For some people, it's easy to invite and host guests in your home. And then for others, that's really a point of stress. Just like sharing Jesus with others. Some people find it just very natural, and then others experience overwhelming anxiety.
Difficult to overcome. Well, up next on Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Yusef, words from Jesus to the Church in Philadelphia about being faithful to Christ and sharing his love. It's part of Dr. Yusef's inspiring series, God's Final Call. Now, before he begins, this quick reminder to learn more about Leading the Way and ways that you can join Dr. Yusef in passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth.
Do that at ltw.org or give us a call at 866-626-4356. Now, though, listen along as Dr. Michael Yusef begins Leading the Way. In today's letter of Jesus, the glorified, magnified Jesus in heaven, to the believers in the Church of Philadelphia, is about the open door. It's all about the open doors. Of all the seven letters, and we have already seen five of those, this is the sixth. This is the most delightful letter of all of them.
It's the most delightful letter. These people must have brought joy to the heart of Jesus. Because in this letter into the Church of Philadelphia, and that's not Pennsylvania, this is the Church Philadelphia in the age of minor, there is not a single sin in which he's chastising them for.
You don't find a compromise to point out to. You do not find false teaching that he's warning them against. There is no false teachers that they need to purge from their midst, as we've seen in the other churches and the other locations.
So now let me ask you to turn with me in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 3 beginning at verse 7. I want to tell you just a few important things about the city of Philadelphia in Asia Minor. The city of brotherly love.
Philadelphia was a crossroad of the region. In fact, it was called the gateway to the east, and so east and west meet in that town. It was a city, had many temples, and was founded in BC 189. 189 BC by King Attalus. King Attalus succeeded his older brother, King Eumenes of Pergamum. Out of deep love for his older brother, he loved his older brother whom he succeeded up to the throne. King Attalus named the city Philadelphia or brotherly love. It was a city that stood as a memorial for the love of a two brothers have for one another. But beyond all of that, it's because Philadelphia was strategically located, strategically placed as the gateway between the east and the west. The Greeks used it as a springboard. They used it being a gateway and being the way to the east. The Greeks used it to take and propagate the Greek culture, the Greek language, the Greek philosophy to the rest of the world. Some of you might be asking, well, why the Greeks were so anxious to export their philosophy and their culture and the language and and so on. And that's a great question.
And I'm really very happy to answer it. Because the Greeks back then considered themselves to be more sophisticated than the rest of the world. I mean, they were cut above. They are refined and have refined culture. And therefore they felt obligation to spread that kind of thought, that kind of philosophy to the rest of the world whom they called barbarians.
The Greeks back then thought everybody else other than the Greeks are just barbarians. And so the glorified Jesus, as we have been seeing in every one of those letters, what he does, he takes a cultural characteristic of the city. Something about that city, that that city is renowned for. And he takes that and he applies it to the church. Sometimes these characteristics are terrible. So he warns them against it.
Sometimes the characteristic is good. He tells them to use it. And so our precious Lord, in all seriousness, looks at the city, the city of Philadelphia, and he says, you are known. Your city is renowned for being a gateway to the east. So he takes this and he says to them, the glorified Jesus said to his church in Philadelphia, in effect, your city known for being a springboard from which you export Greek culture, Greek philosophy, and a Greek language. Your city is the gateway for preaching the gospel according to the Greek culture and the Greek philosophy.
Your city is known for being a missionary sending city of Greek thought to the rest of the world. Now, I have a far greater vision for you. I have a far greater message for you to propagate to the rest of the world. I have greater gospel than the Greek philosophy that you need to take to the ends of the world. Now, I have a much more serious message for you to take and spread around the world. Now, I have a far more tangible mission for you to undertake. Now, I'm placing in your heart, in your midst, and as your responsibility, a message of life and death, a message that you need to take to the rest of the world.
Please don't miss this. Christ's opening doors of opportunity that he's placing before them, it is for sharing of the gospel. And my beloved friends, right now, we have unique opportunities for sharing the gospel with our neighbors, with our friends, the great news, the best news. Who does not want to know that their sins are forgiven and they've been set free from guilt and sin? Who does not want to know that when they close their eyes in death, they can be assured of eternal life in heaven? That is the good news of the gospel, and that is the message we have.
And if there is a foundational verse in this letter, it's in verse 8, underline it in your own Bible. Behold, I have set before you an open door. Beloved, you know and I know that God always provides opportunities for us to share our faith.
God always opened doors that no one can shut. God always provides us with people who have open hearts and open eyes to hear the good news of the gospel. But the question is, listen to me, the question is, do we have the spiritual eyes to see it? Do we have the spiritual sensitivity to recognize it? Do we have the courage to seize the opportunity?
Are we willing to walk through these open doors that God has opened before us? Oh, to be sure, the believers in Philadelphia, they were facing many obstacles. They were facing many difficulties. They were facing opposition. They probably had their own weaknesses that contend with.
They probably had lots of handicap. They probably have lots of excuses as to why they cannot take advantage of these open doors. Here's a fact. These doors of opportunities will not remain open forever.
They will not remain open forever. Please listen to me. Every time I'm expressing an opinion, I let you know ahead of time that it's only an opinion. I would never put my own thoughts or my own ideas or my own opinion on par with, thus says the Lord. When I expound the Word of God, I'll tell you I'm expounding the Word of God.
But when I'm expressing an opinion, I only tell you ahead of time, so you know. And my beloved friends, in the West, we have a very narrow opportunity to share Christ, to proclaim the truth, to speak openly, to exercise our freedom. These opportunities are disappearing by the minute. We are losing our freedom to proclaim Christ so fast that now it could be just months, not years, before we lose it altogether. It might not be long before when we speak biblical truth can land preachers in jail as they do in parts of Europe. When sharing Christ with your co-worker or on your campus will be outlawed altogether.
When your witness will cause you to be arrested. I don't believe that we are too far from this unless God intervenes. Why do you think we're praying for God to intervene? Please, please, please, do not think that I'm exaggerating. I really am not. I, for one, already made my calculations. Already, I'm prepared for whatever comes. But why wait? Now is the time. This is the time. This is the time when we need to boldly and lovingly and thoughtfully proclaim Christ. The time is now.
The opportunity is now. The open door is here. Soon your witness will be outlawed. Soon your freedom will be curtailed. Soon the door will be closed. The door of opportunity will be shut.
Question, why are these doors that are open now for possibly the last time? Because Jesus is the only one who has the master key. That's why he has the keys of David.
He has a master key. He's the one who opened the door for these opportunities. And what does that mean?
That when we soon lose our freedom, when we soon lose our religious liberty, when we soon lose the chance to proclaim the gospel, it will be because Jesus shut that door. Not the politicians on the right or the left. Not the government. Not even those who are God haters. Not the militant groups.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. They are mere instruments in God's hand. You may be saying, Michael, but why? Why would God shut those doors?
I want to tell you why. Listen to me very carefully. What I'm giving you is from the Word of God. Because God has infinite patience with his unfaithful, slothful children.
But that patience is limited. It will soon come to an end. As if God is saying, you did not want to go to church. I will shut the churches with a virus. You don't want to witness? I will make it impossible and illegal to witness. You don't want to intercede and pray and walk through the doors that I have opened.
I will shut those doors. In other words, God gives us more of what we want. You read it in the scripture. In the first plagues in Egypt, Moses goes to Pharaoh back and forth and back and forth. And in the beginning it says, Pharaoh hardened his heart. And it kept saying, Pharaoh hardened his heart. And then a little while later, it says, God hardened Pharaoh's heart. What is happening? God is saying, Pharaoh, you harden your heart.
I'll give you more of what you want. Jesus is the one who has all authority. How much of the authority? Therefore go. That's what he said before he departed. He said, all authority in heaven and earth is mine.
Go! I remember clearly after September 11, the President of the United States said, we need to take the fight to the enemies. Why? Because he understood that to have victory you cannot only be on the defensive. You cannot only be on the defense. You have to go on the offensive. Beloved, it is the same in the spiritual warfare. It's the same in the spiritual with those heavenly beings. The Bible said, our fight is not with flesh and blood.
It's not with people, but it is with principalities and power. So many Christians are sitting on their blessed assurances and saying, oh, I'm under attack of Satan. I'm under attack of Satan.
Let me tell you something. If you're not under attack of Satan, you're not doing anything worthwhile. While in reality, we don't just sit there and say, Satan is attacking us. We need to storm Satan's stronghold. We need to invade Satan's territory. We need to go on the offensive and do it in the name of him who said, all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.
And therefore, I can invade Satan's territory. I can rescue the perishing. We can heal the wounded.
We can bind the broken hearts. And yes, we can set the captives free in Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name.
We don't have much time left. The enemies of the cross are constantly plotting. The enemies of the cross are constantly planning. The enemies of the cross are constantly strategizing. The enemies of the cross are deceiving so many unfaithful, weak Christians. And we have precious little time left to sit back and do nothing. Instead, instead, we're fighting with each other over some silly things. Silly things. Families are divided.
Churches are divided. And Satan is loving it. He's loving it.
He's loving in his sleeves. The door will be shut. The opportunity will disappear.
The favor we have now will be no more. But I need to hasten and say to the faithful, obedient, conquering believer who will walk through these open doors, the resurrected Jesus, the glorified Jesus, the mighty Jesus, gives a threefold promise. Threefold promise. I want you to look with me in the scripture. The church in Philadelphia had three major obstacles. Don't miss that.
Don't miss that. See, those things are not wasted on Jesus. He names the three major obstacles, and then he immediately gives them a threefold promise. First of all, they had little strength of their own. They were timid, they were reluctant, they were fearful. And secondly, the religious fanatics, the religious zealots, were persecuting them, and they're turning them to their enemies, to the authorities.
And thirdly, they have a huge threat hanging over their head. This huge tribulation is coming. And persecution is coming, and that is why our resurrected, glorified Jesus gave them threefold promises to match every one of those three challenges.
Only if they walk through the open doors, only if they shake off the reluctance and go forward in obedience, only then, only then, he'll bless these faithful believers. Before I get to the threefold promise, I want to point something to you. Those of you who have it in your Bible, you can underline it. Every one of those threefold promises, I will, I will, I will.
You notice that? Say those with me. I will, I will, I will. I will vindicate you. I will protect you. I will keep you in the hollows of my hand.
I will ensure very heaven itself for you. You know, I meet people all the time who are worried sick about their safety and their securities. They're worried about their children.
They're worried about their grandchildren. Jesus promised that when we are faithful, when we are obedient, when we walk through the doors that he opens, he said, I will ensure your eternal safety. Nobody can touch you. Look at verse 10 with me. Because you have kept my word, I will keep you. Because you have kept my word, I will keep you. You have Jesus' own word on it. Because you proclaimed my word, I will put a hedge of protection around you from enemies' attack. And secondly, he said, I will make these faithful, obedient believers who conquer in my name to be pillars in God's temple.
Why do you say that? Philadelphia was filled with temples. Filled with temples.
And they know what these temples will look like. They all have pillars inside of those temples. Because these pillars spill out stability. These pillars spill out permanence. These pillars spill out immovability. These pillars spill out honor that can only come from God. See, pagan temples, when they build these pillars, they carve them in such a way as to honor a particular deity. A particular deity, one of the gods. And Jesus is saying to the faithful, obedient, conquering believers that they will have an eternal honor, not just a temporary one. But that's not all. Thirdly, to the faithful, conquering, obedient believers will not only live in safety, security, inner peace and contentment.
Not only here, but also all the way in heaven. But ultimately, Christ will give that person a new name. He's going to give that faithful person a new identity.
Why is he saying this? Because you see, the city of Philadelphia changed names about two or three times. Every time there's a new emperor in Rome and they want to ingratiate themselves to the new emperor, they change the name of their city. To honor the emperor.
And hear Christ saying that he will shower them with a new name which is filled with his favor and great honor. My beloved friends, I want to conclude by telling you a true story. Many years ago, I read it. It took place in the early 20th century. There was a dear lady in England who dreamed of taking a train ride to see the countryside. Never been on a train.
Remember those are the days when trains were not as prevalent as they are now. And one day, she had a chance to fulfill her dream. And so she went on a train and when she got to her seat, she got busy arranging and rearranging her luggage. And then she took some time to try to adjust the shade just to get them right. Then she got into an argument with the conductor. And by the time she sat down to enjoy the ride, her station was called.
Her station was called and had to get off. Now, let me appeal to you. Do not get too bogged down and preoccupied with superficialities of life. The time is short. Don't get too preoccupied with the fleeting and the temporary. Trust God. He will do far more greater than you can imagine if you put your trust in him.
Give him room to work. Don't get too preoccupied with silly things that divide us and make Satan rejoice. Soon the train of life reaches its destination and regret washes over you regarding wasted opportunity. Don't let that happen. I plead with you. Come to the Lord now. Seize the opportunity now. Go through the open doors now. Experience his victory now. Now the Bible often says now is the hour. Now is the time.
Don't put it off. Thank you for taking time to listen to the Bible teaching of Dr. Michael Yussa on the program known around the world as Leading the Way. Maybe it will be helpful for you to spend a few moments chatting with one of Leading the Way's pastors or counselors about spiritual things. You can reach out at ltw.org slash Jesus. Well, I'm sure you've noticed the cost of living has skyrocketed.
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At post office, Box 201100, Atlanta, Georgia, 30325. Well, time for me to say goodbye, but thank you for being with us today and do accept this invitation to join Dr. Michael Youssef right here next time for more powerful words from Jesus to the seven churches and to Christians Today, right here on Leading the Way. This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth around the world. Learn more at ltw.org.
