In Paul Carrington's sermon, 'Philadelphia & The Open Door of Opportunity,' he explores the message to the Church of Philadelphia from Revelation 3:7-13. Carrington emphasizes that the 'open door' mentioned in the scripture represents opportunities for evangelism and spreading the gospel. Unlike other churches, Philadelphia receives only commendation for its faithfulness, despite its little strength. Carrington argues that true strength in faith arises from recognizing one's weaknesses and depending on God's power. The sermon encourages believers to actively engage in evangelism, stressing that the opportunity for spreading the gospel is a privilege rather than a burden. Carrington calls for a renewed commitment to prayer and evangelism, highlighting the importance of recognizing and seizing the opportunities that God provides. He also addresses the challenges of fear and apathy, urging believers to overcome these obstacles through faith and dedication to God’s mission.

Today's sermon is going to be preached from Revelation chapter 3 verses 7 through 13. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, These things says he who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens. I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it. For you have a little strength and have kept my word, and have not denied my name.

Indeed, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews and are not, but lie. Indeed, I will make them come and worship before your feet and to know that I have loved you. Because you have kept my commandment to Persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Behold, I am coming quickly. Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.

He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out no more. 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 I will write on him my new name. He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Let's pray. Father we thank you for this time that we're going to have in Revelation.

Father we're grateful for the many hours of preparation, the many hours of Mr. Carrington being on his knees before you. Father we're grateful that he has your Holy Spirit that will guide his words today. Father we ask that you would open our ears, open our hearts, open our spirits to you, to your word and your truth. Father let us not merely sit and listen, but Father let us actively seek you and have an expectation that you will come to us today.

Amen. Well this morning we've come to the six of the seven churches located in Asia Minor and through his last living apostle the Lord Jesus Christ has narrated this letter as he has all of the letters to these churches. And just to bring us back to exactly the context here, what we find is that John, this last living apostle, he's been exiled to a labor camp on the barren island of Patmos, about 50 miles off the coast of what's modern-day Turkey. And so far what we've seen are words of encouragement, we've seen words of rebuke, We've seen words of exhortation, but it's primarily because the Lord has set His love upon these churches, that He comes to them in the way that He comes to them. And even when you consider perhaps the church most badly off, the next church, the seventh church, Laodicea, the Lord comes and He gives them this harsh, what looks to be a harsh rebuke.

But He says this, He says, as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. He loved all of these churches. And what he was expecting is that every single church that receives these letters would actually be changed by these letters. It wasn't to just simply inform them or somehow just give them something to consider, but they were all of them calls to repentance or calls to go further on in Him. And this is the same thing for us.

And sometimes the words of God sometimes seem hard, but they're words of life. Every word of God is a word of life to change us and to draw him closer, draw us closer to him. And so as we come to Philadelphia today we find a church, beautiful church here that's distinguished primarily because it only receives words of encouragement. It doesn't receive any words of rebuke or chastisement whatsoever. And under those those searching eyes of Christ you remember those eyes that go throughout this one who's walking among the seven golden candlesticks there's no threat of judgment there's no warning or anything like that It seems like he's pleased with the progress and the trajectory of this church as they as they press on.

It's not a very strong church but it's a little church that's faithful. And of course we know that that no church is perfect, right? We know that. There's no person who is perfect outside of Christ, but this church has been characterized by a sense of faithfulness. They simply, they want to please God.

And it is encouraging to think that the Lord could be pleased with a church or with a people. It's encouraging to consider that not every look from the Lord is a dour look or a wagging of the finger to say that you're not doing enough or you're not faithful enough. And I take this to mean when we look at this church that this was not a sinless church But it was a church that was in communion with their Lord and when they sinned they would repent if they sinned against him They would repent to him if they sinned against one another They would go to that person and repent and and both they would go to both God as well as to their brothers or to those that they've offended and they would grieve over the sins that he grieves over What a blessing what a blessing it is when a people are desirous of actually wanting to please God And and so they're not laboring of course we know to justify themselves No one can labor to work and work yourself into God's favor. These were blood-bought saints that were being sanctified and they took that sanctification very, very seriously.

And so this letter is delivered to the elders of the church in Philadelphia. And what makes these letters priceless? These letters weren't only intended for these seven churches, but they're intended for all churches throughout all the church age, which means that there's much that we can garner from from these as well. And just to kind of help us get our our bearings in terms of the background of this city of Philadelphia. This this city is about 27 miles south of this last church that we were in Sardis and it's about 48 miles away from the next church that we're going to be looking at, Laodicea.

And what's important about this church is that it lay in a very key position as the gateway or the door to Asia. It was, it had this constant flow of traffic coming in and out. It was literally a door right there. And it was founded in 189 BC by a man by the name of King Attalus. And this man had such a great love for his brother that the city had the name Philadelphia, which means brotherly love.

And this man he founded this city, King Attalus did, with a primary intention. He had a very evangelistic vision, but it wasn't the evangelistic good news of Jesus Christ. What he was hoping to do was to evangelize the rest of Asia with Greek culture. He wanted to use Philadelphia as a means to go into the rest of Asia to spread all the things of the Greek culture, refinement, and all of the language, the art, all of that. And as a result, he designed it to be a little Athens.

That's what it was called. You could go down the streets of Philadelphia, and you'd see all sorts of temples and magnificent structures all the way through. But in 17 AD, the city was destroyed by an earthquake. It sits right on the Anatolian Fault there in Turkey. And so it was utterly destroyed.

And the wonderful thing about this city is that there's been a church there almost all the way through from this little church here up until the area of about the 1300s when the Seljuk Turks came in and took over this place. And they renamed the city Allah Shahr, which means the city of Allah or the city of the Muslim God. And if you go there today you're not going to find really anything. You're going to find 45 mosques in this population of about 18,000 people. But the only remnants of any signs of Christianity is just a section of wall and some of the pillars from the church of St.

John that that are still standing. Other than that there's really nothing else. And so here we are looking at this church that is in Philadelphia and everything he's going to say to this church is based upon the three things he does as he introduces himself, these three facts that he wants them and he wants us to know about himself. And what's interesting is that so far every single introduction is drawn from something in chapter one. But this is a little bit different here.

It's something a little bit unique, but what we want to really be listening for is understanding that this Epistle to Philadelphia is a living and an active word to us today here at Hope Baptist And so I want to read verse 7 to us. He says this and to the angel of the church in Philadelphia right these things says he who is holy he who is true he who has the key of David he who opens and no one shuts and Shuts and no one opens So he starts off with this very first description, the one of three, and he says, he who is holy. And what he's saying here is that I am God. He wants this church, he wants all saints to know, Jesus does, that I am God. And you could go back to Isaiah chapter 6 and we've all spent time there where you see that vision of those angels or you could just simply flip over one chapter into chapter 4 verse 8 and you see the same seraphim these glorious angels and what are they doing it says that they do not rest day or night saying holy holy holy this is the theme of their song throughout the ages this is what they say and And this is what's interesting and very important for us to know is that things can be made holy, but only God is holy.

You see, even these angels that have never sinned, they've never tasted sin, But even their holiness is a derived or it's a borrowed holiness only God himself is Actually holy in his in his essence and a holy church always has to have this view of a holy God before it Once you begin to lose a sense of a holy God, you can write that church off. You can almost put Ichabod above the doors. The glory of God has departed. Well, he doesn't just say he who is holy, but he says he who is true. He picks another attribute of himself.

And again, it's not only that Jesus Christ speaks the truth, is it? But he says, he who is true, he who is the truth. And what is truth? Truth is that which accords or agrees with reality. It's the opposite of what is fictitious or or what is counterfeit.

It's the one before whom all other truth claims unravel because he is true. And If you compare it with the devil's empire, it's just built on a foundation of lies. But the Lord's kingdom is built on truth. And in our postmodern relativistic age, you just look around today, the notion of truth is attacked with full force. You just try to say that anything is certain and you'll find yourself attacked.

What do people do? They attempt to pluralize the word truth as though there are many truths or they attempt to personalize truth as though my truth is different than your truth but yet they can both be true. And you might get away with saying something like, this is true, but just be careful you don't follow it up with, and therefore this is false. Because if you do, you're gonna draw the ire of the people that you're speaking with. And in such an age what does man do?

He fancies himself to be the judge, the jury, he's the one that determines what is true, at least he thinks so. It's pure arrogance on man's behalf to actually think that he is the one that can decide for himself what is true. There's this story about a man who lived in Paris. And he had a man from the countryside come and spend some time with him and visit him. And he ended up taking this man to the Louvre, which is the most well-known gallery in all the world, the art gallery, all the best pieces of art are displayed there.

And he took him there and then after that he took him to a concert hall to hear the most majestic symphony play before him. And at the end of the day, the stranger from the country commented that he didn't particularly like the museum, the Louvre, and he wasn't too impressed with the symphony to which his host replied, they aren't on trial. You are. When you go to the Louvre, you're not the one to decide if it's beautiful or if it's worthwhile. You're the one that's actually being tried.

How much more when we stand before the inerrant Word of God? We're not the ones that decide what is true. He has spoken, and He is true. And it says here, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts and shuts, and no one opens, and this is taken from the book of Isaiah chapter 22, and you can turn back there, this is a direct quote, and he's drawing this during the reign of Hezekiah. For those of you that were here in the church when we went through Isaiah, you might remember this, that Hezekiah is the king and he's reigning during the time when the Assyrian armies are threatening the people of Judah.

It's a time of real danger and Shebna is the chief steward over all of the king's house. He's the one that has the key to the treasury, but he gets replaced or deposed by Eliakim. And Eliakim is a type of Christ and he's given complete control over all the resources of Judah and this is what it says in chapter 22 of Isaiah verse 22 to 24 It says the key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder speaking of Eliakim So he shall open and no one shall shut and he shall shut and no one shall open I will fasten him as a peg in a secure place And he will become a glorious throne to his father's house. They will hang on him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the posterity, all the vessels of small quantity, from the cups to all the pitchers and so what you're what you're hearing here is that there was a man named Eliakim that was given this supreme authority over all of the house of Hezekiah and Jesus himself is taking this description of Eliakim and he's applying it to himself.

It speaks of total control. He has all access to the to the treasure chamber. He can with the key go into any part of the palace and he can open it. No one can go to him and say, hey what are you doing in this room you shouldn't be here he has full access to absolutely everything both in heaven and in earth that's what the Lord says when he gives his great commission to his people and what's important is verse 23 It says I will fasten him as a peg in a secure place and and the Lord Jesus is as a peg in a secure place and what that means is that this peg is on the wall and absolutely all the weight of all the kingdom rests entirely upon him. There is no other name given under heaven whereby a man can be saved but through Jesus Christ.

And Matthew Henry says it like this, that soul cannot perish, that concern cannot fall to the ground which is hung upon Christ by faith. And so Jesus has the government of God laid upon his shoulder. And this is going to be so critical for the rest of the letter. This idea, this concept of stewardship is also introduced right here as well. And Christ is the supreme or the chief steward, not over the house of Judah or the house of Israel, but over the entire kingdom of God.

And so we're going to see a little bit about that stewardship where we're going to spend most of our time here in verse 8 and this is what the Lord says to this little church. He says, I know your works. It says, see I have set before you an open door and no one can shut it for you have little strength have kept my word and have not denied my name." And so he's already established himself as the sovereign king. He said that I'm holy, I'm true, I rule over absolutely everything. This is a picture of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

In chapter 1 it talks about how he is the ruler of all the kings of the earth. He's giving them this massive picture of who he is. Why? Because he's gonna give them a task which we're gonna look at right here. He says I know your works but unlike the other letters he doesn't get into any detail about what they've done.

He's gonna get into something else here. He says see. The very first words after he says I know your works he says see. What that means is behold or lo. This is what he's saying to them he's almost saying look like do you see what I see do you see what I have done or what I'm doing that's that's what he's trying to do is to get their attention and he says to them I've set before you an open door and no one can shut." So he pulls from the last verse to say what he could do and can do and now he says what I've actually done right here.

And this is not a promise of eternal life. That's not what he's saying. These people have already been blood-bought. They're already believers. And these aren't that this is not the promise of entrance into heaven.

That's gonna come later in verse 12. But this is something very very specific. Rather than a promise of eternal life, What it is, it's the promise of opportunity for them, a call to even more faithful service. And so this particular concept of the open door is really the theme or the emphasis of this letter. And what I want you to know is that there is no higher honor, no greater honor that the Lord can bestow upon a little church than to set before them an open door.

What do I mean? Well, what is the open door? When you think about an open door, what does this phrase mean? Well, most often it's connected with evangelism or with missions, with expanding the kingdom and advancing the kingdom through gospel proclamation. And this idea of an open door, if you're a child, think about it like this.

When you go to bed at night and your door is closed and perhaps the hall light is on outside of your room and Mom and dad come into your room What happens along with mom and dad or mom or dad what happens the room is all of a sudden flooded with light. And what he's saying is when the door is open into a place that was previously locked, whether it was a nation or an individual, that place that was one time the domain of darkness, just Like your bedroom at one time is totally shut off from the light. The door opens and now light begins to flood in. That's what the idea of an open door actually is. And this is what you look at when you look in the scriptures.

Every time this phrase is used, as I said, it's connected with evangelism, with missions. And in Colossians chapter 4 verse 2, we just read Colossians chapter 3, but in Colossians chapter 4, by the way, this little epistle to the Colossians is written from prison. Why is Paul there? Because he's preaching the gospel, but he says this, he says, continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving. Meanwhile, pray also for us that God would open to us a door for the word to speak the mystery of Christ for which I also am in chains.

He's not praying that the chains would fall off or the prison door would open but that the gospel would be unleashed and the door to further advancement would be opened. In 1st Corinthians chapter 16 verse 9 speaking of Ephesus he says for a great and effective door has opened to me and there are many adversaries in the previous chapter he says in Ephesus I fought with beasts meaning just because a door is open it doesn't mean that it's going to be just smooth sailing and everything's going to be just fine. But nevertheless when God opens a door the expectation is that we would follow through. And what he's saying to Philadelphia, he's saying see, Lift up your eyes. That's what he wants his church to do is to lift up their eyes in Matthew chapter 9 He tells his disciples at the harvest truly is plentiful.

It's never been a question But the laborers are few and what's critical. I want you to take this away, so important, so important. Jesus is not saying that I can open a door and no one can shut it. That's not what he's saying. Now, that is true.

And we sometimes can pray for that but what he's saying is far far stronger than I can Open a door. This is not a declaration of ability that I can do this but activity What I've actually done before you as a church and he says this is like saying it's not only that he is sovereign But he's acting in a sovereign way Executing as we speak the very thing that he's saying And this is why so many of us can falter in evangelism because we fail to make this distinction. And I don't know if you've ever had this battle in your heart. So often we can say, well, well, I believe God can do this or that, but since he hasn't done it, what can I do? Sometimes we falter and we don't go forward and speak and and proclaim as we ought to, not because we don't believe he he can or can't, but because we don't believe he actually has.

And so we stay where we are. And what he's saying to them is hold on you don't understand I have done this I'm doing this now and and if you look at Romans chapter 10 I'm just gonna go there just for a minute because Paul the Apostle makes the exact same argument he he comes with this insistence to the people in the church in Rome and he's made this argument already. The door is open. It's already open and he says, for whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. It's not a matter of will people be saved if they call upon the name of the Lord, what is the only question?

The only question he brings up or questions he brings up is not can God save, but he says how then Shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things." You see, nowhere do you find God bringing the gospel with a voice from heaven.

He doesn't send the angels from before his throne to go and proclaim the gospel. He doesn't do that, but this is the call and this is the domain of the church, specifically, not just the church in general, but you and I specifically. Do you see that as your great privilege as an ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ? And then Paul is not satisfied with that. He goes on to say in verse 17, he says, so then faith comes by hearing.

Notice his logic. There's no way Christ has conquered. He is here. He is reigning in heaven But but how shall people hear about this unless people go and tell other people and how shall those people go? Unless they are sent he's He's using just very very clear logic and then he ends in verse 17 he says, So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

He's pressing this urgent necessity for the proclaiming and preaching of the gospel. Because here's the reality is that there is no salvation, there's no saving faith apart from those who have not actually heard the word of Christ. There's no way that a man can be saved unless he actually hears and he grasps and he begins to understand the glory of the gospel. And so the implication for Philadelphia and for us is absolutely unmistakable. You must walk through the door.

Behold, look, see. I'm holding the door open. And this is the great privilege. It's not a Punishment but when we begin to see this as our great privilege It totally changes the way that we think about evangelism something I've got to do if I don't I'm gonna feel guilty To something praise be to God. I have the opportunity To speak the words of life to dead men and to dead women And So hopefully what you're seeing not only in Romans, but if you look at the entire tapestry of Scripture, what do you see?

If you open your eyes, you're going to see a missionary God who sends a missionary son, who then sends missionary apostles to plant missionary churches filled with mission-minded saints of God that desire the welfare and the salvation of their fellow man as well as the glory of their risen Lord. It's the simplest thing that God has done for us and so such is a church in Philadelphia and I would like to believe that we're on the same course as a church that there's something of that spirit of Philadelphia in us And and he goes on to say now in case you have any excuse He says for you have a little strength have kept my word and have not denied my name And you notice that little word therefore you see that that word means because or or since and it's because or since they have such little strength that he's gonna say these things and give them this opportunity and by the way weakness for that word it hasn't been a hindrance to them so far being weak. It's never a hindrance. He's the chief steward over the house isn't he? The Lord Jesus.

He's already told us that and and what he's saying is that these saints they've also been good stewards Over the responsibility that he's given to them. They've been faithful they've been saints that are are doing what they can with what they have and Appealing to heaven for even more and their faithfulness. This is so important has given way to greater usefulness You see when you're faithful and little the Lord says the person who's faithful in little will also be faithful in much. Have you ever noticed that if you're a person who's praying for opportunity, that somehow opportunity presents itself? It's the way it seems to work.

Pray, oh Lord use me today help me as a person, help us as a church and before you know it opportunities begin to present themselves. And so there was never, think about it like this, there's never been a church or an individual too weak to be useful. And you may not be a missionary or some profound evangelist or some sort of quick-witted apologist, But he banishes all the excuses, doesn't he, by saying you have little strength? He understands that. He's not saying because you're not measuring up to some internet preacher or some other person that I can't use you, I'm sorry.

That's not what he's saying here. He says what's in fact true is that your little strength becomes a great asset that I can use why does it become a great asset because what does it do it pushes you in and presses you to dependence on the one who can do all things and so Christ delights to honor such people that trust in him in such a way despite their feebleness and and their little strength and like the Apostle Paul what did he what was he told he says Jesus says to him my grace is sufficient for you for my strength is made perfect in your weakness." And then Paul goes on to say, therefore much more than will I glory in my weakness for when I'm weak then am I strong. And so what a blessed posture to be in and in the sense of being aware of your weakness Oftentimes we can be too strong to be useful like Laodicea the next church that we go to they're totally oblivious To their actual condition They thought they were actually pretty powerful when the Lord says you're not what you seem to be and he rebukes them for that well he goes on to say this not only do you have a little strength and therefore I'm gonna make you useful but but you've kept my word and that word keep it means to guard or to keep your eye on.

It means to prevent from escaping. Can you imagine the level of vigilance that this requires that you keep the Word of God? They saw the Word as their great treasure. This was the anchor that they rested all of their hopes upon. This was the guide for all of their life.

And it didn't just lie upon the brain like dead orthodoxy, like when you go to the church in Ephesus. But it was the thing that kindled such a fire and a desire to serve God in their hearts as the Word of God ought to do. It was the meditation of their hearts. And Jesus said this, he says, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word. You see, you have an obligation to keep, to preserve, to guard, to prevent from escaping the Word of God, to hold it and treasure it as your most valued asset because it really is.

And then he goes on to say that they have not denied my name. And one way we can deny his name is not only by the proverbial gun being held to your head and deny the Lord and you end up saying no or you end up saying yes, but one of the ways you can deny the Lord is to actually deny that he's opened a door of opportunity before you or to only grudgingly proceed through the door and if you go back through the Old Testament one of Israel's great failures was their failure to to go through the open door to the promised land. If you go back and look at Numbers 13, this is such a critical chapter, it's a hinge point really in the history of the nation of Israel. And what happens is The Lord tells Moses, he says, send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving. I've opened the door, the path is clear, I am giving to the children of Israel.

But what do they do? If you're familiar with the account, they come back and only Caleb and Joshua have good reports right and the other man said it's true that there's wonderful things in this land but boy there's also giants and there's fortified cities and It says that they caused the people to fear and they didn't go through the door that the Lord had opened. In effect, they had denied his name. Why? Because they saw the giants and they saw the fortified cities bigger than their God.

And this is so often what can happen and as a result 37 years passed before they would enter into the promised land and only Caleb and Joshua among those that were older entered in and everyone else was under 20 years of age that that entered in you know one observer I was I was doing some reading and one observer speaking about our current age regarding American Christianity, he says, increasingly the call is not Christians to the lions like in the days of the arena as it was in ancient times. Yet make no mistake about it, the call is Christians to the closets. Just have your faith, just keep it within these four walls and everything is good. That is the call of the age today. But that's not the call of our God.

That's not what he says. And so may the Lord give us a boldness and an urgency to take his word into this world because the door is open not with arrogance not with some sort of bravado that's not what we're saying at all but with simple bold faith aware of our weakness but relying on him for strength and listen to what JC Ryle says he says this We must be willing to have others think poorly of us, if that is what it takes to please God. We must not be surprised if we are mocked or ridiculed, slandered, hated, or persecuted. We must be willing to have others consider us fools or fanatics, to have our words twisted and even our purest actions misrepresented. We cannot expect or even hope that we will gain the favor of God and the favor of men.

You see sometimes you have to choose, will I have the favor of God or will I have the favor of men? And here's a secret pitfall I want to just share with you regarding evangelism. Here's a danger I would hate to have happen in this church is that after a sermon about evangelism or about missions or something like that, that we focus all of our actions and we attempt to redouble our efforts without first addressing our hearts. You see, this is where it's important Because what will happen is if we just double our efforts without first addressing our hearts We're gonna crumple at the first terse glance Or at the first sarcastic comment never again I'm not going back in there because the heart change is what's so critical If the Lord would possess our hearts with a sense of who he is, holy and true and sovereign. So much else is taken care of and that's what we really need to grasp.

A high view of God, he's holy. This view that his truth is unassailable because he is truth and every other argument rises or falls in its relationship to the truth. And then we have his sovereignty that all the power of man and hell, They muster it all and concentrate it into one point. They cannot budge the door that the Lord has closed. Neither can they slam shut the door that he has opened.

If we have that view, what happens is you get the most feeble saints filled with courage to do and to dare great things for Christ that's what happens when we begin to grasp who it is that we serve and Christ is pleased to use such a people as that as he's pleased to use the people in Philadelphia. Well, what is the Lord's strategy? To redeem his people, to spread the glory of his name. It's through his death and resurrection when he says, all power has been given to me in heaven and in earth. Everywhere in the entire earth bears the stamp mine upon it as I live in numbers 13 Even though the Jews fail to go through he tells Moses as I live All the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord." He opens the door to gospel opportunity and he wants to plunder the devil's stronghold.

And so what are the means he's going to do this? What is the means, the overarching means that the Lord is going to bring the victory. He arms his feeble people with the truth of the gospel and then he sends them into the world to go forward through that door and to proclaim not just by saying I'm gonna be a nice person or I hope people notice my good example, but there's an actual proclamation of the truth and the Word of God and So they want he wants him to keep his word and not to deny His name or the opportunities that he's given to them now now look what he can do through such means as these feeble people He's going to do the absolute impossible So verse 8 gives way to verse 9 look at verse 9. It says indeed Mark it down watch what I'm going to do. He says it twice in this verse, he says, indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews and are not but lie.

Indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet and know that I have loved you." And as though to show his power through all the church age, what is he going to do? He says, I'm going to take your most avowed enemies, the most impossible case, the pagans, that's not so hard, but to take these people that are actively opposing the gospel and I'm going to take them and I'm going to do something amazing through them. Now you might be that person who says well hold on, hold on, I thought opening a door meant blue skies and smooth sailing. I didn't sign up for this. Well, when you became a Christian, you did enlist in an army as a soldier for Jesus Christ.

And there's gonna be difficulty. He's telling them there will be difficulty. And here I'm gonna actually take the hardest case from human standards and I'm gonna do something phenomenal. This synagogue of Satan, we met these folks when we looked at the church in Smyrna, didn't we? And they imagined themselves to be a secure peg like Shebna they think there's something there or like the Apostle Paul when he was still Saul before his conversion and he boasted and he had this long list this resume of all the things that he's accomplished.

These people are consciously hostile to Christ, trusting in their own righteousness. And though they're the physical descendants of Israel, they're uncircumcised in heart. And Jesus says They say they are Jews and are not but lie. The truth says these people lie. But those that are seeking to smother the gospel will be led to embrace the gospel.

That's what he's saying here in verse 9. And it raises questions. Think about it from this perspective. Is anyone beyond the reach of the Lord now you may not say that but but is there a sense of when you look at people he's savable or she's saveable I You know what I'm saying that because I have actually done that in my utter folly I've looked at people before approaching them and said that that person in my view looks saveable What what total ignorance of the power of the one who is true the one who's holy the one who opens and no one shuts. It's total ignorance.

But sometimes we can go forward with this perspective that it depends on me if that person comes to Christ. That's not the case at all. But we often limit God and I want to ask you, you know, Could it be a hardened family member that you've been praying for for a long period of time? Or those ungodly neighbors that you wave at and smile at? Or friends that you just kind of keep things upon the surface?

Are they beyond the reach of God? How about those who have actually actively slandered you and taken your name and said false things about you? Are they beyond the reach of God? How about those who have actually, actively slandered you and taken your name and said false things about you? Are they beyond the reach of God?

You see, over every single man and woman, in bold capital letters is the word impossible. Impossible. There's nothing that you can do to save them in any way. There was this story of an old pastor who was discipling a group of young men aspiring preachers and he would spend a lot of time with them and on their final day with him, instead of being in a classroom or anything like that, he says come with me And he took them out into the church graveyard. And he said to these men, now I want you to preach your finest sermon and command these men, these women that are in these graves to rise up.

And these young men, they thought maybe he'd lost his mind or something was wrong and they looked at one another they looked At him this what are you talking about? He says to them you must always remember There is no power in you. There's no ability in you to raise the dead and when you preach the gospel what are you doing? You're taking the words of God, what are you doing? And you're taking it to men who are dead, and you're saying, oh dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

And that's what you're actually doing when you take the word of life so it's not on you it never depended on you but your job is what to go through the open door to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and so all of our food all of our inventions all of our little strategies all of our little dependencies on the flesh, they evaporate when you begin to understand what really is at stake. Dead men like Lazarus in the tomb coming forth. You can get all the doctors in the world and they can't move Lazarus from the tomb but one word from Jesus Christ does such and it's the same thing spiritually speaking when he brings the word and so this is something we always want to keep in mind while the words impossible lie above the head and of every man and woman is there anything impossible with God? That's what the Apostles thought. Lord, who then can be saved?

He says, well, with men it is impossible with God. All things are possible. And I mentioned the problem of fear oftentimes we become fearful but I think there's something more troubling than fear I want to address and I think you should should consider and I want to consider this as well because what I would say to you is this don't pray that the Lord would lift and take away your fear. You know what I would say to do? Pray that the Lord would take away your apathy.

What is apathy? The word apathy is defined as lack of interest, lack of enthusiasm, lack of concern. The Greek, it comes from a Greek word, it means without feeling. That's what apathy means and this is the great root of evangelistic rigor mortis. You know, it's not fear Because what happens is that when apathy lifts, when you're no longer apathetic, what happens?

Fear is terribly weakened, and even if you're still afraid, you proceed forward and you see God operating. But when you're apathetic, you don't even get up and care that much Or if you do you just kind of you know get their blood off your shoulder You know what I mean just say what you have to say so that you can say I said it But when you when apathy goes away There's something so vibrant that comes up in your heart. And I want to share a story about a man by the name of Charlie Peace that lived in 19th century England. And this man was a notorious murderer, a burglar, well known. He was a man that his criminal ways, they were never curbed by the laws of man or by the laws of God and one day as it always does The law finally caught up with Charlie and he was condemned to death and he was there sitting in the in the prison cell in Armly jail in Leeds England and that morning came and of course if you're gonna be put to death you can ask for whatever kind of food you want.

And this man had a hearty breakfast of eggs and salty bacon. And then he was taken from his cell on his death walk. You walk from your cell to the actual place where the act of Taking your life is going to take place And in front of him when a prison chaplain who was routinely and sleepily just reading some Bible verses back to him, leading him forward and Charlie put his hand on his shoulder and he asked him, what are you reading? See this man had never gone to church, he never heard the words of God though he grew up in England he grew up in just utter destitution of the ways of God. And when he began to listen to what he was hearing, he was utterly shocked.

He was, how can this man be professionally reading about heaven and hell? About life and death in this way. He was totally dumbfounded that a man could lead a fellow human being under the very shadow of the scaffold and yet remain dry-eyed and yet read of a pit that has no bottom, when in just a few moments, the man he's leading is going to be at the bottom of this pit forever and ever. Could this preacher believe the words? That there is an eternal fire that never consumes its victim this is what this is what's going through this man's mind and yet slide over these phrases without a tremor in his voice see all this was truly just something too much for Charlie and so what has happened this unregenerate man preaches to this man here.

And so this is his on the threshold of hell sermon, never was regenerated, using his final words. You know when they ask you do you have any final words? He used these final words to address this preacher. He says, sir, if I believed what you and the church of God say that you believe, even if England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would walk over it if need be on hands and knees and think it worth while living just to save one soul from an eternal hell like that. The man died but it begs the question You know dear saints when you when you think of your neighbors your well-mannered friendly moral neighbors They're going to the same place as Charlie peace aren't they without Jesus Christ.

Are you moved at all Like is there anything that moves your heart? When you consider that every single minute that passes, 104 people pass off into eternity, hardly one of them prepared to stand before the Living God. Does it bother you? Is there anything that rises up in you to consider that I have this great deposit? Not just keep it within the four walls, but to shout it, to proclaim it loud, to go through the door.

You know, when we gather on Wednesday evenings to pray as a people, do none of these souls come up before you to intercede on their behalf? Shouldn't there be, we have to stop because we're going too long in prayer because we're bringing so many things versus we can't find enough things to bring before the Lord. You see the question is are we more like the chaplain, Charlie's chaplain, than we care to believe? And we can ask the question, you know, what are the doors the Lord is open to us do we see them are we going through them well he says this I will make them come and worship before your feet and to know that I have loved you I can do and will do the impossible not worship in the sense of their ascribing greatness to these people, but what what he's saying here is that there's going to be an acknowledgement by these Jews that all along you Gentiles were right to believe Jesus and they're gonna be humbled but gladly so just like the Apostle Paul who at this time at one time he was a member of the synagogue of Satan but he became the most vocal proponent of the gospel of Christ That's kind of what he's saying here and you can imagine these once proud Jews coming to these once pagan worshipers of Jehovah and affirming the message of the gospel Impossible, but with God all things are possible if we would just believe him and take him at his word and so he says this because you have kept my command to persevere I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole earth to test those who dwell on the earth and so he's speaking of this difficulty this Command this desire of the Lord that the Saints would persevere that they would Speak the word and truth even in the midst of difficulty and in persecution Keep to the task keep faithful and he says I'm gonna keep you from the hour of trial.

And some of you, if you've grown up on a steady diet of Tim LaHaze, the Left Behind series, you're going to be disappointed. I don't believe this is the rapture that he's speaking about here before the end times. Likely it's this preservation in the midst of difficulty. I'm going to preserve you and keep you. There's maybe some major event that's going to come against the Roman Empire or some other persecution or something like that.

Maybe it's a barbarian invasion that's not too far in the distance. But somehow I'm going to preserve you through it all. This church and the church of Jesus Christ. As I said, this church had a, this city had a place, a church until somewhere in the 1300s. And he speaks about those who dwell upon the earth, you know, to test those who dwell upon the earth and these earth dwellers all that means is that these are people who have no lot with Christ living as though this life is all there really is and there's nothing else after their hearts have been steeped in the world well he's gonna bring judgment upon these people but as a blood-bought child of God there is no wrath for you he wants him to know that that all the wrath that was rightfully yours has been absorbed and placed on my son Jesus Christ.

And Jesus is saying to this church, there's no wrath for you, there is wrath coming for these other people. And so he's gonna preserve them. How he's gonna do it, we don't really know, but he's gonna carry them through. But this does not mean that there's an absence of persecution or difficulty or anything like that. And then in verse 11, he says, behold, I'm coming quickly.

Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. And this idea of coming quickly, this is how the entire Bible ends with these words behold I come quickly he wants every church in every age to have this in the forefront of their mind that he can come at any time because To the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day. Your life is like a vapor. And so when he says, I am coming quickly, he expects the church to live in a way that believes that. And he says, hold fast what you have.

What do you have? A little power. You have his word. And you have the opportunity to not deny his name you have the promise of his return and he says lest anyone take your crown how many people would be glad for your fall when you go down the list of enemies people that would rejoice if you were to be and to fall into some sort of notorious sin well what he's saying is here don't let your hope diminish there's conflict yes right now but there's a crown coming after this and in Hebrews chapter 3 following this whole concept of stewardship the Apostle says this and Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward. But Christ as a son over his own house whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end there's this tension of your salvation can never be lost and yet there's a responsibility to hold firm, to keep, to not lose your crown, to treasure the very things God has told you to treasure.

Well then we come to verse 12 and it says, he who overcomes I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God And he shall go out no more. 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 I will write on him my new name and to this little church in Philadelphia you get the the most the most elaborate promises given than any of the seven churches. And you see this fourfold promise here. And you notice the word my used five times in just one single verse. My, my, my, my, my.

He says, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go out no more." And this word temple is not just speaking about the general temple, but it's speaking of the sanctuary of God, the actual holy of holies. It's distinguished from all the rest of the temple. And that is your dwelling place for all eternity. He's saying this in effect that There's going to be a place of permanence for you in this world. There's no one's there's no certainty Someone can get sick someone can die, but he says there, there's permanence.

There's permanence there. There's no interruption of communion with him through all the ages. I think that's the main point, that when this life ends and we pass through the door into that heavenly country, Our happiness will be secure forever. That's what he wants them to know. And then you get this triple inscription, I will write, I will write, I will write.

He says, I will write on him the name of my God. And I think that seems to be, you know, the character of God written upon you. A sense of belonging. It's almost like it's been chiseled into the pillar, mine. And then you get this sense of the name of the city of my God and this is that city if you look at Hebrews 11 to which all of those saints of old, this great cloud of witnesses, this is the city that they're all going towards.

And he's saying that you're a part of this also. This new Jerusalem, this permanent dwelling, a city that actually has foundations whose builder and maker is God. He says that's for you. Your citizenship is secured and therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared a city for them. Well if these Old Testament saints who are looking forward to Christ ran so fervently.

What about us? Who know and taste and see the risen Christ? You know, the world, the Word of God describes these saints of whom the world was not worthy. It's a wonderful thing to be brought up into that number and to have all of these product promises laden upon us. And then the last inscription is, I will write on him my new name.

It's kind of strange language and to be honest I'm not entirely sure what this means, Christ's new name. Likely it's a name that only God knows but I think one area we can we can gain from that is almost like we partake of his attainments or or maybe it's the like it when a husband marries his a wife and that woman takes upon her the name of her husband but whatever it is there's this entire sharing and communion with God throughout all the ages of eternity and he ends with these words he who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches these familiar closing words meet us again and it's the one who is true that's speaking, the one who is holy, the one who is sovereign and he wants us to not be faint-hearted or to be fearful but to hear what he has to say and to walk through those doors and so just by way of application there's a few things I just want to share with us here before we close and the first application perhaps might be for those that are our unbelievers that are still outside of the door Well the most important door is the door that grants access to the kingdom of heaven.

It's a door today for you not for service, not for opportunity, not for improvement, but for salvation through faith and repentance that's open to you today. How long will you sit outside the gate and shrug or wonder when the Lord has opened the door, if He's demonstrated that He can save to the uttermost in taking men and women from the synagogue of Satan. Can he not take you and save you? Will he not take you and save you if you will but bow the knee to him? Why do you wait when the prison door is wide open for you today?

Don't wait another minute sitting in your cell when that door has been open hear what the word of God says the last chapter of revelation and the spirit and the bride say come and Let him who hears say come and let him who thirsts come Whoever desires let him take of the water of life freely. That's the invitation to you. And those of us that are believers, I just commend to us to believe in our King again. And I don't mean savingly for faith, but to again be rekindled with a sense of the fact that he has actually opened a door and let us go boldly forth there's never been a wider door of opportunity opened for Hope Baptist Church in so many different areas to go through these doors how we ought to just run through them with zeal and enthusiasm think about Wednesday prayer meeting I just bring that up again and this should be filled with believing interceding expecting prayer There's a simple application that we can take just in a couple of days. And what does Christ want?

Christ wants each church filled with a sense of standing before Him on that final day. And think about it like this. What kind of steward will you be found to be in terms of your gospel proclamation on that final day it's really worth considering what opportunities are before you today you know the appointed method of salvation that appointed means God has given is by taking feeble men and women, taking pastors, elders, whoever it is, and then preaching the word and sharing it individually, going out and bringing the word of God to bear in the marketplace, in the home place, in every place that he might be glorified. And I would just say believe again that he can and he will save. Let us have an increased faith in his word.

And as you remember Charlie Peace's chaplain, I would just say pray that apathy dies in your soul pray that it dies in our church and we just be taken up with a sense of Expecting and believing and then going as a result of this Because I want you to also know that that evangelism was never intended to be some sort of guilt induced leg iron that you got to drag around and oh boy but it's it's meant to be one of the greatest privileges to be an ambassador of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords I can't think of anything greater and because of that we should cheerfully be engaged in this work and joyfully devoted to the spread of His name wherever we have opportunity. And so I close with this we we have this precious window of time our lifespan and the door is open. Sinners are perishing. Christ is reigning. He has gone before us and he's bid us to follow in his train.

We have the everlasting gospel to preach. Will you, will you preach it? Will you go and tell the world of our Jesus, of our Savior? Well let's pray. Father, we come before you today.

Lord, we gladly bear the title of feeble and weak, if that means, oh Lord, that we could be clothed upon with more grace and strength from on high. Oh Lord, how we need it, we pray. Oh Father, would you grant it that apathy would shrivel in our hearts as we behold the one who has come and lived and died and been raised to life again, that oh Lord we would see again the beauty of the gospel as believers and run through the door that you've opened, oh Lord. Would you be mighty to save in our midst. Use this little church here, Lord, to bring glory and honor to your name throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity.

Aid us and strengthen us, oh Lord. We do thank you for the great privilege of being ambassadors for Jesus Christ. Amen.