November 16

Transcription

Thanks Mel for joining the team. And it's wonderful to see how people give of their gifts. Thank you for being with us this morning.

And drummer boy, you got me going for a second as I'm praying. I heard the drum boom and I'm thinking, oh, he's going to play while I'm praying? That's something new. Ah, Lou, sorry.

It happens. Hey, just keeps me on my toes. It keeps me on my toes.

Thank you for the gift of your words, Lord. What an amazing gift. Because in this word, as we walk through your word, we just see you and you come alive in our lives and in everything we do.

Small church we're talking about today. But so huge in who they were in you, despite all their circumstances. As we read that, and as we, for a moment, just talk about them, help us, Lord, to look at ourselves and ask the questions that we need to ask.

And you are the one who wrote to these churches, Lord Jesus. And you are the one that we want to see today. In your name we pray.

Amen. To the angel, the pastor, the minister of Philadelphia, right? So, Ted, put on the slide of where Philadelphia is. We're going to do three slides and then we'll go to the scripture reading.

So, Philadelphia on the east coast of Asia Minor was in a very important place. All commerce to Asia went through Philadelphia. So, it was called the portal to the east.

Interesting thing to remember. You hear a little bit about that when we read the scripture in a bit. Portal to the east.

It all went, all the commerce went through there. It was situated in the very fertile Hermus Valley. It was fertile because of all the volcanic activity that was going on there.

And especially, especially grapes grew really well in Philadelphia, exported a lot of grapes. And that's why, and that's the next slide, Ted, the God that they worshipped there was a God called Dionysus or Dionysus, whatever you want to call him, the God of wine and revelry. They were a happy bunch in Philadelphia.

They really loved their grapes. Unfortunately, also with all the volcanic activity was the fact that there were a few volcanoes and these created a lot of earthquakes. In 17 AD, Philadelphia, along with 11 other cities, was completely destroyed by an earthquake.

And there's just a little picture of some of the bits of Philadelphia that is left there. Thanks, Ted. I'm done with the slides for now until the last one I'll get you later.

So after this huge earthquake city destroyed, Caesar Tiberius exempted them from paying taxes for five years so that they could use that money to rebuild the city. And to say thank you to Tiberius, they gave the city a new name. And remember the new name thing because you'll hear that a little later again.

The new name was called New Caesarea. New Caesarea, new to the Caesar because of the Caesar that gave that to them. So it was not just known as Philadelphia, but Philadelphia New Caesarea because of Caesar that helped them.

The other little thing that you know by now, but for them it was a really tough year. The Jewish population was huge there. The Jewish population hated the Christians.

They said they perverted the faith and they served a false messiah. So they did everything in their power to hurt the Christians. They would mock them.

They would tell lies about them. They would go to the government and try and get them kicked out. They loved to get them martyred.

So they were really against them. They also did not allow them to come and worship in the synagogue. So there's your background for all of this.

Now as we read, the background will come back and you'll get a little bit of what it says. So we're going to the scripture, Ted. To the angel, pastor, leader of the church in Philadelphia, write, these are the words of him who is holy and true.

Now stop me if I do 45 minutes again, because I can do the whole day on this. When we read, we should read carefully, and this is what we do here. These two words, and I asked Kimberly this morning, what's the word for holy in Hebrew? And she knew that word.

It's Old Testament words. These were often used of God in the Old Testament to speak about who God was. So God is holy.

It means different. None like him. He's other than what you would see in the world.

Hold that for one second. But God is also true. The word for true, alethenos, in Greek, beautiful where it says he has integrity, he is genuine, and he is authentic.

Now let's put that together for a moment. These are the words of him who is not like those that you see in the world, who is true, who has integrity, who is authentic, who is genuine, who does not play around, can I use words of today, with fake news. What he says is true because of who he is and how he himself difference him from those in the world.

So there's the image that Jesus writes down. When I'm going to speak to you, Philadelphia, when I'm going to speak to you, Central, this is who you need to see, who I am. I'm not one of these little puppets in the world that says this today and that tomorrow and changes my mind on a whim like this.

I'm not like that. I am steadfast, I am holy, I am different, and I am authentic. I will not give you hope when there is no hope, lies when you need the truth.

I will speak to you genuine, trustworthy words. Isn't it wonderful to hear that for a second in a world in which it's hard to trust the word of many because they say this today and then tomorrow they change as the weather changes. He does not.

These are the words of him who are holy and trustworthy, who holds the key of David and what he opens no one can shut and what he shuts no one can open. And you're thinking, what does that mean? It's actually a copy from the book of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 22, and I'm going to go there in a second, Ted, so if you can get your stuff ready. Let me tell you a little background of Isaiah 22.

Hezekiah was the king of Judah in this time and he had a palace administrator. Now palace administrators were like Lulu calls me, the boss man, and I'm not the boss man. They were the boss man that was going on around the palace and everything that ran in the palace.

The administrator at that time was a man called Shepna. Shepna had only himself. He was not holy and true.

He did everything the opposite. If you paid him, he would organise a little something for you, and God said, I can't handle that. I'm going to put someone else in your place, and this is where we pick up the story in Isaiah 22.

In that day, I will summon my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah. I will clothe him with your robe, that's Shepna's robe, and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father.

He will treat my people like a father does. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and the people of Judah, and now look at this. I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David.

Only here and in Revelation mentioned the key of David. I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David. What he opens, no one can shut.

What he shuts, no one can open. Exact words. I will drive him like a peg into a firm place, and he will become a seat of honour for the house of his father.

So Hilkiah now becomes that palace administrator, and he becomes, in a little bit of a pun intended, the key man. Not just is he the key figure, but he's also the key man. He carried the keys to the palace.

You could not enter the palace if the key man did not open the door for you. You could not go into the king's chambers if the key man did not open the door for you. You could not go anywhere in that palace if the key man didn't allow you.

So to do that, you had to have a relationship with the key man. These are the words of him who is holy and true and who holds the key of David. What he opens, no one can shut.

What he shuts, no one can open. It is so important to have a relationship with the key man who holds the key of David. Matthew 16, 19, he says, because I have the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and I will give that to my church.

He will open the door. Chapter 1, verse 9, verse 14 of chapter 1, he says, I hold the keys of hell and death. Chapter 9, verse 1, he says, and I have the key to that bottomless pit.

So make your pick. I have the key. What I open, no one can shut.

What I shut, no one can open. But I have the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Will you listen? Will you hear? For I am holy and I am trustworthy.

How wonderful that we don't have to worry about those other two, the ones to hell and death and that bottomless pit, because he closed those for us already. We're not going there. The day he died on that cross, the key man opened the door to heaven.

And all I have to do is say, thank you. Thank you that I may have a relationship. And when I get to you, that door is not going to slam shut in my face.

That door is going to swing wide open, and you're just going to say, walk in my child. Come on in. It's been opened.

He opened the door to his heart, for you, for me, so we can walk right into that heart. Can I read you that verse? Sorry for all the verses, but I just can't help it. It's just so cool.

Book of Hebrews. Never read Hebrews in Greek. It is impossible.

It's the most difficult Greek in the world. So no Greek word. No, I'm going to give you one Greek word.

Therefore, my brothers and my sisters, and Ted doesn't have this on the screen. I didn't give it to him. Just listen.

Since we have confidence, the Greek word confidence here is paresia, which means the right of someone who lives in the city to stand up and to speak in the presence of all the people of the city and speak their mind. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the most holy place, how? By the blood of Jesus. The key man opened that most holy place for me and for you.

Opened the door. How? By the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, opened for us through the curtain of his body. And since we have a great priest, key man, over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart, with full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Let us walk with confidence through the door into the most holy place, because the key man opened the door. When I stand before my Father, my heart is sprinkled and my body is washed because of the blood of the Lamb, the one who is trustworthy.

I'm giving you good news, not fake or false news. Boy, I love this book. Philadelphia, like Smyrna, the only two churches that just got a commendation, no scolding going anywhere.

I know your deeds. No rebuke. I know your deeds.

See, I've placed before you and here comes the word, an open door, portal to the east. I've placed before you an open door that no one can shut. You were locked out of the synagogue.

They didn't allow you. I've opened a different door. I've opened the door to heaven, to my presence.

And these Jews, this world, they can't shut that door. It's never going to happen. I'm just thinking.

So when I see the door, isn't it an opportunity? When God says, I opened a door for you, maybe central, and I didn't write this anywhere. I'm just thinking, isn't God saying a little something? Isn't God saying, what's your door? What's your door that you can be that portal that is open, that goes into the world, that will touch this world and will change this world and will make a difference in this world that you can do because I have opened the door for you. What's our door? What is our door? Can I challenge you? How about this whole week? Take 10 minutes in your day somewhere.

Don't do it at night because then you're tired. A little 10 minutes somewhere. Can we pray about that? Can we pray, Lord, what is the open door that you are placing before us right now, where we can make a difference in this world? Like Philadelphia, we're small.

But we can make a difference. Where? Will you pray? And hear what the Lord says to us. I challenge to you.

Sorry, let me read rather. I've placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, but yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

Small church, but fearless. They kept his words and they didn't deny his name because you know we said this all along. What happened when they spoke the word of God? What happened when they stood up for being God's people? They fed them to the lions.

They kicked them out. They couldn't work. They couldn't take care of their families.

And yet you kept my word and you have not denied my name. What a challenge in a world in which we live to keep his word and to not deny his name. Where I work, where I go to school, where I sit in a Melville cafe across the street to keep the word and not deny his name.

I will make those who are at the synagogue of Satan, it's only to them and Smyrna that he used that word, who claim to be Jews though they're not but are liars. I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. There will come a moment when those who have locked you out will realise who I am and that I am the Messiah and they will come fall down and say we're sorry we were wrong and we have to confess there was only one and his name is Jesus.

Since you've kept my command to endure patiently, folks if anything you forget this part don't. This is most beautiful because it's gonna come. I don't know when but it's coming and here's a promise.

Since you've kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come to the whole world to test the inhabitants of the world. That hour is coming and we will be part of that hour. Just one word, the inhabitants of the earth is John's word to say those who do not believe but we will be part of that hour of trial.

It's going to come. How it's going to look, when it's going to be, how long it's going to be, we don't know but he speaks of that and it's going to come but hear the comfort. Let me explain this for you and break it down for you a little bit.

Since you've kept my command and endured, I will keep you like you kept my word from the hour of trial. That word from, interesting. It's the word, it's an e and a k in Greek, ek, which usually means out or from but now you know that words do not have meaning.

A word only has possibilities of meaning. It derives its meaning from the context. If I say tie, some of you think of a thing around my neck.

Some of you think of something that I'm going to tie. Some of you think of a little zip tie. The context and food.

Alexander thinks of food. He's hungry. So the word ek, its meaning is from or out but within this context he says I will keep, guard you, protect you.

It's that word I taught you last week, soldier standing guard at the gate, gate keeper. I will keep you. I will guard you and then that little word ek in the midst of the trials that are coming.

Can you hear the promise now? He's not taking us out. We're going to be right in there but he's going to be in there with us to guard us. Is it going to be hard? Yes.

Is it going to be difficult? Yes. Are we going to cry? Yes. But is he going to be there to hold me, to comfort me, to carry me through that? Yes, yes, and yes.

My favourite passage, I said it Tuesday at Bible study, Isaiah 43. When you go through the rivers of difficulty, I will be with you and you will not drown. When you go through the fire of oppression, I will be with you and the flames will not consume you.

I will be with you in the midst of the trials that are coming. Don't be afraid. We don't know when it's coming, folks, but it's coming.

But there's the promise. You're going to be okay. We would have loved to have said, well, it's going to be cool.

It's going to be the other people and we're going to be. No, we're all going to be there, but he's going to be there too. Let me add up.

Too much. I'm coming soon. We don't know when that soon is, but hold on to what you have so that no one will take your crown.

I told you the crown is Stephanos, and not a diadem or diadema. Stephanos was the victor's crown that you got when you ran the race and you were the one who won the race. A victor's crown.

Let no one take that crown. For the one who is victorious, I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Remember the old earthquakes? The only thing that helps is a strong pillar that cannot be moved.

I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God and never again will they leave it. I will write on you on these pillars. I will write on them the name of my God, the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God, chapter 21, and I will also write on them my new name.

Whoever has ears, let them listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will make you like a pillar that does not move, that is strong. Then I'll give you three names.

I will give you the name of my God, the name of the new city, and my new name. Comes from the Old Testament. Ted, there's the last slide that I sent you last.

Comes from kings. King Solomon built the temple, and when he built the temple, he got this man called Urim. He was from the tribe of... His mother was from the tribe of Naphtali.

His dad was from Tyre. He was an amazing coppersmith, and Solomon had him make these two huge pillars for the entrance of the temple, and that's what we read. Urim set the pillars at the entrance of the temple, one toward the south and one toward the north.

He named the one to the south Yahim. It's a sound in Hebrew, which means he establishes, and the one to the north Boaz, which means in him is strength. That's what they did.

They made these pillars, and they gave them names. Often they would make pillars, and they would put the faces of the Caesars or the people that they wanted to honour on the pillars. See what God says to us.

Those who hold on, those who hold on to me, who go through the trials, and who keep their victor's crown, who don't turn back, I am going to make you a pillar that will stand forever steadfast, and I'm going to give you a new name. Your name's not going to be drummer boy or boss man. It's going to be my child.

I'm going to give you my new name, the name of my God, and you will be welcome because you're going to be part of that new Jerusalem that will come down from heaven, and no earthquake, nothing in this world will move you ever. Whoever has ears to listen, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. What a promise.

What a promise. He starts off by saying, this is who I am. You can take me for who I am, and then he says, here's my promises to you.

I've opened the door to heaven. Run the race. Run with me.

No one can shut that door. Just keep running. I'm waiting for you, and when you go through that door, I'm going to stand there waiting for you with that victor's crown, and I'm going to call you a new name.

My child, redeemed, son, daughter of the Father, and there in that new Jerusalem, nothing will move you. You'll be like a pillar that I have planted steadfast, honoured, and loved. That's us.

That's you. That's God's gift. Amen.

Thank you for being holy and true. Help us, then, Lord, to be holy and true in how we live for you in this world. Help us as we pray this week and ask, Lord, what is the door that you are opening for us where we can be that portal, that witness in this church, but also in our own lives? What are the portals, the doors that you are opening for us at work, at school, in what we do? Where we can be a witness where people will see you and only you.

As we pray for that, Lord, give us guidance. Give us wisdom. We love you because you loved us before we even were created in this world.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.