“Faithful by Patience- Philadelphia: Rev. 3:7-13 8-5-07 Dr. J. Ben Sloan
Of all the seven churches mentioned in the book of Revelation, Philadelphia is the most commended. It would be easy to be a member of Philadelphia. God is opening the door of Philadelphia to bear fruit for Him. Philadelphia was a gateway city- maybe that is why Jesus speaks of an open door that no one can shut. It sat on the border of three countries- Mysia, Lydia, and Phrygia. It was built to be an ambassador of Greek cultures- kind of like a welcome center city to Greek language and culture. By the time of Jesus, it had done its job well and Greek was the culture and language of all of Asia Minor. So these words, originally written in Greek, could be understood by all seven churches.
I read something from the U.S. Department of Transportation that the annual cost to Americans of running red lights in terms of medical bills, car repairs, and tickets is $10 billion dollars. It then said that the average time saved by running red lights was 50 seconds. In our fast-paced society it is hard to have patience.
S. Truett Cathy of Chic Fil A once said, “I believe God wants us to be successful ... and yet success is not always obvious. The Chinese bamboo tree does absolutely nothing--or so it seems--for the first four years. Then suddenly, sometime during the fifth year, it shoots up ninety feet in sixty days. Would you say that bamboo tree grew in six weeks, or five years? I think our lives are akin to the Chinese bamboo tree. Sometimes we put forth effort, put forth effort, and put forth effort ... and nothing seems to happen. But if you do the right things long enough, you'll receive the rewards of your efforts.” This letter to Philadelphia commends the church and encourages it to patiently endure.
PATIENT BECAUSE GOD IS THE DOOR CLOSER- (not us).
God shuts doors in life. God has the ability, the right, and frankly should shut doors on occasion. It is not right, I believe for God to make someone go to His heaven when that person doesn’t want to go there. I really believe that God tries to reach every human being on earth with His love. But that too many refuse his offer of an open door. There is a time, it is a long time in coming, but there will be a time when the door will be shut. Maybe we harden our own hearts to God. If we keep telling God no, it becomes a habit- a bad habit. If God opens a door for you to a new ministry, to a way for you to glorify Him and you are continually saying to God, “I’ve got more important things to do than to answer your call…” One day He will quit calling.
God also shuts doors not only to His love and presence, but also to different things in life. God opens and shuts the doors of opportunity as well.
When God shuts a door, we should not try to force it open.
It really shows a lack of patience for us to say, “Hurry up and open the door to my opportunity in my timing, in my way.”
How do you discern the will of God? If you can’t do it, it is not God’s will and
you should have no regrets. On the other hand, God sometimes open doors.
I have talked to some people who tell me they’re trying to determine which direction they ought to go. Door number one is shut tight, door number two is open but it goes against scripture, while door number three is open. Really for a Christian this is an easy choice. As a general principle, we should remember to go with the door that is open that is in accordance with God’s revealed will.
PATIENT BECAUSE GOD IS THE DOOR OPENER- (not us).
Congregations get in trouble when they try to shut a door God has opened.
1) God opens the door to a breath of fresh air. The words that will kill a church are “We’ve never done it like that before.” This church, is thirty years old, and I think we should pride ourselves on our ability to try new things and to be creative in serving the Lord in new ways.
2) God opens the door to all people. There is no sign on our door that says, “You’re not welcome here.” If there is an invisible sign there- would someone take it down? The Bible says in Revelation, “Whosoever will- let them come and drink freely of the water of the river of life.”
PATIENT BECAUSE OF OUR NEED TO ENDURE-
Patient endurance is what he talks about here. This is taking things one step at a time. There is a church rising above the Danube River named Weissenkirk. It has 365 steps to it- one for each day of the year. And the lesson is clear: we must take life one step at a time. We grow in faith- by facing one struggle at a time, one victory at a time. It is when we try to face all our future struggles in the present that we lose the ability to endure and to have patience. God is the great teacher, and we should not want to quit our lesson early to go out to recess all the time. We often talk about the patience of Job- it is because Job did not give up his faith despite his trials. We could talk more about the patience of Jesus who patiently taught the disciples, and patiently endured even the cross.
PATIENT BECAUSE GOD IS BUILDING US- (11,12) PBPWMGIFWMY
1) God will make them Pillars in His House- Maybe you have heard the expression- they are a pillar in the church. That means they are part of the main structure that hold up the church. God says because they are both loving and obedient- and endure patiently- He will make them pillars of his temple in heaven. How do you get to be a pillar in the church? By patiently coming, faithfully serving.
2) He is inscribing something on them- a God and a Home and God’s name-
There will be no doubt- it will be permanent.
I have an old picture I inherited from my parents. It’s not much of a picture- just a bunch of flowers, nicely done. But it is autographed by the painter. That’s what makes this ordinary picture extraordinary, and worth not 5.95 but $595. You can get a Van Gogh print at the dime store for $5. But if you had an autographed Van Gogh print- it would be worth $10,000. The fact is, when we are patiently faithful to God, He inscribes and seals His name on us- not that we can see it—but it is there nonetheless. You may feel like your life is worthless. Maybe your parents didn’t love you the way you should have been loved. Maybe your friends reject you. Maybe someone at work who said they were your friend betrayed you. But if you believe in God and give your heart, your life to Him- He makes you worth more than anything. He inscribes His name on you!
Today we will have communion. The grape is not grown overnight. It takes patience to nurture the vine, tend the vineyard, let the grapes ripen, and the best wine ages. One of my early lessons in life was eating scuphanons when they were not ripe and paying for it with a big tummyache. Bread also is not made over night. The field must be plowed, the grain planted, nurtured, and only when the grain is ripe should it be harvest, mixed with other ingredients and baked. We live in an instant society where we can buy grape juice and bread off of the grocery store shelf. It is perhaps, harder for us to learn the lesson of patience in life. But God is indeed the doorkeeper of your life, let his work ripen slowly in you.
“Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test those who live on earth.”