Revelation 3:7-13

(Revelation 3:7-13)

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 an 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; behold, 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, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

It is the Philadelphia church that received the sixth letter. Philadelphia is a city on the border of Mysia, Brugia, and Lydia, and as a gateway connecting the East and the West, it had the largest road in the world at that time. The city was very active in the viticulture and wine industry, and because of its many temples, it was nicknamed Little Athens. A.D. In 17 years, a major earthquake in Asia Minor devastated more than 10 cities, including Philadelphia.

 

Unlike other cities that were arising from the reconstruction project, the citizens of Philadelphia, who felt uneasy by the continued aftershocks, left the city and scattered across the fields and plains. Even if I was in the city center, when I felt aftershocks, I was in a hurry to leave the city and an uneasy life continued. In this situation, the Philadelphia Church, which continued its life of faith, was the least influential of the seven churches in Asia Minor. Jesus spoke to them. 『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 an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little 』

The Philadelphia Church, located at the gateway to the East and West, probably knew better than anyone what it meant to open and close. What He has open cannot be closed, and if He has closed, no one can open it. For the Philadelphia Church, God declares that all the doors of the world have been opened. It is the gate of the gospel. God's evaluation of the Philadelphia church is small. The Philadelphia Church was a church with little power. It was not an influential community located in the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamum, and could not handle any missionary work. Nevertheless, the church kept Jesus' words and did not betray Jesus' name.

At that time, the Jewish synagogue served as a channel for keeping and delivering the Word of God. After the Babylonian captivity, the promised people, who struggled to keep the tradition of the Word, began to change gradually. When Jesus, the Lord of the Word, preached the word in the synagogue, people put their tradition first, and even in the face of the gospel given through Paul, people tried to protect their interests with tradition. So, in Jesus' letter to Philadelphia, the synagogue, which should be the synagogue of the Lord, is expressed as the synagogue of Satan. Satan's synagogue falsely confuses people in order to protect their own interests.

The number of churches preaching false gospels will be countless. Among them, the most important were misunderstandings and prejudices about the gospel and the law. They accepted the gospel, but keeping the law was also considered an important attitude of faith. This is because the law is also the word of God, and in particular, keeping the Ten Commandments is the most natural command of God. Even today, this attitude of most churches has not changed. God commanded the Israelites to keep the law. So they valued it like life and tried to protect it. However, if they did not comply with even one of the laws, they always sacrificed animals by killing them. In other words, it was necessary to keep the law, but it was impossible to keep it.

The most important purpose of God's giving the law to the people was to make them aware of their sins. Realize their sins and find Christ in the law. So, God is telling them to enter into the gospel of Christ. To discover the tree of life hidden in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When people accept the gospel, they ask, is it no longer necessary to keep the law? It is not that we do not have to keep the law, but God recognizes that those who have entered into the faith of Jesus Christ have kept all the law. For that to happen, we must be united with Jesus Christ, who died to the law, and the saints must also become dead to the law.

For example, regarding the stipulation of the Ten Commandments, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” people consciously try to love, saying that they must love because there is a provision to love. The meaning of loving your neighbor here is raising the dead spirits to life. In order to save the spirit, you must do it with your body. There is no one in this world who can love his neighbor as himself. However, if he fails to do this, he is breaking the Ten Commandments. So he became mortal to God, and in order to get out of that situation, he had to sacrifice animals by killing them. The dead animal becomes the sinner. However, because Jesus Christ died on the cross, there is no need for sacrifices anymore.

As we remember the meaning of this regulation, we must think about the justification we need to keep the spirit alive. The saints go beyond the details of the regulations and participate in the work of saving the spirits of their neighbors through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The sense of legal obligation to keep these detailed regulations disappears because Jesus Christ has already died to the law, and the power of the Holy Spirit takes its place. It's not about keeping the rules with a sense of duty, but with the power of the Holy Spirit to break free from the rules and treat others with spiritual freedom.

The fact that believers are obliged to pay tithing, which is one of the laws, is not viewed as such a rule of duty, but with the heart of the Holy Spirit. So, it is no longer a tithe of duty, but a gift of love.

Also, that believers should repent of their sins every day and ask for forgiveness, nor do they view sins in a sense of duty or compulsion to repent of their sins. Since God has freed the saints from sin through Jesus Christ, we must approach God while thinking about the essence of that sin. The essence of sin is the old man's greed to become like God. It is to die with Jesus for sin.

If a believer does not become dead to sin, but believes that he is inevitably sinning every day, confesses his sins every day and asks for forgiveness, he is not dead to sin and it won't believes in the word of God's new covenant.

If someone tells you to stop worrying about sin and free yourself from sin in the church of the world, from that moment on, he will be treated as a heretic. Who is right? They will really be put to the test. Man is bound to sin, so must he daily repent of his sins and ask for forgiveness? So, does God forgive sins when we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness every day, as if we were reciting a mantra? Or, will you believe that Jesus Christ took all the sins of the world and went to the kingdom of God, so that he died with Jesus to sin and that he became a free man freed from sin? Which one is the one who keeps the word of perseverance?

Saints must be rooted in the cross and resurrection. But the order is important. The cross comes first. There can be no resurrection without the cross. The cross is the pinnacle of patience. The Lord's words to the Philadelphia Church were words of patience. And he said that the crown of joy that comes after the final exam and the joy of resurrection are the privileges of believers that no one can take away. In particular, Jesus gave the Philadelphia members a specific reward. 『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. 』

In Philadelphia, which was devastated by earthquakes and aftershocks, every time emergency funds from various leaders were put in various places in the city center, new buildings were built and often named by the leader's name. The names of those who contributed financially were engraved on each pillar of the building. However, buildings that were proud of their majesty collapsed without any doubt before the earthquake and the years, and their names were scattered on the floor. The saints who watched this situation would have known the fleetingness of the world and the fleetingness of the names of lives engraved there. So, the New Jerusalem, to be created anew in heaven, came to them in a different meaning. The promise to be a pillar of God's temple and to record the eternal name of Jesus was the best gift and crown for the Philadelphia members.