Revelation chapter 3 and our verse 8. Revelation 3 and verse 8, the Lord's words to the church in Philadelphia. He says, I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. For thy hast a little strength, and hath kept my word. and has not denied my name." But looking today at the church that had a little strength, of the seven churches in Asia mentioned here in Revelation, Philadelphia is the sixth in that list to receive a word from the Lord. chapter 1 of Revelation, and verse 11, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. What thou seest, write in a book, and send it on to the seven churches which are in Asia, unto Ephesus, unto Smyrna, unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia. And on to Laodicea. The word that was given and came from the Lord was to be given to the angel of each church. The word angel there means messenger or minister. And so, the word was given by the Lord to the minister. of each of the seven churches, they in turn were to deliver that word to their congregations. And of course, that's the way that it ought to be. The minister, as he stands before his congregation, must have a word from the Lord. He must get that word from the Lord. as the minister in the church of Philadelphia received a word from the Lord and he gave it to his congregation. Sadly today, with the use of the internet and computers, ministers will get their word from the internet and they'll maybe go on some site of sermons and there they'll have no work to do. All the outlines are there. And all the details are there. And they have the whole thing done in half an hour. They're not getting the Word from the Lord. When you get a Word from the Lord, you'll spend a lot more time than half an hour. And you'll spend the time not before the computer, but you'll spend it before the throne of grace and before God's Word. And so the ministers in the churches in Asia received the Word from the Lord. The name Philadelphia, I'm sure you're aware of, Philadelphia means brotherly love. And so the church in Philadelphia was the church of brotherly love. We have the city in the States, in Pennsylvania, the city of Philadelphia. It's called the city of brotherly love. But regarding this church of brotherly love, Once again, that should be the testimony of every Bible-believing church. In that sense, all our churches should be churches of Philadelphia, because we ought to be churches of brotherly love, where we have a love, one for each other. 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 18. Paul says, when you come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you, and I partly believe it. The first letter to the church in Corinth sent by Paul was to correct a lot of the errors in the church in Corinth. and also to deal with the divisions and the schisms that were in the church. Some said they were of Paul. Some said they were of Apollos. Some said they were of Christ. And Paul here says, when you come together in the church, and that's the problem. Here you find that the divisions made their way into the church. When you come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you, and I partly believe it. May we never have divisions in this church. May this be the church of brotherly love, as it was in the church in Philadelphia. Now you will notice how the Lord revealed Himself to the church in Philadelphia. Look at verse 7. And to the angel, or to the minister of the church in Philadelphia, write, These things saith he. Now, the Lord identifies Himself. He reveals Himself to the church. And He reveals Himself in this way. He that is holy The reference, of course, is to Christ. He is holy. He that is true. He that has the key of David. He that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth. Now, when you read in the first three chapters of the book of the Revelation, particularly chapters 2 and 3, you find the Lord reveals Himself to each church in a different way. You can take time and just study how the Lord revealed Himself unto each of the churches. Look at chapter 2, verse 1. Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write, These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. That's how He revealed Himself to the church In emphasis, look at verse 8. The church in Smyrna. These things saith the first and the last which was dead and is alive. Verse 12. These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges. Verse 18. These things saith the Son of God who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass." Church in Sardis, chapter 3, verse 1, These things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know thy works, that thou hast a name, that thou livest and art dead. We come to verse 7 regarding the church in Philadelphia. And then finally, Laodicea, verse 14, chapter 3, These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. And these words to each of the churches were not only a revelation to each of the churches as to who Christ is, but these words were also to be a reminder of who Christ is. Many today seem to have forgotten who Christ is. Oh, they know the name, and they talk about Jesus, and they talk about Christ, but who is He? And they don't seem to be interested in seeking after a deep knowledge of who Christ is. It is important for the minister and the congregation to have Christ revealed to them. And it is important for the minister and the congregation to be constantly reminded who Christ is. In one way or other, whether it's through the news media or whatever, but the way some people talk about the Lord Jesus Christ today, they don't know who He is. They wouldn't talk about Him. They wouldn't talk to Him in that way if they knew who He really is. Many talk about Christ in the most flippant even bordering on a blasphemous way. They don't know who he is. So who is he? And who did he say he was to the church in Philadelphia? He that is holy. That's who he is. He's holy. Something that Many today do not pursue holiness and the Holy Lord of heaven. He's holy. He is true. He that is true. Christ is true. Everything about Him is true. Everything He says is true. I am the way, the truth, and the life. Christ is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. And he says that he hath the key of David. He that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth. That simply is stating that Christ has the power and the authority to open doors, and no man will shut the doors that the Lord opens. And He is able to shut doors, and no man will open the doors that He has shut. The same terms, the same words are used to describe Eliakim. In Isaiah 22 and verse 22, there Eliakim was given the key of David. It simply means he was given the key to the royal treasury over which he was given authority. And only Eliakim could open that door to the treasury. He alone had the authority because he alone had the key. Christ has the key of David. Simply referring to his power and his authority. So the church in Philadelphia was reminded that Christ is holy That Christ is true. That Christ has power and authority. He is the sovereign God. Things that we need to be reminded of constantly. Let us not forget who the Lord Jesus Christ is. And let us worship Him accordingly. If we have a true, scriptural view of Jesus Christ, that's how we will worship Him. If, on the other hand, people have a very loose view of Christ, if they deal with Him in a flippant way, then that's the way they will worship him. It depends on our view of Jesus Christ as to how we'll worship him. And we see how the church in Philadelphia worshipped him. This was a church, the Lord said, that had little strength. I know thy works. Behold, I have said before thee an open door, and no man can shut it, for thy hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name." First of all, here the Lord, in addressing the church at Philadelphia, spoke about the labors of the church in Philadelphia. For the Lord said, I know thy works. He said that to each of the seven churches. This shows us then, when the Lord said, I know thy works, this shows us His awareness. In other words, the Lord was aware of the work or the works that the church in Philadelphia were involved in. And what makes the words particularly significant is that they were addressed to a church that had a little strength. showing us that the Lord was aware of what this church with a little strength was doing. He was interested in the activity, in the labors, in the work of the church in Philadelphia, even though it was a church of little strength. He did not overlook that church. He did not forget about that church. He was interested in what the church was doing, even though it was a little church, or a church of little strength. We live in a day in which many Christians would not want to be associated with a church that's described in this way. They want to be in a big church, in a mega church. They would not be attracted to any church that was little in their eyes. They would rather be involved in a church that has a large number of people. is coming down with programs. Has about half a dozen pastors. Pastor of music, a pastor of visitation, a pastor of marriage counselors. Well, you know how it goes on. A youth pastor. And then, of course, there's the ministering pastor as well. But here the Lord makes it known to the minister of this church, and you'll notice, The church in Philadelphia only had one minister. Just the one. And this minister was spoken to by the Lord, received a word from the Lord, and the Lord makes it known to him, this church, with little strength, that he was interested and valued their works. Believer, in the eyes of some, this is a little church. 184 Toronto Road, in the eyes of some, is a little church. But we can take heart. We can take encouragement from this, because the Lord said to Philadelphia, the church was little strength. He said, I know thy works. The Lord was interested. Many go up and down this road here. Many bypass this church. Some have come and stayed a very short time and gone away. Why? Because we're a little church. They've told us that. The Lord did not pass by the church in Philadelphia. The Lord did not abandon the church in Philadelphia. The Lord did not neglect the church in Philadelphia because it was a church of little strength. For He says, I know thy works. I'm interested in the work that you're doing. After all, the Lord is the Good Shepherd. He is interested in all of the sheep in His flock. What does He do with the little lambs? The little lambs, He gathers them up in His arms. And the weak, He carries. And the sickly, He tends to their needs. And Christ is the head of the church, and He is interested in all of His churches. All of the congregations that acknowledge him as head is always interested in the little things. Fear not! Little flock is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. When the twos and threes are gathered together in my name, that's little enough. Two or three. Yet the Lord says, There am I. I am with you. And what the Lord was saying to the church in Philadelphia was, I'm with you. I'm interested in your work. I'm aware of what you're doing. So we have His awareness. You have also His acknowledgements. The Lord said, I know thy works. Plural. He didn't say, I know thy works. but I know thy works. And so this church had labored, and the Lord had taken note of their accomplishments. They obviously had accomplished much. In other words, even though this church had a little strength, they had accomplished something for God, for He says, I know thy works. No excuses were offered on the part of this church in Philadelphia. No excuses were offered in saying, well, we're a church of little strength. There's not a big lot we can do. They obviously did do a lot because the Lord said, I know thy works. I know what you have been doing. You may have little strength, but I know thy works. And the Lord took notice of their works and what they had accomplished. The Lord will take note of the works and the labors and the achievements and the accomplishments of the church that endeavors to magnify and glorify his name and extend his kingdom, the Lord will say, I know thy works. May the Lord be able to say that about this church. I know thy works. Do you ever drive past some of the big, big churches today and you look at their wayside pulpit? The sign outside gives the times of their services. Some of the churches wouldn't need a very large wayside pulpit. They wouldn't need a very big notice board. Because all you see on the day is, morning service, 10.30. That's it. Nothing else. Nothing else. Nothing else going on in that church from 10.30, one Lord's day, to 10.30, the next Lord's day. Not much been done. Not much work. Not much being achieved. But here the Lord said of the church in Philadelphia, I know thy works. I know thy works. He said in Matthew 16 and verse 27, The Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he shall reward every man according to his works." Oh, may we be well rewarded as far as our works are concerned. As a church, What shall indeed be our reward upon the Lord's return? Let us take to heart the words of the Apostle when he said, Be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Whether it's a great work or a small work, The Lord will take note and the Lord will reward. Notice also the activity. Along with the awareness and the accomplishments, we also have the activity. What the works were that the Philadelphia church was involved in, we are not told. We are told many things about the church. The Lord said, I know thy works. The Lord knew. We don't know what those works were. But the Lord knew because He asked what He said. I know. I know thy works. And since the Lord said, I know thy works, that's an indication that this was an active church. Must have been. This was a church that indeed was always abounding in the work of the Lord. Always abounding, always active, always working and laboring for the Lord. Even though the Lord described this church as a church of little strength. Isn't that amazing? He said, thou hast a little strength And yet, he was able to say at the same time, I know thy works. Believer, with what little strength we have as a church, let us, as Paul said to the Corinthians, I will very gladly spend and be spent for you. That's what Paul told the church at Corinth. I will gladly spend and be spent for you. This is what I will do for you as a congregation. But really, in saying that to the congregation, he was really saying it to the Lord. I will do this for the Lord. I will spend and be spent for you. But notice this church that the Lord described here as a church that has a little strength. He didn't say, thou hast a little faith. No. And I don't believe that's what the Lord meant when He said, a little strength. He wasn't talking about them having a little faith. In fact, I believe quite the opposite. They may have had a little strength, but by the fact that the Lord said, I know thy works, indicates to us that they had much faith, because they had accomplished great works for the Lord through faith. They were just a church with little faith, or with little strength. But notice something. Read the words, or look at the words again. 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. The Lord was giving them more work to do. I know thy works. I know thou hast a little strength. But I'm setting before you an open door. I'm setting before you a door of opportunity. An opportunity to do more work. to serve me in a fuller way. But they only had a little strength. But here we see that the Lord was entrusting them to do even more work. Remember, someone said, if you want something done, ask a busy man to do it. The Lord wanted the church to do something more. And who did he ask? He said to the Philadelphia church, I have set before thee an open door. Yes, thou hast a little strength. But what would that open door mean for the church in Philadelphia? Look at 1 Corinthians 16. 1 Corinthians 16. And there we read in verse 5, And now I will come unto you, when I shall pass through Macedonia, for I do pass through Macedonia. And it may be that I will abide, yea, and winter with you, that ye may bring me on my journey whithersoever I go. For I will not see you now, by the way, but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit. But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost, for a great door and a factual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries. Paul says, I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door has been opened unto me. In other words, it was a door of opportunity. And Paul would have opportunity to spread the Gospel message. That was the door he was referring to. The door of opportunity. But notice what Paul said, for a great door and effectual, the word effectual there is a word that means energy. And so Paul would enter this door with energy, with enthusiasm, with zeal. And he said in verse 9, For a great door in effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries. There were many adversaries, but note, the Lord opened the door anyway. Isn't that what he said to the church in Philadelphia? I have the key of David. He that openeth, and no man shutteth. And shutteth, and no man openeth. It doesn't matter how many adversaries there may be. The Lord is still able to open the door of opportunity. And He opened the door of opportunity for Paul, even though there were many adversaries. You go to 2 Corinthians 2. In 2 Corinthians 2, in verse 12, Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, a door was opened unto me of the Lord. A door was opened unto me of the Lord, a door of opportunity. And so, as a church, as the Lord opens doors for us, the doors of opportunity, even though we may have a little strength, nevertheless, Let us seize the opportunity. So we have noted here that this church in Philadelphia was a church, and we say the church and its labors, the labors of the church. We notice now the lack of the church. The lack. And the lack is summed up in our text. Thou hast a little strength. Here you have, first of all, the comment. This was the Lord's comment on the church in Philadelphia. He says, Thou hast a little strength. That is something we must point out here and now. This was not a word of criticism from the Lord. The Lord was stating a fact. The Lord wasn't criticizing this church because it was a church that had little strength. No doubt the minister of the church wished that his church was much stronger. But the Lord wasn't criticizing or condemning the church for it only having a little strength. You see, some may look down upon such a church. The other churches in Asia mentioned here would have been much stronger. Perhaps larger. Certainly, you think of the church in Ephesus. And you think of the church in Laodicea. They thought they were rich and had need of nothing. So it must have been quite a prosperous church. And there will be some today, they would rather attend some of those other churches than attend a church that has little strength. They would look down upon a church that has little strength. They would despise that church. They would pour scorn upon such a church. But that was not the comment of the Lord. about this church. They may have only had a little strength, but the Lord commended them for their works and set before them an open door to do more work. Because, you see, the Lord was with this church. The Lord was in that church, as we'll see in a moment or two. The Lord was in that church, and we know the words of that hymn, Little is much when God is in it. Labor not for wealth or fame. There's a crown and you can win it if you go in Jesus' name. Little is much when God is in it. And my, for this church in Philadelphia, little was much because God was in it. I know thy works. I set before thee an open door. I am giving you more work to do." Zechariah 4 and verse 10, For who hath despised the day of small things? The Lord didn't. Not at all. He commended the church. He made this comment, the church of little strength. But he was able to say, I know thy works. You have the comment, you have the congregation. What did the Lord mean when He spoke about the church having a little strength? As I said before, He didn't say they were a church that had a little faith. They must have been rich in faith because the Lord spoke about their works. And the apostles said this, remember, For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. James 2 and verse 26. And so this church had faith because they had works. And the Lord said, faith without works is dead. Congregation may have had little strength, but they were involved in many works. So what did the Lord mean when he said that the church had little strength? Did he refer to the church having little strength numerically? Was this a church of a small number of worshippers? There are some churches in our denomination, and they're numerically strong. And even when they are without a minister, maybe their minister is called elsewhere to another church, and they spend a number of years waiting for the leading of the Lord before the congregational meeting to call a minister. And they're strong churches, and they remain strong even in the absence of a minister. They don't start wandering off somewhere else because they don't have a minister. They hold together because they're strong. It's a strong church. And as I say, there are a number of our churches in our denomination certainly that are Strong. Numerically. But maybe when the Lord said that this church had a little strength, that's what he was referring to. He was speaking to their numbers. It's quite different when we don't have a strong church numerically. You take a church that has four or five hundred, and maybe a couple of families have come down with the flu and they're not there that day. Well, I know the minister will notice it. But you'd hardly notice their absence. You'd hardly know they're not there. Because there's four or five hundred others there. But in a church our size, or a church that has little strength numerically, If two families come down with the flu here, my, you know it. A church that has three or four hundred, and maybe the Sabbath school teachers are down with the flu. Well, with a church that size, you always get somebody else to take their place. But not in a church that is small numerically. Is that what the Lord meant? Whenever he said, Thou hast a little strength, you're small in number. Or maybe when he spoke about them having a little strength, he meant financially. Either numerically or maybe financially they had little strength. A church that has been blessed numerically usually doesn't have any troubles financially. They can give good support to missionaries and to other churches. One of our churches last year gave over £60,000. to mission work. At their Harvest Thanksgiving services last weekend, they took up £32,000 for mission work. So you can see they're strong financially. They're strong numerically. Now obviously we endeavour to give to missionaries here But we'll never reach those figures. Maybe that's the way it was in Philadelphia. They had little strength numerically. They had little strength financially. But the Lord said, I know thy works. And I set before you an open door. In other words, what work I give, you to do, I will finance that work. The Lord always finances his will. We'll get by. The Lord will always meet the need. Press on quickly, and we have here then the communication. Even though this was a church with just a little strength, yet the Lord of heaven communicated with them. Here we see that this church was in touch with heaven. The Lord spoke to this church and to the minister of this church. A church that will be guided by heaven and not by any new methods. A church that will remain, stand by the ancient landmarks not remove them, will continue along the old path. That's the church that's in touch with heaven. A church that will be scriptural in its worship, strong in its stand for the Lord. That's the church that's in touch with heaven. A church that has on the whole armor of God and is always ready to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. That's the church that is in touch with heaven. And this church in Philadelphia was in touch with heaven because it received communications from God. That's what we need. The day the Lord stops communicating with us through His Word is the day we're finished. means the Lord has left us. But here's a church in Philadelphia and the Lord said, thou hast a little strength. This was the church the Lord was interested in and communicated his will to. Come to the last point and I'll finish it quickly. You have the church and her loyalty. 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." Here's their loyalty. "...and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name." Had a little strength, but they remained loyal to the Lord. Notice they triumphed in their weakness. The church triumphed in its weakness. The Lord acknowledged the church's weakness, saying, Thou hast a little strength. Yet He speaks of how she overcame her weakness and triumphed. Notice how often the Lord repeats the word, hast. mentioned three times, thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Verse 10, Because thou hast kept the word of my patience. And again, verse 11, Behold, I come quickly, hold fast, hold that fast which thou hast, Now, here's a church, a church of little strength, yet we find that this church kept the Lord's Word, did not deny the Lord's name. You say, how did that church do it? Well, five times you have the word hast. Five is the number of grace. That's how the church did it. It was a church of little strength, but the church triumphed in its weakness. How? By grace alone. We may be small believer, but the Lord will enable us this triumph by his grace. And by his grace, we will never give up His Word. And by His grace, we will never deny His name. We took our stand for the Lord a number of years ago down the town outside the Capitol Theater and protested against Jesus Christ Superstar. People thought we were mad. They thought we were crazy. What are you, protesting against something that's going on in the theatre there about Jesus Christ? We protested it because the songs in Jesus Christ Superstar were blasphemous. We were not prepared to deny His name. And as a church, we went down that town and stood outside the Capitol Theater and had our placards and protested against Jesus Christ, Superstar, that blasphemous show. How did we do it? By the grace of God. God give us grace to stand up for Him. Stand up, stand up for Jesus. I'm not ashamed to own my Lord or to defend His cause. Maintain the honor of His Word and the glory of His cross. That's where we stand. And by the grace of God, we'll continue to stand. They triumphed in their weakness. They treasured the Word. They kept the Word. Many churches today have abandoned the Word. And they've brought in their programs, and their plays, and their pantomimes, and their bands, and their cymbals, and their guitars, and their drums. And the Word is secondary. Maybe not even secondary. Not even preached. This church in Philadelphia, the Lord says, Thou hast kept my Word. May we be the church in Philadelphia. May we keep the Word. The word keep means to hold fast. And we would say today that the Word of God is not for sale in this church. Buy the truth and sell it not. Proverbs 23 and verse 23. Then you have The church was true to its witness. Thou hast kept my word, thou hast not denied my name. May God give us grace to keep his word, never to deny his name. We may be like Philadelphia, have a little strength, but our strength is made perfect in weakness by the grace of God. That's where we stand today. Seven churches in Asia. Six of the churches, the Lord said, I have somewhat against thee. The only church of the seven, the church in Philadelphia, The Lord didn't say to the church in Philadelphia, I am somewhat against thee. The Lord commended the church, praised the church for its stand, for its works, for holding on to the Word, for not denying the Lord's name. May the Lord bless the Word to our hearts. May we endeavor to be like that church in Philadelphia. Let's bow our heads in prayer. O Lord, our God and loving Father, we do thank Thee for the grace given to the church in Philadelphia. A little strength. Yet, what a witness and testimony they had. A little strength. yet they kept the word. A little strength, and they denied not thy name. A little strength, yet they kept the word of thy patience. And how the Lord exhorted them not to let go of that which they had. Lord, give us grace never to let go While we are small in number, have us, Lord, to be true to the blood and to the book. Write thy word upon our hearts. Lord, for any who must leave, we ask that thy blessing will go with them. And for those of us, Lord, who remain around thy table, draw near to us and bless us. We pray in the Savior's name. Amen.