Trinity Baptist Church

The Right Kind of Church

Philadelphia: A Soul-Winning Church

Revelation 3:7-13

 

We are pursuing a series of studies of the letters the Lord Jesus Christ wrote to the seven churches in Asia Minor.  That, of course, is the land of Turkey today.  In these seven letters, we're trying to glean from them some truths and guidelines to assist us in knowing how to choose the right kind of church.

 

Now so far we’ve been considering them in the order they appear, but today is our soul-winning commitment day and because of that I want to jump ahead and look at the church that was located in Philadelphia.

 

It will do no harm to our study for us to do that.  Each letter is an independent letter and in the way we are considering them, they don’t build on one another, so we’ll look at Philadelphia today, then next week go back and pick up Thyatira.

 

The reasons I want to consider Philadelphia is because they were a soul-winning church and the message the Lord delivers to them is a very positive message.  There is no word of complaint; there is nothing negative to point out and if ever there was a church that was the right kind of church, it was the church in Philadelphia.

 

Now I’ve chosen the title “A Soul-Winning Church” because of the emphasis of the day, but in reality, there are other titles which you could use to describe this church.

 

You could call it a missionary church.  You could call it an evangelistic church.  But I like the term “soul-winning” because it is taken directly from Scripture.  Proverbs 11:30 says, "He that wins souls is wise."

 

I find it extremely interesting that an Old Testament verse would talk about winning souls.  Typically, we think of winning souls as a New Testament practice.  After all, to win souls means to introduce people to the Lord Jesus Christ so that they will repent of their sins, put their faith in the Lord Jesus and what He did at Calvary, become a child of God.

 

But winning souls is not an exclusively New Testament practice, as this verse reminds us.  “Winning souls” is simply turning someone from the power and influence of evil to God and it has always been the plan of God for the Godly to have that kind of influence in the world.

 

So the “wise” person, the one who really understands what life is all about and realizes the consequences of sin, is the one who invests his time and energy and resources into the winning of souls.  And if that is true for individuals, it is certainly true for the church of Jesus Christ.  And that’s what we find at the church in Phialdelphia.  They were a “soul-winning” church.    

 

Let me give you briefly a little background about the Philadelphian church, and we'll come back to certain elements later on.  The city of Philadelphia was located about 125 miles inland.  It was about 30 miles southeast of Sardis.

As you know the name Philadelphia means “City of Brotherly Love” and that roots back to the city being built by a guy named Attalus the 2^nd who, because of the love for his brother, Eumenes, won him the title Philadelphus and from that title came the name.

 

It was a very crucial city even though it was a relatively new city at the time of this writing.  In fact, it was the youngest of the seven who received letters.  It was established with a particular purpose in mind.  The city of Philadelphia was established in order to be a bridge city to the east.  It was there that many of the major thoroughfares of the Roman Empire came together and because of that Philadelphia became the gateway to the east.

 

The city of Philadelphia was established in order to spread the Greek culture and language to the east.  So it had a very strategic location and strategic purpose and the Lord Jesus writes to the church in Philadelphia understanding that strategic location.

 

It was also a city where there were many pagan temples.  They had an unusual custom in Philadelphia that will come to bear on this letter of our Lord.  Sometimes when outstanding individuals in the city had done something special such as given some special gift, they would go into one of those temples and they would construct a pillar.

 

On that pillar they would inscribe the name of that particular individual.  They would be known as a pillar in the community and it was visually apparent through their own pillar in one of those temples.

 

nother thing that is interesting to notice that will have to bear on this message is the fact that Philadelphia was located in a volcanic area.  In A.D. 17 the city of Philadelphia was destroyed by a volcano and many of the people had to flee the city and live out in the open country.  Because of the volatile nature of that region, the people of Philadelphia were very often going out and coming back into the city.

 

From a church history standpoint, Philadelphia was a strategic city as well.  It was the last bastion of Christianity in that part of the world.  In the first century the area where these churches were located, Asia Minor which is modern Turkey today, was a very Christian area.  It had a tremendous testimony for the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

But as time moved along, Islam began to move in that direction, and one of the key battles in the Crusades between Christians and Muslims took place right here in Philadelphia. As last as the thirteenth century, there was still a strong witness for Jesus in the city of Philadelphia.

 

Today, ancient Philadelphia is the modern city of Alasehir with a population of about 48,000 with hardly any Christian witness at all.  And with no religious liberty there, those who are believers worship at the risk of their life.

 

But at the time of this letter, Philadelphia was a strategically located missionary city.  And it to the church in that city, the Lord writes regarding an unusual opportunity they’ve been given to spread the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

So let’s take a look at this letter to a “soul-winning” church and take some time to evaluate our won commitment to great opportunity the Lord has given us because the right kind of church will be a soul-winning church.

 

First notice what the letter says about

 

 

Verse 7

 

Jesus always introduces Himself in these letters and He does so here by using two words that speak of His attributes.

 

First, He uses the word

Obviously that refers to His sinless perfection.  Our Savior, the One Who is writing this letter, is absolutely pure.  You may recall that Pontius Pilate just before Jesus was crucified on the cross said, "I find no fault in this man."  The Roman soldier who witnessed His death identified Him as “the Son of God”.  By the way, that’s the same way God identified Him at His baptism and the transfiguration. 

 

The congregated opinion of the ages is that the Lord Jesus Christ was the absolute sinless one.  He is the one who is holy, absolutely pure.

 

There's a great deal of discussion today about various religions.  It is important for you as you study various religions to look at the moral character of the founders of those religions.  I invite you to study carefully the Lord Jesus.  Read what the gospel accounts have to say about the Son of God and you will discover neither in word nor in action did Jesus ever do anything that could be accused as being sinful.  He is the holy one.

 

But not only that, we are told that Jesus Christ is

The word means genuine.  In simple language, He’s the real deal!  But to dig a little deeper, if something is “true” it must correspond to reality.  For instance, I can say to you there is a black piano over there but that is only a true statement if, in fact, there is a black piano to verify the statement.  IF the piano is white or blue or multi-colored the statement is false.   Truth always corresponds to reality.

 

Jesus Christ says, "I'm the real thing.  I'm the genuine article."  If you are looking for truth Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life.  No man comes unto the Father but by me."  If you are looking for reality, if you are looking for the genuine article, if you are looking for that which is true, you will find it in the Lord Jesus Christ.  "I am holy and true."

 

Notice not only His attributes but look at His activity.

 

Verse 7 mentions “the key of David."  The reference there is to an Isaiah 22:22 where we are told about a man who was the servant of King David.  His role was to be the keeper of the keys.  As such, he was the man in charge.  He would have control and authority over the house of David.

So Jesus picks up that thought here and identifies Himself as the keeper of the keys.  And notice it is not just the key to the house of David, it is the Key of David.  He’s talking about the house, the lineage and the people of David, which in reality is the house, lineage and people of God.

 

In that little phrase, Jesus is declaring Himself as Sovereign Authority.  He has the Key.

 

From time to time I hear people talk about going to church every time the doors were opened.  I always respond by saying, we were the ones who opened the doors.  Mom was the custodian at the church so she had the keys!

 

Listen it may be important to you in your career or job or position to meet with “key” people, but when it comes to salvation and eternity, you need the one who is the keeper of the keys!

 

Only Jesus has the keys of salvation.  In chapter 1, verse 18, it says, "I am he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen, and have the keys of hell and of death."  Jesus has the keys of salvation.  There was none other good enough to pay the price of sin.  There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.

 

And notice, the One who has the keys is in control of the door.  He is not only the keeper of the keys, He is the Door of Salvation.  He is in charge of the opening and closing of the door of life.

 

Only He can unlock the door and let the sinner in.  In John 10, verse 9, Jesus said, "I am the door; by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved."  The good news today is that Jesus has opened wide the door of salvation.

 

In this service this morning in the name of Jesus, I can invite anyone who would like to come to the Lord Jesus Christ because this morning there is an open door of salvation to every person who wants to know the Lord as their Savior.

 

The door is not always going to be open.  Remember in the Old Testament when Noah had built the ark?  When it was time to go into that ark, the Lord stood at the entrance of the ark and invited the people in; and when everybody was in who responded to the invitation, the Bible says, "The Lord shut him in."

 

Do you remember the parable that Jesus told in the New Testament about the wise virgins and the foolish virgins?  When it came time for them to go to the marriage supper, those who came in, cam but then the Bible says, "And the door was shut."

I don't know when the door is going to be shut for you but I know if you have never received the Lord as your Savior, the door is wide open today.

 

When death comes, the door is shut.  You say, "I'm young.  I'm vigorous.  I'm in the very prime of my life."  Four little girls on a bus last week thought the same thing and in an instance, they were out in eternity.  Life is to uncertain to take chances with eternity.

 

You say, "I'll have plenty of time and if I get sick I'll get saved at the last minute."  How do you know you'll have that last minute?  You may suffer a heart attack and there will never be a death bed to convert on.  Before you have a chance to make a decision, death will snatch that opportunity away.

 

I hear people say they’re going to be like the thief on the cross and get saved just before they die.  I remind them as far as we know, the thief took the first opportunity he had to be saved.  You need to come to Christ while the door is open.  Don't wait until the door is shut and it will be too late.

 

Jesus is the keeper of the keys.  He has the door of salvation.  But in this particular setting Jesus also has the door of opportunity.

 

When Jesus says in verse 8, "I have set before you an open door", He’s not talking to individuals about salvation, He’s talking to a church about the opportunity to get in on what He’s doing in the world. Jesus is the one who gives us the opportunity to serve Him and to be a witness for Him. It is His role to open the doors of opportunity.  It is our role to go through the doors of opportunity.

 

He begins this letter by talking about the character of Christ but very quickly He moves to the second thought and it is

 

 

Verses 8-11

 

As you read these letters you discover that Jesus is in control.  He is, no doubt, the keeper of the keys.

Notice how that is underscored in this text.

 

In verse 8, He encourages them to take note of this open door and in particular it is an opportunity that He has provided specifically to them. “I have set before you an open door”.  That means Christians are under His control. 

 

People were coming from everywhere through Philadelphia.  They were coming on the main roads of the Empire.  People were coming through in great numbers.  What an opportunity, what an open door.  And the Lord Jesus is saying to them, "I have set before you an open door."

 

And any church worth its salt will take advantage of the opportunities the Lord provides it to tell lost people about the Lord Jesus Christ.  And by the way, the Lord says He’s opened the door and no one can shut it.  He’s in control.  Remember that as you go out to share your faith!  It is the Lord’s business to arrange those encounter and appointments.   

 

He also says that “have a little strength”. That may mean they were few in number.  But no matter how large or small a congregation, there is an obligation to take advantage of the open door he provides.

It may be that not only does this refer to the size of the congregation, but maybe it refers to the percentage of the congregation that was actually doing it.

 

Unfortunately, in most congregations, ours included, that crowd is few in number.  The people who are truly involved in what a church is intended to be too many times are few in number.  Are you involved in this matter of getting people to Christ?

Are you a part of that group in the fellowship here and do you take seriously your responsibility to lead people to faith in Jesus Christ?  If not, what is your excuse?  As a Sunday School teacher or deacon or church staff member or mission team participant, how do you explain your very noticeable absence from the outreach ministry of the church? 

 

After all, if you are a blood-bought child of God, getting other people to know Christ as their Savior is what your life is all about.  That is the sole reason God left you on this earth.  Every person you see is a potential opportunity to tell someone about the Lord Jesus Christ.  Are you involved in that?  Are you inviting people?

 

If we could just condition ourselves to remember that everywhere we go this week we are to see every person we come in contact with as a person who will spend eternity in one of two places and those who are lost need what you have to offer them.

 

You may say, "I don't know how to witness."  We’ll that’s really not an excuse.  We offer classes and helps all the time but if you really aren’t comfortable, just invite them to church.  Just get them to the services and someone else can win them to Jesus and get your reward!  You get them here and I'll preach and we'll get many of them saved.   That's the bottom line of life.

 

And let me point out, Jesus said, “You’ve got a little strength.”  I’ve been putting the emphasis on the little.  But we also need to emphasize the strength because when you have a little of the power of God in your life, you have awesome power!

And it doesn’t matter who you are or what others think of you.  It’s not power because of human appearance or talent.  It’s not being super-spiritual so you can look down your nose at everyone else.  This is the power of God and when you have the power of God in your life, then that is sufficient for anything you face.

 

When life is over it's not going to matter how much money you've got.  It's not going to matter how many houses you have.  It's not going to matter what kind of car you drive.  All that's going to matter is that when you die do you go to heaven or do you go to hell.

 

Coming to Jesus is what makes the difference between the two.  Take advantage of these opportunities.

 

C. H. Spurgeon had one of his members who came to him and said, "I have it in my heart to win people to Christ but I don't know what to do."  Spurgeon said, "Where do you work?"  He said, "I'm an engineer on the railroad."  He said, "Is your fireman a Christian?"  He said, "I don't know."  Spurgeon said, "Go back and find out and witness to him."

 

I don't know what you do today, but whatever you do there may be a friend that you can talk to about Jesus.  There may be a family nearby you that you can bring to the services.  There may be some business associate or someone who works in the office with you.  God has given us in this city an open door.  We've got plenty of room for them!

 

Many of you are already trained.  You know what to do and how to do it.  I want to ask you to put it to use.  Many of you have spent thousands of dollars and invested weeks of your life to go to another country and tell people about Jesus and yet you never show up for church visitation. I want you to see the hypocrisy of that.  God has set before us an open door, not only there, but here also. And we need to demonstrate that as His children, we are under His authority.

 

Notice also they had “kept His word and not denied His name".  A soul-winning church is a church that believes the Bible and exalts the name of Jesus. How can we say we have kept His Word and not denied His name if we aren’t obedient to His command to go? 

 

We are to be a church where, not only is Jesus preached and His Word believed, but it is evident and obvious by our obedience to Him.  Christians are under His control.

 

Then notice verse 9.  It begins with the word “indeed” or “behold” in the KJV and there we discover that not only are Christians under His control, but the critics are under His control as well.

 

Apparently the church in Philadelphia had its opposition.  It had its critics.  And it was a congregation of people that Jesus identifies as the synagogue of Satan.  Think about that.   Maybe they gathered for services every week.  And they hated the Christian church of Philadelphia.  Why?  Because it was winning people to faith in Jesus.

 

Any church that is about the business of winning souls to Jesus Christ is the enemy of Satan.  The devil doesn't want churches to win souls to Jesus Christ.  You can do a bunch of other stuff and he won’t mind a bit.  You can get together and sing or read the Bible and argue about Scripture.  You can debate the hot topics of the day and try to figure out a reason and you will never experience any opposition at all from Satan.

 

In fact, many churches today are proving that if you just deny Jesus as the only means of salvation and talk about how to be happy and successful by the world’s standards, you can fill up the house!  The devil doesn’t care; in fact, he encourages it.

 

But the moment you put the focus on the necessity of repentance for salvation and the blood of Jesus Christ as the only atonement for sin, you’ve crossed the line and the critics come out of the closet.  But that’s okay!  Jesus can handle the critics.  And there will come a day when the tables are going to turn.  Never lose sight of the fact that Jesus is in control.  He’s in control of the Christians; he’s in control of the critics and 

 

 

Verse 11

 

This si the third time He’s told them to pay attention.  “Behold”!  Now verse 11 comes after what is said in

 

verse 10

 

Let me cut through a whole lot of doctrine to say that the Bible teaches there is going to be a time of trouble such as has never been known on the earth.  It is known in Matthew 24, verse 21, from the lips of our Lord as the Great Tribulation.  There is going to be an unprecedented time of trouble.

 

We are moving rapidly toward that particular time.  It will be a time to try them that dwell on the earth.  What about Christians?  What about believers?  He said, "I will keep you from that hour of trouble."   The word "from" needs to be translated, "I will keep you out of this time of trouble."  That is a reference to the rapture of the church.

 

One of these days the church is going to leave here.  Every born again child of God is coming out of this world one of these days.

He's going to take us out of this time of great trial.  Before the tribulation begins, God's believers, God's saved people, are going to be called away to meet the Lord in the air.

 

I can't help but believe that the coming of the Lord is drawing nigh because it seems to me we are moving rapidly toward the scriptures being fulfilled in terms of the Great Tribulation period of time.  What we're going to do for Jesus, we had better get busy doing it.

 

He says in verse 11, "Behold, I am coming quickly."  That means, "I come suddenly."  It's talking about the imminence of Christ.  Jesus could come at any moment.  He says, "Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown."  You can't lose your salvation.  Nobody can take your salvation but you can lose your crown.

 

One of the main crowns the Bible talks about is the soul-winner's crown, leading people to faith in the Lord Jesus.   The closer we get to the end time the more fervent we should be in our efforts to win people to faith in Jesus.  And that’s why these closing verses are so significant because there we see

 

 

Verses 12-13

 

Once again He talks about those who overcome and we need to understand we only overcome in Christ.

 

He is the conqueror and any victory we enjoy is because of Him.  In fact, Paul said n Romans 8:37, "We are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us."  Our conquest is based upon the conquest of Christ.

 

Now the notice what the One Who is the Conqueror says.  Three times, He uses the phrase, “I will” in regard to those who overcome.

 

First, He says, "I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out no more."  In Philadelphia those volcanoes came and those earthquakes came and the people were constantly going in and out.  But Jesus says that I want you to know that you can be a pillar in the temple of my God.  They had a special recognition for pillars of outstanding citizens. 

 

But Jesus says, "I'm going to make a pillar out of you in the temple of God and you'll never have to be running in and out of it."  The pillars are those who are the strength and the support and the solidity of the fellowship.   As we become soul-winners we become the pillars of our church.  We become the foundation of the ministry of our church.

 

And notice He says, "I will make him a pillar."  Make you.  I like that word. Remember when the prodigal son left the fathers house he said, "Father, give me."  But when the prodigal son came home to the father's house he said, "Father, make me."

 

There are many of you here who need to come to the Lord and say, "Lord, I've tried to run my life long enough.  I've tried to handle things long enough.  I've been a taker all my life. But, Lord Jesus, I want you to make me."

 

Then He says, "And I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God."

 

Now according to Revelation 21 and 22, the Temple of God is God Himself and it seems to me Jesus is saying, “Right now you may be in a shifting, turning world when failing human foundations, but as a child of God you have been grafted in to God Himself.  You are a part of the eternal structure of God.

 

Is that not amazing?  One of these days, old Terry Tolbert, son of Verle and Della Tolbert, Dillard, Oklahoma, USA will be identified as Terry Tolbert, Son of God, New Jerusalem, Heaven.

 

In other words, when we get to glory we will only be identified in one way and that is by our relationship to God.

 

Then Jesus says, "I will write upon him my new name."  

 

What is His new name going to be?  I don’t know.  There are a lot of precious beautiful names.  We know Him as Jesus and Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, and Everlasting Father.  But He says, I'm going to write a new name.  Something new, something unique.

 

I think maybe it will be Redeemer.  I belong to God and I will live in God’s eternal city and I got my citizenship through the redeeming name of Jesus. 

 

When the Queen of Sheba came to see Solomon and all of the splendor and wealth and glory of his kingdom, she said, "The half has not been told."  When we get to heaven there will be beauties and brilliance and blessings of the Lord Jesus Christ that are far beyond our imagination to understand.

 

I want to challenge you, to urge you, to be a soul-winning Christian.  Just be a part of the process.  Maybe all you can do is invite people.  Do you know that in a week's time you can invite scores and scores of people to the house of God?  God might use you to lead a business associate to faith in Jesus Christ.  It's time for God's children to go through the open door.

 

I like what the country preacher said.  He said, "Lord, it's time for our church to wake up and speak up, to pray up and preach up, and to never give up or let up or back up or shut up until the church is filled up or we're caught up."

 

Let's bow our heads and pray.