Lord,
the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 60:14
Thus says the Lord:
"The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,
and the Sabeans, men of stature,
shall come over to you and be yours;
they shall follow you;
they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
They will plead with you, saying:
'Surely God is in you, and there is no other,
no god besides him.' " Isaiah 45:14
The Jews of Jesus’ era read these words and expected the unbelieving Gentiles, who had given them such a hard time through the years, to come and bow before them, to admit their error. In our text Jesus does apply this to the unbelievers but not the Gentile unbelievers. Rather, He applies to the Jewish unbelievers, the ‘false Jews’, and says that these will come and bow before the true Israel, His Church, specifically in this case, the church at Philadelphia. They will come, bowing low, and will declare, ‘Surely God is in you and there is no other, no god besides him.’ What is this all about? Jesus is telling His saints in Philadelphia that some of these Jews who had been persecuting them, would be converted. They would see the truth, that Jesus is God in the flesh, God among them, and that He is Lord. The door of opportunity to serve Christ was going to be opened and there would be conversions as a result.
But please note how this happens. It’s not just that these saints admit their weakness, pray, and then Jesus zaps these Jews. This does not fully grasp the important role of weakness. Jesus actually uses the display of the obvious weakness of the Christians at Philadelphia as the means to convert these Jews. The world is watching the Church. If the Church deals with life in pretty much the same way that the world does, by looking to its strengths, depending upon its presumed abilities, then the world is right is disregarding our message. But if the Church deals with life out of the sense of its own weakness, if the Church appeals to her Lord and doesn’t try to establish a measure of strength that it can depend on, and then succeeds at life, well, that is impressive. That gets noticed. And that is what Jesus is telling these saints in Philadelphia. ‘I know your weakness. I will give you the grace you have been asking for so that you can continue on as faithful disciples. Then I will send My Spirit to open the eyes of some of these who have been afflicting you so that they will see what is really going on. So, they will come and admit that you are right, that ‘God is in you’. Then they also will come and follow Me.’ Jesus provides the open door and the grace to take advantage of the opportunity. We provide the sense of weakness that prays and then reveals the power of Jesus.
Our culture is based on things like strength, power, influence. And that shows in terms of things like the lust for money, political power, popularity. We need to understand that since we live in this culture, all of this affects us. And you can see the times when churches are fooled into following the cultural model and try to establish a base of strength. That will always fail. The Church will succeed in its mission on the earth only when it strives after it in the context of its weakness. That doesn’t mean that we should ignore our strengths and try to become weak. Rather, we need to get to the point that we see that we have no strength, that we really are weak. And we’ll know that we are growing in that understanding when we get to praying. One key sign of a mature church that profoundly knows its weakness is that it is thoroughly committed to prayer, sincere, heartfelt, impassioned prayer; the kind of prayer that says, ‘Lord, if you don’t act it just won’t happen’. We’re not there yet.
I am of the opinion that the door of opportunity to spread the Gospel in our culture is still open. I can see a day when it might be closed, but I don’t think that we are there yet. But an open door is only part of the need. What also is needed is a church that takes advantage of the open door. What is also needed is a church that prays so that it might shine with the Gospel and be the means that Jesus uses to draw many to Himself. I like to think that that is a goal worth aiming at.
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