Last week we looked the first couple of verses in the letter to the church in Philadelphia, “the faithful church.”  And as we stepped through what Jesus had to say to them we heard and saw some wonderful things…

First Jesus identifies Himself, proof positive, “these things says He who is holy, He who is true.”  And we talked about how this was a great commendation of that church because what that shows us, what that indicates for us and to us is that this church wasn’t interested in listening to the commendation, correction, teaching, or rebuke from just anyone. 

They had no ear to hear, in other words they wouldn’t take it to heart, if the world or this guy or that gal had something to say to them…but the One that is holy and true had audience!  They would receive, they would hear, they would take to heart a letter written to them by their Leader, by the One that is holy and true and so Jesus opens His letter to them by saying identifying Himself…so awesome.  Because we too must discern man between what evil is trying to say to us and what holy and true is saying to us and we must actively filter out the junk.  A spiritual liver of sorts.

Hands down, I don’t know if you know this, but the liver is the hardest working organ in the body.  It traps and contains toxins that enter the body through digestion, skin or the respiratory system.  Crud goes in, detoxified life comes out…blood that is (Leviticus 17:11).  So very interesting because Jesus said in Mark 7:15, “it’s not what goes in that defiles a person, its what comes out.”  I wonder how you’re doing when it comes to listening to death and lies…are you able to filter effectively?  Is your spiritual liver healthy?  You’re dead within hours of liver failure and so too, fast and furiously, you’re life will begin an uncontrollable, unstoppable, unavoidable and unassistable tail-spin in a very short period of time if you are not able to stop the toxins man…

How do you do that?  Galatians 5:16.  Walk in the Spirit and you will not fall prey to your flesh.  You will dominate your sinful nature and you will not live in spiritual defeat.  That’s this church.  And so first off, “I am holy and true,” and the church responds, “Yes my Lord!  We’re ready to hear, filter activated and life is flowing!”

Then Jesus said something magnificent right?  Remember we looked at how Jesus says here, “He who has the key of David, who opens and no one shuts and shuts and no one opens.”  And we saw together what was meant by that, specifically…particularly because Jesus was quoting almost word for word for word from Isaiah 22 and so researching and digging into Isaiah 22 we caught sight of what this “Key of David” is right?  The single key, the eternal key to the treasury of the Lord God!

And who has keys to your house?  That’s right!  Family!  And so Jesus here is like He’s swinging open the door and calling out, “Honey, I’m home!”  Which is so fitting because truly the church is the Bride of Christ as several times throughout the Bible, Jesus is spoken of as our bridegroom.  “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loves the church and gave Himself for her…”

He continued, and I know that we looked at this last week but just so we get a complete picture of this church tonight lets quickly review…He continued by saying “I know your works and because of them I set before you and open door,” which we’ll look at a bit more tonight so we’ll come back to that…and what were their works?  Three simple little things.  Three wonderful statements, observations noted by Jesus.  Now you and I know that this church had many many works.  No doubt they had a community pantry.  No doubt they had a coffee and doughnuts ministry.  No doubt they had a bustling men’s ministry, women’s ministry, kids ministry…but notice, pay close attention to the works that are KNOWN by the Lord…

“You have a little strength, you have kept My word, you have not denied My name!”  Wow!  The root.  The foundation.  Boil all the works down at the faithful church and what do you get?  “A little strength”  Jesus once said, “blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the meek, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the peacemakers…for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, they shall be filled, they shall obtain mercy, they shall be called the sons of God, they shall see My grace, God says!  And Paul finished the thought for us…completed the precept for us in that he said, “God’s grace is sufficient for me, for my power…my little strength, is made complete in His presence.”

And so Jesus, strength personified, the Author of strength, the source of strength, the perfection and completeness of strength, pays high compliment to this church and says, I see your little strength.  I see your total dependence upon Me, I see your meekness, I see your hunger and your thirst for what is holy and true, I see your mercy, I see your desire for righteous peace…an eternal commendation.

The root.  The foundation.  Boil all the works down at the faithful church and what do you get?  “You have kept My word.”  Wow, all the efforts we propose, all of the ministries we champion, are they firmly planted upon God’s word?  If not, waste of time.  Oh but Matt we’re serving them and we’re feeding them and we’re helping them…are we really?  What good is it if a man gains the whole world and yet loses his own soul?  Jesus has not the money, not the food, not the shelter, not the job opportunity of everlasting life…He has the words of everlasting life according to John Chapter 6 and so all that we do, all of the decisions we make, all of the truth we accept and the ministries we champion, like this church, must and will be firmly founded upon God’s truth, “thy word is truth” Psalm 119:160 says and John 17:17 says.

The root.  The foundation.  Boil all the works down at the faithful church and what do you get?  “You have not denied My name.”  Wow.  Remember we looked at this last week.  Jesus’ name that is…Joshua in the Hebrew which is a combination of two words, JA meaning God and SHUA meaning salvation…and therefore His name…simply…God is salvation.  Church is not salvation.  Wealth is not salvation.  Logic, reason, intellect, science, history, pleasure, drugs, booze, practical advice…none of these have the power to save…the authority or the ability to set someone free…all of these things simply continue to tighten the chains of imprisonment around people…Jesus alone…a relationship with Him in the first person, a one-on-one real revelation of His love and His truth and His price that He paid to set each of us free…that alone saves.  And this church, this church in Philadelphia had not turned aside to preaching puffed up watered down self-help or self-centered, self-serving precepts but had stayed true to the Truth…that salvation is found in Jesus alone and there is no salvation in any other…

And notice the result as we continue our survey, Jesus says here that He will make the fakers fall down and worship in front of them…the fakers will be fixed.  Those that are playing church or those that are utterly lost in sin and decay…this church, with its little strength, its unwavering trust in God’s word and its faithfulness to the Gospel…will set lives absolutely free and many will be saved.  The church won’t be worshipped, that is blasphemy…what Jesus is saying here is that He will cause them to be used mightily in leading people, His lost sheep, His lost kids…into life saving, life freeing and life everlasting true, spirit-filled and spirit-led worship!  Awesome…

Chapter 3 Verse 10

• The Greek word there translated “from” is ek, which means “out of.”  This is very clear.  Very simple.  Here is the “open door” from verse 8…which we see in Chapter 4 verse 1.  Jesus says “you have a little strength, you have kept My word, you have held fast to My name…you have walked through the open door straight into the Treasury of God…and so the Great Tribulation is not for you.  I’m taking you out!” 
• Awesome!  God’s wrath being poured out on a Christ rejecting world…not this church.  This church, this group, these real deal believers…they have preserved!  There are so many today that deny preservation.  The Emergent Church Movement says the bible is not enough, there’s new things to discover through your own life and experience…the cults deny the Bible, even nominal Christians doing their own thing…knowing what the Bible says yet continually and openly living contrary…not preserving you see…but not this church…and so they will be removed, taken out of, spared from…raptured prior to the Great Tribulation Period and we see that so clearly in the pattern of Revelation.
• People say or they try to equate this statement only to the historical church there in Philidelphia but look this is not simply local persecution but a time of difficulty that encompasses the entire globe as Jesus says ALL those who dwell where?  Upon the entire earth!  He is describing the Great Tribulation and this church, the faithful church will be kept out of it!

Revelation Chapter 3 Verses 11 – 12

• He says “behold I come quickly.”  Again its that word tachy or tachon in the Greek meaning suddenly…meaning watch man when you see this thing begin to rev up then the wheels are about to turn!  Thus, what He’s saying here, what He’s revealing here is that He is coming at any moment…suddenly!  Now only those who believe in a rapture before the Great Tribulation can say, “It could be today, it could suddenly happen today.”  Those that believe mid or post trib have no reason, no recourse but to say, “The Lord can’t come back today because the Trib hasn’t begun yet.” 
• But this thought, this heart throbbing excitement of Jesus coming suddenly for this church…unmistakable in my understanding that this is pre-tribulation, before the curtain opens to the 7 year scene of the Great Tribulation…suddenly man, we are caught up in the clouds!
• And He says, “I come quickly.”  When you see these things begin…I’m at the very door…trumpet to mouth ready to blow!  And the signs are all around us aren’t they?  The Bible says in Daniel Chapter 4 that in the last days knowledge will increase.  272k+ bits of information per second, knowledge traveling too and from folks individually today!  CNN had my FB friends and FoxNews had my Amazon search history!!!  Knowledge just ain’t decreasing, it’s sky rocketing!!!  (show the “Big Data” video)
• 1 Thesellonians 5:3 says that they will say “peace and safety…everything is fine…and then suddenly the end will come upon them.”  Just this last week, since the Mayan junk has people all scared that the world is going to end on 12/21/12…people are even contemplating suicide the article said as they are terrified…but just this week the U.S. Government, the French Government and the Russian Government all released formal statements PROMISING that everything is fine and the world is not going to end…man the tachometer can’t get much more revved up can it…
• And I love this because we have tats in heaven!  Did you know that!  Jesus Himself will write upon us!  I love that!  He even has a tattoo the Bible describes in Revelation 19, written on His thigh, “King of Kings and Lord of Lords!”  Folks getting all bent out of shape over tattoos on this body…lets talk about the ones we’ll have forever!!!  Very telling when someone is harping over something like a tattoo ya know…why not know me?  Is having or not having a tattoo anything to the Lord? 
• I’m looking forward to getting inked by Jesus.

Revelation 3 Verse 13

• That’s us!  And notice, “to the churches” not just to one church…to His family…listen up!  Press in!  Be saved man and enjoy the Great Treasury of the Lord!  Don’t fossilize like the church of Sardis man…growing dull and hard to the things of the Lord.  Do you get ticked when your husband or wife or roommate wants to watch the 700 club rather than Spongebob?  Do you get uncomfortable when you’re just talking and the conversation goes spiritual at work or at home or on the phone or in a text…or do you engage with excitement?
• Good symptoms ya know.  A good way to know yourself…watch what you do and what you don’t do.  Doesn’t matter what you agree with, what you like, what you want, what you intend…it only matters what you do because that is the true measuring stick of what is and is not in your heart. 
• What good is it if a man gains the whole world yet loses his soul?  Ask Javon Belcher…what tragic loss…
• The church there in Phili, faithful.  In the word, holding to the name above all names and mighty to the Lord!  Not the next one.  Next week we will look at a church that isn’t even a church…Laodecea.