May I please Almighty God to
bless us together this evening as we consider the message that
John was told to write to the church at Philadelphia. So let's
turn to the book of the Revelation and chapter 3 and reading from
verse 7 to verse 13. Revelation chapter 3 from verse
7 to verse 13. and to the angel of the church
in Philadelphia write, these things saith he that is holy,
he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth
and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth, I know thy
works, behold I have set before thee, and open door, and no man
can shut it. For thou hast a little strength,
and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I
will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are
Jews and are not, but do lie, because I will make them to come
and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved
thee, because thou hast kept the word of my patience. I also
will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come
upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold,
I come quickly Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man
take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make
a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more
out, and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name
of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem. which cometh
down out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my
new name. He that hath an ear to hear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Well, as we think upon the Lord's
grace and mercy towards the Church of Philadelphia, we realise what
a wonderful favour it was. because there was this great
statement that God was with them, and it's quite clearly, we're
told these things, Seth, he that is holy and he that is true,
he that hath the key of David. And that was none other, of course,
than the Saviour. the Lord Jesus Christ. And then
we're told what he does. And we're told that, he that
openeth, no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth. See, we have there the picture
of Almighty God. It's God that opens doors. It's
God that shuts doors. And you and I cannot fight against
that blessed work of the blessed God. And there's a number of
doors which the Lord does open, and there's a number of doors
that the Lord shuts. And we should realise that this
is so, that in our little lives, we might think that we're in
control of our life, The reality is God is in control and you
and I as sinners of the earth have to recognise that that is
so and therefore to bow down before the will and purpose of
Almighty God. We're told just a little list
to go down. He opens a door of opportunity
to his churches. and all places, his churches,
in those places that he has ordained. And it's God that opens the door.
If no door was opened, there would be no church, there would
be no benefit, there would be no blessing. And so what a wonderful
thing it is to know that God it is who opens the doors, the
doors of opportunity to his churches. And then, in the churches, he
opens a door of utterance to his ministers. Again, that's
very humbling, isn't it, to think that God condescends to open
the door of utterance. So as God's servants stand up
to preach the everlasting Gospel, they have that conscious realisation
that it's God that gives the words to speak. Indeed, God's
servants are just the mouthpiece of Almighty God. It's a very
humbling position to be in. It's a very wonderful position
to be in. And I think it's God, therefore,
that gives utterance to his ministers. And then he opens a door of entrance
into the hearts of his people. He opens the heart to receive
his word. Our hearts otherwise are closed. We spoke Sunday before last about
Lydia, didn't we? And what happened to her? The
Lord opened her heart. It's a wonderful favour to have
our heart opened to receive God's Word. And so we should be thankful
that we have these words spoken and recognise the relevance of
them to us today. And then also he opens the door
of admission to the visible church, like we are here, a little church
of believers gathered together. And it's God that comes and opens
the door for one another to join us in membership and fellowship,
to be admitted into the Church of God, the Church of God on
this earth. And so it is. But it will, of
course, be also the entrance into the Church of God triumphant. when we've finished our course
on this earth. And what a blessing that is to
anticipate and to meditate upon there is to come that church
triumphant that we should rejoice in. And it's, of course, according
to the terms of salvation. No one will enter in who is outside
the terms of salvation. that God has laid down before
us in his word. That way, the way of repentance,
that way of prayer, that way of being guided and directed. What a mercy it is, therefore,
to have such a God. And then we come and think of
not only does he open doors, which he does, but also he shuts
doors. And often, you know, we don't
like it when God shuts doors, but God is a kind and gracious
God, and when God shuts doors, we should recognise it's his
gracious hand toward us. When he pleases, he shuts the
door which we perhaps think was an opportunity. Well, God knows
what is good for us. And God knows what will bring
honour and glory to his great and holy name. So we should not
rebel when we see God shutting a door, because he may have provided
some better thing, something which he has provided. And what
a mercy it is, therefore, to have such a kind and gracious
God. And so, therefore, he shuts these
doors. And sometimes he shuts the door
of utterance. He shuts ministers' mouths. And that's a very solemn position,
isn't it? A man stands up and all he speaks
is his words. What a blessing it is, then,
when God is gracious and doesn't shut that door of utterance. Sometimes He leaves rebellious
sinners shut up to themselves. And they can't open that door
themselves to receive the word. God comes and God shuts the door
for them, that door of utterance. leaves obstinate sinners shut
up in the hardness of their hearts. That's a very sad and difficult
experience to walk through and yet so it is and he shuts the
door of sometimes church fellowship. Again that's a solemn thing isn't
it, when he shuts the door of church fellowship. because it's
a blessed thing when God opens the door to church fellowship
and it's not pleasant when God does come and shuts the door
to church fellowship and then we remember we have that example
in the Word of God of those virgins five were wise and five were
foolish and the door to the foolish virgins
was shut. That's a very solemn condition,
isn't it? But God shut the door. My friends,
we don't want God to shut that door to us, do we? We want to
find it open. We want to find the way of acceptance
is there through the glorious merits of our Saviour, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And we have to prove No man can
keep alive his own soul. No man can keep his lamp alight. But what a blessing it is when
God gives us that wonderful favour and that wonderful blessing.
So we should realise these things. And those virgins, what have
they done? They've slept. They've slept
away the day of grace. You know it's a very sad and
solemn thing sometimes when people come to worship and they settle
down for a nice snooze and go to sleep and what are they doing? They're passing by the Day of
Salvation. They find themselves sadly like
those five virgins who when the bridegroom came They weren't
ready. Well, may you and I be ready
when that time will come, as we know it will come. And so
may we realise how great and powerful our God is. And so we come and we read these
words. Now has kept my word, and has
not denied my name. Well may none of us be found
denying the name of our Saviour. And then he goes on, in the ninth
verse, he says, Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of
Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie. And again, that's a very sad
position, isn't it? It speaks of people who are pretending
to be believers. But in reality, they are of the
synagogue of Satan. They're not true believers. They're
hypocrites. They're fools. How sad that is. And he says, Behold, I will make
them to come and worship before thy feet and to know that I have
loved thee. There will be the evidence, you
see, to the unbelievers. that there are those whom God
has loved with an everlasting love. Because thou hast kept
the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour
of temptation. That's a wonderful favour, isn't
it? I often think of those words
of the Lord's Prayer, lead us not into temptation and deliver
us from evil. What does that mean? It means
we're kept by the power of God. Peter knew it so well. He tells
us in his first epistle, in the first chapter, who are kept by
the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. And what reason we have to rejoice
if we prove sometimes God keeps us. He makes a way of escape. He's a very kind and gracious
God. And then he says, Behold, I come
quickly. Hold that fast which thou hast
that no man take thy crown. The devil's always on the lookout
for chinks in our armor. He knows our weaknesses. He knows
how to attack us. And what a great blessing it
is if God gives us that understanding. And therefore, when he does come
in, sometimes like a flood, to hold fast that which God has
given us. Not cast it away, not throw it
away, but rely upon it as a promise from Almighty God, Mighty God. Hold that fast. which thou hast
that no man take thy crown, the crown of righteousness which
God gives to all his people. What a wonderful blessing. Let
us not lose that wonderful favour. And then he comes on and says,
him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my
God and you shall go no more out. And I will write upon him
the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, which
is New Jerusalem. Well, may we all be traveling
home to God in the way the fathers trod. They are happy now and
we soon, by God's grace, their happiness shall see. What a mercy
and what a blessing that is. And so he says, and I will write
upon him my new name, the name that we are children of the Most
High God, born again by his Spirit. He that hath an ear Let him hear
what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Well, there's a lot
in these few verses tonight we've just gone through. This church
at Philadelphia, it's worth considering, it's worth reading, it's worth
pondering to realize that here was words written to the early
church, not only to Philadelphia, but to all those seven churches.
they were to listen and take heed to those things that were
written. Just to conclude, there's a hymn
which is very precious, which tells us the door of thy mercy
stands open all day to the poor and the needy who knock by the
way. No sinner should ever be empty
sent back who comes seeking mercy for Jesus' sake. There's the
secret, isn't it? For Jesus' sake. Well, may he
bless these remarks for his honour and glory and our souls' eternal
good.