Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today.
Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world so that all may know Christ. The Church at Philadelphia today. Why are we doing a series on seven churches? You know, as we're going through giving you facts, teaching you some things about these churches we might not have known, it can almost feel a little bit like, hey, pastors answering questions we never even asked. Why do we care about these seven churches? Why do we whatever?
Here's why. Because all the way back when Jesus talked to these churches, saved this information for us in letter form through the preservation of God's Word, it's that important. And the message to these seven churches is a message to us. It's a message to churches and it's the job that we should have been doing all these years. America is in the shape it's in because churches dropped the ball.
And all the way back, all these years ago, God gave instructions to the church. This is what you need to do. When you face this, this is what you need to do. When you face that, this is what you need to do. You need to stand firm. You need to stay faithful. You need to keep at it. You need to make sure you don't get turned away with false doctrine.
All these things. And I want to prove my point here this morning because I think that in context, maybe we would understand these seven churches, understand why this is so important to us today. And as I'm getting ready to deal with the Church of Philadelphia, this is why. And on June 18th this summer, June 18th, a man, and they have withheld his last name and I certainly understand that, a man named Michael, he's from Alexandria, Virginia, is a truck driver. And on Interstate 10 in New Mexico, and I have driven that exact route, Interstate 10. I've taken Interstate 10 from the west to the east.
I've taken Interstate 40 from the west to the east. A lot of truck drivers in our church, they understand. But he was in New Mexico at a truck stop. And he noticed something a little bit different that all of a sudden out of the restrooms, a man and a woman were leading out about 15 children out of that truck stop, 1 o'clock in the morning, dark out, and was walking them out and they parked out in the back. They had a pickup truck with a huge big tarp over it. And they kind of led those children out and picked up that tarp and made those children get up under that tarp. And this truck driver named Michael said he thought it looked like cages under that tarp.
And he said, you know, I didn't know what to do. And so he called 911 and said, listen, I really think these people have kidnapped these children. I think there's cages under this truck.
I might be wrong. And the authorities said, listen, do your best to follow them till we can get there. And so he has a semi-truck. They had a pickup truck. And to the best of his ability, he stayed behind them until they got to an area out there where they just went faster. He kept on the phone with police. But police got enough information from him long enough as he followed them that they ended up getting this truck. Sure enough, they had, I believe, 16 children in cages in the back of that truck under a tarp that they were selling for trafficking and different things. And families, these children all were able to be sent back to their homes. Did you ever hear about it?
Did that show up on NBC? Yeah, God forbid. Folks, America's messed up.
They don't want you to know the junk that's going on. No, I'm not up here in the politics. Listen, but I believe Christians should be aware of politics. You ought to vote biblically.
You ought to do your best. But what I'm sitting here saying is this, the reason America is in this kind of shape, where we can find 18 kids being trafficking and uncovered, and that doesn't even hit local news, let alone national news. Let me tell you what's going on. The churches are not listening. So what I am sharing in these seven churches is of utmost importance to Kerwin Baptist Church. It's because churches for years have not done what he put right here. And we've had all these hundreds of years to read this and study this and to follow it, but we're not. That man through the Trucker Association was given the Angel of the Year Award for uncovering this child compensation ring and different things that they did, and it led to some other things and other arrests, and nobody in America has about heard about it, because the news won't cover it, because it's going on all around us. And I don't know about you, I think it's time that churches wake up.
Having said that, let's pray, and let's look at Revelation chapter 3. Lord, I love you. Thank you for all that you've done. I pray you'd help us today.
This is very important. Lord, I'm not mad at anybody. I'm mad at Satan. I'm mad at the devil. Lord, I pray you'd help us. In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen. The church at Philadelphia. This gets a lot of air time because of Philadelphia. Philadelphia, where this church was, was located about 28 miles southeast of the church at Sardis that we've covered. Now, the church at Philadelphia, its name combines two Greek words. One's for love and one's for brother. So that's why the term Philadelphia, even in Pennsylvania, is termed the city of brotherly love. I have been to Philadelphia.
I don't buy it. Now, I've told you here, I know I'll repeat things every once in a while, but if you weren't here and did, my dad was preaching downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania one time, and I rode with my dad. He didn't take our trailer in.
He was just preaching on a Wednesday night. So I was sitting in our van, and, you know, we had tinted windows on the van. And we're sitting there early, got into the city to beat traffic, and we're waiting there.
That church is right downtown. And while we were sitting in the van in Philadelphia, three young men came and lifted up the hood trying to steal the battery out of my dad's van. And we were in it.
They didn't see that we were in it. They just immediately came over, and they picked up the hood, and they were in there, and I'm looking at my dad like, what are you going to do? And dad just had like a little quarter smile. He was just waiting until they got in there real good. And about the time that third head went in there, my dad went, BONK! And those guys jumped out, and it was the first time in my life I've seen you downtown, you see these like double-height chain-link fences, you know, that they'll have basketball courts and stuff.
Those three guys hit that, and in two moves were over a double fence. I mean, they just know how to do it downtown. And I thought, the City of Brotherly Love, trying to rob your car while you're sitting inside of it. This church at Philadelphia was an interesting study, and here's why. This place Philadelphia was known for its vineyards, its production of wine. And so Philadelphia, the city, began to worship Dionysus. It's literally the god of wine. And Philadelphia was also prone to earthquakes.
It was a very unstable region. And the king of Pergamum founded the city of Philadelphia in 189 BC. The reason I tell you that, I looked it up, is because he loved his brother, and he had great loyalty to his brother. And so when the king founded the city, he called it Philadelphia because he loved his own brother.
That's where the roots in the history of Philadelphia come from. So let's begin in verse 7. As all of them, first, Jesus gives this church a description of himself. Now, probably when we cover the last one, I'm going to take some time on that last message just to combine all the descriptions that Jesus gives of himself. I've covered it every Sunday that we have done this, and Jesus gives a little bit more information about himself, and a little bit more information just for you to get to know him better. Just the descriptions that Jesus gives of himself, that's a whole sermon.
I mean, it's fantastic just to think about this is the savior that we get to serve. Notice verse 7. And unto the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, these things saith he that is, he that is, Jesus is saying this is what I am, 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. Wow, what a description.
So where do we start? Well, first, I want you to see the first description. He says, he is he that is holy and true. Verse 7, he that is holy, he that is true. Now, in his letter to the church, Jesus identifies and describes himself as holy and true.
Now, these two characteristics are very significant. Because Jesus is holy, he cannot lie. He can't lie because he's holy. So he is, so you say, well, OK, he said I'm holy and true. His holiness is the reason that he has truthfulness. Because he is a holy God, he cannot lie. And that means whatever he says to this church, you can bank on it.
Whatever he says is true. Hebrews chapter 7 tells us that Jesus is a better high priest than the priest of Israel. And verse 26 says the reason why is because Jesus as a high priest is holy, he's innocent, he's unstained, he's separated from sinners, he's exalted above the heavens. In John 14, 6, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. He is holy and he is true. And because he's holy, he can only tell the truth. He will only ever tell the truth because he cannot lie. So if it's in this word, it's true. He says, first off, just so you know what I'm getting ready to say, you can bank on it. Notice secondly, he says he that hath the key of David.
What an interesting description. The mention of David puts this verse in what we call messianic context. It brings the fact that Jesus was the Messiah and from here the lineage of David. We know the Bible says that the Messiah would come from the line of David. And that means this, the mention of David tells us something here, that one day Jesus will exercise his authority to allow saved individuals, both Gentiles and Jews, to enter heaven, the earthly kingdom. Jesus has the key.
Why? Because Jesus is the key. What does it mean? A key opens the door to allow somebody in. Let me tell you what else a key does.
A key locks a door so that someone can't get in. Jesus is the key to heaven. He is telling this church, if you want to get to heaven, it's through me. But if you want to get to heaven and it's not through me, I have locked the door because I am the key of David. Of David, because Jesus is the son of David.
He has right to the royal line. He has the key of David. He not only is the key, but he's of the lineage of David. And dear folks, I want to remind you again today, you don't go to heaven through any other way but Jesus Christ. Nobody else said they're the key.
He's the key. It's only through Jesus. Dear friend, if you've been at church and you've been faithful to church and you've been around church your whole life and your grandpa was a preacher, boy, have I heard that one. I don't know who was in church years ago. Everybody's grandpa was a preacher. I think they were just all preachers. Mine was a bartender, you know. I'll be honest about mine. I had one that was a drunk, one that was a bartender. That was my grandpa's. I guess they were the ones everybody else's grandpa was trying to preach to, I guess.
I don't know. Apparently he didn't do any good. Jesus is the key of David. He has the key.
He is the key. Notice, thirdly, he says he that opens and shuts the door. What a description of Jesus Christ.
Look what it says. He that openeth and no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth. No man openeth. What God opens, nobody can shut, and what God shuts, nobody can open. May I remind you about the ark? The Bible doesn't say that Noah ever closed the door of that ark. God shut the door.
There was no handle on the inside. God opened it to make it available, but when he shut it, no man. And thousands, as they were being flooded, thousands were trying to get in that ark, but the door was shut. And I'm saying this right now, the door is open to salvation. But the moment Jesus comes back for the church, the door will be shut.
He that opens and shuts the door. Listen, Jesus has the key to the door. Jesus can open it. Jesus can shut it.
May I say this? Jesus is the only way to heaven. But what's important here, this church needed to know that when Jesus opens a door, nobody can shut it. And when Jesus shuts a door, nobody can open it. And that's what you need to know today.
I don't care what things look like in your life. If God wants to open a door for you, he'll open a door. We've got people sitting right here today that I am praying that they find jobs. They've lost their jobs.
They're looking for jobs. We all know the market and different things. It's different nowadays, and we know that. But can I tell you something?
I don't care how things look, and I don't care how few jobs there are, and I don't care what stacks against you. Listen, when Jesus wants to open a door, he can open it. You need to know that about your Savior. There's nothing that's too hard for him, nothing that's too big for him, nothing that's too great for him.
He can open up waters in the Red Sea, and he can shut the waters and swallow and drown an entire army if he wants to. That's our God. Notice not just the description, but in verse 8 we see the evaluation. In verse 8 he says this, I know thy works, a common theme. Behold, I have set before thee an open door. Now notice what did he just say? I'm the God who can open a door that nobody can shut, and I'm the God who can shut a door that nobody can open.
So in the next verse he says, listen, I know your works. I know what you're going through. I know what you've done. I know what you've struggled with. I know the odds that are against you. I know the difficulty that you faced. I know the temptation that Satan has thrown at you. I know you. I know your works. I know what's going on.
What did he say? I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. I don't care how bad it looks for you right now. Church at Philadelphia, I know that things are looking bad, and I know that all this false doctrine and false religion going on around you. I know it looks rough right now, but I am telling you this. I will open a door for you, and nobody can shut it.
I don't care if the whole world changes. You stay right, and I'll keep a door open for you. Here's what I find. Look what he says. For thou hast a little strength.
What did he say? You're getting tired. You're weary. I know what you're going through right now.
You're worn out. He says, and has kept my word, and has not denied my name. Three things I want you to see. These are principles within this evaluation that Jesus gives to this church. You need to write these down according to the verse.
Number one is this. God always makes a way even when you're tired. God makes a way when you're tired. He said, listen, I know you, and I know that you only have a little strength left, but I'm going to open a door for you, and no man can shut it.
And I want you to know something, Coram Baptist Church, even when you get tired, even when you get worn out in your life, and you keep facing the battles, and you keep trying to lead your family right, and you keep trying to resist all the winds of change coming at us, and all that, listen, you just stay faithful. I don't care what things look like, and I don't care how tired and weary you get. God's promised that even when you've only got a little bit of strength left, He can open a door that nobody can shut. Number two, God makes a way not just when you are tired, God makes a way when you share the truth.
He said, you've kept My Word. Let me tell you something, God's always going to make a way for you when you keep His Word. God's not going to leave you and forget about you and just, you know, let you go through whatever by yourself.
No, no, no, no. God said, let me tell you something, church, you've kept My Word, and I'm always going to keep a door open for you. Because it's My Word.
Look at me. He's the one that can shut doors and open them. And He promised them, you keep My Word, I'll keep the door open. Can I tell you something? There's been a whole lot of things come out of Kerwin Baptist Church in 81 or 82 years.
A whole lot of things. But I want to tell you one thing. It comes down to this. God has kept these doors open. God has kept these doors open. I want you to notice, thirdly, according to this verse, God makes a way when you're tired, God makes a way when you share the truth. Number three, God makes a way when you are going through testing, when you've been tested. What did He say here? He said, I know that you have a little strength, you've kept My Word, you've not denied My name.
What was popular there in Philadelphia? They all were going to false doctrine. He says, no, listen, you've been tested and you've stayed faithful in the testing.
And when you stay faithful, church, amid the testing, God always makes a way. I want you to notice, thirdly, we see the accusation. You say, oh, this church had an accusation. No, not the church.
Let's look at it. Look at verse 9. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan. Remember, as we have heard this before in the couple churches that we've covered, what a name for a church, the synagogue of Satan.
Wouldn't you love to see that little brochure in the paper? 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. This is the second time in the letters to the seven churches that the synagogue of Satan has been mentioned.
And it's the fourth time Satan's been referenced. Apparently, the Jews at Philadelphia, just like the Jews at Smyrna, had made life hard for the believers. It's not a blanket reference to Judaism. It's to a certain group, to certain people. And many times, these little groups tried to take believers and make them abide by Jewish law. They tried to bring back the law, bring back requirement, bring back all the rules that you had to follow instead of salvation by grace through faith.
But apparently, the church at Philadelphia had hung on and stayed faithful. And God promises here. He compels them. He said, I will make them to come and worship before Thy feet.
It looks bad for you. You're the minority right now, but Jesus says the day is going to come. You will no longer be the minority. You will be the majority.
You say, why is that? Because you and God makes a majority. Philippians chapter 2 verse 9, I want you to see this verse. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, Jesus, and given Him a name which is above every name. Now listen to this promise, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.
Of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. What is He promising this church? He's promising this church what He's promising you.
Look at me. Listen, they can say what they want to say. They can ridicule us, make fun of us. They can make fun of Jesus, joke about Jesus, lie about Jesus, all you want to. But the day is going to come that they will bow and they will confess that Jesus is Lord. It's already happened.
It's as if it's already taken place. Now I want you to notice the commendation. Look at verse 10. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which, notice this, shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth.
Philadelphia and Smyrna are the only churches that there was no accusation against. Instead, He commends them for their patient endurance. And because of their patience, because they endured, He makes this promise. Now you look at me coming back to church because this is very important doctrine here I want you to get. He makes this promise.
And what was the promise? He says, I will keep thee from the hour of temptation. What is the hour of temptation? It is literally a reference to the tribulation, the seven-year tribulation. And we believe that this church, and there might be some that believe different, I believe you can believe different, still be saved. It's not a salvation doctrine.
It's just a Bible doctrine. Some believe that Jesus is going to come back in the middle of the tribulation. It's called mid-tribulation. Some believe that Jesus is going to come for the church after the tribulation, which is called post-tribulation. Here at our church, we believe in the pre-tribulation rapture of the church, which we believe that Jesus will come to get His church before the tribulation starts.
There's a lot of reasons why we believe that. The Bible says no man knows when he comes. If he comes in the middle of the tribulation, we're going to know when he's coming. But I want you to notice this verse.
Please look at this. Jesus promises, if you stay faithful, He says, I will keep you from. This is a Greek word which means out of the tribulation.
Now please hear me. It's literally translated the Greek word from ek, meaning out of. Unlike other forms of hardship, God promises to be with us or to keep us through it or to be with us in it. But when it comes to the tribulation, He said, I will take you out of it.
I will keep you from it. It means this, that Jesus is saying, I am going to get you out of here before the tribulation starts. Now I know about you coming back to church.
You ought to be grateful for that. I'm glad He's keeping me from it, not just going to give me strength during it. If we were going to be here during the tribulation, He couldn't have said it this way. It would have to be a totally different Greek word.
It would have to be a totally different sentence. He would have to say, I'm going to be faithful with you through it. I'm going to go through it with you. But He says, I'm going to keep you from it. What a promise from the Word of God. Listen, He's made this promise to the churches. Be faithful. Stay faithful.
Stay firm. Don't follow all this other mess, because when the tribulation comes, they're going to be in the mess. You're going to be out of here. I want you to notice in verse 11, He gives us the recommendation. He says, behold, I come quickly. Now, Jesus promises here to come soon. This Greek word here where He says quickly means that it's going to happen suddenly. It doesn't necessarily mean a short time from now, because this has been hundreds and hundreds of years ago that He said this.
When He says, I come quickly means when He comes, it's going to happen quickly, in a moment, in an instant, before you could even realize it. We're out of here. I don't know about you. I'm ready for it.
You say, I'm ready for it too. Are you? Are you saved? Not, are you a good person? Are you saved? Have you the key to Heaven? Have you put your faith and trust in Jesus, the key of David? I don't know about you.
I haven't. I'm ready for it. I'm ready for Him to come at any time. He says, behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast which thou hast.
Notice. The greatest news that anyone can receive is the news of the free gift of salvation found in Jesus Christ. It is our desire for you to know Him personally.
Would you take a moment to hear this today? Every man is born with a sin nature. Romans 3.23 says, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
No matter how hard we try, we're not good enough to obtain God's glory or to get to Heaven. Because of that, sin carries the penalty of death. Romans 6.23 says, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The wages of our sin, or the payment of our sin, only equals death and separation from God. But it's only through God's gift of salvation through Jesus Christ that we can accept Him as our Savior.
Jesus Christ paid for your sin debt. The Bible says in Romans 5.8, But God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. All you have to do is receive Christ by faith as your Savior. Romans 10.9 says, That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Verse 13 continues, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. It's as simple as admitting that you're a sinner, believing that Jesus is the only way, and calling upon His name. The Bible says whosoever, that's anyone, can call upon the name of the Lord to be saved. Have you accepted Christ as your personal Savior? There is no greater day than today to take care of this. Would you accept Christ as your Savior? If you have any questions, please give us a call at 336-993-5192 or visit our website at corwinbaptistchurch.com or visit us at person at one of our three service times. We hope you have a great rest of your day. God bless you.
