Rich Realities from Revelation #2 (Rev. 3:7-13): Christians will be Victorious If they do not Compromise

Rich Realities from Revelation: Revelation 3:7-13
The Church Will Overcome If It Does not Compromise

INTRODUCTION:
The title of this article caught my eye… It was on National Review Online on January 20 of this year. “‘Conversion-Therapy’ Bans Threaten to Criminalize Dissent on Gender Identity, Sexuality, Therapists Warn.” What the article is about is Lee Webster, a state-certified therapist in private-practice in Wisconsin who oversees the “Center for Human Development.” The center has a cross in its logo. It’s mission statement on their website says that they are a “faith-based” organization. But on December 1st of last year, Wisconsin’s Department of Safety and Public Standards started a new rule that would make it illegal for therapists to engage in what is called “conversation therapy.” Conversion therapy is the effort to get people who have homosexual tendencies to not practice homosexual behavior.

There are 27 states in our country which have now banned “conversion therapy.” Therapists who counsel, consistent with their religious beliefs, could face discipline or even loss of their licenses.

Last month when I began my series of studies from the book of Revelation, I pointed out that our country has now started using the “long-arm of the law” under the guise of “Civil Rights” to force everyone into what we could call “group-think.” That is, everyone has to think alike. And Christians, especially, have to be forced by law to think like everyone else. You can worship any way you want to - you have “freedom of worship.” But you cannot allow your religion to impact your behavior in your work!

The Third and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals have sided with the states who want to ban Christians from trying to help people with mental health issues to understand that part of their mental health issue is that they are living in violation of Jehovah God’s standard of morality. The Eleventh Circuit has sided with the First Amendment so we will likely see the SCOTUS rule on this question at some point.

Back in 2018, the SCOTUS sided with Colorado baker Jack Phillips when he refused to make a cake for a gay wedding. The state of CO tried to force Phillips to violate his conscience, in violation of the First Amendment. The SOTUS sided with the First Amendment. But, the state of Colorado has done it again. Earlier this year, the state of Colorado ruled against Philips when he refused to make a cake to celebrate a “gender transition.” Now he is going to have to go back to the SCOTUS and hope that they still believe in the First Amendment, which hinges on five men and women.

Going back to the therapists… I pointed out last month that it won’t take much for the American Medical Association and the American Dental Association and the Michigan Medical Association and the Michigan Department of Education and other organizations to start siding with what is politically correct, even if it is not scientifically correct (there are more than two genders?) - and force people into “group-think” or risk losing your job and your profession.

If we can understand what is happening in our country we have a good idea of what was happening in the first century with Christians being persecuted by the Roman Empire. Now, we are not being persecuted physically - at least not yet - and they were. So John wrote Revelation to encourage and inspire those Christians in the first century and his message is relevant for us today.

I pointed out last month that Revelation is sort of a “Daniel Volume 2” but it is written by a different author, the apostle John. Daniel predicted that the Roman Empire would wage war on the saints of God, but the Messiah would establish a kingdom which would never end, and the saints of the Messiah would be victorious. That’s largely from Daniel 7. Revelation tells us about that war and about that victory.

Before we get into the letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor - and I’m going to focus on the letter to the church in Philadelphia in 3:7-13 - I want to remind you of the four principles John gives us to interpret the book of Revelation properly. Because it is treated like a redheaded step child by many preachers and so-called scholars.

PRINCIPLES FOR INTERPRETING THE BOOK OF REVELATION:
1. Verse 1 - The word “communicated” - better translated “signified” (NKJV) - shows that Revelation is communication through sign and symbols. That means that we have to understand these signs and symbols in a figurative way! I am amused when I read lots of scholars’ approach to Revelation who want to take - for example - the battle of Armageddon literally or the 1,000 year reign of Christ literally - but they don’t take all the images literally. On what basis of common sense are you going to take some images literally and some figuratively? The truth is that John tells us that Revelation is full of images taken from the OT (anywhere between 200 and 1,000!) and he uses those images in a figurative way to convey a message. And we will be better off if we take these images figuratively unless there’s a compelling reason otherwise.
2. Verse 1 - The events in Revelation are said to be taking place “soon” or “the time is near” (ver. 3). In other words, John is not predicting the United States of America or Russia or any other current nation. He is referring to events that would happen soon from the standpoint of the first century Christians.
3. Verse 4 - Speaking of those first-century Christians, verse 4 tells us that Revelation was written primarily for the Christians worshipping in those seven churches of Christ in Asia Minor: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Those were real Christians with families and friends, who were being persecuted, even killed, for their religious convictions. So, whatever the images of Revelation mean, they had to mean something first and foremost to the Christians in the first century!
4. Verse 9 - Speaking of persecution, Revelation is full of references to persecution throughout its pages. These Christians were having their faith really put to the test. Some, like Antipas in the church in Pergamum (2:13), were being killed. Others, like those in the church in Smyrna, were being thrown in prison (2:10). So, whatever the images of Revelation mean, they had something to do with encouraging those Christians to keep the faith and they would die triumphant.

In our first study, we looked at the picture of Christ from 1:9-20. The “rich reality” we learned from that first chapter is that Jesus lives and walks among His churches - the “emoji” used is a lamp stand - taking care of them. He holds those churches - even SC - in His hands, which shows that He cares for us and He provides for us and He protects us.

That leads us to the letter to the church of Christ in Philadelphia, which will represent for us all the letters to all the churches. What would Jesus say to the Swartz Creek church of Christ?

THE IDENTITY OF JESUS - 3:7:
In all the letters, Jesus identifies Himself, mostly with phrases or images that come from that first description of Him from chapter 1.

Jesus is speaking to the “angel” - which perhaps is an emoji to let me and you know that God has a messenger that lets Him know everything that is happening with our church here - of the church in Philadelphia.

The name “Philadelphia” means “city of brotherly love” and was named for the king of Pergamum, Attalus II Philadelphos who was so-named because of his love for his brother, Eumenes. The city was damaged by lots of earthquakes, an especially strong one in 17 A. D. With the help of tax money from the emperor, Philadelphia was able to rebuild their city and then they became a strong supporter of the Roman government, including the Roman gods and goddess with temples throughout the city!

Notice how Jesus identifies Himself:

1. “Holy” - Jesus is set apart from sin. And He calls on His followers to stay away from sin because the only way we can get to heaven is to “Pursue holiness, without which no one will see God” (Heb. 12:14). Next month, we’ll look at the worship of the Father and the Son in chapters 4-5. In 4:8, the four living creatures sing to God and say, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God the Almighty.” Out of the 25 times the word “holy” is used in Revelation, it is translated “saint” 13 times! Christians are saints and in 22:11, as John finishes his revelation, he reminds the Christians, “the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.”

2. “True” - Jesus is “true.” That means He is Reality. He is the one who knows what is real and true. There is nothing false in Jesus Christ. There is no deception in Jesus Christ. Notice in the letter to the church of Christ in Laodicea (3:14) that Jesus identifies Himself as the “True Witness.” He will call His disciples to be witnesses or evangelists in His name, but they must be “true” witnesses. They must teach His message - the gospel - because it is the only religious message that conforms to reality. The words of Jesus are “faithful and true” (21:5). That’s why Christians have to stay dedicated to teaching that message.

3. “Has the key of David” - There are three ideas in this verse and the next verse that relates to this point. First… back in Isaiah’s day (22:15-23), about 700 years before Jesus, there was a palace administrator in the king’s palace who was unfaithful to his task. His name was Shebna. In Isaiah 22, God promises that He will remove Shebna and He will appoint a new administrator, named Eliakim. God will give the “keys of David” to Eliakim because he would be faithful to his job. The palace administrator was like the “Chief of Staff” for our President today. He was the one who allowed people into the presence of the king and keep them out.

So Jesus has the power to allow people into God’s presence, or to keep them out. Nobody will be saved except with the permission of Jesus Christ. Nobody will stand in heaven except through Jesus Christ. You see…

4. “Opens and no one will shut and who shuts and no one opens.” We will see that the Jews in Philadelphia had sided with the Roman government, in some way, against the church. But the Jews did not know Jesus Christ and they had no say in who would be saved and who would not. Only Jesus did. He’s the one who has the power to allow people into God’s presence.

JESUS’ PRAISE OF THE CHURCH - 3:8-9:
Jesus first praises the church by saying He knows their deeds. Jesus knows our works. He knows what we do in His name, both as individual Christians and as a church. In this verse, when Jesus says, “Behold, I have set before you an open door which no one can shut,” He is referring to evangelism. Jesus has opened the door for the Christians to evangelize and to share the gospel with others and that door will never be and can never be shut. Why? Because Jesus wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:3-4).

The church of Christ in Ephesus had gotten scared because of their persecution and they had quit evangelizing. They were a sound congregation; they believed in all the right doctrine. But they were afraid to talk about the gospel with their neighbors and friends. They had left their first love (2:4) and Jesus warned them that He might remove their lamp stand (2:5), in other words, He might stop recognizing them as a church of Christ.

But the church in Philadelphia apparently was still evangelizing as they should. They had not gone silent in the face of opposition. They might not have had many resources - Jesus says they “have a little power.” But, the point is, they have “kept” His word and had not denied the name of Christ. They were faithful. I think about churches of Christ who have compromised with the world so much that they have taken “church of Christ” off their signs. That makes me wonder - God is the judge - if they are denying the name of Christ by denying His doctrine.

The church in Philadelphia was not doing that. Some of their persecution was coming from the so-called “synagogue of Satan.” “Synagogues” of course were the places where the Jews met and studied the law of Moses. But once Jesus came, there was no longer any need to be a Jew, by religion. In Romans 2:28-29, Paul says that the “true Jew” is one who was circumcised spiritually, not physically. And, in Colossians 2:11-12, Paul says that that spiritual circumcision happens through immersion in water.

So these people were Jews by race and by religion, but they had probably sided with the Roman Empire and their pagan ways against Christians and so John calls them the “synagogue of Satan.” They “say that they are Jews and are not, but lie.” These Christians had family and friends who were Jews but the Jews had sided with the Roman government and were trying to get Christians to compromise and weaken the doctrine of Christ or be persecuted for their refusal.

But God will not be mocked. God says that He will make the Jews come to the Christians and “bow down” at their feet - not in worship, but in recognition of the fact that the Christians are the ones with the true faith, the true religion, the true Savior. Jesus says He will make these pseudo-Jews to “know that I have loved” the Christians. What a blessing for those who refuse to compromise the word of God!

JESUS’ PROMISE - 3:10-12:
Notice that Jesus’ promise is based on the fact that the church of Christ in Philadelphia had not compromised! “Because you have kept the word of My perseverance” - the word that called on Christians to persevere in their faithfulness - Jesus promises: “I will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”

That “hour of testing” is pictured in chapter 6 through the so-called “horses of the apocalypse:” War, which leads to famine and economic hardship which leads to death. That is coming, Jesus says, and it will test humanity. Will non-Christians turn to God and Christ to sustain their lives? Will Christians continue faithful to God or will Satan influence them to turn their hearts to the pagan gods around them?

That is the hour of testing and it is under Jesus’ control. He says, “I am coming quickly” (ver. 11). This “coming” is not referring to His second coming. This is referring to Jesus coming in judgment, agains the Empire and perhaps against unfaithful Christians as we saw with the church in Ephesus.

Here’s the promise for those who do not compromise the word of Christ’s perseverance and who “overcome” - The verb is used 17 times in Revelation!

Jesus says, “I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God.” The temple of King Solomon famously had two huge pillars which he named “Jachin” (“he will establish”) and “Boaz” (“by strength”) - 1 Kings 7:15-22. Pillars are for support and stability. For Jesus to promise victorious Christians that they will be “pillars” is to say:

1. They are members of Christ’s spiritual temple.
2. They will be established firm in His presence.
3. They will be kept by His strength.
4. They will live in God’s and Christ’s presence forever: “they will not go out from it forever.”

Next, Jesus says:

1. I will write on him the name of My God - in contrast to the number “666”, which we’ll talk about when we get to chapter 13 in July. Certainly this signifies ownership and protection.

2. I will write on him the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. John will further describe the “new Jerusalem” in chapters 21-22 where, of course, he identifies it as the “bride” of Christ, which is the church. So, we have yet another indication - or emoji - of Christians being identified as God’s people and being blessed in God’s presence forever.

3. I will write on him “My new name.” We are called “Christians.” That is the distinctive name which Christ’s followers wear. Our “new name” will be a new fulfillment of that same name. It will be the fulfillment of that name. It’s like going from being “engaged” to your fiancé to being married. Marriage is the fulfillment of that engagement.

All three of these also have an “emoji” in mind from the OT. The high priest had a band of gold on his turban on which was inscribed “Holy to the Lord” (Exo. 39:30-31). Christians will have the Lord’s name, God’s name, the name of our new home, inscribed on our heads, suggesting that all Christians are priests and all Christians will be priests serving in the temple of God in heaven.

What a group of wonderful promises that are waiting for Christians who are victorious!

CONCLUSION:
Rich reality #2 - Christians who do not compromise the word, but overcome will serve God in the temple of heaven!