The Church in Philadelphia

And before we have our reading this evening, I just want to make a few introductory comments

in relation to what we'll be talking about.

And I wanted to start with a word about the promises of God.

And I don't know whether you know this, and I slightly wonder about the kind of person

who would do this kind of exercise.

But there is a person who has calculated that in the whole of the Bible, there are 8,800 promises to believers.

And when you think about that, 8,800 promises to believers.

And I guess the thing about the promises of God is they're really great, and they're amazing.

And yet, some of you will imagine that you heard a promise from God, and it never came to pass.

I used to walk my dog with a lovely Christian woman who was utterly convinced that she would marry Cliff Richards.

And unfortunately, nobody had told Cliff Richards this, as far as I best know.

And I mean, when I say it, you know, I'm not trying to create mirth.

She truly, truly believed it.

And I mean, I'm going back 30 years now, I've no idea whether she still thinks that.

But she thought that God had promised her this.

Or again, another dear man who I was so privileged to have on the staff of the church in Cheshire Boys,

where I was the minister.

It's a man called Kenneth Buxton.

A man who came from, I don't know whether you're aware of this,

but there were two very dominant families in sort of 19th century evangelicalism.

The Barclays and the Buxtons.

And they both owned stately homes that they handed over for Christian work,

and gave and donated millions.

And Kenneth himself had been a medical missionary in the East Africa revival.

And I mean, I was even younger then.

And to have somebody of that depth and quality around was such a blessing to me.

And he came to me one day and said that their daughter lived in Winchester,

and they liked the idea of moving to Winchester,

because Christchurch Winchester kind of suited their theological predilections.

It's an evangelical church, and Kenneth's family were an evangelical family.

And so he came to me and said,

we found the house that we believe God has promised to us.

And things went on, you know,

forgive any lawyers that are in the house,

but, you know, you can take a while, frankly.

And so it went on, it went on and on.

And in the end, the whole thing collapsed.

I mean, this is a hugely mature Christian,

knocked me into a cock-tack then and now,

who had felt that God had given this promise,

and they'd worked along those lines.

I think the vendors were slightly out to manipulate that.

Kenneth thought it was a good idea to tell them

that they felt God had led them to this house.

They felt, oh, so we can keep charging more and more,

and he'll still pay.

It's a world in which we live, isn't it?

But when you think about the promises of God in your own lives,

I'm sure there will be people in the house tonight,

you don't have to shout out,

who have felt that God has promised things,

which it feels like they've been let down.

Have all those promises been spent?

Is there anything left for us in the 21st century?

Well, of course there is.

Some people have said to me they thought

that maybe all those promises have been used up

over the years of history.

I think there are two controlling factors

that we need to think about in relation to the promises of God.

One of them is a widely misunderstood,

and frankly, a lot of people feel let down by this.

I mean, even in our reading tonight,

the risen Christ says,

I'm going to come soon.

The word soon, I think,

is challenging,

because in our language,

it speaks very strongly of something imminent.

Of course, we're bound to interpret the word like that.

That's what it means in our understanding.

But of course, not every culture who stalk the planet

has a linear view of time.

And actually, the word soon

carries as much meaning as certain

as it does soon.

And I think that if you can kind of hold that thought,

you may save yourself a lot of theological sweat

wondering why some of the things

that Jesus said would happen soon

haven't yet happened.

The other controlling factor, of course,

is the faithfulness of the believer.

Do we believe God's promises?

Some of you more cerebral people

will be thinking to yourself,

well, you know, I need evidence.

Before I could really trust the promises,

I'm going to need evidence of that.

Somebody was telling me the other day

they were preaching about revelation.

I mean, the idea that God reveals himself.

And they were saying,

is revelation such a difficult thing

in our modern world

where people are taught

a kind of philosophical idea

called empiricism.

And that is,

I will only accept as true

those things that I can prove to be true

through my sensory perception.

Because the Bible inverts that totally.

Whereas the world says,

seeing is believing,

no, the Bible says,

believing is seeing.

You've got to take a step of faith

before God opens your eyes.

But I don't want you to leave here tonight

thinking,

oh my goodness,

if the promises of God rely on my faith,

I'm basically stuffed.

And I'll tell you why.

Because the New Testament,

Mark 11 in particular,

makes it very, very clear

that when the Bible's talking

about faithfulness,

it's not asking me to do

a kind of internal audit

and try and work out

how big is my faith.

No, the question for you is,

how big is my God?

Very different approach, I think.

Believing is seeing.

So the promises of God,

and what we'll see

in this letter to the church

in Philadelphia

is three remarkable promises

that the risen Christ

makes to the church

in Philadelphia.

Just a little word

about the church

in Philadelphia.

It is the modern city

in Turkey

of Al-Ashehir.

It was built

by Eumenes II,

but named after

his son,

Attalus.

Attalus II

was nicknamed

Philadelphos,

which is where

the city gets its

name from.

As far as cities go,

it was a bit like

the Milton Keynes

of the Middle East.

It had been built

relatively recently

compared to a lot

of the cities

that figure

in the Book of Revelation.

It was known to be

an area that grew

very fine grapes,

although I don't know

what your view

of Turkish wine is,

but my view is

it's just about

bearable in Turkey

but probably not worth

bringing it home.

But by reputation,

the grapes are very good.

Goodness knows

what they do with them,

but I mean,

you know,

they start off

with good raw materials.

Attalus II

handed the city

over to the Roman Empire.

And for a while,

the city was called

Neo-Caesarea.

It's a place

that is dogged

by earthquakes.

And remember,

last week,

we mentioned

a huge earthquake

in Turkey

which took place

in AD 17.

Well,

that same earthquake

did a lot of damage

in Philadelphia.

And it tells us

in verse 3

this sort of

slightly beguiling

phrase in there

that

I know your deeds.

Remember,

that's what the risen Christ

said to the church

in Ephesus.

I place before you

an open door.

Come back to all this.

I know that you have

little strength.

I mean,

I wonder what that means.

I'll tell you

what I think it means.

I think what it means is

it was not a big church.

If you go to

Al-As-Shehir today,

you can go to the site

where the basilica

that was the earliest

Christian church

was built.

It was just kind of

two piles of rocks now.

There's not much

that's worth seeing.

But I wonder

what the risen Christ

meant by this.

I know your deeds.

I see

place before you

an open door.

I know that you

have little strength.

Most of the commentators

on this passage

don't see that

as a criticism.

Did they mean

that there's very little

spiritual strength?

Well,

it would hardly be

a commendation,

would it?

And the rest of the

letter to the church

in Philadelphia

seems to be generally

encouraging

rather than discouraging.

I think it means

that the church

was small

and limited.

When it was handed

over to the Romans,

the first thing

they did was build

a massive temple

dedicated to the

emperor Tiberius.

And so it became

a kind of center

of the Roman cult.

Not long after

Christ ascended

into heaven.

I mean,

you may know this,

but it wasn't

part of Turkey

for a very long time.

It was part of Greece.

And in an effort

to kind of

undermine the Romans,

it became a center

where people

tried to enforce

Greek culture

on the people

who existed

in the city.

And apparently

did it very successfully.

I mean,

I admire that.

As somebody

who's been a bishop

for a year,

I can tell you

that changing culture

for 20 years,

changing culture

is a huge task.

Huge task.

And yet these people,

you know,

managed to offload

Greek culture

upon them.

It did make me think,

just finally,

by way of introduction,

it did make me think.

And I don't know

about you,

but it does feel like,

you know,

I've heard preachers,

I think I may have

done it myself

on occasions,

comparing the lot

of Christians

in 21st century

Great Britain

to the people

of God in exile

in the Old Testament.

It all feels

very strange.

You know,

what does it feel like

to be a stranger

in your own land,

as it were?

What must that

have been like

for the people

of Al-Shahir,

of Philadelphia?

what's it like

for us today?

And it does feel

a bit like,

I think you would

agree with me,

without going into

the realms

of controversiality,

that actually,

in the culture

that's going on

at the moment,

I'm not just talking

about woke stuff,

I mean the general

culture stuff,

not a lot of evidence

that the church

is kind of,

I don't want to

use the word winning,

but you know what

I mean if I say that.

So without much

more ado,

let's turn to the text

and I've asked Jim

if he'd come

and read to us

Revelation chapter 3

Revelation 3:7–13

verses 7

through 13

and then we'll go

straight to the text.

Thanks Jim.

Thank you.

To the angel

of the church

in Philadelphia

writes,

These are the words

of him who is holy

and true,

who holds the key

of David.

What he opens

no one can shut

and what he shuts

no one can open.

I know your deeds,

see,

I have placed before you

an open door

that no one can shut.

I know that you

have little strength,

yet you have kept

my word

and have not denied

my name.

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.

Since you have kept

my command

to endure patiently,

I will also keep you

from the hour of trial

that is going to come

on the whole world

to test the inhabitants

of the earth.

I am coming soon.

Hold on to what you have

so that no one

will take your crown.

the one who is victorious,

I will make a pillar

in the temple of my God.

Never again

will they leave it.

I will write on them

the name of my God

and the name of the city

of my God,

the new Jerusalem,

which is coming down

out of heaven

from my God.

And I will also write

on them my new name.

Whoever has ears,

let him hear

what the Spirit says

to the churches.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Thanks, Jim.

So,

what I want to try

and get across to you

tonight is

that the risen Christ

makes three

fundamental promises

to the people

of God.

The one is

they're promised

an open door.

the second one is

I will vindicate you

from your enemies.

And promise number three is

I will make your true identity

apparent to all.

So,

the promises

of the risen Christ,

we read

at the beginning

of the words,

we read this,

that these are the words

of him

who is holy

and true.

Holiness

is ascribed

to God

a tremendous amount

and you will know

that in Ephesians

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5

and verse 1

we are

invited to be

imitators of God.

I don't think that means

that we're invited

to be little

tin pot gods

in our own right.

What I think it means

is

that we are to

emulate

the character of God

as revealed to us

in Jesus Christ.

Christ.

The word holiness

in our culture

I think

has something

of a mixed press.

When I was

a little boy

on Wednesdays

I went to

the same house

my mother's business

didn't allow her

to be around

on a Wednesday.

I'd go to the same house

and have tea

with my friend

Paul Raffo

whose father

owned a pub

which had a

it's a northern thing

a crowned green

bowling green

and we used to

play on that

for a bit

and do get up

to all kinds of pranks

and we'd come in

and before supper

we'd lie on the carpet

in front of the

black and white television

and watch

Lassie.

Anybody remember Lassie?

Do you?

Yeah

shows how old you are

and Lassie

I mean

two young lads

you know

we used to lie there

trying desperately

not to cry

at the moving bits

and then we'd have

she'd prepare supper

and every

time

every occasion

she would do

the same things

and that was

Heinz spaghetti

on toast

in tomato sauce

and it was very nice

the thing that puzzled me

was

I'd never seen this

before or since

but poor Raffo

always used to put

vinegar on his

spaghetti

that's not my point

my point is

one day

we came in early

and remember

there used to be

children's newsreel

on the telly

at five o'clock

and so we were

introduced to this

little Indian man

who was a sadhu

in Hindi

that means

a holy man

and this holy man

wasn't

he didn't have

a lot of clothes on

as I recall

he had kind of

slightly baggy underpants

and just arrived

in front of camera

wearing those

bowed at the camera

then he lay down

on the ground

and they put a door

on top of him

and then a London bus

came and drove over him

and then

they took the door

off him

and this little man

gets up and bows

to the camera

this is a holy man

right

this is my

seven year old

brain at work

if that's holiness

count me out

I can do without

not being run over

by a bus

this word holiness

doesn't occur

a huge amount

in the letters

in fact I think

this is the only

reference to God

as holy

and true

and we're reminded

aren't we

in a world

where truth

has adopted

a rather

subjective

definition

we are reminded

that Jesus Christ

who shows us

what God is like

said I am

the truth

the way

and the life

truth

is really

important

and I think

one of the things

that should really

trouble us

in our current

culture

is the way

that truth

has been

subjectified

so when

Meghan Markle

is being

interviewed

by Piers

Morgan

and Piers

Morgan

not an easy

chap I guess

says

calls her a liar

what's her

response

she said

well it's

my truth

as if truth

was subjective

that what I

believe to be

true

trumps what

you believe

to be true

the holy

one

and the one

who is true

who holds

the key

of David

interesting

turn of

phrase

I think

holding the

key of

David

sets what's

about to

follow

in what

scholars

call the

messianic

context

you don't

need to do

it now

but if you

were to turn

to Matthew's

gospel in

chapter 1

I mean

you know

in those

days when

we used

to have

we still

do some

of us

bible

reading notes

that kind

of took

us through

a whole

book in

one go

and most

many of

us I

think dreaded

the idea

you know

of having

to read

that long

genealogy

at the front

of Matthew's

gospel

it's very

important

because what

it's showing

is that

Jesus

is in the

line of

David

and Abraham

as a matter

of fact

and it

was prophesied

fairly consistently

in the

Old Testament

that the

Messiah would

be related

to David

that's why

it's important

especially to

a gospel

written for

Jewish people

to make that

link very

very clear

so next time

you read it

don't close

your eyes

and think

of England

read it

you know

say this is

this is making

a very important

point about

who Jesus

is

and what

it means

is that

the risen

Christ

is the

key

to God's

kingdom

and will

in the

end

come to

that

in the

end

will

separate

those

who are

saved

that is

Jews

who accept

Jesus

as Messiah

and born

again

Gentiles

for

eternity

you are

not saved

for as long

as you

kind of

retain your

habit of

going to

church

now the

scripture says

that you

are saved

for eternity

and it is

only Jesus

who opens

and shuts

the doors

that's his

authority

now the first

promise we read

in chapter

3 and

verse 8

I know

you did

see I placed

before you an

open door

that no one

can shut

I know

you have

little strength

that you

have kept

my word

and have

not denied

my name

this idea

of the

open door

we find

has two

very distinct

interpretations

throughout history

one is

that the

open door

is the

missionary

challenge

to the

church

Acts chapter

Acts 16 · chapter mention

16

and verse

8

we read

these words

if I can

turn them up

for you

quickly

Acts 16

Acts 16:8

verse 8

it says

Paul and

his companions

travel through

the region

of Phrygia

and Galatia

having been

kept by the

Holy Spirit

from preaching

the word

of God

in the

province

of Asia

that seems

to have been

a door

that the

risen Christ

closed

for Paul

and his

colleagues

and in

Matthew 28

we're told

to go

into all

the world

Jesus says

all authority

in heaven

on earth

has been

given to me

go into

all the

world

and

still today

a lot of

churches

usually

fairly

conservative

churches

understand

the open

door

to be

the missionary

challenge

to the

church

there are

a group

of people

some of you

maybe some

of them

called

dispensationalists

who believe

that history

is divided

into different

dispensations

and each

dispensation

is marked

by a

different

characteristic

and I'll

just show you

a slide

about that

in a moment

the other

interpretation

is that the

open door

is a reminder

that those

of us who

trust Christ

have access

to God

the Father

you remember

when Jesus

died on the

cross of

Calvary

at the moment

he died

the curtain

in the temple

was rent

asunder

split in

half

until that

point

access to

God

had been

very limited

so just

a moment

the dispensationalist

this is the

this is the

framework

that dispensationalists

put

over the

seven churches

that we've

been talking

about

and part of

me

scolds myself

for not

mentioning this

to you

early

the first

one is

the church

in Ephesus

we're told

is the

apostolic age

there are

dates with

this

so you

can look

at those

the church

of Smyrna

was the

dispensation

of the

persecuted

church

the church

of Pergamum

was the

state church

remember

that

the emperor

declared

the Roman

Empire

to be

the Holy

Roman Empire

and that

existed

for

nearly

300 years

before it

came to an

end

largely

thanks to

the Visigoths

the church

in Thyatira

is the

papal

church

AD 590

to 1517

Sardis

the reform

church

Philadelphia

the missionary

church

if you go

with the

dispensationalist

understanding

of the open

door

and Laodicea

was the

apostate

church

I'll talk

about that

next week

apostate

means

that they

allow their

faith

to become

mingled

with all

kinds of

poor ideas

that are

not

biblical

so the

alternative

interpretation

to the

dispensationalist

interpretation

is Jesus

talking

about access

into the

father's

presence

lovely verse

in Ephesians

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

and verse

19

where the

great

apostle

says this

consequently

you are

no longer

foreigners

and aliens

but fellow

citizens

with God's

people

and members

of God's

household

built on

the foundation

of the

apostles

and prophets

with Christ

Jesus

himself

as the

chief

cornerstone

did I

say

I've got

that wrong

sorry I

meant

Hebrews

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10

and verse

19

not Ephesians

forgive me

Hebrews

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10

and verse

19

we read

this

therefore

brothers

since we

have confidence

to enter the

most holy

place by the

blood of

Jesus

by a new

and living

way

open for

us

through the

curtain

that is

his body

what the

writer of

the epistle

to the

Hebrews

is telling

us

is that

the miracle

apart from

our forgiveness

the miracle

of

atonement

is that

Jesus

has opened

the way

for all

believers

to

have access

to God

I think

that

it's true

to say

that in

the Old

Testament

access to

God

was limited

to a few

people

for particular

projects

thinking about

Moses

you know

Moses

meets God

in the

burning bush

and

God gives

him his

assignment

you know

kind of

small job

lead your

people out

of slavery

in Egypt

Moses

not too

sure

about that

and then

God

so Moses

says

I'm not a

great speaker

so God

says well

I'll give you

Aaron

I mean

my goodness

Aaron was a

bit of a

mixed blessing

wasn't he

so this

business of

access to

God

is a

blessing

that I'm

not sure

we think

about

enough

the Old

Testament

particular

people

for

particular

assignments

King

David

you know

danced

before the

Lord

in the

spirit

and

seemed to

meet with

God

in a

particular

way

but now

says the

writer of

the epistle

to the

Hebrews

now

if you

go with

the access

interpretation

of the

open door

now

all of

you

if you

are

followers

of

Jesus

Christ

have

access

to

God

imagine

do we

think about

that enough

I

chastise

myself

as much

as anybody

in the

house

for that

so the

second

promise is

I will

vindicate

you from

your

enemies

who are

the local

enemies

well this

time

it's not

particularly

I mean

there were

a lot

of

a lot

of pagan

worship

going on

in

Philadelphia

but it

seems like

the main

opposition

didn't come

from then

but came

from some

Jews

and here

I do

want to

say

I don't

want to

sound in

any way

anti-semitic

my sister

tells me

that there

are Jews

in my

family

so I

don't want

to sound

in any way

anti-semitic

and listen

to what he

says

because he's

not talking

about Jews

in general

in Revelation

Revelation 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

he's talking

about people

who call

themselves

Jews

but actually

aren't

Jews

and so

he's making

a distinction

between true

Jews

who according

to Paul

will play

a part

in the kind

of final

events

of world

history

he's

differentiating

between them

he says

I'll 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

the local

enemies

are liars

they're making

things up

about the

small Christian

community

in Philadelphia

in the hope

that they can

see them

off

and I

do kind

of

you know

I think

one of the

hardest

things for

us in the

Christian church

to do

is that

this business

of there

are people

who own

the name

of Christ

but whose

habits

and beliefs

don't seem

to square

very well

with the way

God has

revealed himself

in the

Bible

I mean

I was

talking with

a friend

of mine

today

and saying

you know

that

my friend

is a

great guy

but he

follows another

form of

religion

which

designates

itself as

Christian

called

Mormonism

you know

I don't

want to

sound harsh

on him

or anything

like that

I really

really like

him a lot

and he

wants to

help out

and you

know

come and

do stuff

and I

remember

when we

were

when I

was

involved

in running

a big

global

leadership

conference

we had

the big

we suddenly

got lots

of applications

from the

Mormon

church

and kind

of

you know

almost

you know

our kind

of nervousness

about that

was palpable

I mean

I don't

know whether

the board

made the

right decision

or not

but in

the end

they allowed

the Mormons

to come

to conferences

and they

came in

their

hundreds

what about

these people

who

you know

it would be

a difficult

judgment for

us to

make I

think

but what

about people

who kind

of pose

as Christians

but are

not

not particularly

speaking about

the Mormon

church here

but there

are other

people aren't

there

you know

there's

people

I don't

know

maybe some

of you

were members

of it

there was a

group called

the Sea of

Faith group

and the Sea of

Faith group

were followers

of a philosopher

who interestingly

supervised me

in philosophy

when I was at

college

a man called

Donald Cupid

and Donald

Cupid

basically said

there is

no such

thing as

God

in any

objective

sense

but actually

if we look

at the history

of tribal

religion

what we

discover is

that what

people do

is they

take what

are the

virtues of

the tribe

and transfer

them onto

somebody they

call God

or their

gods

and Cupid

was even

more patronising

because he

said that's

not a bad

thing

you know

if it

encourages

people to

behave better

why not

but don't

be fooled

into thinking

there's anything

like a real

God

this man was

a dean

of Emmanuel

College

in Cambridge

and interestingly

enough despite

his radical

views about

Christianity

the only church

service he

would attend

was a book

of common

prayer communion

service

which most

people would

say is a

fairly conservative

thing to do

in this day

and age

so

Donald Cupid

gathered quite

a following

amongst church

members in

the church of

God

particularly the

church of

England

and it was

tolerated and

they set up

little groups

and lots of

churches that

mostly wouldn't

have gone

anywhere near

his teaching

set up these

groups and

basically

made sport

of denying

just about

everything that

was in the

Bible

can't have

miracles

can't have

Jesus risen

from the dead

can't have

any of this

stuff you know

if it helps

people to

behave better

ethically

fair enough

but don't

believe there's

anything

objectively true

about it

all

and then the

risen Christ

makes this

extraordinary

assertion

let me read

it to you

speaking of

these Jews

who are not

Jews who are

liars he says

I will make

them come and

fall down at

your feet and

acknowledge that

I have loved

you and we

find verses in

scripture where

this kind of

threat is issued

to Gentiles

but this is not

about Gentiles

it's about

Jewish people

who've lost

their way and

are persecuting

the church and

the risen Christ

is saying it is

these counterfeit

Jewish people

who will come

and prostrate

themselves before

you

find that

extraordinary

and then

just briefly

there are three

characteristics that

the risen Christ

mentions of a

church that's

faithful when

under attack

one is

patience

one is

endurance

and one is

obedience

let me just

tell you what

the risen Christ

says since you

kept my command

to endure

patiently I

will also keep

you from the

hour of trial

that is going

to come upon

the world to

test those

who live

on the earth

the risen Christ

then goes on

to say something

really important

for our

culture

he says

firstly

chapter 3

and verse 10

a great

trial

awaits

that is

generally

thought to

be

the

judgment

that all

human beings

will go

through

and the

risen Christ

says

believers will

be saved

through the

trial

not from

it

we're not

going to

be excluded

there are

some people

who read

that verse

and think

that

Christians

will be

excused

the judgment

because

they'll be

involved

in the

rapture

not that I

don't believe

in rapture

but

I don't

have time

tonight

to go

into all

that

the great

trial

arose

believers

will be

saved

through

the

trial

and not

from

it

again

chapter 3

and verse

10

and then

we come

to that

word

again

verse 11

I am

coming

soon

well it's

been a while

hasn't it

if you

interpret it

solely as

time on

a linear

basis

if you

think of

it more

as kind

of the

certainty

of God's

coming

then you

know maybe

God's timing

is a little

more perfect

than ours

though if

the risen

Christ

came to

the modern

city of

Al-Shahira

I'm not

sure that

he'd find

a big

Christian

presence

there

anymore

if any

I'm

coming to

you

certainly

and then

I have

to just

say a

word

about

this

it

says

that

our

identity

will

become

clear

to

everybody

I'm

coming

soon

hold

on to

what

you

have

so

that

no

one

will

take

your

crown

him

who

overcomes

I

will

make

a

pillar

in

the

temple

of

my

God

never

again

will

he

leave