Philadelphia means “brotherly
love”. The Church there was a faithful
church. They were persevering in the
face of persecution. Like Smyrna,
Pergamum, and Thyatira, Jesus acknowledged that the Philadelphians kept His
word, didn’t deny His name and have endured patiently.
Something unique about this church is
found in the words, “I know that you have little strength”. Is our Lord criticizing them? Is this a strike against the church? I don’t think it is. I don’t think this is a criticism because Jesus
doesn’t have any criticism for this church at all. He doesn’t identify any specific problems in
their church like He does in every other church. It’s the only other church besides Smyrna that
does not receive any rebuke from the Lord.
So, what does “little strength” mean
then? Well, most commentators think it
indicates something about their size - not their spirituality. In other words, they were a small
congregation. They were not strong in numbers. Maybe they were only big enough to fill
someone’s living room or basement. Maybe
they were still renting a gymnasium in a local elementary school.
If the church in Philadelphia was
small in numbers, then perhaps this makes sense for us of what Jesus means when
He says, “See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.”
#1: Seize Opportunities to Serve (v7-8)
Jesus wants them to seize
the opportunity to serve that He is giving them. Notice verse 8, “See, I have placed before you an
open door that no one can shut.”
Many times in the NT the phrase “open door” means “opportunity”. God is giving believers the opportunity to
spread the Gospel in new areas. First
Corinthians 16:8-9 says, “….” Second
Corinthians 2:12 says, “….” Colossians
4:2-3 says, “….” And then Jesus says to
the believers in Philadelphia, “I have opened a door for you”.
He gave them an opportunity to serve
that they didn’t have before, and He wants them to seize it. Did you know that? God pre-plans opportunities for us to serve
and He wants us to jump at them when they come up. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which He prepared in advance for us
to do.”
Perhaps what this meant for
Philadelphia was that if they took advantage of this opportunity to spread the Gospel,
it would result in their church growing.
More lost would hear the Gospel from them and come to Christ and begin
to grow their church in numbers. I say
maybe that is what the Lord was getting at.
I can tell you one thing for certain though, more opportunities to serve
means the chance for more rewards from Christ.
The Gentile churches seized the opportunity to help the Jewish churches
in 2 Corinthians 8:3-4, “They gave as much as they were able, and
even beyond their ability. Entirely on
their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this
service to the saints.” John
the Apostle told some Christians who had seized opportunities to serve not to
lose the reward they earned for doing so; in 2 John 8 he says, “Watch
out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded
fully.” The Lord was putting in
front of the Philadelphians an opportunity to earn an even bigger reward for
the day they stood at His Judgment Seat.
Are we seizing opportunities to
serve? Are we watching for the open
doors in conversations with unbelievers to share the Gospel? If the Lord opens opportunities for us to
help another brother or sister out in practical ways are we seizing it? Run through the doors opened up to you. Seize your opportunities to serve.
#2: Put Up with Persecution (v9)
Secondly we are to notice
that the Philadelphian believers were to stand firm against the Synagogue of
Satan. Notice verse 9, “….” Jesus spoke of the Synagogue of Satan to the
church of Smyrna too, in 2:9, “I know the slander of those who say they are
Jews but are not – but are a synagogue of Satan.” The obvious indication here is that these
Christians were facing persecution from “the synagogue of Satan.”
Perhaps these Christians
felt that they weren’t making much of an impact in their community for Christ
because they were opposed so much by this synagogue of Satan. But whatever doors were shut to them by their
enemies, a door was opening up to them that could not be shut. Jesus unlocked a door, opened it up, and no
one had power or authority to shut what Jesus opens. Not even this synagogue of Satan.
What is a synagogue of Satan? A synagogue of Satan refers to unbelieving ethnic
Jews who are unwittingly used by Satan to persecute the name of Christ. Jesus is talking about Jews because he says “Synagogue”
- which is the local building where Jews gathered for worship. Jesus is speaking ironically; He calls them a
Synagogue of Satan not because they worship Satan intentionally, but, because
they have rejected Jesus Christ and have therefore become tools of Satan. Application:
when you reject the truth, you are wide open to the deception of Satan. Jesus told the Jews who rejected Him in John
8:44 “You belong to your father the devil and you want to carry out your
father’s desires.” A synagogue
of Satan refers to unbelieving Jews who are used by Satan to persecute the name
of Christ.
Now you may wonder then
why Jesus says, “those who claim to be Jews but are not, but are liars..” Isn’t He talking about Jews? Let me explain. There is a difference between a Jew who is
only a Jew physically and a Jew who is a Jew physically and spiritually. What’s the difference? Well one is only a Jew outwardly, while the
other is a Jew outwardly and inwardly.
Romans 2:28 says, “A man is not a Jew if he is only one
outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and
circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written
code.” A “true Jew” is a Jew who
is right with God in his heart, and, whose heart has been transformed by the
Spirit. The Jews who worshipped in the
synagogue in Philadelphia were ethnic Jews, but not true Jews, for they had not
received the Lord Jesus Christ. And in
their pride they persecuted the Jews who did believe in Jesus.
So the persecutors of the
Christians in Philadelphia were Jews, but only physically. It also seems that the Christians being
persecuted were mostly Jewish. Why? Because typically, the pattern in the NT is
that Jews persecute other Jews who convert to Christianity. In 1 Thessalonians 2:14 Paul says, “You
suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches [in Jerusalem]
suffered from the Jews.” Paul
spoke to Gentile Christians and was saying, “You were suffering from your Gentile countrymen for becoming Christians
just like Jewish Christians were suffering from Jews for becoming Christians.”
Why does this mean anything from us
today? Well let me explain the nuance here
and show you an application. The Jews
who rejected Christ saw themselves as God’s children, God’s chosen people, and
themselves as the only ones with the truth about God. Now when some of these Jews start turning to
Jesus Christ and becoming Christians, they would have been seen as betraying
God and Jews, and branded heretics by their fellow Jews. They would have been told, “Do you think that
as a Christian you are now a child of God?
Jews are the children of God.
Christians are heretics. God does
not have anything to do with this Jesus you believe in.”
But Jesus promises them that their
enemies will fall down in front of them and they will say, “We know that Christ
has loved you!” Those words will sting
them painfully because they will know that they hated the very people God
loves. Jesus said in Luke 6:22, “Blessed
are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your
name as evil, because of the Son of Man.” It is the same with Jesus: someday all those who hated Him will realize
that He is loved by the Father. The big
picture here is that in the end, everyone will know that Jesus Christ is Lord.
The Love of God sustains us through
everything. Who hates me? Let the whole world hate me, I am loved by
Jesus Christ.
Taken Away from the
Tribulation (v10)
While Jesus encourages
them to put up with persecution, He also promises them that they will be Taken
Away from the Tribulation. Notice verse
10, “….” Jesus is referring to the
Pre-Tribulational Rapture here. This
verse, when put with many other verses, shows us that our Lord’s plan is to
take His church away from the earth before the terrible days of the Tribulation
occur.
“Well, isn’t He speaking to the
Philadelphians?” Yes, but it is clear
that Jesus is speaking to a larger audience than just this local church. First, notice Jesus says this trial is worldwide
and not just local, and second, because the targets of suffering are not
Christians but “those who live on the earth.”
Every instance in Revelation where the phrase “those who live on the
earth” occurs it is referring to the unbelieving masses of humanity who reject
Jesus Christ the Lord. God is going to
“test” them with the terrible judgments.
The Biblical purpose of a “test” is “making what is inside of you come
out.” A test is putting you in
circumstances and situations that bring out what is truly inside of you. God will punish those who dwell on the earth
and in the process they will continue to shake their fists at God and refuse to
repent. God is going to “prove” their
wicked and stubborn unbelief.
Three things: First, they are to endure the trials men
inflict on them, but, they will be spared from the trials that God is going to
bring on the whole world. Second, their suffering
was temporary and would come to an end.
Once it did, their eternal glory would begin. Third, it reminds them that God is just and
He has a day where He will pour out His judgment on a wicked world that
persecuted Christ and those who belong to Him.
Conclusion:
Seize the opportunities God gives you to serve. Persevere through persecution that comes your
way. Remember that you will be Taken
Away from the Tribulation. Make sure you
have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. For if you do, you will receive a crown, and
be made a pillar in the temple of God.
You will never leave it, and you will have the name of God, the name of
the city of God, and the new name of Jesus written on you.
Comments
Post a Comment