SEVEN SERIES INTRODUCTION
To
accompany our ‘SEVEN’ teaching series at Community Church Putney, over seven
weeks (this is week 6) I will put out a blog each Monday, looking at the seven
letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 -3. These letters are
hard-hitting and very relevant and useful in the times that we find ourselves.
LETTER 6: THE DOOR IS OPEN (The letter to the Church of Philadelphia Revelation 3:7-13)
Explanation and daily studies for
personal/family use week beginning 13/2/17
1) Explanatory notes
Many of us live in a state of waiting for something to
happen. Tomorrow always seems more promising and exciting than today! But today
is the only day that exists and it has an ‘open door in it’: an open door of
knowing God, and an open door of serving Him.
There is a danger of living in ignorance of all the possibilities are are open to us. Like Lucy in the The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, it's only as she goes through open door that she sees a new world ahead of her.
God has opened the door to know and serve Him; if you don’t go through
God’s open door today, you probably won’t tomorrow, which, in case you haven’t noticed,
will change it’s name to ‘today’!
i) Description of Jesus – The King of the Kingdom
Read Revelation 3:7
“Holy and true” – Jesus is Holy in that He is perfect in all His ways.
As God this communicates how He is infinitely greater that all. In declaring
that He is ‘true’ He is reassuring that He is trustworthy in all that He says.
This statement gives our faith a firm foundation on
God’s supreme power and goodness.
“Holds the key of David” – The use of ‘David’ points to Jesus as the true
messiah, the promised eternal king in the family line of David. He has the
‘key’ in that only He has authority over the door so as to include or exclude
from the Kingdom of God.
“What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no
one can open.” speaks of
His protection, rule over history and giving ‘doors’ of opportunity and
fruitfulness for us. (See Isaiah 22:22)
ii) Praise – Weak but
persevering
Read Revelation 3:8-10. Jesus
encourages this assaulted church. Many of us may be offended at being described
as having ‘little strength’, but this this would be an accurate evaluation! Let
it also be true that we persevered and remained true to Christ despite our
inadequacies. Jesus does not allow us to use our weakness and suffering as an
excuse for not walking through the ‘open doors’ of ministry He provides or
remaining faithful to Him.
iii) Criticism
They along with the church of Smyrna, receive no
criticism. Being reminded of weakness is no criticism.
iv) Warning
– “Hold on to what you have”
Read Revelation 3:11. Jesus warns and
encourages them, to “hold on…” No matter how well we are doing, we are never
beyond any of the failings in these seven churches. Positively, we are never
beyond the successes of any of them also!
v) Promise –
Present and eternal security
Read Revelation 3:9-12
3:9 – Jesus promises that their enemies will
acknowledge their wrong toward them. This, principally, points to Jesus’ return
when every knee will bow before Him; some as His enemies to be judged and His
people in worship for salvation. (Rom. 14:11-12)
This also points to the salvation of those who are
currently our enemies – people who are utterly opposed to our gospel will bow
to knee to Christ and admit the Jesus loves the church that they have hated.
(Isaiah 60:14)
3:10 – He
assures them that “I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to
come on the whole world”
This, at least, means that we need never live in fear.
No matter what happens around us in politics or personal circumstances, God is
protecting us, we will have the strength to remain faithful to Jesus.
Here are a few deeper thoughts if you are interested
Revelation 3:10 has been
variously interpreted and here is a brief overview:
· Some say
it means that Christians will be removed (‘raptured’) from the world before a
‘Great Tribulation’ that will come on the earth before Jesus comes again (Dan.
12:1).
· Others
that Christians will be present in the period of the Great Tribulation but not
actually under (‘kept from’) the anger of God before Jesus comes again (Mark
13:13-20).
· Some think
that the ‘hour of trial’ is synonymous with all of the Last Days in which
Christians experience suffering and difficulty but are ‘kept (protected) in it’; much as Jesus prays in Jn.17:15
that, as we are in the world, we would be ‘kept’/protected by God’s love.
· My
preferred option is that the ‘hour of trial’ equates to all of the
Last Days and a Great Tribulation in
which Christians, as those to whom Revelation is written, undergo suffering,
even martyrdom (Rev. 6:9-12), but are ‘kept in
it’ (as in Jn. 17:15) as they are protected by God’s love. (2 Thess.
2:1-12).
Jesus promises, “The
one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God…”
The temple is symbolic of being as close to God as is
possible. To be described as a ‘pillar’ speaks of our being, immovably set in
God’s loving presence and glory eternally – what a hope!
Jesus
continues, “I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of
my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and
I will also write on them my new name.”
Christians are pictured as pillars inscribed with
three names: the name of God, of the city the ‘New Jerusalem’ and Jesus’ ‘new
name’ (Rev. 19:12; Isaiah 62:2). This, again, underlines, to this weak,
suffering church, and to us, that we are God’s eternal possession.
2) Daily Studies on for personal or
family use
There has always been pressure on the church to conform and give up.
Jesus promised that this would be the case when He said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In
this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
(Jn. 16:33) Jesus is writing to this
church and to us to strengthen, encourage and propel us into mission. Let’s
learn from Jesus this week.
Monday – Memory verse for this week
Take time to memorise,
meditate upon and pray based upon this text.
Ephesians 2:10 ‘For
we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God
prepared in advance for us to do.’
Tuesday – He
holds the key and controls the door
Read Revelation 3:7 (See page 21 for details
on the symbols). Jesus wants us to know that He is in total control in heaven
and on earth. There is no name or power greater than His. Spend some time
worshipping Jesus out of Daniel 4:35.
Wednesday – An open
door of salvation
Revelation 3:8 tells us that Jesus holds the
key and opens the door of salvation. This is a door that He opened for you and
that no one can shut on you. The door is too heavy for a human to control –
only God could have done the work, on the cross, for our salvation. Read
Hebrews 10:19-20 where it speaks of Jesus’ death on the cross as the opening of
a ‘curtain’ to God. The door to God – salvation, and relationship with Him – is
open for you.
Thursday – An open
door of service
Read revelation 3:8. Do you notice how it
begins with “I know your deeds…”? Good works do not make us a Christian, but
they are the ‘fruit’ of being a Christian. ‘Deeds’ or ‘service’ will flow from
the life of a Christian, and in ever-increasing measure, as we trust God that
He has ‘opened an door’ for us to serve Him each day – look out, there’s an
open door for you to walk through today!
Friday – Trust
God
Read Revelation 3: 9-10 (I’ve made further
note on these difficult verses above). Do you know that God is in control
over your enemies, your problems, your worries…? It’s vital that we apply this
each day as we are faced with personal problems and are perplexed by
international events that can shake our confidence.
In days of political turmoil and international
bad news, we can be at peace in the security of God. These verses, and scripture generally,
teaches us to have peace rather than anxiety in the face of challenging personal
and world events because God loves His church and is in control. Read, pray and worship out of Psalm 46:1-7
