Philadelphia: A Call to Be Faithful- Revelation 3:7-13

God, I just ask that that would really be something

that sits close to our hearts. God, help us to

be people who are faithful. People who are faithful

every single day. Lord, I just ask that that

would really be the song of our hearts is faithfulness.

That would be what we are called to, that we

would really find ways throughout our weeks to

be faithful. And Lord, we ask you now, knowing

that you are faithful and will do this, God,

to quiet our hearts and to speak to us today

as we look at Revelation 3, 7 through 13. God,

we are so thankful for this chance that we have

to gather together openly and freely, God. And

Lord, we also just lift up believers around the

world this morning who are not able to gather

together openly. God, we just ask that you would

be with them, that you would draw close to them,

Father. You give them protection from any threats

or danger they might be in, God. And your spirit

will be close to them today. I pray all this

in your name. Amen. Well, let me invite you to

stand as we read Revelation 3, 7 through 13,

the letter to the church in Philadelphia. It

says this, write to the angel of the church in

Philadelphia, thus says the Holy One, the true

one, the one who has the key of David, which

opens and no one will close, and who closes and

no one opens. I know your works. Look, I have

placed before you an open door that no one can

close because you have but little power. You

have kept my word and have not denied my name.

Note this, I will make those from the synagogue

of Satan who claim to be Jews and are not but

are lying, I will make them come and bow down

at your feet and they will know that I have loved

you. Because you have kept my command to endure,

I will also keep you from the hour of testing

that is going to come on the whole world to test

those who live on the earth. I am coming soon.

Hold on to what you have so that no one takes

your crown. The one who conquers, I will make

a pillar in the temple of my God and he will

never go out again. 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 out of heaven

for my God and my new name. Let anyone who has

ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to

the churches. You may be seated. Hear that letter

this morning from Jesus to the church in Philadelphia.

And let me be clear, I am not talking about Philadelphia,

Pennsylvania. Until I was probably about 12,

I thought Jesus was writing a letter to the church

in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and it always

left me a little confused because my only time

in Philadelphia was also my first experience

with my dad getting cut off really badly in traffic,

and I thought to myself, this is not a place

with a bunch of faithful Christians. These people

are driving like maniacs. Everyone's speeding

and going crazy and screaming at each other and

honking. The town we're actually talking about

today is Philadelphia in Turkey, which is now

known as Alessa here. See, the town was named

Philadelphia because a Greek king built the city

and then he named it after his brother whom he

loved. So it is quite literally named Philadelphia

coming from two words, phileo meaning brotherly

love or loveless friendship, kindness type of

love, and then adelphos which means brother.

So the city is kind of named like this. We can

either call it the city of brotherly love or

the city of kindness of brothers. It's a really

interesting city, actually. It's administered

by the same leaders as Sardis. If we want to

think about this in kind of American terms, Sardis

is the county seat for Philadelphia. It's kind

of a secondary city at the time. And so in turn,

there were a lot of similarities between these

two cities. I don't know if you've ever traveled,

maybe to a more rural part where county seats

are a little bit bigger of a deal. But typically

when you do that, you start to notice people

have big rivalries between their small towns,

but they're pretty similar, just to be honest.

I will never forget moving to a small town in

western Illinois, and everyone said, well, the

people in this other town are the worst. And

then you go to the other town and say, the people

in that town are terrible. And you look at these

two towns and you think, wow, you guys are absolutely

identical. In all practical ways, you guys are

identical. And that's kind of Sardis and Philadelphia

in a lot of ways as cities. They both engaged

in the imperial culture, worshiping the emperor

of Rome. They both have similar economies. They

both have a lot of similarities. But there's

one major thing that's different for the cities

themselves. See, Sardis, like we saw last week,

is now a small town full of shepherds. It's a

town of about 5 ,000. On the other hand, Philadelphia

grew and is now a pretty major town, actually,

in this region of Turkey. It's about the size

of Champaign today. It's a pretty prominent town.

There's another thing that's different that we'll

see. And that's how the churches function. Whereas

the church in Sardis is essentially dead, the

church in Philadelphia is very much alive. Another

way to look at this is Sardis is the governmental

center of the region, but Philadelphia was the

more culturally meaningful city. Its nickname

was the Gateway to the East, and it was known

as a sending place for cultural exchange from

the Roman Empire to Asia as a continent. We can

almost think of it as a hub for missions in a

way, just cultural missions rather than missions

to serve the Lord. So today as we see this church,

there's something that we're going to see that's

emphasized throughout. One word, we've sung it

many times already, you're going to hear it many

times today, and that is the word faithfulness.

Faithful and faithfulness are the themes of this

letter to the church in Philadelphia. Our main

point as we look at this church is that as Christians

we are called to be faithful followers of Jesus.

As Christians we are called to be faithful followers

of Jesus. If you hear nothing else from this

letter to the church in Philadelphia, and I hope

you hear a lot more, please hear that. It is

our job to be faithful followers of Jesus. Our

job is not to be perfect. Our job is not to have

everything pulled together at all times. Our

job is to be faithful. Faithful to be obedient

to Jesus. Faithful to follow Jesus in the way

that Jesus has called us to. And so we start

off in verse 7. You'll find this in your bulletin

under point one, and it is Jesus is, and Jesus

is going to introduce himself to this church

in Philadelphia. His introduction here is a little

longer, but it really matters. He shows a lot

of what the church in Philadelphia needs to hear.

So let me read that again to us. It says this,

write to the angel of the church in Philadelphia,

thus says the holy one, the true one, the one

who has the key of David, who opens and no one

will close, and who closes and no one opens.

So as he speaks to this church, he begins by

introducing himself as three separate things.

The holy one, the true one, and the one who has

the key of David. Each of these three things

matters for the believers in Philadelphia. First,

in a city wrought with sinfulness and sinful

ambition, in a city built around worshiping an

emperor, in a city built around sin, really,

Jesus reminds the believers that they follow

the holy one. The one they worship is the sinless

one. perfectly holy in every single way. Secondly,

in a city that's known for its religious exchanges,

idolatrous behavior, Jesus reminds the believers

that he is the true one. Sure, there's all sorts

of people traveling to and from, coming to share

religions and falsehood, but don't miss this.

Jesus tells the church in Philadelphia very clearly,

I am the true one. I am the God. It's kind of

like John 14, 6, where Jesus tells his disciples,

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one

comes to the Father except through me. That is

who the church in Philadelphia is following.

And thirdly, the major group persecuting Christians

in Philadelphia, as we'll see in a minute, was

the Jewish population of the city. And so Jesus

hits on this with this last phrase, that he's

the one who has the key of David. Meaning he

is the Messiah. Jesus slows down here and he

singles out that he is the fulfillment of prophecy

in scripture. He is the true fulfillment of the

prophecy that these Jewish people claim to be

waiting for. He's emphasizing his messianic role.

And in the same breath, he reiterates that what

he opens, no one can close. What he closes, no

one can open. This is something we see in the

gospels, throughout the gospels. And Jesus is

reminding them right now that he has total authority.

Cornerstone, you'll notice as we go through this

letter that the tone is very different from what

we saw last week. Last week we saw Jesus give

a very direct, kind of in -your -face warning

to the church in Sardis. Really left nothing

to the imagination. Right? This assertion that

the church has defiled their clothes. That Jesus

will come like a thief in the night if they don't

remember the gospel, keep the gospel, and repent

of wandering away from the gospel. It was a warning

letter. But this week, what we're going to see

is a letter of encouragement. We see Jesus encouraging

this church that's going through a difficult

time by meeting them where they are. And here

in this introduction, we see how well Jesus knows

this church. He knows the exact type of encouragement

that they need. He knows that they need to hear

that he is the holy one, the one with no sin

at all. He is the true one that it's worth building

your life on. And finally, he is the key of David

who comes to save the world and that he has all

authority. And so that brings us then into verses

8 and 9 where we see that Jesus sees faithfulness.

That's the theme that Jesus sees from this church

is faithfulness. He says this, I know your works.

Look, I have placed before you an open door that

no one can close because you have but little

power. But look at this. That seems like a bad

thing, right? You have little power, yet you

have kept my word and have not denied my name.

And he continues on to say this, note this, I

will make those from the synagogue of Satan who

claim to be Jews and are not, but are lying,

I will make them come and bow down at your feet

and they will know that I have loved you. Just

like all the other churches who have received

letters and all the churches everywhere throughout

all time, Jesus knows the works of the church

in Philadelphia. But look at what Jesus says.

He doesn't give correction or rebuke. He doesn't

say you're doing great in this area, but not

in this. Instead, he promises an open door that

no one can close because you have but little

power. Now that seems like an oxymoron. You have

little power, so how can you keep this door open

and make it so that no one can close this door?

I kind of think of... kind of a day I was goofing

off at home as a kid, and I was pretty young,

and I was trying to keep my door closed, so I

was holding onto the door to try and keep it

closed, and on the other side, my mom's like

trying to open this door, and clearly she wins,

and she pulls the door open. It's not that much

of a fight to do as like a five -year -old. So

when you have a little power, it seems weird

that you've got this open door that no one can

close, because if somebody wants to close the

door, they've got more power than you, they can

do it. So what is Jesus getting at in verse 8?

Here's what we need to take away from it. The

church in Philadelphia is not a huge church.

It is not a mega church by any stretch of the

imagination. You know, talk about how last week

we probably would have gone to the church in

Sardis and on the surface not noticed that anything

was wrong. We would show up in the church in

Philadelphia and probably say, oh, this church

is really not okay. They're really small. They're

not doing great. But Jesus says this. He says

this, I'm going to keep that door open even though

you have little power. Why? Because he sees that

they are following him faithfully. That's what

Jesus is getting at. You have kept my word and

have not denied my name. That is faithfulness.

That is living out their faith in the face of

all sorts of issues. They don't have a massive

church to go to on Sundays. They don't have all

the power in the world yet still. They follow

him faithfully. They keep his word in difficult

situations. They do not deny his name, even when

it would be convenient. This is our job, too.

It's our job to be faithful. We can't always

control results or control exactly how something

goes, but we can control whether or not we are

faithful. And what we're seeing in Revelation

3 .8 is Jesus' encouragement to these believers

to be faithful. He promises this open door that

can never be closed. Well, what is this open

door, and why can't it be closed? Let's start

with this. Let's answer the second question first,

because it's fundamental for us to understand

the church in Philadelphia. We've already established

this is a smaller church that's faithful, but

here's another way to look at this. This church

isn't really relying on themselves. Instead,

they're focused on faithfully following God.

As Jesus continues to remind us, and as I keep

going back to, they've kept his word and have

not denied his name. Whereas the church in Sardis

has this big reputation, they have one thing

in Philadelphia. They faithfully obey. They keep

the word of God close. They're walking in faith.

And so Jesus promises he'll keep this door open,

not because of their strength, but because of

Jesus's strength. Now, what is this open door?

It's a great question. It's kind of two main

ways to look at this open door that we're going

to see here. First, it could be a promise that

Jesus will greet us in eternity. It's a promise

of what is to come, so Jesus is encouraging these

believers with what they have to look forward

to. Listen, church in Philadelphia, I know that

you know me and that you follow me, and I will

greet you when you come to heaven. I think that's

true, but I think there's something else going

on here also. See, the wording in this verse

is the exact same wording as 2 Corinthians 2

.12, which is a verse on evangelism. I think

this is also a promise that Jesus will move in

the hearts of the people of Philadelphia. It's

not just an open door for the sake of an open

door, an open door saying, someday when you're

dead, then you'll have this open door. It's also

an open door to reach people. Jesus is promising

that he will open a door so that the church in

Philadelphia can faithfully reach people, and

so they will see the power of God on a daily

basis. Let's be clear on what this open door

is not. Jesus is not promising an easy life.

Jesus is not promising them a perfect life. Jesus

is promising them something even better. Jesus

is promising them the chance to see God transform

and save many people. And what better encouragement

for a faithful church? What better encouragement

for a group of disciples who long to see God

and to know God more? than to see more disciples

being made and to see more lives being changed.

This actually goes one step further. See, Jesus

knows that the city of Philadelphia, that city

is a missionary city. And Jesus is saying this,

church in Philadelphia, I'm commissioning you

to be my missionaries. I'm going to send you

as my missionaries, missionaries of the Holy

One, the true one. the key of David. It's kind

of like Matthew 4, 19, where Jesus calls out

to a group of fishermen and says this, follow

me and I will make you fish for people. Friends,

please see this with me. Jesus has given Philadelphia

an open door for fruitfulness, not because they

are so amazing, but because they're willing to

faithfully follow him and trust him. They follow

Jesus and Jesus brings the fruit. It's the same

thing for us. If we want to see fruit, if we

want to see our neighbors reach for the gospel,

if we want to see lives transformed by the power

of Jesus, if we want to see people connecting

with Jesus, which is our mission here, then we're

called to do something. Be faithful. Be faithful

on Sunday. Be faithful on Monday, on Tuesday,

on Wednesday, on Thursday, on Friday, on Saturday.

It's not just be faithful in convenience, be

faithful at all times. Notice that part of verse

8. You kept my word and you have not denied my

name. That means that on a daily basis they are

being faithful to follow Jesus. And then what

Jesus promises is fruit. So although from an

earthly perspective their church looks pretty

insignificant, God says it is not insignificant

to me. Continue to be faithful. In Cornerstone

that is what we are called to do. We are called

to be faithful. Now look at verse 9 with me.

It says this, Note this, I will make those from

the synagogue of Satan who claim to be Jews and

are not but are lying, I will make them come

and bow down at your feet and they will know

that I have loved you. Like I said, the church

in Philadelphia is dealing with persecution from

the Jewish residents of the city. These people

hated the idea of Jesus being the Messiah because

it means that they've missed the mark, that they're

not understanding what the Bible is saying. So

they try to silence the believers. But Jesus

sees this and he does something else. First,

he rebukes them as the synagogue of Satan, or

literally those who gather to worship Satan.

See, the synagogue was something that was formed

during the exile and became very common during

this time period. It's where Jewish people would

gather together for fellowship and for worship

of God while the temple was either destroyed

or while they were too far away to get back to

the temple consistently. Notice that phrase here.

Jesus has used it one other time in chapter 2.

He calls it the synagogue of Satan. Not the synagogue

of God Most High. Not the synagogue of people

who are so friendly to the gospel. It's the synagogue

of Satan. See, rather than worshiping the true

God, the Holy One, the true one, the key of David,

the promised Messiah, these people are gathering

together and they're really worshiping a fake

version of God that they've made in their own

image. A few years ago, I had the chance to go

see the Dead Sea Scrolls when they were in Denver.

It was a really cool thing. I just finished up

Hebrew. I was starting to learn a little bit

of Aramaic. It was super fascinating to go through

and read and be like, oh, that's so cool. One

of the most heartbreaking things was they would

put you in groups of maybe like 20 people to

kind of go through this with. And one of the

other families there was a Jewish family. They

took us over to a scroll that was from the book

of Isaiah, from Isaiah chapter 9. And as we stood

Isaiah 9 · chapter mention

there, The guy looks at his kids and goes, someday,

someday we're going to have a Messiah who comes

and fills all these prophecies. It took everything

in me in that moment not to just break down in

tears. Or just look at me like, he already came.

You're missing it, but he already came. See friends,

what happens is We can look at the scripture

and the Jewish people look at the scripture and

they don't see the truth that is in front of

them. In essence, this church, this synagogue

of Jews in Philadelphia is worshiping a fake

version of God that they have made. A version

of God that will send them aside that looks exactly

like what they want. Not like what Jesus came

to do. And in response to this, Jesus explains

that they will be humbled. And this brings up

one of the more fascinating dilemmas for us in

these seven churches. What do we do when someone

hates us? How do we respond? And when you first

read this verse, it's easy to think this. When

someone doesn't like me because I'm a Christian,

I should ask for revenge or for them to come

and to be bowing down at my feet. No. Listen,

the church in Philadelphia is not seeking revenge.

They're seeking the gospel. They're being faithful

day after day after day after day after day.

They want these same people who are oppressing

them to get saved and to go to heaven with them.

And Jesus is ultimately promising that the members

of this so -called synagogue of Satan will come

face to face with the reality of who Jesus is

and that Jesus is the Savior of the church in

Philadelphia. It's kind of like the image that

Paul gives us in Philippians 2, 10 and 11 where

he says this, so that the name of Jesus every

knee will bow and in heaven and on earth and

under the earth and every tongue will confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God

the Father. Jesus' name and only the name of

Jesus will be lifted high. And when that happens,

every single knee will bow. Every tongue will

confess that he is Lord. And Jesus reminds the

church in Philadelphia that is part of this promise.

He's encouraging them, take that seriously. Know

that this synagogue of Satan who does not follow

me, who oppresses you, who persecutes you, know

this. Know that one day they will come face to

face with me and they will understand who it

is that you worship. There's some solace and

encouragement there. Because there's a lot of

people we can share the gospel with in our lives

who will not get saved while we know them. But

that doesn't mean it's not worth telling them

about who Jesus is. Because one day, one way

or another, they will come face to face with

their creator and their savior. It should be

on our hearts, it should burden us that we want

that to be a happy reunion like what we will

have. Where we are with our savior forever. I

think a great example of this is a guy named

Richard Wurmbrand. Richard was a pastor in Eastern

Europe during the beginning of the Cold War,

right after the fall of Nazi Germany. And his

country was divided back out and it was put underneath

the Soviet sphere of influence so it naturally

became a communist country where religion was

persecuted. And Richard, as a Christian pastor,

became a target of this persecution. On multiple

occasions, the local government would come to

him and offer him a deal. We'll leave you alone

if you just tell your people just to do exactly

what we say. And just stop with this whole God

thing. Just use your church service to tell people

about how good we are, and we'll leave you alone.

And it's not that hard. Just give like a 40 -minute

politic talk every Sunday. It's not that bad.

Time after time after time, he would resist that,

and he would say no to that. He would find himself

being thrown in prison. And each time the prison

would get a little bit worse and a little bit

worse and a little bit worse, and his health

would decline a little more and a little more

and a little more. And yet, as he was in prison,

the one thing he did that just always blows me

away, the only two things he would do is, one,

he would pray for the very people who were torturing

him on a nightly basis, which is really humbling

to me at least. if someone was literally torturing

me, I don't know that I would have it in my heart

always to pray for that person. The second thing

he would do is he would stand in his jail cell

and he would preach sermons, not knowing if anyone

could hear them or not, but he would preach sermons

to remind himself of the faithfulness of God.

And there's records of people actually getting

saved, other prisoners, and even some prison

guards getting saved just from hearing these

sermons he's preaching in a solitary confinement

cell where he doesn't even know if anyone can

hear him. Eventually, a group from Sweden was

able to work out a temporary visa that allowed

him to eventually defect out of this country

and move into more of the free world. So he probably

assumed that after he made it out, he left all

that behind and moved on and did other things

with his life. But he didn't. Instead, he continued

to send people back to this country, continued

to pray for this country, continued to raise

up people across the world to be praying for

places where they don't know Jesus and where

Christianity is oppressed. And he started an

organization that you might have heard of before

called Voice of the Martyrs that focuses entirely

on just raising awareness and prayer for persecuted

Christians around the world. See, friends, it

would have been easy and we probably would have

forgiven him for escaping this oppression and

decided what it meant to be faithful was to live

a comfortable life. You know, come to America,

move to Florida, live a good life, live a comfortable

life. But friends, that's not what faithfulness

is a call to. Faithfulness isn't a call to comfort.

Faithfulness is a call to following Jesus more

and more every single day, regardless of whether

it's in a good time or a hard time. And so here's

the central point of what we do when we face

oppression. We don't hunger for revenge. Instead,

we hunger for those same people to get saved.

We hunger for the people around us at all times

to get saved. We offer lots of forgiveness while

knowing full well that God is fully just and

that in God's perfect judgment, he will protect

us. And we rest in the best news ever that Jesus

loves this. And understand this, Jesus doesn't

just... phileo love us. He doesn't just kindness

love us or think fondly of us. Jesus agape loves

us by sending his son, by coming to earth to

die for us. Jesus gave himself up in this totally

consuming, self -sacrificing love. And we rest

in the same process when we face these difficult

times, knowing that Jesus will reign victoriously.

So look at verses 10 and 11 with me, and we're

going to see how Jesus rewards endurance. How

Jesus rewards endurance. It says this, because

you have kept my command to endure, I will also

keep you from the hour of testing that is going

to come on the whole world to test those who

live on the earth. I am coming soon. Hold on

to what you have so that no one takes your crown.

Here's the next part. Jesus encourages this church

because they've kept his command to endure. The

church in Philadelphia is standing strong. They're

not large. They're not the most powerful church,

not the most influential church. No one's sharing

their reels on Instagram or on Facebook, but

they're faithfully standing strong. And just

as they've been faithful, Jesus will be faithful

also. Just as He has opened a door for them to

continue being faithful, He's also promised them

that He will not abandon them. Look at this encouragement.

In fact, he says this, that he will keep them

from the hour of testing. I want to be really

clear on something here. These are two incredible

verses, but it is so easy for us to get bogged

down in an end times or eschatological conversation

about these verses. It's so easy for us to start

trying to make this fit a pre -millennial position

or pre -tribulation or post -tribulation or a

there -is -no -tribulation point of view. But

when we do that, we miss one of the most important

parts of Revelation 3, 7 through 13. This passage

is stressing something, a theme, faithfulness

in unfaithful times. That's what we can take

away from these verses, from verse 10 and 11,

that Jesus rewards faithfulness. It can be so

easy for us to get caught up in what I like to

call decoder ring Christianity, where we watch

the news and then open Revelation and start trying

to fit events into specific spots there. There's

kind of two flaws to that. First, people have

been doing that since the book of Revelation

was first sent as a letter. Okay? So a lot of

people have been wrong. We need to approach Scripture

with humility. But secondly, I would argue this.

When we get so caught up on trying to make a

passage of Revelation fit with a specific hermeneutic

of what the end times is going to look like,

or with exactly this event or that event, we

lose sight of the promises of God in Scripture.

It's not bad to understand the end times. It's

not bad to look into those. But hear this, we

absolutely cannot lose sight of the real promise

that's going on here. Jesus makes a promise to

this church and to all believers, and here's

what he promises. He promises that he will be

faithful. I will also keep you from the hour

of testing that is going to come on the whole

world to test those who live on the earth. That

is a promise of faithfulness. In verses 8 and

9, we see our call to be faithful. Let our works

be faithful. Let our lives be faithful. And here

we see Jesus promise faithfulness back to us.

Let me actually encourage you, as you think about

Revelation as a whole, as a book, see the faithfulness

of God throughout it. Not just a series of events

that are prophesied. Not just this escalating

theme of what's going to come next, or next,

or next, or next, or next. See the faithfulness

of God. See the faithfulness of God here in Revelation

Revelation 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3 to the church in Philadelphia. See

the faithfulness of God as you look on your own

at Revelation chapter 4 and see the throne room

Revelation 4 · chapter mention

of heaven. See the faithfulness of God as you

look at the book of Revelation. Let me encourage

you, verse 11 reminds us of that yet again. I

am coming soon. Talk about the faithfulness of

Jesus. He is coming soon. And I know, I know,

I know, I'm a history teacher. I taught a lot

of history classes. 2 ,000 years is a long time.

From our human perspective, 2 ,000 years does

not seem soon. If I was to send Joe a text tomorrow

and say, I am coming to see you soon, and then

I waited 2 ,000 years, he'd be very confused

and also we'd both be very dead. But understand

this. Jesus is not talking in human time. Jesus

is talking in his God eternal time, and he is

coming soon. So let me challenge you. The next

time you see some crazy thing on the news, don't

jump the gun and start panicking. Don't go do

one of those things where people are selling

their houses and selling everything they own

because the end times are here. No. Remember

the faithfulness of God, the faithfulness of

Jesus, that he is coming soon. Here's what I

love about that. That is a promise that is true

for us here in Champaign, Illinois. And it is

a promise for believers who live in Nigeria and

face Boko Haram coming to their villages to kill

them. No matter where we live, no matter what

it is that we face, Jesus is faithful, and he

is coming soon. Look at verses 12 and 13 with

me. In verses 12 and 13, we see Jesus' final

encouragement to this church, and I think my

favorite promise that he gives to this church.

He says this, the one who conquers, remember

that can also mean endure, or my favorite definition

of that, the one who wins. the one who walks

with God for life, I will make a pillar in the

temple of my God and he will never go out again.

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 out of heaven from my God and

my new name. Let anyone who has ears to hear

listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

Yet again, we see Jesus stress faithfulness.

He is faithful, and he promises that for the

one who conquers, the one who endures, the one

who stands with Jesus, they will be a pillar

in the temple of God. That promise is especially

fitting for Philadelphia. Across these seven

churches, we've kind of seen a trend. I think

it shows us something more on a geographical

scale about Turkey, that there's a lot of earthquakes

over there. And Philadelphia was another town

that had major earthquakes that went through

it. Major earthquakes. And there's a kind of

a legend, I don't think it's actually true, but

there's a legend that in fact one of the earthquakes

caused all of the temples in Philadelphia to

collapse, but it left the pillars standing upright.

Once again, that sounds like a real legend to

me, not fact. However, there's kind of an allusion

to that. But I think there's something else.

When you see a pillar, you see strength. And

this church in Philadelphia to the outside world

does not look strong. It looks weak. It looks

like something if the earth shakes too hard,

if things crumble at all, it will collapse. But

Jesus promises that those who follow him, those

who know him, will not crumble. And in fact,

instead of crumbling, instead of failing, they'll

become a pillar in the temple of God. And then

one more thing, they'll receive a new name. They

will be identified by and with God and Jesus.

Their new home, new Jerusalem, will be close

to God. It will come out of God. That is a beautiful

thing that we are striving for. We aren't Christians

because it's always easy. We aren't Christians

because we just want a sky genie that we can

say, hey, sky genie, I could really use $100

today. We aren't Christians just because we want

another identity to call ourselves. Being a Christian

isn't just an earthly identity. Instead, it's

a heaven -given new identity to be known as one

of Jesus's. It's a heaven -given new place to

live, to live for eternity with our Creator and

with our Savior. Friends, fellow image bearers

of God Most High, followers of God, fellow royal

priests, chosen believers. This is really a promise

of faithfulness, that Jesus will be faithful,

that he will not forget his own. I've shared

this before. There's a song that I listen to

a lot when I get sad, and it's got a line in

there that just says that so simply, Jesus won't

forget his own. I don't know about you, but I'm

going through a difficult time. It starts to

feel like Jesus has forgotten me. Jesus, if you

really remembered me, you wouldn't let this happen

right now. Jesus, if you really were with me,

why is this going on? Well, friends, when you

start to despair, when you start to feel that

way, remember this promise in verse 12. That's

not a promise of someone who's been forgotten.

You know, when I was looking at seminaries, I

toured the campus of Southern Seminary, and they

are most famous for a couple things, one being

the flagship seminary of the SBC, probably the

second most famous thing being their pillars,

which sounds like a weird thing to be famous

for, but all across this campus in Kentucky,

they've got these massive white pillars everywhere

you go. I can promise you this. The guys who

made those pillars didn't just put them there

and then forget that they'd made a pillar. You

don't just forget a pillar that you've built.

And I can promise you that around the University

of Illinois campus where there's pillars, people

didn't just forget that they built a pillar.

They know there's a pillar there. Friends, Jesus

is not going to forget you. Instead, he promises

that if you endure, if you stay with him, if

you walk with him, that he will make you a pillar

in the temple of God. both as believers, and

I will also challenge us on a corporate level

as a church. If we are faithful to walk with

God, to cling to God, friends, like the church

in Philadelphia, we have that promise. We are

not forgotten. And look at what Jesus says yet

again as he closes out this letter. Let anyone

who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit

says to the churches. This morning, hear what

Jesus says to the church in Philadelphia. Hear

Christ's encouragement. Hear about Jesus's deep

love. Hear God's faithfulness and hear this encouragement.

He will never forget you. He will not overlook

you. He will not say that church down the street's

a little bit bigger, that church down the street

has a little more of this or a little more of

that. Friends, he sees you. So walk faithfully.

Now this morning as we close out, we've got three

quick points of application. Here's our first

one. Forgiven and forgivers. Forgiven and forgivers.

I love what 1 John 1, 9 says. It says this, if

we confess our sins, he being Jesus is faithful

and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse

us from all unrighteousness. That is the gospel

boiled down into one verse. That here we are

as humans, each guilty of sin, each guilty of

breaking the law of God. That we each have fallen

short at one time or another and that sin and

that sin alone is enough to separate us from

God for eternity. But there's still hope. See,

Jesus came to earth. He lived a perfect life,

a life without sin, the only person to ever do

that. He died on the cross for our sins, paying

the ultimate price for you and me. And then he

rose again on the third day. And I'm calling

you today, if you're here and you have never

entered into a personal relationship, I'm calling

you to do that today. There was a song we sang

during VBS. And it's been in my head all week.

This is bad, actually. My Spotify rap, I'm going

to say I'm like the top one overall listener

to those VBS songs. But it's got this great reminder

of what it is to be saved. It says this. Admit

to God that you're a sinner and repent. Or bring

your sin to God and say, God, I don't want to

do this anymore. I'm going to turn around and

walk differently. It says believe that Jesus

is the only way. That putting your faith in Jesus,

the Son of God who died on the cross and rose

again for us, is the only way. And finally, confess

your faith. That's not just a mental, yeah, Jesus

is that. That's your entire life. Confess your

faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. And

that comes directly out of Romans chapter 10.

Romans 10 · chapter mention

So we call on you today to do that if you've

never done that before. Admit that you're a sinner

and you need to be saved. Believe in Jesus. and

confess your faith in him today. Confess that

Jesus is Lord. That's the first part. That's

the first word of that. That's what it means

to be forgiven. Let me encourage you to take

that gift and to be forgiven. The church in Philadelphia

has experienced that, but there's another part,

something else we see from this church in Philadelphia,

and that's this idea that they are forgiving.

They're forgivers. That's why our application

is forgiving and forgivers. See, in Matthew chapter

Matthew 18 · chapter mention

18, Jesus tells a parable. It's about 15 verses

long. Let me encourage you to go look at it later

on. Basically what happens is a servant borrows

money from a king and he can't pay it back. And

the king says, well, don't worry about it. I

got your back. And it's a huge sum of money,

way more than any human could ever pay back.

The king says, I'll forgive it. The servant goes

out into the hallway and he runs into another

servant who owes him money. This guy owes like

maybe a month and a half of money. It's not that

much money, right? Really, you can do with that

when all of the debt in your life just got forgiven.

This first servant takes the second one and basically

pins him up against the wall and starts screaming

at him and orders him to be taken off to jail

and thrown in prison for not paying back the

money that he owes. That's not forgiveness at

all. In fact, the parable ends with Jesus saying

that then the king finds out about this and throws

the first man in prison. This is the second one

free. Let me challenge us that just like the

church in Philadelphia was called to forgive

those who are persecuting them and to give them

into God's hands, we are called to do the same

thing. Just as we have been forgiven, we are

called to forgive others. We're called to forgive

and to leave it in God's hands. Now let me be

clear, that doesn't mean you forgive and then

make the same decision over and over to put yourself

in a spot where you're hurt by the same person.

But that does mean that you forgive them and

you trust God and leave it alone. So let me challenge

this. People who are called to be forgivers,

let's forgive other people quickly and let's

pray for them. Let's pray for their salvation.

Let's pray that they will come to know Jesus

who loves them so much. So we are forgiven. We

are called to be forgivers. Point number two,

faithful, not frustrated. Faithful, not frustrated.

Church in Philadelphia is not commended for being

just absolutely fastest growing church in the

known world. The church in Philadelphia is not

making any top 10 lists for fastest growing church

in their region. I actually knew a church that

made one of those lists and it was so funny because

they kind of lost sight of what had gotten them

on there because they stopped being faithful

and they started being a factory. Friends, we're

called to be faithful, not frustrated. I know

it's hard. Sometimes it's easy for us to get

frustrated when we are reaching out to our neighbors

and we don't see fruit right away. We say, but

God, I've talked with that person three times.

How much more do I have to do? Friends, be faithful.

Don't be frustrated. And understand that God

is going to open that door and he will keep that

door open. And there's a specific way. Really,

in particular, I want to apply this to us very

practically today. You know, we're launching

Cornerstone Collegiate this fall, and we are

super excited about it. And part of it is because

that is part of us being a faithful church that

reaches our missions field on a daily basis.

It's not just enough for us to sit back on the

sidelines. We want to be a faithful church that

is reaching every single day. And so here's my

practical takeaway for you. Help us be faithful.

Join in and be faithful with us in reaching this.

And let me be clear, I'm not expecting everyone

to just show up on campus every day. Like, if

you want to, that's fine. That might also be

a little weird at times. I'm not expecting you

to do that. But we do need your help, and here's

a great way you can do it. This week, we are

focused on a week of prayer. We'll be sending

out one prayer emphasis each day from today through

next Saturday. Let me encourage you, be faithful

by taking a minute to pray for what God is going

to do on this campus. The first one will be sent

out at 11 a .m., so in 35 minutes. You can check

your phone and you'll see that. And then tomorrow

you'll get one at five in the morning. So there's

no excuse. We all have that extra minute before

work that we can stop and take a minute and pray.

So please join us in praying for what God is

going to do on campus. Be praying that God shows

us the open doors he's given to us. Because listen,

we're doing this not relying on our own strength

because our own strength is insufficient. Instead,

our mindset is that of the church in Philadelphia,

that we want to rely on God's strength. And so

here's a way that you can join with us today

in praying. Today, we are focused on praying

for our returning students, our students who

are coming back for their sophomore, their junior

year, their senior year. We're praying for our

students who have been gone over the summer,

that they would come back and be a faithful influence

for the gospel. Let me encourage you with another

practical part of this. visiting students. We're

going to have new students here. We're going

to have students who have been here for a while

here. Let's be welcoming. Let's be inviting.

I don't just mean like ask their name, what year

they are in school, and what they're studying.

I'm sure you can ask our students. That's like

the number one thing you get asked in college.

Name, year, what you're studying, maybe what

dorm you live in. Try to build a relationship

with somebody. Invite them to sit with you. Say,

hey, come sit with me. Listen, you never know

how God will use that. For me, when I was in

college, I was invited to church my first Sunday

at a smaller church called Grace Baptist, a little

bit smaller than Cornerstone, and I showed up

there with my friends, and as soon as I walked

in the door, I had a huge bloody nose, like just

all over the place, like exploding, like all

over. It was terrible. And I'm sitting there,

brand new freshman, like, I am so embarrassed.

Like, I am never going to live this down. I'm

going to have to hide myself. Like, I can never

be around any of these people again. One of the

guys I came with was a guy named Nick. And Nick

had every reason in the world to have been frustrated.

See, Nick was in his, I think it was his sixth

year of college. He had to come back for two

final classes, and he had to have major ACL repair.

That was why he was still in college. That was

what his semester was, was have his ACL redone.

and take two classes. Not exactly the most exciting

thing. That day, as I was sitting in the bathroom

with my nose bleeding all over me, trying desperately

not to embarrass myself any further in front

of this church that I was visiting, Nick went

into the bathroom, and he sat with me for the

full service, for the hour and a half of service,

and he just sat there with me, and we talked,

and he was faithful. He was faithful to see a

freshman who was absolutely panicking about whether

or not they're even going to make it through

freshman year. I understand the joke in my family

was that from the day I showed up on campus,

I was going to transfer, and I just never got

around to it. By the end, I kind of loved Wyoming,

but it was rough at the beginning, and yet he

saw that, and he was faithful to meet me in that.

Friends, Nick would later go on and join staff

at the campus ministry, but Nick was not on staff

at the time. Nick had no reason that he had to

do that. He found just that he wanted to be faithful.

So let me encourage you, be faithful by praying

with us and be faithful by building relationships

with students and all visitors that come in.

Let's be faithful in that, not grow frustrated.

On a daily basis, let me encourage you to invest

in the people around you, to invite them into

our own lives, to involve them in our walk with

God, and to ignite with them to reach more people

together. Let's as a church be faithful, not

frustrated. Here's the final one, fellowship

forever. Friends, I love this part of the letter

to the church in Philadelphia because it's a

reminder that we are going to be in fellowship

with our Savior forever. This point is entirely

designed just to remind us of verse 12, that

we will be given a new name, a new identity,

a new home, a new body, a body without any pain.

That means a body for all of us who've had surgery

on a joint before, where we do not wake up when

the weather changes. A body where we are not

in pain when we tweak that wrong. Instead, we

will live with our Savior forever. So let me

encourage you, grasp this, hold on to this, cling

to this. If you're in a season of transition,

remember this. Let me encourage you also, as

we've got new students coming in, to encourage

them in this too. Of what it looks like to have

fellowship forever with God. This semester on

campus, we're going to be going through the book

of 1 Peter on our Wednesday nights together.

We're talking about what it looks like to live

as sojourners in a world that isn't our home.

How living in a world that's not our home should

make us long and look forward to our true home.

Friends, it's the same thing with Revelation

3 .12. I don't know about you. But I long to

spend eternity with Jesus. I long to be a pillar

in the temple of God. I long to have that new

body where I'm not in pain anymore, where there

is no sorrow in the world, where there is no

hurt. I long to be with God forever. And friends,

let's remember that at the end of the day, Jesus

is faithful to provide that fellowship forever.

Let's pray. Father God, thank you so much. for

your faithfulness. Thank you for this passage

that challenges us to grow in faithfulness. God,

I'm just so humbled by what you promised the

church in Philadelphia. Father, I just ask that

you would be with us and that you would encourage

us with this. God, help us to be faithful day

after day. God, help us to be faithful in whatever

we're doing, whether we're at work or at home

or with family. Wherever we might be, God, in

class, God, wherever we are, help us to be faithful

forever. God, help us not to grow frustrated

as we follow you. God, we know that the church

in Philadelphia had every reason that they could

have become frustrated, but they didn't. They

continued to follow you faithfully. Help us to

do the same thing. And God, I ask that when we

hit those hard seasons, you would help us to

fix our eyes forward. The fact that we will have

fellowship with you forever. Help us never to

lose sight of that, God. In your name we pray.

Amen.