Sermon notes from Sunday 30 December 2018 am
Revelation 3 verses 7 – 13
The Lord Jesus Christ is writing
to the 7 churches in Asia Minor and comes to Philadelphia. This church has quite a bit going for
it. Verse 8 “I know thy works”. Writing to these believers who have put their
trust in Christ and are walking after him.
He tells them to stop for a moment and see the things that will happen
in the days to come. Notice in this
passage he uses the word “behold” which means open your eyes, to take a look at
something. “And no man can shut it” this
is something special for the individual believer. God will open a door for you. If you are prepared to go through it then God
is opening it for you. This church was
different from Laodicea – they felt there was nothing more for them. You have need of nothing. That is what happened. This church was so happy to come and go, they
had all they needed or rather felt they needed.
Their numbers were good, people were coming in, they had the best of
preachers, a choice of whatever preacher they wanted, they didn’t feel they
needed anything more. God said “these
things do not impress me, here’s the true state of the church, it is blinded in
priorities. They were in need of so
much. The Saviour is standing outside
the door of the church. In this church
in Philadelphia the Lord was saying “I will open a door for you.” Will you pray with us today for a new door to
be opened? Perhaps God has changes in
the new year for the fellowship and for us as individuals.
A persistent company – verse 8.
We are not seeing a church that is idle but one that is going on, is
active. This little group was witnessing
for the Lord. They were faithful, they
kept the word. Although they were few in
number and strength yet they were mighty in God’s hands. Remember the boy out on the mountainside with
the large crowds. All he had were the
loaves and fishes. Andrew the disciple
knew they were no use in such a large crowd but when it was placed into the
hands of the master they fed the multitudes.
Here’s a church, the word of God is going forth. They were different than the church in
Ephesus in Revelation 2. The Lord said
of Ephesus “I know thy works.” That was
not enough. The Lord saw a people who
had left their first love. In the Old
Testament the people were drawing near to God with their lips but their hearts
were far from him. They substituted that
love with works. Do we still love the
Lord as much as when we first came to him or maybe as the years have gone by we
have mellowed? We are still keeping up
the works but they are nothing unless our hearts are right with the Lord. The heart could be as cold as ice. It is possible. It does not matter about the person beside
you – the only one looking into your heart is God himself. The Lord said of Pergamos “I know your works,
know your standards, anything will go.”
Sometimes in the churches today anything does go. Thyatira was a working church. They had false doctrines and teaching, didn’t
seem to matter to them. Sardis was a
working church but it was dead. They had
a name for loving but they were dead.
Only in this church were they active and vibrant, so much that the Lord
said “I will open a door for you.”
Laodicea was a lukewarm church.
In Acts 5 Ananias and Sapphira were living in a time when the church was
growing and people were bringing their money to the church. They thought that is what they should
do. They were however keeping something
back. They would have been better giving
nothing because they would have known the blessing of God in it. The widow woman with 2 mites in Jesus’ day
gave them to the treasury. They were all
she had and she gave more than anyone else.
In this church God would do something mighty because they were persistent. Is there anything hindering us from serving
God?
A prospect to be considered – the elders had to consider what is
this door, where is it leading to and are we ready for it? Maybe if we were asked “are we prepared for
change today”? God is saying this to us
today. Is God going to change something
in your life? Paul and Barnabas in Acts
13 were members in the Antioch church.
They met for prayer and gave out gospel tracts. The Lord said to this fellowship “separate
for me Paul and Barnabas for the work I have for them to do.” Imagine the elders coming to them and telling
them the Lord wanted them to go in a different direction. They were in the work of the Lord, busy in it
but God was opening another door and they had to consider it. For you and I there is a door that is opening. We have to answer the question “am I prepared
to go through the door, to do whatever the Lord would ask me to do?” Maybe God
is saying that to you today.
There are plans to
commence.
Power for the campaign
A problem with the
critics
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