Sermon # 1218
Title: Christ’s Letter to the Church at
Text: Revelation 3:7-13
Subject: Encouragements to Perseverance
Date: Sunday Morning & Evening -
Tape # S-15 & S-16
Introduction:
I am going to do something today that
is a little unusual for me. I am going to bring a message in two parts. The
title of my message this morning and again tonight will be, Christ’s Letter to the Church at
In the first part of this message, I
want to expound the three attributes of our Savior that are found in verse 7.
Then, tonight, I want to show you the three motives for perseverance given in
verses 8 - 13. Let’s read Revelation 3:7-13 together.
I want to begin my message with a statement found in Luke 16:15. “That which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight
of God.” I wonder if we will ever learn that fact. Those things which men
value most, esteem highly, and to which they attach the greatest honor God
despises. And that which men ridicule, belittle, and despise God honors. The
wisdom of this world, the pride of this world, the moral righteousness of this
world, the honor of this world, and the religion of this world God almighty holds
in utter contempt. We see this fact throughout the Scriptures. And we see it
plainly in Christ’s letters to the churches. The Church at Sardis was great in name and reputation. Men approved
of her and honored her. But Christ looked at that church and said, “Thou art dead.” The Church at Laodicea was rich and increased with goods. It
appeared that she lacked nothing. But that church was so nauseating to the Son
of God that he was ready to spew it out of his mouth. He said, “Thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor,
and blind, and naked.” You see, God
looks on the heart. He is not in the least degree impressed by those things
that impress and deceive men. “That
which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God!”
The Church at
Note: Only God himself
knows what influence our faithfulness, or lack of faithfulness will have upon
the generations to come.
The Lord Jesus found nothing in this
church to rebuke, or even to correct. He gave no word of reproof to the saints
at
Note: Certainly, we
must not honor the flesh and become flatterers of men. But those who think that
serious Christianity forbids complimentary words for a job well done, and that
expressions of gratitude and appreciation are out of place in the
In Revelation 3:7-13, the Lord Jesus
Christ holds the Church at
Proposition: If I could
summarize the message of this letter in one sentence, it would be this: God
honors faithfulness!
Divisions: As we
look at this letter to the pastor of the Church at
1.
A Divine
Person (v. 7)
2.
A Divine
Praise (v. 8)
3.
A Divine
Protection (vv. 9-11)
4.
A Divine
Promise (vv. 12-13)
I. In verse seven, our Lord Jesus
describes himself as A DIVINE PERSON.
This letter was dictated to John by
One who is himself God. And this God is our Savior. “These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the
keys of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man
openeth.” Here are three attributes, or characteristics, of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
A.
Christ is holy.
He is the holy God. “Holy and reverend is his name” (Ps. 111:9).
He is the Holy One of Israel. Being God, he is “glorious in holiness “ (Ex.
Illustrations: Moses (Heb.
Manoah
(Jud.
Isaiah
(Isa. 6:1-6)
It
is our Redeemer’s representative, mediatorial, vicarious holiness that gives us
comfort and encourages us to trust him.
1.
Our Savior was himself “holy,
harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners” while he lived as a man in
this world (Heb.
He had no sin, no original sin and no
actual sin. Though he was made to be sin for us by divine imputation when he
died as our Substitute, Christ had no sin of his own. He knew no sin (II Cor.
2.
This mediatorial holiness, this
representative righteousness of Christ as our Mediator is the basis of our
acceptance with God (Rom.
Be sure you understand this. It will
help you. The blood of Christ washed
away our sins. His sacrifice paid our debt and satisfied the law and justice of
God that demanded death. His death removed our guilt before God. But the righteousness of Christ is just as
necessary for our salvation as his blood. His righteousness (his complete
obedience to God as a man), being imputed to us, just as our sins were imputed
to him, gives us merit with God. Therefore he is called, Jehovah-tsidkenu, “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jer. 23:6).
Christ is our righteousness, our
holiness, and our sanctification. He is
that “holiness without which no man shall
see the Lord” (Heb.
·
Imputed to us
in Justification.
·
Imparted to us
in Regeneration.
We
have no holiness of our own. We have no ability to produce holiness, or do
anything that is truly holy. All the holiness we have is what we get from
Christ. John Gill put it this
way: “Christ is the Cause and Author of holiness to his people. We are
sanctified in him. We have our sanctification from him. And we are sanctified
by him.” Those who talk about sanctification by degrees, or sanctification
being accomplished by the works of a man, simply do not understand the doctrine
of sanctification, or for that matter the totality of grace in salvation. Christ is our Sanctification!
·
I Corinthians
1:30
·
Hebrews
10:10-14
·
Christ is
holy.
B.
Next we read that Christ is true.
He is truly God and truly man. Our
Lord Jesus Christ is true and faithful in all mediatorial offices and covenant
engagements. He is true to God the Father and true to his people. In fact,
Jesus Christ is Truth itself. Apart from him there is no truth.
·
John 14:6
1.
Christ is the
Truth of which all the types and prophecies of the Old Testament were just
pictures.
2.
Christ is the
Truth of God, the embodiment of Truth, the Sum and Substance of all gospel
truth.
3.
As the
embodiment of Truth, Christ is the Revelation of the invisible God. He is the
living Word of whom the written Word speaks.
·
John 1:1-3,
14-16, 18
C.
And the Lord Jesus Christ is the
sovereign King.
He describes himself as “he that hath the key of David, he that
openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth and no man openeth.” With those
words he describes his sovereign power and absolute authority over all things
as the Son of David, the Messiah, the King. He who is the Christ of God is Lord
over all things. This dominion is not something that Christ shall have some
day. It is his right now! Our crucified, risen, exalted Savior is now sitting
as King upon the throne of David, which is the throne of God.
·
Isaiah 22:22
·
Matthew 28:18
·
John 17:2
·
Acts 2:34-36
·
Hebrews 1:3
·
Revelation 5:5
Here is one example of his absolute
sovereignty: He opens, and no man shuts.
He shuts, and no man opens.
1.
Christ opens the Scriptures to his elect, giving us
the light and knowledge of gospel truth by the power of his Holy Spirit (John
2.
Christ opens a door of utterance for the gospel in
one place, and shuts it in another, according to his own sovereign will (Acts
16:6-10).
3.
Christ opens the door for his sheep and leads them
in the way of life everlasting (John 10:3,9). And he shuts the door against
those who will not obey his voice (Luke
We worship “Him that is holy.” We trust “Him
that is true.” And we bow before Him that is sovereign. Our Divine Savior
is the Holy, True, Sovereign Son of God.
II. Secondly, when our Savior
speaks to the Church at Philadelphia, as I said before, there is no word of
reproof, warning, or correction, but only A DIVINE PRAISE (v. 8).
Imagine that! The Son of God himself
bends over from his lofty throne to speak a word of praise to a band of
faithful believers on the earth! I sure would like to be in that crowd.
Wouldn’t you?
Certainly,
he is here giving us an example to follow. We are usually quick to point out
one another’s faults and failures. But love is always quick to forgive and
quick to praise. A little praise is a great means of encouragement. I know
people who seem to think that kindness is blasphemy. But if the Son of God
speaks an encouraging word of praise to his church, surely we will be safe in
giving a little praise to one another.
Illustration: A child gets five “A’s” and one “D”. We see the
“D”!--------Your
son washes your car and misses one
spot. You see the one spot of
dirt!
What was there about these
Philadelphian believers which the Son of God saw fit to commend and praise? The
matter of commendation and praise was their works, works of faith, love, and
patience.
A.
The Lord God had set before this church
an open door, which no man could shut.
He does not tell us what this open
door was, but generally this language is used to describe a door of utterance
for the preaching of the gospel (II Cor. 2:12). Apparently, the Lord gave these
men and women and opportunity to serve him in the furtherance of the gospel;
and they seized the opportunity he gave them. They faithfully performed the
work God put into their hands. They did not talk about what they wanted to do,
what they had done, what they used to do, or what they would do if they had
more money and people. They simply did what they could for the glory of Christ
and the furtherance of the gospel. It may be that their labor was insignificant
in the eyes of men. But Christ looked upon it as an honorable thing. Nothing done for Christ is insignificant!
Illustration: Mark 14:6-8 “She
hath done what she could!”
1.
The one thing
God requires of his people is faithfulness. (I Cor. 4:2).
2.
The one thing
God honors in his people is faithfulness. (Matt. 25:23; Luke 19:17).
3.
When the Lord
Jesus Christ opens a door for us, as we faithfully follow him, no man can shut
the door, and he will not shut it.
B.
The faithfulness of these saints at
Philadelphia was especially commendable because they had very little to work
with. “For thou hast a little
strength.”
This is not to be taken as a word of reproach, but as a word
of praise. They had been faithful in their service to Christ, even though they
had little strength. Many of the Lord’s
churches are like this Church at Philadelphia: they have “a little strength,” but only a little.
1. They had little numerical strength.
The Church at Philadelphia was a small
church. Therefore they had very little strength for taking on any great work.
But their lack of numbers did not deter them. They just rallied together and
did what they could. And Christ commends them for it. God thinks more of
quality than of quantity. He has much greater regard for obedience than for
tally sheets and numbers. Denominations, denominational representatives,
religious businessmen, and politician preachers take polls and count noses. “The Lord looketh on the heart!”
2. Because they were small in number,
like most small churches, this church had little monetary strength.
When money was required, they could do
very little. This was, for the most part, a band of poor people. There were no
men of means among them. But they were precious to Christ, who counts sincerity
of greater value than all the gold in the world.
3. And, again like most small
churches, this assembly had very little strength in the area of talents and gifts.
At Corinth, the church had talents and
gifts running out of its ears. They had an abundance of teachers, miracle
workers, and wealth. But very little was done. They were rich in gifts, but
poor in grace. Not this church. No one here seems to have had any great talent
or ability. But the people were full of grace. Grace made them faithful. And
much was done for the glory of Christ, the souls of men, and the furtherance of
the gospel. They had “a little strength,”
but used every ounce for Christ!
“Thou
hast a little strength.” That was, perhaps, their misfortune, but not their
fault. Therefore they were not blamed for it. The Lord does not blame us for
having little strength, but for having little faith, little love, little
devotion, little zeal, and little consecration. If our strength is little, let
us pray for grace, that our little strength may be used entirely for Christ.
C.
The saints at Philadelphia were faithful
and persevering in the midst of great opposition.
The Lord Jesus gave them this word of
praise and encouragement: “Thou hast kept
my word, and hast not denied my name.” These men and women simply could not
be driven away from the word of the gospel. They could not be persuaded to
forsake the gospel. They would not allow anything to come between them and
Christ. They had a little strength; but with all the strength they had they
kept God’s Word and held fast to Christ.
1.
What is the word which they kept?
We do not have to guess. It was the
word of the gospel. Our Lord says, “Thou
hast kept the word of my patience” (v.10). That is the gospel of Christ and
him crucified, in which his patient sufferings as our Substitute are set forth
(I Pet. 2:21-14).
Note: The sinner’s only hope before God is the gospel of
substitutionary redemption (II Cor. 5:21). This is the word we must hold fast.
2. How did these Philadelphian believers keep the word of the gospel?
a. They believed it (I John
5:6-13).
b. They loved it (I John
5:3).
c. They obeyed it (Rom.
16:26).
d. They defended it (Jude 3;
Phil. 1:7, 17).
These people were weak, few in number,
and a people of worldly insignificance; but they were ready at all times and
against all odds to hold to and defend the truth of God. Most men are like
spiders, (who spin their webs out of their own bowels), they spin their
theology out of their own feelings, their own wisdom, or their own experiences.
But these Philadelphian saints took nothing to be truth but the truth of God
revealed in Sacred Scripture. And, with regard to the truth of God, they
valiantly refused to budge an inch. They had no regard for modern thought and the wisdom
of infidels. They walked in the old paths of everlasting truth (Jer. 6:16).
Note: May God give us grace, in these days of Arminianism and
freewillism, while nearly the whole religious word teaches man-centered,
freewill, works salvation, to hold fast the gospel of his free and sovereign
grace in Christ.
·
II Timothy
1:9-13
a.
Either God is
totally, absolutely, universally sovereign, or he is not God ((Ps. 135:6).
b.
Either man is
totally depraved, guilty, and helpless, or he needs no Savior (Rom. 5:12;
3:9-19).
c.
Either God
chose and determined to save his people in eternal, unconditional election, or
he has no people to save (Eph. 1:3-6; II Thess. 2:13). Note: Salvation has to
begin with someone’s will, either yours or God’s.
d.
Either Christ
effectually redeemed God’s elect by his death on the cross, or he failed in his
work and there is no such thing as blood atonement and substitutionary
redemption (Matt. 1:21; Gal. 4:4-6).
e.
Either God the
Holy Spirit regenerates and calls dead sinners to life and faith in Christ by
effectual, irresistible power and grace, or man is saved by his own will, his
own effort, and his own work. There is no in between ground (Rom. 11:6; Eph.
2:1-10).
f.
Either all
God’s elect will persevere unto the end, or none of them will (John 10:27-30).
These truths we will live by; and if
need be, God helping us, these truths we will die by. But we will not, we
cannot give them up. This is more than
doctrine to me. This is the very fabric of my salvation. To deny these
things would be to deny my only hope before God and to blaspheme his name, whom
I most desire to honor. To deny
these doctrines of the gospel is to deny Christ who taught them. Those who embrace these gospel truths
are our brethren. Those who are enemies
to these truths are the enemies of our God; and that makes them our enemies
(Ps. 139:19-22; II Chron. 19:2).
3. Do you keep the word of the gospel?
Perhaps you have no great talents,
perhaps you have little strength, maybe you have little influence over other
people, and you may always be numbered among a small group of people who are
looked upon by the world as narrow-minded fanatics, but I am here to tell you
that the salvation of your soul depends
upon your persevering adherence to the truth of the gospel.
·
Colossians
1:22-23
The saints in the Church at
Philadelphia were commended and praised by Christ because they kept and denied
not the word of his grace and truth in the gospel. Blessed is that man, blessed
is that woman who cannot be induced by satan to forsake the gospel for any
reason.
III. Inasmuch as they were
faithful to him, our Lord assured the saints at Philadelphia that he would be
faithful to them and declared that he would keep them with A DIVINE PROTECTION
(vv. 9-11).
Those who keep God’s Word shall be
kept by God. Those who hold fast the truth of God shall be held in truth by
God. Those who persevere in faith shall be preserved by grace.
A.
Our Lord will separate the wheat from
the chaff and the precious from the vile (v. 9).
The Jews, who are Abraham’s physical
seed, claimed to be God’s people exclusively; and many to this day regard them
as the people of God’s choice. But in this ninth verse our Lord calls those who
yet worship according to the customs of Judaism and the law of Moses, “the synagogue of satan.”
1.
It is not Abraham’s physical seed, but his spiritual seed who are the
people of God, the Israel of God, for whom the promises and the covenant were
made. The Church of God is the Israel of God.
·
Romans 2:28-29
·
Romans
11:25-26
·
Philippians
3:3
·
Abraham is the
father of all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 4:1, 16, 22-25; Gal.
3:6-7).
·
Judaism is an
apostate religion.
2.
There are many who, like the Jews, claim to be God’s people who are not.
They say they are Jews (Christians, Children of God), but they lie.
Listen
to this preacher. I am telling you the truth. All who hope for acceptance
with God because of a decision they
made for Jesus, because of their baptism,
their church membership, their good works, their taking the sacraments, their experiences, or their personal
holiness are hypocrites. They may be called a church. They may think they
are the house of God. But our Lord here identifies all such as “the synagogue of satan.”
Note: God’s elect, the true people of God are circumcised in
their hearts by the Spirit of God, not in their flesh (Col. 2:10-14). We
worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ alone, and have no confidence in
the flesh (Phil. 3:3).
3. In the end the despised people of God shall be exalted over their
enemies. Our Lord will make our enemies to bow before our feet and know
that he loved us, chose us, redeemed us, called us, and saved us by his grace.
·
Matthew
25:31-34, 41
B.
As long as we live in this world, Christ
will keep his own in the hour of temptation (v. 10).
·
John 10:27-30
·
John 17:11-15
·
I Corinthians
10:13
1. Christ will preserve all his own from apostasy.
Though heresies come and abound, God’s
elect shall not be deceived. The ever-increasing acceptance of freewillism,
legalism, works religion, and sheer ritualism will not affect the people of
God.
·
I Corinthians
11:19
·
II
Thessalonians 2:7-13
·
I John 2:19-20
2. The Lord Jesus Christ will graciously preserve his elect in the midst
of their trials.
·
Isaiah 43:1-5
3. The Son of God will preserve all his elect in the way of faith, grace,
and obedience unto life everlasting.
·
Psalm 37:23-24
·
Jeremiah
32:38-40
·
God’s elect
cannot and shall not perish. Not even one! We are kept by the power of his
grace in the hands of an omnipotent Savior.
C.
It is our Lord’s promise of preservation
that inspires us to perseverance (v. 11).
Notice, that it is upon the basis of
his promise to preserve us from temptation that our Redeemer admonishes us to
persevere. Contrary to popular religious opinion, the promise of absolute,
unconditional grace does not promote licentiousness, but devotion and
godliness. In fact, that is the very basis of godliness and the motive for it.
·
Titus 3:4-8
·
These two
things are facts so plainly revealed in Holy Scripture that they simply cannot
be denied:
1.
All God’s
elect shall be preserved unto eternal glory.
2.
But only those
who persevere in faith, who go on in the way of grace and righteousness, and
who hold fast the gospel unto the end shall be saved (Matt. 10:22; Col.
1:22-23; Heb. 3:6, 14; 10:26, 38, 39).
IV. In verse 12, our Lord Jesus
Christ gives A DIVINE PROMISE to all who hold fast and persevere in the faith
of the gospel.
Those who persevere in the faith shall
conquer all their enemies in the end and be gloriously triumphant in Christ
(Rom. 8:35-39). The Son of God says, “Him
that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God.” A pillar is a permanent structure in a
permanent place. So Christ is here promising us a place of permanent, eternal
residence in heaven itself! And while we
live here below, while we go on persevering in the faith, holding fast the
gospel, clinging to him as our only hope and our only Savior, he gives us
assurance of our interest in him. This is what he says, “I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of
my God, which is the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my
God, and I will write upon him my new name.” In a word, our
Savior is saying, I will make you to know
that you belong to me. I will make it evident that you belong to God, to the
New Jerusalem, and to me, and that all the blessings and privileges of the sons
of God are yours forever!
Let
me show you what his new name is, his acquired name, which he promises to write
upon his people. This is the name that he gives us: Jehovah-tsidkenu, “THE LORD OUR
RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Cf Jer. 23:6 & 33:16).
Application:
1.
My brothers
and sisters, our Savior has set before each of us personally and before us
collectively as a local church an open door which no man can shut. God means to
use us. Let us give ourselves whole-heartedly to our Master (Rom. 12:1-3).
2.
I urge you,
hold fast the hope of the gospel. Let nothing and no one either drive you from
it or entice you to forsake it (I Cor 15:1-3).
3.
Our Savior
will hold us in his grace. Let us therefore cling to him.
My only hope, my only plea
Is that Christ lived and died for
me!
“He
that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”