An Open Door That No One Can Shut

For those of you who don't know me, I haven't met yet. My name is Sean. I'm one of the pastors of

Trinity Cambridge Church, and it is my joy and a great privilege to preach God's Word to you

this morning. We are in a sermon series through the book of Revelation, and we are in chapter 3

today, verses 7 to 13, which is the letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia.

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's Word.

Heavenly Father, we do desire to keep your Word and to keep the name of Jesus

for our whole lives, but we cannot do that without your help, without your empowering Spirit,

without your Word to guide us and to ground us, and so we gather ourselves here before your Word again,

and we submit ourselves to your Word again. Won't you please speak to us?

change us, and stir us up to love you with our whole heart,

and to serve you with our whole lives.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Please stand for the reading of God's Word from Revelation chapter 3.

Revelation 3 · chapter mention

verses 7 to 13.

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.

I know your works.

I know your works.

Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut.

I know that you have but little power,

and yet you have kept my Word and have not denied my name.

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.

Because you have kept my Word about patient endurance,

I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world

to try those who dwell on the earth.

I am coming soon.

Hold fast what you have,

so that no one may seize your crown.

The one who conquers,

I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God.

Never shall he go out of it,

and I will write on him the name of my God,

and the name of the city of my God,

the new Jerusalem,

which comes down from my God out of heaven,

and my own new name.

He who has an ear,

let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

This is God's holy and authoritative Word.

You may be seated.

Whether it's a film producer

who takes advantage of job-insecure actresses,

or a politician who goads interns into engaging in illegal activity,

people in positions of power often get away with evil deeds,

at least in this life,

because they're able to pressure people into compliance or silence.

And when we feel that we have but little power,

and when we feel that someone else has power over us,

and when we feel like that person has the key,

holds the key to our future,

the key to unlock career opportunities,

or to open networks,

or to open doors for the future,

we too can be cowered into compliance and silence.

This can happen to us in terms of our Christian witness as well.

When we think that being a Bible-believing Christian

can hurt our chances in making friends,

or in being awarded a fellowship,

or in getting a job,

we can lie low and hide our faith,

or even deny our allegiance to Jesus as Peter once did.

After all, those guys have the power.

They have the keys to open doors,

and I don't want them to shut me out.

As we have seen throughout Revelation 2 and 3,

Christians in the first century faced persecution and pressure to conform,

not only from the Romans,

but also from the Jews.

We can see this already in the Gospel of John.

In John 9, 22,

the parents of the man born blind that Jesus heals

refuses to acknowledge that Jesus is the one who healed him,

even though they know the truth,

because they feared the Jews who had already decided and decreed

that those who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah

would be put out of the synagogue.

Likewise, in John 12, 42,

it says many of the authorities,

even of the Jewish authorities,

came to faith in Jesus.

They believed in Jesus,

but for the fear of the Pharisees,

it says they did not confess the name of Jesus

so that they would not be put out of the synagogue.

This was not an uncommon struggle,

and we see that both the church in Smyrna

that we saw earlier in chapter 2, verse 9,

and the church in Philadelphia here in chapter 3, verse 9,

were being persecuted by what John calls,

or Jesus calls, the synagogue of Satan,

which is a reference to Jews

who are doing the bidding of Satan

by persecuting the people of God.

Most of the early Christians were Jewish,

and their allegiance to Jesus

often put them in the crosshairs of the Jewish authorities,

and this was a fearful thing

because Jews, by virtue of their antiquity,

and because they'd been around in the Roman Empire for a while,

and because also they had rioted many times,

and they had found ways

to get some kind of acceptance in Roman society.

They didn't have to worship the emperor

as long as they honored the emperor,

and so being a Jew was a benefit

because then you can still survive in society and get by,

but if the Jews also rejected you,

then you'd have nowhere to go as a Christian

to gain social acceptance.

You would lose your family ties,

your social respectability,

your cultural acceptance,

your career opportunities,

and perhaps even your own life.

These Jewish authorities and the Roman authorities

were the cultural and social and vocational gatekeepers

of their world,

and they held the keys to their future,

or so it seemed.

But Jesus here reminds the church in Philadelphia

of an even deeper truth

and an even greater reality,

that he is the one who has the key of David,

who opens and no one will shut,

and who shuts and no one will open.

And that, therefore,

they should hold fast to their profession of Christ's name,

even through trials.

That's the main point of this passage.

We should hold fast to our profession of Jesus

through trials,

knowing that he has the key to the kingdom of God.

We're gonna first talk about the one

who has the key of David, it's Jesus,

and then we're gonna talk about the church

that keeps Christ's word,

that's the church in Philadelphia.

And third, we're gonna talk about the one

who receives God's name,

and that's all those who hold fast to Christ's name.

Jesus introduces himself to the church

in Philadelphia in verse seven,

and I'm sure this is obvious to most people,

but in case you're really unfamiliar with scripture,

this is not talking about the city of Philadelphia

in Pennsylvania.

Revelation was written around 95 AD,

Philadelphia is named after that city,

but the ancient city of Philadelphia

was in the region of Lydia in Asia Minor,

in modern-day Turkey.

And when the Ottomans conquered the city in 1392,

they renamed it Allah-Shahir.

So that's the modern name now,

but that's what Philadelphia is back in the day.

And Jesus says to this church in Philadelphia,

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.

Jesus is called the Holy One.

He describes himself as the Holy One.

In the Gospels, if you read through it,

whenever the demons encounter Jesus,

they stand in awe and exclaim,

I know who you are, the Holy One of God.

This is a divine title

because often throughout Scripture over 30 times,

God the Father, Yahweh,

is called the Holy One of Israel.

So the word holy in its basic meaning

means consecrated or set apart for God

for a special purpose.

In Scripture, the opposite of what is holy

is what is common.

So holy could even be translated uncommon or special.

So Jesus, like God the Father, is holy.

He's not like us.

We are sinful, but Jesus is righteous.

We are finite, but Jesus is infinite and eternal.

We are fickle, but Jesus is unchanging, constant.

He is set apart from us and he is holy.

And Jesus is also called the true one.

As in the English, here in the Greek,

which is the original language

that the New Testament is written in,

the word true has multiple nuances.

It can mean that someone is truthful or trustworthy,

or it can mean that someone is real or genuine,

as opposed to fake or false.

And I think all of those meanings are in view here.

And that brings Jesus into an intentional contrast

with the detractors of the church in Philadelphia

described later in verse nine.

The synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews

and are not, but lie.

Jesus, in contrast, is the true one.

There were Jews who were denouncing these Christians

in Philadelphia saying,

you are not the people of God.

We're the true people of God.

We belong to God.

You don't.

You're fake.

You're the heretics.

We are the ones who will inherit the kingdom of God.

But Jesus says,

they are liars.

I am the truthful one,

the true one,

the trustworthy one.

So pay attention to what I'm about to say

about who you are

and what you are.

Jesus is the dependable and reliable witness.

He is the real deal.

And so it doesn't matter what anyone says about us,

what our persecutors say about us,

what our flatterers say about us,

what matters is what Jesus says about us.

And Jesus is the holy one,

the true one.

And later on in Revelation 6,

10,

God the Father is described as holy and true.

So again,

this is a divine title.

It's another way to say

what Revelation 3,

14 says about Jesus.

He's the faithful and true witness.

His testimony is utterly reliable.

And this Jesus is the one,

it says,

who has the key of David,

who opens and no one will shut,

who shuts and no one opens,

as it says in verse seven.

This is a slight variation

of what we saw in the glorious vision

in chapter one,

verse 18.

That's where all these introductions

to the letters and churches

are taken from.

And there in chapter one,

verse 18,

it said Jesus had the keys

of death and Hades.

There it was particularly emphasizing

Jesus' power over death

and over eternal life.

He's the one who determines

who gets to go into eternal life.

He's the one who raises the dead.

And so that power is in view here too.

But this verse is going actually

even further back

beyond Revelation 118

to Isaiah 22.

In Isaiah 22,

there is a steward

named Shebna

and he is a steward

over the royal household

of the household of David

at the time.

It was King Hezekiah.

And he is the one

that's in charge

of basically discharging

the duties of the king

on his behalf.

He's the steward.

But Shebna was unfaithful.

He held the key to the palace.

He determines

who gets to come in

and who gets to go out.

But he was an unfaithful steward.

And so God prophesies,

God says,

and declares in Isaiah 22, 19,

I will thrust you

from your office

and you will be pulled down

from your station.

And instead,

God says,

I will call my servant,

Eliakim,

to be steward

over the house of David.

And this is what he says

to Eliakim

in Isaiah 22, 22.

I will place on his shoulder

the key of the house of David.

He shall open

and none shall shut

and he shall shut

and none shall open.

The exact phrasing

of this verse

in Revelation 3.

In this sense,

Eliakim,

whose name means

the one whom God

will raise up,

is a type

of Jesus Christ.

He's a figure

of Jesus Christ

who prefigures

that the Messiah,

Jesus,

will come

as the one

whom God raises up

to be over all

of the household of David

and to reign in his throne.

So this Eliakim

is foreshadowing that.

And the fact

that Eliakim here

is a type of the Messiah

is confirmed

by the fact

that he's called

by God my servant.

And in Isaiah,

that's a key expression

because the Messiah

is described

over and over again

by God in Isaiah

as my servant.

So then Jesus

is saying here

in Revelation

that he is

the ultimate fulfillment

of what Eliakim was.

At the end of Isaiah 22,

we're told

that even Eliakim

would fail.

He'd had the throne

of honor

to his father's house,

but he would also

be cut down.

And he would be cut down

and he would fall.

That was predicted

in Isaiah 22 also.

But Jesus,

in contrast,

sits on the throne

of David forever.

And he will never

be cut down.

And Jesus is saying

that I am he

who holds the key

of David.

And that means

Jesus has the key

to the kingdom of God.

No one can enter

the kingdom of God

except through him.

And this is why

the church in Philadelphia

can be assured

of Jesus' promise

in verse 8.

Behold,

I've set before you

an open door

which no one

is able

to shut.

this is an amazing

comfort

to the church

in Philadelphia.

The expression

open door

does sometimes

refer

to opportunities

for ministry

throughout the New Testament.

So Paul writes

that a wide

open door

of ministry

has been opened

a wide door

for ministry

has been opened

for me

in 1 Corinthians 16

and other places.

And it's possible

that Jesus

is kind of getting

at the same idea

here,

that he's opening up

their door

for ministry.

However,

I think the immediate

context of this passage

kind of points us

in a different direction.

I think the open door

is a reference

to the door

to the kingdom of God

because Jesus himself

just said

that he has the key

of David

and he opens

and no one shuts

and he shuts

and no one opens.

Revelation 4.1

confirms this.

It says,

Behold,

a door standing open

where?

In heaven.

So remember

that the church

in Philadelphia

is facing opposition

and persecution

from hostile,

unbelieving Jews.

As we see

in the Gospels

and throughout

the book of Acts,

some of the Jews

were putting Christians

out of their synagogues

and refusing

to give them

a platform

to proclaim

the gospel.

They contradicted,

reviled,

and stirred up

persecution

against Christians.

So imagine

how discouraging

it would have been

to face

such forceful opposition,

especially from

their Jewish brethren

whom they had expected

to embrace the Messiah,

their long-awaited Messiah,

but instead,

all we have

are closed doors

everywhere.

We're now shut out

of the synagogue.

We're shut out

from society

because of our allegiance

to Jesus.

And then,

in that situation,

to hear this assurance,

I have set before you

an open door.

which no one

is able to shut.

Yes,

they might shut you

out of the synagogue,

but they can never

shut you out

of the kingdom of God

because I have

the key of David

and no one can shut

what I open.

Let this be a comfort

to you

when you're ridiculed

by your friends

for being a Christian,

when you lose

the respect

of your coworkers

or your professors

for voicing

your Christian beliefs,

or when you feel

like you've lost

academic or career

opportunities

because of your

allegiance to Jesus,

remember that there

is something

that no one

can ever

take away from you

because you have

an inheritance

that is imperishable

and undefiled

and unfading

kept in heaven

for you

by Jesus.

Remember that

that door to heaven

and the kingdom

of God

has been opened

by Jesus

who alone

has the key.

So Jesus,

the one who has

the key of David,

is the sender

of this letter.

Now let's look

at the recipient

of Jesus' letter

and what Jesus

says about them

in verses 8-10.

The phrase

I know

precedes statements

about the church

in Philadelphia

and then the word

behold precedes

statements about

what Jesus says,

has done,

and will do

for the church

in Philadelphia.

And usually

if you look

at the pattern

of the seven letters

in Revelation 2 and 3,

the statement

I know your works

is usually followed

immediately by

the recounting

of those works,

a list of those works,

whether that's good

or bad.

But here,

the usual sequence

is interrupted

by a parenthetical

remark in which

Jesus says,

I know your works.

Behold,

I have set before you

an open door

which no one

is able to shut.

It's kind of a,

kind of an odd

and then he resumes

the thought again,

I know.

So it's as if

Jesus is so eager

to command

and comfort

this little church

in Philadelphia

that he interrupts

his own flow

of thought

to embrace

and uphold them

and says,

I know,

I know

your works.

I see everything.

Don't worry.

I have opened

a door for you

that no one can shut.

And then Jesus

resumes his recounting

of the works

of the Philadelphian church.

What works

do they have?

It says in verse 8,

I know that you

have but little power

and yet you have

kept my word

and have not denied

my name.

This idea of keeping

the word of Christ

is repeated in verse 10

because you have kept

my word about

patient endurance.

The church in Philadelphia

is a church

that has kept

the word of Christ,

the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Despite persecution,

they have not denied

Jesus' name.

despite opposition,

they have continued

to hold fast to

and proclaim

the name of Jesus.

And they have done this

despite the fact

that they have

but little power.

It's ironic

that the church

in Sardis,

which had the reputation

of being alive,

and the church

in Laodicea,

that's next church,

which boasted,

I am rich,

I have prospered,

and I need nothing.

that these two churches

are precisely

the churches

that receive

the most severe rebuke

from the Lord Jesus.

But this little-known church

in Philadelphia

that had but little power

receives Jesus'

highest commendation.

In fact,

Jesus only has good things

to say about this church.

Outwardly,

the church in Philadelphia

was unimpressive.

They had but little power.

Later in Revelation 13.2

and 17.13,

it connects the word power

with political power.

This church lacks

political power.

They don't have much influence

in society.

They're not the church

that attracts media attention

or gets visits

from presidential hopefuls.

They don't have hundreds

of thousands of followers

on their social media accounts.

They're a bunch of nobodies.

They're also likely poor.

Revelation 18.3 speaks

of the merchants

of the immoral nations of earth

who have grown rich

from the power,

the same word,

of Babylon's luxurious living.

The church in Philadelphia

had no such economic power

because they keep the name of Jesus

and refuse to deny him

and because they refuse

to compromise their faith

and their ethics

and because they refuse

to confess the name of Caesar,

they are likely cut off

from the corridors

of economic power.

They don't have a seat

at the table of power.

This is not a church

that can host large conferences

and symposia

or make sizable,

impactful donations

to causes.

They have but little power

and yet

they have kept

Jesus' word

and have not denied his name.

That's so encouraging

because that means

this kind of faithfulness

that the church in Philadelphia

gets commended for

is accessible

to every single church.

Whether that church

is in the city,

a major global hub

or in the countryside

by the farms,

whether this church

is in a place

where there's religious freedom

or in a place

where there's great

religious persecution,

whether this church

is in a first world country

or in a third world country,

in every place,

any church

can do what this church

in Philadelphia is doing

because they had no power.

Yet they kept

his word.

Brothers and sisters,

that means we also

can hear this commendation

from Jesus

if you are faithful.

Is that what you desire

above all else?

Church in Cambridge?

Church in Cambridge?

Church in Cambridge?

To hear the commendation

of our Lord Jesus?

Is that not what you want

above all else?

So let's hold fast

to the gospel,

to the word of Jesus.

Hold fast

to the precious name

of our Savior,

Jesus Christ.

Let's be people

who say,

even if I have to let go

of everything else,

to hold on

to the name of Jesus.

Even if I have to

let go of power.

Even if I have to

let go of prestige.

Even if I have to

let go of prosperity.

I am not letting go

of the name of Jesus.

Even if I am shut out

of every place.

Shut down

by everyone.

Even if I'm shut out

of the ivory tower

and shut out

of the public square

and shut out

of the marketplace

and shut out

of Washington DC.

Even if I am canceled.

I will never deny

the one who has

the key of David.

because he's the one

who gives us access

to the one place

that we cannot do

without.

The kingdom of God.

Because that's the one place

where we can dwell

forever

with God

in love

and fellowship.

Let goods

and kindred go.

This mortal life

also.

The body

they may kill.

God's truth

abides still.

His kingdom

is forever.

And look at

what kind of vindication

awaits those who are

faithful to Christ

in verse 9.

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.

All those naysayers

who said that you

don't belong to God.

You don't know

the true God.

We're the people

of God.

You're just schismatics.

You're a counterfeit.

Jesus says,

I will make them

come down

and bow down

before your feet

and they will learn

that I have loved you.

I will vindicate you.

I will show them

that you are

my people

that I have chosen you.

that I love you.

They will see that

and they will say,

I see now

that you are God's people.

In several places

throughout Isaiah,

the Lord declares

that a day is coming

when he will make

the Gentile nations

come to Israel

and bow down to them

and acknowledge

that they are

favored of the Lord.

These nations

that once conquered

and despised

Israel will bow down

in submission

before them

and they will say,

surely God is in you.

There is no other,

no God besides him.

They shall call you

the city of the Lord,

the Zion of the Holy One

of Israel.

In this way,

those who wait

for the Lord

shall not be put

to shame.

They were proven right.

They will be vindicated.

Jesus will bring about

the fulfillment

of all of Isaiah's prophecies

and what comfort is this

for Christians

who are persecuted

for their faith?

There's more overt persecution

in Buddhist, Hindu,

and Muslim cultures.

In those places,

Christians are often disowned

by their own family members

and lose their jobs

and are cut off

from society

as apostates

and infidels

and in many cases,

killed.

But still,

in less intense ways,

this can happen to us

even here.

We have church members

here

who have been treated

as pariahs

by their own family members

because of their faith

in Jesus.

But don't be disheartened

because the day

is coming.

It's surely coming

when Jesus will

make all those people

come and bow down

before you

and acknowledge

you were right.

Jesus really did love you.

This is a great reversal

in more ways than one.

In Isaiah,

God said that

the Gentiles

will come to Israel,

the Jews,

and acknowledge

that they are

the chosen people of God.

But here in Revelation,

it's the Jews

who will come

to Christians

and acknowledge

that God has loved them.

Jesus is once again

making a theological point

that he made earlier

in chapter 2, verse 9,

that there are ethnic Jews

who say that they are Jews

but are not

because they have rejected

their Jewish Messiah.

Jesus the Christ.

For it says

in Romans 2,

27 to 28,

no one is Jew

who is merely one outwardly,

nor is circumcision

outward and physical,

but a Jew

is one inwardly,

and circumcision

is a matter of the heart

by the spirit,

not by the letter.

It's those who are united

by faith to Jesus

and whose hearts,

therefore,

have been circumcised,

made new

by the spirit of God.

They are the true Jews

and they are true Israel

regardless of whether

they are Jew or Greek,

slave or free,

male or female.

That's the glorious reality

of what Christ has accomplished

in his death and resurrection.

So Jesus continues

to assure the church

in Philadelphia

in verse 10,

because you have kept

my word about patient endurance,

I will keep you

from the hour of trial

that is coming

on the whole world

to try those who dwell

on the earth.

The repetition

of the word keep

here emphasizes

the logical connection

between those two things.

It's because

they have kept

Christ's word,

that Christ is keeping them

from the hour of trial.

Keeping the word

of Jesus Christ

requires patient endurance.

It's hard to say

definitively

what this hour of trial

is referring to

specifically.

I think it refers

to some kind

of universal judgment

and trial

because it says

that the hour of trial

is coming on

the whole world

to try those

who dwell on the earth

and that phrase,

those who dwell

on the earth,

is one that's used

repeatedly throughout

the book of Revelation

to refer to all those

who are idolatrous

on earth.

So I don't think

this is a local trial

that's coming upon

the church in Philadelphia.

I think this is

a universal trial

of some kind.

I also don't think

Jesus is talking here

about a physical rapture

of Christians on earth

so that they are spared.

God takes the Christians away

so that they are spared

this coming judgment

of God

because throughout Revelation,

we see the expectation

that Christians will suffer

and experience tribulation.

It says in Revelation 7, 14

that Christians are not

those who are taken away

from tribulation.

Rather, it says

they are those who come

out of the great tribulation.

they make it out of the great tribulation

in victory

precisely because

they have washed their robes

and made them white

in the blood of the Lamb

because they were faithful

unto death.

So if anything,

I think it's more likely

to refer to spiritual protection

and there are several

biblical parallels

and especially

the high priestly prayer

of Jesus in John 17.

And there,

Jesus prays for his people,

his future followers,

for those who have kept

your word.

Jesus prays for them.

And he asks God the Father

to keep them in your name.

And then later,

Jesus says,

I do not ask

that you take them

out of the world,

but that you keep them

from the evil one.

So I think that's the idea

that Jesus has in mind

here in Revelation 3, 10.

Jesus will not take his people

out of the world,

but he will nevertheless

keep them from the evil one,

keep them from that hour of trial

so that they can endure

without failing.

So that they can keep

professing the name of Jesus

through that hour of trial.

Another possibility

is that the hour of trial

is referring to God's

ultimate final judgment

since the word hour

is often used in Revelation

to refer to that

final hour of judgment.

And if that's what's in view here,

then the church in Philadelphia

is spared that judgment

and punishment

that comes upon

unbelieving,

on the unbelieving world.

Jesus exhorts them

in verse 11,

I'm coming soon.

Hold fast what you have

so that no one may seize

your crown.

Whether we are truly

among God's elect or not,

God's chosen people or not,

whether we truly belong

to him or not

is borne out by

our perseverance

till the end.

That's why,

even as it is

Jesus himself

who keeps us

from the evil one

and keeps us

in God's name,

we also have the responsibility

to hold fast

and keep the word of Christ.

This is not saying

that we are saved

by our good works,

but rather that we are saved

by grace through faith,

but

it's our perseverance

till the end

in faith

that gives evidence

of our true salvation.

an Olympic athlete

endures grueling workouts

and Spartan diets

so that one day

he or she may be crowned

with that Olympic wreath

and receive that gold medal.

And likewise,

we as Christians

have a prize

that awaits us

as we run this race,

spiritual race.

There is laid up for us

a crown of righteousness,

the crown of eternal life,

the unfading crown of glory,

as it says

in 1 Peter 5, 4.

And we don't need

to be strong and gifted

in order to get

to that finish line.

We just have to,

even when we have

little power,

we can make it

because the Lord Jesus himself

keeps us.

All we need to do

humbly

keep the word of Christ,

keep believing

in the name of Jesus

which alone can save.

Jesus adds even more

motivation for us

in verse 12

by promising us

that the one who conquers

will receive God's name.

It says,

the one who conquers

I will make him a pillar

in the temple of my God.

Never shall he go out of it

and I will write on him

the name of my God

and the name of the city

of my God,

the new Jerusalem

which comes down

from my God

out of heaven

and my own new name.

We confess the name

of Jesus Christ

till the end,

then God will make us

a pillar in the temple of God.

What does that mean exactly?

A pillar in the temple of God.

I think the next sentence

tells us exactly

what that's pointing to.

Never shall he go out of it.

That's what being a pillar means.

Pillars are immovable

and for that reason

they are symbols

of permanence.

This kind of promise

of permanent dwelling

would have been

very evocative

for the church

in Philadelphia

because historians

observe that the church

or the city

of Philadelphia

experienced

and suffered

more earthquakes

than any other cities

named here

in Revelation chapters 2

Revelation 2 · chapter mention

and 3.

When you look at

the ancient Greek temples

when the ruins

of the ancient Greek temples

I know Bailey was there

not that long ago

if you look at pictures

of those

what do you see?

There are no walls left

there's no roof left

you see pillars

because pillars

are built

to last

because they hold up

so much weight

they're durable

they're symbols

of permanence

and so

like that

we will get to remain

forever

in the temple of God

we will be immovable

fixtures

in the temple of God

this is another way

of saying

what Jesus said

earlier in verse 8

behold I set you

before you

an open door

which no one

is able to shut

no one is able

to remove us from

or shut us out

from God's heavenly kingdom

where God's going to dwell

in our midst forever

and we'll be like

the pillar

in the temple of God

moreover Jesus promises

I will write on him

the name of my God

and the name

of the city

of my God

the new Jerusalem

which comes down

from my God

out of heaven

and my own

new name

as we see

in Revelation 21

2

the holy city

the new Jerusalem

that comes down

from God

out of heaven

is the bride

of Christ

which is a reference

to the church

of Christ

that God

has redeemed

and sanctified

for himself

and adorned

as a bride

Jesus is our bridegroom

the church

is the bride

as Ephesians 5

talks about

and we will receive

the name

of the new Jerusalem

that city

as the bride

of Christ

but we will also

receive

the name of God

name of God

will be written

on us

name of Christ

his own new name

will be written

on us

I don't know

if people

I think people

still do this

when you

put your name

on something

you own it

it's your way

of marking

that it belongs

to you

it's your way

of identifying

with it

saying it belongs

to me

it takes a lot

of money

nowadays

to get buildings

named after you

it probably always

cost a lot of money

one of the most

prominent buildings

in Harvard Square

is Harvard's

Smith Campus Center

named after

Richard A.

and Susan F.

Smith

the couple

donated

tens of

millions of

dollars

to get that

building

named after them

you can't get

it named after

you otherwise

but God

paid

a much

much

higher

price

to redeem

us

as his

people

1 Peter 1

18-19

tells us

that we

were ransomed

from the

futile ways

inherited from

your forefathers

not with

perishable

things

such as

silver or

gold

but with

the precious

blood of

Christ

like that

of a

lamb

without

blemish

or spot

as Hosea

1 tells us

our names

used to be

lo-ami

not my

people

our names

used to be

lo-ru-hamah

not

no mercy

because God

hadn't shown us

mercy

we were people

who had rebelled

against God

we were

treasoners

we tried to

usurp

God's throne

by setting

up idols

and gods

for ourselves

or seeking

to be

God

ourselves

masters

of our

own fate

instead of

submitting to

God

who are

creator

and Lord

that's what

we have

done

and so

we were

castaways

we're like

orphans

ones without

a name

without an

inheritance

and yet

God

because he's

rich in

mercy

because he

loved us

with a

great love

he sent

Jesus Christ

to die

for our

sins

on the

cross

so that he

could put

his name

on us

again

say

my people

to whom

I have

shown

mercy

that's

what's

in view

here

we've been

purchased

by the

blood

of Jesus

so Jesus

says

I will

write on

him

the name

of my

God

and the

name

of the

city

of my

God

the

new

Jerusalem

which

comes

down

from my

God

out of

heaven

and my

own

new

name

why does

it say

it's going

to be a

new name

of Jesus

I think

it's telling

us that

we'll get

to know

Jesus

personally

and intimately

like we've

never known

him before

once you

get married

the couple

starts to

develop like

pet names

for each

other

and

there are

things that

Hannah

calls me

there are

names that

Hannah

calls me

that

I will

never

utter

here

it's

too

embarrassing

it's kind

of like

that

we'll

know

Jesus

new

name

like we

have

never

known

him

before

that

new

name

will

be

written

on

us

and

we'll

get

to

enjoy

him

and

love

him

forever

it's

the

fulfillment

of the

prophecy

in

Isaiah

56

5

that

we

read

in

our

call

to

worship

that

he'll

take

these

foreigners

and

eunuchs

who say

I don't

have a

place

among

God's

people

and

he

will

take

them

and

give

them

a

monument

within

his

walls

walls

of

his

house

a

name

that

is

better

than

the

name

of

sons

and

daughters

and

then

verse

13

Jesus

closes

his

letter

with

the

same

invitation

that

is

appended

to

every

single

one

of

the

seven

letters

he

who

has

an

ear

let

him

hear

what

the

spirit

says

to

the

churches

that

clause

he

who

has

an

ear

let

him

hear

is

taken

from

Isaiah

6

9

to

10

and

it's

an

utterance

of

God's

prophetic

judgment

while

this

letter

is

proclaimed

to

all

only

those

who

have

ears

to

hear

given

by

the

spirit

of

God

will

be

able

to

hear

and

believe

and

obey

divine

revelation

always

opens

the

eyes

of

the

blind

those

who

seek

him

and

humble

themselves

before

him

and

yet

it

blinds

those

who

believe

they

already

see

and

how

do

we

know

whether

we

belong

to

the

first

category

or

the

second

category

do

you

believe

in

the

word

of

Jesus

do

you

hold

fast

to

the

name

of

Jesus

that's

how

you

know

that means

you

have

ears

to

hear

so

heed

the

gospel

of

Jesus

Christ

that

you've

heard

this

morning

this

is

the

same

gospel

that

Christians

have

been

preaching

for

the

last

2,000

years

and

if

you're

here

this

morning

and

you

are

not

yet

if

you

have

yet

to

put

your

faith

in

Jesus

do

so

don't

hesitate

then

he

will

fill

you

with

your

spirit

and

he

will

put

his

precious

name

on

you

he

who

has

an

ear

let

him

hear

let's

pray

oh

Lord

Jesus

we

can't

wait

we

can't

wait

to

have

your

new

name

written

on

us

to

be

identified

forever

with

you

to

have

eternal

unbroken

communion

with

you

Lord

Jesus

we

cannot

wait

to

be

vindicated

for

you

to

be

able

to

tell

the

world

I

have

loved

you

see

how

I

have

loved