Turn to Revelations chapter 3. We're going to pick up in verse
7, the church of Philadelphia. The title of the message is Faithfulness. Faithfulness. It is not required in a steward
to be great. It isn't. They don't read that
at all. It's not required in a steward
to do things that's just miraculous. It's required in a steward to
be faithful. If it's standing here preaching,
or just opening these doors every week. If that's the position
that God has given me, and the position that He's given you,
there's one requirement. Just be faithful. That's just
show up. Show up, be faithful. There are
some men at work, there's one or two of them especially out
there, that never miss. They never miss. And there's
some others that I don't know if they're going to show up or
not. Jeremy doesn't know if they're going to show up or not. But there's some that's just
faithful. You can count on them. You know they're going to be
there. The world does not recognize small things, common things. The world recognizes great things,
heroic things. Our Lord recognizes everything
done in His name faithfully, faithfully. Nothing is insignificant to Him. You think that what you do or
your service here is insignificant. To him it's not. Nothing's insignificant. And we ought to learn that lesson.
We ought to learn that lesson. Now here in verse 7, our Lord
reveals his character. The character of a person is
that person. It is, that's who that person
is. It doesn't matter what we say about ourselves, it's our
character that speaks volumes as to who we are. And our Lord starts out here
and he says, these things saith he that is holy. Holy. If he's not holy, let's
just shut the book. can go home if he's not holy. If he's not holy, he's not worth
our attention. But we need one that's holy.
We need one that's righteous. He said, he that saith these
things is holy. He's called the Holy One of Israel. And let me say this. I thought
of this when I was sitting up here. He's called the Holy One
of Israel, and He's Israel's holiness. He is our holiness. He is our righteousness before
God. I'm so glad I don't have to produce
a righteousness that God can accept, because it can happen.
We've got 6,000 years of history behind us. Anybody think they
can overcome that? You'd have to be born from someone
else besides your parents if you don't want to overcome it,
because there's none good, no, not one, including mom and dad,
grandma and grandpa, all the way back to Adam. But here's
one who is holy, who is righteous, and he's our righteousness. He's
our holiness. The Scripture says, holy and
reverend is his name. Not the Pope. It's His name. It's the name of our God. It's
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's His name, which is opposite of what all
men are by nature, which is sin. Only He can say these things,
saith He that is holy. He that is true, true, true to his word, true to his word, he will do
exactly as he has said. Don't you like it when you know
someone or you're talking to someone and they give you their
word and you can count on it? I know that's rare. in this life,
but He's true to His Word. He's true to His people. Has He ever failed you? He's
never failed since creation. He's never failed any of His
children. He's never failed His creation. Look at it. It's still going. He upholds this world. by the
power of His Word. He's true to His Word, true to
His people, and here's a good one, true to His promises. True to His promises. We don't often recognize how
we need the promises of God until we need the promises of God.
I like what I read, someone said, we must first fit the character
described in the promise before we can actually claim the promise. You've got to fit the character.
Poor and needy. He that cometh to me, I will
no wise cast out. Are you coming to him? Does that
describe you? Are you coming to him? Here's
his promise. I'll not cast you out. That's
a promise. Has he not spoken, and shall
he not do it? Has he not given a promise, and
shall he not fulfill that promise? Lord, you said. You go back and
read one of the prayers of David, and you know what he quotes?
You said, you said, you said. It's not I want, it's you said. Then he says here, he hath the
key of David. What's he saying here? He's saying he's the king. He's
the sovereign. He's the sovereign. He's the
king of kings and lord of lords. At this very moment, he reigns
supreme with no equals. No equals. He's seated on the throne reigning. That's not like him. Satan is
no equal to him. I want you to listen to this. I
thought of this last night. I was writing these down. You
and I wrestle against principalities of power,
don't we? We wrestle. against flesh and
blood, or we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities and powers in high places. He doesn't. He's not wrestling with Satan.
You and I do. You and I wrestle with the inward
sin, thoughts. We wrestle with this world and
Satan Temptation we wrestle with. He's not wrestling with him.
He's on the throne controlling him. He says, do this. He doesn't. He says, no, you're
not going. You're not going. Satan comes
to him over Job. He comes to him over Job. And
he said, have you considered my servant Job? He said, yes,
but I can't do anything about it. Yes, I've considered him. I'd like to take his head off.
I'd like to take his life. I'd like to destroy him. That's what Satan liked to do
to every one of God's children. But he said, you got a hedge
about him. You have put a hedge about him and I can't touch him.
He said, well I'll tell you what,
this is exactly what you're allowed to do. And that's all. That's all. That's all he can
do. He can't even speak a word past
what he's allowed to do. You and I wrestle against these
things. He doesn't. What was that centurion said
to him a week before last? Lord, speak a word only. Speak
a word only. My servant shall be healed. That's
all that needs to be done. Speak a word only. And then he
demonstrates his sovereignty. He said He opens and no man shuts
it. No man shuts and He shuts and
no man opens. Only He can do that. Now if you
listen. He opens His Word and no man
can shut it. If He opens His Word to your
heart, to my heart, if He opens it, no man can shut it. No. If he opens a heart, if he opens
a heart here tonight, no man can shut it. Satan can't
shut it. No man can shut it if he opens
it. If he opens a door for us to go and preach the gospel,
I don't care if it's where Satan's seat is. Like we saw in one of
the churches here, no man can shut it. He has absolute, absolute power
over all. And if he opens it, no man's
going to shut it. And if he shuts it, now listen,
there's a flip side to this. If he shuts the door, nobody
can open it. He shuts that door, Grace, and
nobody can open it. Can't do it. He opens it, nobody
can shut it, but if he shuts it, nobody can open it. What did he do to Israel? He
turned them over to what? Judicial blindness. And to this
day, they can't see. They can't see. I can't make
them see, and you can't make them see. But if the Lord is
ever pleased to open that door, they'll see, and nobody will
ever shut it. That's the demonstration of His
sovereignty. Now He says, I know thy works. He's all-knowing. He's God. He's God Almighty. That's who He is. I have set
before thee an opened door, and He's the one who must open the
door. And I believe this open door is a door for them to go
and preach the gospel. That's what I believe it is. I believe it's an open, it doesn't
say what it is, but I believe it's a, because he didn't open a door
for, to entertain. We're not out there to entertain.
When he opens a door, it involves the gospel. So he said, I've
set before thee an open door, an opportunity to spread the
gospel. And they did it. This church,
I want you to listen to this, this church was around, and this
gives hope for this church, 800 years. 800 years this church was influential
in the preaching of the gospel. 800 years. I've sat before thee. An open
door. And I tell you what, for 800
years that door was open. And nobody shut it. No one was
able to shut it. This church was used of God to
spread the gospel. They were not great. It was not
a great church. But you notice something as I
read this, compared to the last time we looked at Sardius, not
one good thing was said about Sardius. Not one bad thing was
said about Philadelphia. Not one negative thing said about
the Church of Philadelphia. He says here to them, thou hast
a little strength. You say, well that's a negative
thing. No. What if he said thou hast a little
faith? Now that would be negative. A
little faith would be negative. He didn't say you have a little
faith. He said you're not very large in number. They were a
small congregation. But they were a faithful congregation.
And that congregation preached the gospel for 800 years. They were small in number, but
big in love. Big in faith and big in works. Works of faith and labor of the
blood. And listen to this. I hope this
is said about us I was kept my word and has not
denied my name. You kept my word. You did not
water down the gospel. You did not compromise the gospel
in order to enlarge the crowd. You did not go along nor to get
along. You kept my word. You kept my
gospel. You're faithful to it. They preached
the gospel faithfully. They preached the gospel of grace,
the gospel of substitution faithfully, and they did not alter it. And the Lord recognized that.
And you've not denied my name. Now listen, if we alter the gospel,
if we compromise the gospel, at the same time we are denying
the name of Christ. It happens at the same You say,
well, we didn't deny his name. We just, there's just some things
that, you know, doesn't really fit our day. Right. The gospel is for every day.
It's relevant to every day. Every day from, until God ends
this thing, needs the message of the gospel. Christ, who is
the gospel. And that will never change. That
will never change because people don't change. Our needs don't
change. My need of cleansing, my need
of pardon, my need of forgiveness, my need of righteousness never
changes. If this world stood another thousand
years, the same need would be there and the same gospel to
meet it will be there. Oh, he says, thou hast a little
strength, you've kept my word, and you have not denied my name. You've not done that. Now, that's
powerful, isn't it? That's coming from the throne.
Now, that's not me standing here telling you this is coming from
the throne. God, speaking of this church, what a commendation. I've said before thee an open
door, and no man can shut it, and thou hast a little strength.
You've kept my word, and you've not denied my name. Behold, I'll
make them of the synagogue of Satan." I'm going to deal with the hypocrites.
He said, I'm going to deal with the hypocrites. But I will make
them of the synagogue of Satan. They say they are Jews. They
say they are the circumcision. They are not. I don't care if
they are descendants, physical descendants. of Abraham. They're not the Israel of God.
The Israel of God are those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
The true circumcision are those who believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. The true Jew is one who believes God, like Abraham did. I can't catch this. I will make
them of the synagogue of Satan. Everywhere, every place where the gospel is not preached
is a synagogue of Satan. You say that's a little too dogmatic. No, it isn't. No, it isn't. It's
a gospel of Christ, a gospel of substitution, a gospel of grace. You know what
I'm talking about. If it's not preached, if that's
not the message, if that's not the message coming from the pulpit,
that is the synagogue of Satan. And they can call themselves
whatever they want to call themselves. Someone said, the name of a Christian
does not mean that I have the nature of a Christian. I believe Matthew Henry said
that. Many, many, many, many call themselves Christians, but
they don't have the nature of one. They carry the name, but
not the nature. He said, they say they're Jews
and they're not, but they lie. Behold, I'll make them to come
and worship before thy feet. They're going to acknowledge
that you are the true sons of God. They will acknowledge you're
the true sons of God. And it says in verse 10, Because thou hast kept the word
of my patience, and thou hast kept the gospel. That's what
he's talking about, the gospel. I also will keep thee. Isn't
that just underline that. I will keep thee. I'll keep thee. From the hour of temptation.
You know it says in the latter days many shall depart from the
faith. You won't. He said I'll keep
you. Kept by the power of God through
what? I will also keep thee from the
hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the worlds and
tribes that dwell upon the earth." I'll keep you from apostasy.
I'll keep you from torment. I will not, I will not lose one
of you. I'll keep you. Oh, don't we say that, Lord?
Come quickly. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Come quickly. Hold that fast which thou hast. Which is what? The gospel. The
gospel. You hold fast. Stay to it. No man take thy crown. And him that overcometh, Well, I'll make a pillar in the
temple of... And I notice how many times he
says, you're my God, my God. And listen, his God, and he's
speaking here as the mediator, is my God and your God. He's our brother. He's our Lord. He's our King. He's our God. He's our brother. And he says
here, Him that overcometh I will 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." The one thing that stood out
as I read that verse is this. have a permanent dwelling place
with my God. In that overcometh I will make
a pillar in the temple of my God that's solid, stable, and
it's not going anywhere. Permanent dwelling place. Our
Lord said in John 14, if I go away and prepare a place for
you, I'll come again and receive you to myself that where I am,
there you may be also. And I'll write upon him my new
name. What's that? The Lord Our Righteousness. That name is written. The Lord
Our Righteousness. He that hath an ear, he that
hath been given an ear to hear a new ear. He says let him hear. He's not
saying try to hear. He's saying more here than just
pay attention. He's saying let him hear. And
you know what? All God's children hear. You
hear what He's saying. You know what He's saying. You
hear it. And the reason He's so, He says, let them hear. He's
given a command here, let them hear. Let them hear what the
Holy Spirit's saying unto the churches. Well, we've gone through
six of them. Have you heard anything? Oh yeah, we've heard some things.
We've heard some things. Okay, Mike.