The Door He Already Opened

Automatically transcribed — lightly cleaned for readability. Wording is the preacher’s own.

Amen. Good morning, Conduit. How are you today? Good. It's good to see you. My name is Cameron, one of the pastors here. We've been preaching through the seven letters to the seven churches that are in the beginning chapters of the book of Revelation. And if you remember from the opening chapter.

The vision that the Apostle John received was of Jesus standing among seven lamps. And each one of those lamps represented in that vision one of the churches in,

Asia Minor or modern day Turkey. And so over the last several weeks, we have been, six weeks now, over the past last six weeks, we have been looking at each one of those letters. Some of those letters have been very positive, right? The letter to the church in Ephesus.

The letter to the church in Philadelphia that we're going to study today is a pretty positive letter. Some of them have been really negative,

The letter to the church in Thyatira, very negative. The letter to the church in Sardis last week, very negative. And if you think those were bad, wait until we talk about the letter to the church in Laodicea next week. Even worse. And so it's been a way in which we can get some context around.

Jesus' interaction with the church even today. I think one of the things that has been striking to me as I've been reading and studying these things is just the recognition that Jesus knows the church. Not just that Jesus knows the churches of Revelation, but that Jesus knows, not just like is aware of, but knows.

The inner life of the church, knows the heart of the church, knows the spiritual trajectory of the church, knows the things that the church is doing well, knows the things that the church is doing is doing poorly. And he also, he commends churches and he warns them. He, he encourages them and he rebukes them. He calls them, he calls them into patient endurance and he encourages them to, to like persevere in what they already know and have been faithful towards, in the word. Today we're going to talk about the church in philadelphia and this is a fairly positive letter, despite the fact that philadelphia is the home of the eagles besides that,

It's positive. Go Bills. Where's the Billstones? I saw them somewhere. Like I saw some, and John Staley's not here today. So I'm taking a shot at his eagles while he's not here to defend them.

But no, the letter to the church in Philadelphia is a pretty positive one in terms of how, in terms of what Jesus sees in the church and what he says to them, even though he is highlighting what is for them a very difficult season.

He, what we're going to see is that Jesus like almost is so excited about, the positive nature of these believers in Philadelphia that he keeps like interrupting himself by telling the church how he's going to bless them, what he's going to do for them. In the midst of saying, hey, I know, I see, I understand. He just, he kind of gets back to that place of it. And because I know him, because I see him, because I understand, here's what I'm going to do for you.

So if you have a Bible this morning, open up to Revelation chapter three. Revelation is the last book in your Bible, right? And we're going to be at the third chapter. The Bible is broken up into chapters and verses. And so if you're not super familiar with it, you'll see that there's numbers at the top of the page and the numbers within the text. Chapters is the first letter. The verse is the second chapter. It just helps us locate these things. So we're in Revelation chapter 3 verses 7 through 13.

We have it up on the screen for you as well. Remember, these are the words of Jesus to the churches. 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 will open.

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 God, 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. Okay, so it reads a lot like the other letters. And remember that there's a pretty consistent pattern or format to these letters. There is the opening where Jesus declares who he is. He reintroduces himself. And in each one of these letters to each different church he describes himself differently meaning he has a different name or a different christ title to each one, and all of the letters start with some kind of quality or characteristic role of jesus for instance the church in sardis jesus was the one.

Who holds the seven stars, right? He is in charge of these seven angels over these seven churches. In the church of Thyatira, Jesus was, the only letter where he is described as the son of God, which is a term of judgment and justice, the one who will judge the world, the one who will judge the wicked, the one who will judge the righteous. And it says he has eyes blazing like fire, and he has feet like burnished bronze. His title in the letter to Pergamum is the one who has a sharp double-edged sword. To the church in Smyrna, Jesus is the first and the last. He is the one who has died and has come back to life again. He is the God of resurrection. And to the church in Ephesus, it says that he walks among the seven churches and with the seven angels. So today, when we come to the church in Philadelphia, we ask the question, well, what is the title of Jesus here to this church? The title of Jesus to each church is almost always linked, to the rest of the letter, meaning there's almost always some meaning that carries

Itself through the rest of the letter, and that is true here, all right? Jesus actually has three distinct titles in the letter to the Church of Philadelphia. The first is it says that he is holy, right?

He is the holy one. So he is the one that is set apart. There is something different. Like to put it very, very simply, there is something different about Jesus. He is the holy one set apart, glorified and honored, not like anyone or anything else. He is the holy one. He goes on to say, he is the true one. The one who in him there is no falsehood there is no counterfeit he cannot be he cannot be replicated or represented by anyone else he is both holy and set apart and he is true, not able to be counterfeited no one else can stand in his place but probably well the key title here that we see in this letter is that he says. The words of the Holy One, the true one, who has the key of David and who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one will open. We have to understand these two phrases together with one another. Otherwise, we kind of like lose them in their historical context. Says that Jesus is the one who holds the key of David. And that cannot be understood

Apart from the phrase that he, what he opens, no one can shut. And what he shuts, no one can open. This comes as an allusion to, and actually kind of like a verbatim word for word referencing of a prophecy in the book of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 22, starting around verse 22, but really it is the whole chapter of Isaiah chapter 22. What was happening during that period of time is that King Hezekiah, who was the king of the.

Northern kingdom of Israel, had, amongst other palace servants and administrators, a man working for him by the name of Shebna. This is like a really obscure little story, okay? And Shebna was, I guess by modern equivalencies, he would have been like the White House chief of staff,

For King Hezekiah and for the temple and the palace meaning he would have been the one that like either protected the king, or let people in to see the king like he was kind of the gatekeeper to who got an audience with king hezekiah and who didn't get an audience with king hezekiah he was the kind of the gatekeeper of the who got to who got to step into his presence, And.

Shebna got a little prideful in his position. And he thought of himself in a way that was not,

I guess, accurate or correct. And the Lord saw this and the Lord judged Shebna, for it and essentially exiled him from the land. And in response, Hezekiah promoted someone else to that position of palace administrator. He replaced him with Eliakim, who was the son of Hilkiah. And so not only was he going to replace Shebna with Eliakim, but he was going to give Eliakim a kind of like a bump up in role. He was going to give him kind of a, he was going to give him a promotion. And what he was going to do, he took Shebna's sash, he put it on, he put it on Eliakim, and then he gave him something else, that Shebna never was allowed to have. He took a new symbol of authority and he gave him a key to the palace. Now when you and I think of a key we think of the thing my wife just told me the other day she's like you got too many keys, she drove my truck and I like and I do I got too many keys right, and like a lot like I got like 10 or 15 keys and it's easy to carry 10 or 15

Keys because they're small but ancient keys were not like modern keys they weren't small right you couldn't fit them all on a ring. They weren't reproducible. They were actually very, very large and they were as much symbolic as they were functional. They were meant to describe someone, a key holder or a key carrier was someone who was like, it was meant to signify someone who had significant authority or significant access in whatever place that key represented, okay?

There was almost always only one key per door or per location. There wasn't many. And it was meant to be, and it was not small. It was large. And so in Isaiah chapter 22, verse 22, it says that Hezekiah took the key to the palace and placed it on, not in, not on Hilkiah's,

Key ring, right? But he placed it on his shoulder. It was meant to be carried like, you know, like the kids carry their boom boxes these days, right?

Right? Right, Vinny? Yeah. Yeah, right. Yeah. So it was large, it was heavy, and it was meant to like stick out and show that this is the person who holds the key that gets access to this place. And there was only one of those keys and it could not be duplicated. It could not be counterfeit. And it was meant to speak to the authority of the person who carried it. They wielded a very, very unique type of authority in relationship to the king and in relationship to the king's presence okay.

And so the authority, like, and so when we, when Jesus himself takes, takes upon himself this title in the beginning of the letter to Philadelphia, I am the holy one. I am the true one. I am the one who has the King of David, the one who, what I open, no one can shut. And what I shut, no one can open. You see, in the original context of Isaiah 22, this would refer to the absolute authority of the master of the household. They would be able to wield to control access to the palace of the king. And so now here in Revelation 3, verse seven, Jesus takes that title upon himself and it now refers to the absolute authority that Jesus, the true and trustworthy Messiah, possesses to control access to the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that he talks about in chapter three, verse 12. That is the kingdom of God. Jesus says, I am the key. I hold the key of David and saying like, I have, I possess the unique authority. To determine who has access to the Father and who does not.

I am the only one that holds the key. I am the only one that bears that responsibility. And so all the way back from the language of Isaiah is used to present Christ as the Davidic and true Messiah with absolute power to control entrance into the heavenly kingdom. It may be an intentional contrast here with the practice of what the Philadelphian believers were experiencing. It was Jesus. Jesus, not what wanted to communicate to the church of Philadelphia. Hey, not only am I holy and set apart, the one and only, not only am I true, the true one cannot be counterfeited. No one can replicate me. Like there, there, there is no, there's no replication here. I also hold the key of David. I possess the unique authority to stand at the door to the kingdom of God and determine who gets access to the king and who does not.

This is the message that the Philadelphian church needed to hear in this moment. This is what they, this is the experience that the believers were having here, right? But listen, while we understand that this is a specific letter for a specific time for a specific people, I think we can all, grab some practical application, some modern application for this, for this truth that it is Jesus and Jesus alone who controls access to God's kingdom. It is Jesus and Jesus alone who controls, who stands in the door or at the gate and who gets into the presence of the father and who does not get into the presence of the father. And if Jesus is the unique person that wields that authority, then there are several things that don't wield that authority.

And we need to be reminded of them all. Because at some point in our flesh, at some point in our heart, maybe even some points in our best intentions, we often begin to either grab thoughts or attitudes or even actual practices, of our lives or our communal lives where we were like, well, yeah, but Jesus probably needs some help.

Jesus probably needs a little bit of help determining who actually gets access to the father who actually gets access to the kingdom so we better we better step in and help him a little bit,

And a truth we all some truths we all need to be reminded of myself included it is not the church it is not the church that holds the key to the door of God's kingdom up.

It is not our own, your own morality or good conduct that holds the key to the door of God's kingdom.

It is not our good intentions. It is not our sincerity. It is not our genuine heart. That holds the key to God's kingdom.

We cannot be so moral. We cannot be so ethical. We cannot be so good as to earn our way through the gate that Jesus himself uniquely has authority over.

Likewise, it is no one else's responsibility, not my responsibility, not your responsibility, not our responsibility. To say, no, we're kind of the gatekeepers of God's presence.

We are the ones who determine who get in and who does not. Jesus himself in the letter to the Philadelphians here, there is one and one alone who is holy and who is true.

There is one and one alone who holds the key to the door of God's kingdom.

He is the good shepherd. He is the gate that the sheep walk through. He is the bread of life. He is the stream of living water. He is the one and true vine. He is the light of the world. He is the agent of all creation. He is the resurrection and he is the life.

And Acts 4, verse 12 says that salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we are saved. It is him and him alone and his name is Jesus.

You must come to him. You must come through him. There is no other way to the Father in heaven than by him. He is it.

Now, we can get excited and fired up and really passionate about this truth. And like, man, I am, I'm excited. I'm fired up. I'm passionate about this truth, right? That it is Jesus that is the good shepherd. It is Jesus that is the one true vine. It is Jesus that is the light of the world. It is Jesus that is the gate. It is Jesus that is the resurrection and he is the life, right? But even when we can get excited about stuff like that, even within believing circles, this is not always a given. Like we talked about last week, It can be an articulation of the mouth without it being a truth rooted in the heart.

And every time we do something to stand in front of the door that Jesus is opening for those to come by through faith, we may be saying one thing with our mouth, but our actions may be betraying, that we believe Jesus needs a little bit of help in this job.

Sometimes it's with our words, and sometimes it's with our actions, but we act often as though our morality or our good Christian behavior is, the key that we need in order to walk through the door.

Man, if I am just good enough... If I am just, I don't know, moral enough or ethical enough, if I look the part, talk the part,

If I fit in, if I show up, if I join the small group, if I serve in a ministry,

So we become just on the outside what we think will produce acceptance into the kingdom just by our good moral conduct in our kingdom. But our hearts are still far from him. Our hearts remain unsurrendered to his lordship in our lives. Our values still are compromised and watered down in reference to his word. And we live quiet lives of hypocrisy, playing the part on the outside, but inside just a whitewashed tomb.

Do you know why Jesus did what he did? And do you know why Jesus is who he is? Jesus did what he did and he is what he is because you couldn't and you aren't.

Jesus did what he did and he is who he is because you and I, we couldn't do it and we aren't the people that could do it. You know, the Philadelphia church was dealing with this reality starkly.

What we read from the context here is that there was a, probably a fairly small numerical number of Gentile Christians, living in a Jewish community in the city of Philadelphia in what is now like modern day Turkey. Okay. And it was these, it was the, it was Jews, Jewish people, Jewish followers, Jewish followers of Jesus in the city of Philadelphia who were placing obstacles in front of Gentile believers, saying like, hey.

You're not really in the kingdom of God until you both accept Jesus as Messiah and you become a Jew, which means you follow the Jewish laws, you get circumcised, you worship at the temple.

Everything that a typical Jewish person would do, you are required to do it. And also you're required to, like Jesus has to be your Messiah. And so that there was this like, not Jesus as the exclusive way, not Jesus as the only way, not Jesus as the one garter of the door into the access of, into God's presence, but it was Jesus plus all of these other things that we need you to do.

There's lots of standing in front of the door and Jesus will have none of it.

Jesus has none of it with this church or with those doing this in that church. And so you know how in all of the letters, if you've been following along with us, all of the letters, there's kind of like a format. Jesus introduces himself with his titles. And then he goes through a section of like commendation. Hey, church, here's the great things that I see that you are doing. And then he goes through a section of, but I need you to work on this one thing. Right so jesus starts his commendation section, and he can like not he can't get very far before he's like I don't know I read it as he's just like super fired up about the way in which the philadelphian christians are are living their lives, and being and enduring faithfully and it's always like he starts the commendation section like he starts all of the others and then he almost interrupts himself by describing the blessing that he's going to bring upon their life because of what they're doing, or because of what he sees in their hearts. Okay.

And so like, here's an example. In verse eight, he says, I know your works. Usually in the other letters, it would go to describe the things that they're doing that he's like commending them for. But in this letter, he can't even get past that. He's like, yeah, I know your works. I see your deeds and behold. I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. At the very beginning, Jesus points out that he sees and knows what is going on. And hearkening back to the title that he has just given himself, he reminds the Philadelphian Christians, right? That, hey, listen, I am the one that controls the door. I am the one that controls access to the Father. I want you to see, I know your deeds, I know your works. So behold, I have set before you an open door. Meaning there is no obstacles in your way.

There's no extra Jewish requirements that you need to meet. There's no circumcision you need to undergo or laws that you need to follow. I am the one who has set before you an open door and no one is able to shut it, he says.

So the door that Jesus opens for us cannot be shut by any person. The access that Jesus offers us through himself to the father cannot be obstructed by any attempt of man or devil right,

The door that has been opened through Jesus Christ is a door that no one can shut no one can obstruct no one can block Jesus says since I have the key of David it. I am the one that controls the door to the kingdom. And I have set before you this open door and no one can shut it. Church, we ought to be really, really extra, extra careful of trying to shut the door of God's kingdom that Jesus has opened.

To gatekeep the door to the kingdom by requiring things of people before they come to Jesus. Like, hey, before you come to Jesus, I need you to come to Jesus. And what we mean by that usually is like, listen, before you can step into the presence, we need you to do some things. Like, you got to kind of like clean your language up a little bit.

The way you like you present yourself and dress you see us all here we're we're like we're pretty normal we dress normal, we talk normal whatever normal is like a setting on our dryer but whatever normal actually is right, like but if you want to come if you like it's great we yeah we want you to come to jesus too great we just need you to get a few things fixed in your life first, right? You need to believe more like us. You need to talk more like us. You need to look more like us. You need to dress more like us. You need to participate in the things that we participate in. You need to kind of believe the things politically and socially that we believe, and practice them in that way. And you got to spend your time kind of doing the things that we spend our time doing. Like as soon as you just kind of like prove your salt in the midst of the community, we're super really confident that you'll be able to walk through that door that

Jesus opens and no one can shut, even though we're trying to slam you in it.

Now, are there expectations for righteous living and a holy response to the presence of God in our lives? Of course there is. Of course that there is a process of sanctification that we go through once Jesus has transformed our hearts first, he begins then to transform our minds and then out of the heart and out of the mind comes the transformation, of the practices and things in our lives that have been damaging to us and destructive, both to ourselves and to others.

But put them in the right order, okay? Jesus transforms what you can't see before he transforms what you can see.

And so if we're looking for God to transform what we can see before his Holy Spirit has done the work to transform what we can't see, than we're necessarily putting an obstacle in the way. Get right with God in your conduct before you get right with God in your heart and then you'll be good with us. And we will kind of like rubber stamp your presence with the Father. Church is a dangerous, dangerous place to be.

Because Jesus is for the most part in the rest of the New Testament, a pretty gentle guy until we get to the book of Revelation. And then he's just like front kicking the teeth out of people who get in his way.

Showing up on a white horse with an army behind him, and a sash of blood and a sword of the spirit ready to vanquish anyone who stands, in opposition to the kingdom and we can stand in opposition to the kingdom by standing in front of the door that he has opened for people to walk through okay, so let's be careful about this,

So then he starts again right I know your works, and behold I've said before you an open door which no one is able to shut, and then he goes on I say okay back to the back to the commendation I know that you have but little power and yet you have kept my word and I'm not denied my name I love this, a commendation of the philadelphian church in the in the in the mind and heart of Jesus is that they're weak.

Like this is a positive for Jesus. This is so anti-American Christianity that I can't even, I can't even stand it, right? Because American conquering victorious Christianity is what? We will overpower everything and everyone. Weakness is what? Weakness. And it's negative and we should avoid it. And actually the heart of Jesus is to power up and conquer evil. That's what we're supposed to do, right? But what Jesus is saying here is like, hey, look, I love to see that in your weakness, your one concern was just that you remain faithful.

That you have remained faithful. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and you have not denied my name.

Faithlessness or faith, I should say this, faithfulness in the midst of powerlessness, is an express way to being blessed by Jesus.

When I am weak and powerless, but I remain faithful to him, Jesus is like, I mean, get some blessing into that person's life right now.

Because I know. That there is an area or a situation in your life right now where you feel totally, 100% powerless.

Powerless. You've tried, and it's not for lack of trying. You've actually tried a lot, and it has revealed how extraordinarily powerless you are. You can't control the outcomes. You can't control the circumstances. You can't control the people. You can barely control your emotions in the midst of it. You can't control anything. And so in the environment that you can't control anything, what is the response of the people who follow Jesus? We can try to power up, get more aggressive and get more powerful and thereby likely compromising the integrity of the spirit of God in our lives, right? We can do things and say things that are abhorrent or offensive to Jesus and his spirit.

Or we can embrace the weak and powerless position that we are in and commit ourselves to being faithful to the Lord and not denying his word or his name and watch the blessing of Jesus rush into the situation.

We don't need to be strong. He is strong. Remember he is the holy one, he is the true one he is the one who holds the keys he is the good shepherd he is the resurrection and the life he is the one true vine he is the true light of the world he is strong we are weak,

And that's a beautiful and glorious place to be. And so he's commending them for their faithfulness in the midst of their powerlessness, but then he interrupts himself again.

And he says, behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lied. Behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet and they will learn that I have loved you.

What is Jesus saying here? What Jesus is saying here, he's like, look, I know that you feel powerless and that you're weak and that you feel like these Jews who say they're representing me, but who are really representing Satan, right? They are the synagogue of Satan. I like, as a reward of your faithfulness, there will come a time where I will make them come and bow down at your feet and I will show them just how much I have loved and chosen you.

Right and like what we want is that we want to wrestle that type of victory under our own strength in the world right we want people to come bow down at our feet because of how strong we are, and because of our tremendous gifting and strength and because of the truth that we hold But listen, it's not that victory in power is or will never be ours. It's just never been ours to go and get under our own strength. It's been the one who is worthy to go get victory, brings it to us and says, my victory has now become your victory. My righteousness has now become your righteousness. My life has now become your life. We have everything that we need, including victory over our oppressors, not by our own strength, but by the strength that Jesus gives us in victory over it.

And so Jesus is showing here that, listen, judgment comes for those who slam the doors of the kingdom of God.

This is clearly what Jesus is saying about the synagogue of Satan. Judgment's coming for those,

Who slam doors or put obstacles in front of those coming to Jesus. And it goes on, the last one. Says because you have kept my word about patient endurance another commendation what does he say 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 philadelphian christians they have endured with patience and faithfulness, the trial of the place and the people and the things that they are going through and they are experiencing. They have endured patiently, not trying to wrestle victory out of their own strength or aggression, but they've been sitting patiently in their powerlessness, waiting and enduring because they know that Jesus is returning. They know that Jesus is their portion. They know that Jesus is their victory. They know that Jesus sees and knows what is going on. And as a reward for that patient endurance, Jesus will spare them from the hour of trial that is coming upon the earth.

Now, there could be some debate about exactly what trial are you talking about, Jesus? And that's a little bit beyond our scope for this morning. Most scholars believe that this is like a contextual reference. Like there is an actual historical moment of trial that is coming upon the world and the churches that Jesus is just going to spare this Philadelphian church from.

So I want you to hear this really clear. Jesus alone holds the keys of David,

Which means the door into the kingdom of God was never ours to guard. Neither was it yours to earn.

Jesus is the one who has already set it open before you the only door still shut are the ones that we build with our own hands,

Maybe by like checking dress code or requiring they look talk smell and act like us.

We as a church can stop guarding doors. Let's stop guarding doors. And let's maybe start from Luke chapter 5. Why don't we start ripping roofs open,

To get people before Jesus? Why don't we go and stand next to the door and invite people to come and see,

An entrance to the place that we have once walked. Why don't we stand in the midst of our powerlessness in a resolute decision, to remain faithful to God, true to his word, knowing that victory is his and so it can be ours. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word to us this morning. And Lord, we ask that as it gets pressed further into our lives, further into our hearts, Lord, that we would not just hear it, but that we would do it. Like Jesus says in all his letters, those who have ears to hear, let them hear what the Spirit says to the church is Lord.

Lord, we want to have ears to hear this morning. What your Holy Spirit has to say to us here, church at Conduit.

Lord, we want to be faithful. We want to endure patiently. We want what's said of the Philadelphian church to be said of us. Lord, we give ourselves to you, our hearts to you, and worship in obedience this morning in Jesus' name. Amen.