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Sunday 1 November 2015

'THE CHURCH IN REVELATION'

Rev. Juliet Schimpf
By Rev. Juliet Schimpf   


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Broadcast Notes

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LINK to CFRA broadcast of Sunday, November 1st, 2015) 
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 Our broadcast is sponsored, today, through the generous support of Sandy Davidson, who would like to salute: “Christian Counselling, Ottawa”, an organization that has been healing hearts and homes in Ottawa for close to forty years.
 
'The Church In Revelation'


·       Of the 7 churches in Revelation, only 2 churches receive 100% praise.  Philadelphia is one of them.  No criticism at all.
·       NAME, “PHILADELPHIA” MEANS “BROTHERLY LOVE”
·       FOUNDED BY A KING—ADELLUS II—HE WAS KNOWN AS “philadelphus” because he loved his brother deeply….
·       Philadelphia was situated in a strategic place on the main route of the Imperial Post from Rome to the East, and thus was called “the gateway to the East”. 
o   Philadelphia was situated where the borders of Mysia, Lydia, and Phrygia met.  It was a border town.  It was founded with the deliberate intention that it might be a missionary of Greek culture and the Greek language to Lydia and Phrygia; and so well did it do its work that by AD 19 the Lydians had forgotten their own Lydian language and were all but Greeks. 

·       It was known as “little Athens”—so many gods!

·       SMYRNA AND PHILADELPHIA ARE THE ONLY TWO CITIES THAT EXIST TODAY—GOD PRESERVES HIS PEOPLE WHEN THEY OBEY!

1.      THE GIANT OBSTACLE
2.     THE GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY
3.     THE GLORIOUS OUTCOME

1.      THE GIANT OBSTACLE

NRSV VERSE 7 "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the holy one, the true one,”
·       In this valley, the vineyards are lush and full—backbone of economy.  They were so good, that they competed with the vineyards in Rome.  And so Domitian said, tear yours out so that ours (in Rome) can be the front edge of commerce.  In doing that, he broke the backbone of their economy.  So they felt deeply betrayed.
·       GOD OF WINE—DYONISIUS—WAS WORSHIPED HERE
·       deep betrayal when the Emperor Domitian decreed that all of the vineyards of this region should be torn out.
·       The Christians here also felt betrayed by the authorities.
·       HOLY = totally “other” and “different” and “separate” and “perfect” and never do them wrong
·       TRUE = He would be faithful to them; never neglect them, never betray them.
·       JESUS:  “YOU CAN COUNT ON ME! 
VERSE 8:  “I know that you have but little power… and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”

OBSTACLE 1:  verse 8 = lack of strength; small church; small budget…
o   Apparently, this was not a large or a strong church.  However, it was a faithful one.  They were true to God’s Word and unafraid to bear His name. 
o   Hudson Taylor “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supplies.”-
o   Wiersbe:  “It is not the size or strength of a church that determines its ministry, but faith in the call and command of the Lord…God’s commandments are God’s enablements…If Jesus Christ gave them an open door, then He would see to it that they were able to walk through it. 
o   Hudson Taylor  “God uses men who are weak and feeble enough to lean on him.” 

OBSTACLE 2:  verse 9:  hostile Jews-- NRSV VERSE 9 “ will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but are lying--I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.”
o   1 Corinthians 16:9  “for a great and effective door has opened to me…and there are many adversaries 
NRSV VERSE 7 “who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens…”

·       JESUS says he is the key of David—
reference to Isaiah 22:22: New International Version (©2011)
I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.9
·       SHUT DOOR = the Christians had been kicked out of the synagogues, and door had been slammed shut behind them (which meant trouble for them).
·       Jews who were persecuted fled throughout Asia Minor and would establish synagogues.
·       Early Christians would meet in those synagogues.
·       But in time, as the Christians reached the resurrection, and claimed Jesus to be the true messiah, they were excluded from the synagogues.
·       This meant that the Christians were cut off or alienated from family and friends.    The synagogue was the centre of the social life.  Plus, they suffered shame (people would say, “Hey, why aren’t you at the synagogue right now?”)
·       Early Christians, as family gathered in synagogue, elder would close door. Someone would look through peep hole and say, “No, you cannot enter.”

2.     THE GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY

NRSV  VERSE 8 "I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut.”

THE MESSAGE:  “I see what you’ve done. Now see what I’ve done. I’ve opened a door before you that no one can slam shut. You don’t have much strength, I know that; you used what you had to keep my Word. You didn’t deny me when times were rough.
·       Wiersbe:  “Unbelief sees the obstacles, but faith sees the opportunites.  And since the Lord holds the keys, He is in control of the outcome.  So what do we have to fear?  obody can close the doors as long as He keeps them open.  Fear, unbelief, and delay have caused the church to miss many God-given opportunities.”
HERE, THE “DOOR” REFERS TO SOMETHING ELSE—NAMELY, THE OPPORTUNITY TO EVANGELIZE:

o   1 Corinthians 16:9  because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me

o   2 COR. 2:12  12 Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me,

o   COL. 4:3  And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.

JOHN STOTT: “Let us go in through the door of salvation, and out through the door of service.”

OPPORTUNITY IN PHILADELPHIA:  The pax Romana permitted Christian evangelists to go about their business with comparative freedom, speaking the common Greek language, treading the fine Roman roads and using as their textbook the Septuagint (Greek) version of the Old Testament.
What the city had been for Greek culture, it was now to be for the Christian gospel. 

·       Let me tell you a little bit about the church in Philadelphia. It was a church-planting church. They sent missionaries and church planters out. If you believe some of church history, they actually started church planting all the way into India. Some of the first church plants in India came from the church at Philadelphia.

·       Twelve hundred years the Christian church stayed in Philadelphia. Earthquakes would hit, the church would fall to the ground, and they would come out and rebuild it, for 1,200 years. They sent missionaries out to plant churches for 1,200 years. They stayed faithful to Jesus for 1,200 years. That means over 1,200 years later— the people who received this letter, if you showed up in the first century, you would see the church and you would see people with certain last names. And if you came back in 1300 AD, there would be people still in that church with the same last name.

·       When he tells them in Revelation 3, “You have not denied my name,” 1200 hundred years later the church in Philadelphia, by the grace of God, did not deny the name of Jesus. And they died. They were slaughtered in their own church. Women, children, young, old, slaughtered. Put to death by the sword, in their church. That’s how they shut down the church at Philadelphia. They had to murder all the believers. This is an amazing church. This is an encouraging church. This is a Spirit-filled church. And Jesus loves the church. Mars Hill, I’m not saying we’re that kind of church. I’m saying, in the grace of God, we should aspire to be.

3.      THE GLORIOUS OUTCOME
NRSV VERSE 10 “Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.  I am coming soon; hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.”
NRSV VERSE 12 “If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God; you will never go out of it. I will write on you the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. 13 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”
·       Philadelphia was a prosperous city.
·       Until 17 AD, when the region was hit by a cataclysmic earthquake.
·       Rome exempted Philadelphia from tribute for 5 years.
·       Philadelphia was hoping for a bit more helpf (money) for rebuilding, which never arrived, and so Philadelphians felt somewhat neglected by the Emperor.
·       PILLARS:  The symbolism in this verse would be especially meaningful to people who lived in constant danger of earthquakes:  the stability of the pillar, no need to out or to flee, a heavenly city that nothing could destroy. 
o   Ancient cities often honored great leaders by erecting pillars with their names inscribed on them.  God’s pillars are not made of stone, because there is no temple in the heavenly city (Rev. 21:22).  His pillars are faithful people who bear his name for His glory (Gal. 2:9)
o   When a priest had for a lifetime faithfully discharged his duties, men honoured him, when he died, by erecting an new pillar in the temple in which he had served, and by inscribing his name, and the name of his father on it.

TAKE-AWAY (CONCLUSION):

·       MIKE STACHURA:  “The mark of a great church is not its seating capacity, but its sending capacity.”
·       WIERSBE:  “If He opens the doors, we must work; if He shuts the doors, we must wait.  Above all, we must be faithful to Him and see the opportunities, not the obstacles.  If we miss our opportunities, we lose our rewards (crowns).”
·       John Stott:  “Christ has the keys.  He opens the doors.  Then let us not barge our way unceremoniously through doors which are still closed.  We must wait for Him to make openings for us.  Damage is continually being done to the cause of Christ by rude or blatant testimony. ….we are sometimes in a greater hurry than God.  Be patient!  Pray hard, and love much, and wait expectantly for the opportunity of witness.”

Let us pray:

Father, Thank you for your Word, which is the light onto our feet, and we pray that you will help us. If you open the door, we will work. And if you shut a door, we will wait. But, above all, help us to be faithful to you and to see opportunities, and not obstacles.
In the name of the Father, Son and Spirit, we pray; AMEN.

Rev. Juliet Schimpf
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To listen to the above broadcast, click on the following link:

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