I just want to say that it is a real honor to be with you again this morning to kind of fill in while Wade is away. I want to say thank you to each of you. I think it's been something like 15 years that this wonderful fellowship has been supporting my wife and I in the country of Turkey as we are there seeking to help the very small Christian population in Turkey, probably maybe only four hundredths of a percent of the population of Turkey are evangelical Christians, so we're helping them with the establishing of new churches, but also very similar to what Jeff was telling me, and I don't want to give it away, you'll still want to come to the luncheon and listen to Jeff, but some of the very practical ways that we are trying to show the love of Christ to those in Turkey through especially helping the refugees with food and clothing and hygiene centers and many other ways. And one of the things we're finding there, I'd say the first fifteen years of our work in turkey has been establishing turkish speaking churches but now there are many arabic speakers in the country of turkey coming from syria coming from other places uh... even now uh... coming from places like uh... net next to some of these areas there afghanistan uh... iraq who come speaking Arabic, but they are so touched by Christians wanting to reach out to them and show them the love of Christ, providing food and clothing for their families, clean water. whatever it may be, that they are now saying, tell us more about Jesus. And in the process of that, we are now working on our fourth, the planting of our fourth Arabic-speaking church within Turkey, just because people have been so touched by the love of Christ meeting them where they are. So thank you for your support. God is doing great things in challenging times in Turkey, but your prayers, your support, have made such a difference, and I thank you for that. And if you have been here over the last few years when I've come to speak, often what I do is pick one of the letters that we find in the second and third chapters of the book of Revelation. And today I want us to look in chapter three, verses 7 through 13, as we look at the words to the Church of Philadelphia. Now, some of you might go, wait a minute, isn't that in Pennsylvania? Actually, Philadelphia was a very popular name of cities in the ancient empire, especially in the eastern part of the Roman Empire that spoke primarily Greek. The word Philadelphia comes from Philos in the Greek, which means love, and Adelphia, which means brother. So it's the city of brotherly love, and you find throughout the, especially the eastern part of the Roman Empire, many cities by the name of Philadelphia. And so as we look at this passage this morning, let's take just a moment and ask the Lord to open our hearts to hear what he has to say, not only to those first century Christians, and as I'll mention, I think also to 21st century Christians in Turkey and other places, but also to Christians here in America today. Let's pause for just a moment to pray. Gracious Father, we do ask that you would open our eyes and our hearts to these very powerful words that you spoke to Christians in the city of Philadelphia 2,000 years ago, over 2,000 years ago. Lord, may we hear them today. May they touch our lives. May they touch the churches of your people today. And for this, we thank you in Jesus' name, amen. When these words were written to the church, to the Christians in the city of Philadelphia, it was a group of very few, a modest number of Christians in this town. It was a group of Christians that had no power. They had no political power. They had no material power. The Roman Empire could have just steamrolled over them anytime they wanted to. They were probably somewhat in hiding. trying to keep a very low profile within that city. And it's interesting to me that things have not changed that much. Today in Turkey and in this region and other places within Turkey, Philadelphia, and all of these seven letters written in Revelation chapter 2 and 3 were written to churches in what we know as Turkey today. And the same thing is true in Turkey today, where Christians have no political power. In fact, they are persecuted by the sources of power within Turkey today. They have no great material power. It's very hard if you're a Christian in Turkey to even find work. People don't want to hire Christians. And so Christians in Turkey today have no great power. But as God wrote 2,000 years ago, these words So Christians in Turkey, even today, listen to them carefully and understand them. But I think also that we as Christians in America today, I might not have been able to say this 50 years ago, but I think today in America, we need to hear these words. A Pew Research study was done just in the last month. Now, I don't necessarily put a lot of stock in all of these, but I think there is a kernel of truth here in which the research, the Pew Research Institute said this, that in 1990, those that they surveyed gave them the information that about 85% of Americans claimed to be Christians. Now, I don't know that they, some really understood what they were answering or said, but that's what was in 1990. 30 years later, in 2020, the same questions were asked and it was 65% of Americans who identified as Christians. Extrapolating, the Pew Research Company agency is saying that they think by 2070, it will be just under 40%. They're extrapolating that only 39% of Americans will identify themselves as Christians in 2070. Now, God is bigger than any pole. We pray for revival in our land. We pray that things will change. But we have to be honest and say that in the Western world, those that attend Christian churches, those that identify as Christians, are on the decline. In some places in Europe, it's under 10%. In some places, well under 10%. And yet, interestingly enough, in the third world countries, Africa, in South America, in parts of Asia, Christianity is growing in leaps and bounds by 50% a year in some places. But I think we need to realize, and I think we see this in our own country, that there is no longer a real strong Christian understanding and consensus within our country. That in fact, there are many within that have the levers of power in our country that condemn Christianity and feel that Christian teaching is an affront. If we ever put our faith and confidence in our political power as Christians or in our material power as Christians, I think we need to step back and listen with new ears to what God had to say in the first century to Christians in Philadelphia. and perhaps reaffirm that again and find hope and strength and power in that today. As we look at Revelation chapter three, beginning in verse seven, I want us to see four things today in this passage, how we need to depend upon God as Christians and as members of his church in a new way. and to realize that the levers of power around us are not always gonna be in our favor. And maybe that's a good thing because it forces us to trust God. We need to realize that God wants to be our source of power. He wants to, number one, use us, number two, to affirm us, number three, to protect us, and finally, we'll see in our passage, number four, to reward us. But look at, first of all, in verses seven and eight, how we find that God, as we depend upon him, wants to be our source of power to use us in ways that we could never do humanly, or could never do by relying upon human sources of power. Verse seven. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, And as I've mentioned before, in each of these seven letters, they all begin by some characteristics, qualities of Jesus that that particular church needs to be reminded of. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, he who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one will open, says this. As he begins these words to this very modest, poor, unconnected church of Christians in Philadelphia, he says, remember, that Jesus is the one you need to look to. Jesus, who is holy, who came to this world set apart to do the will of God, and that's what really holy means, someone who is set apart for a purpose, to serve God, and though Jesus was persecuted and ultimately crucified, and thank God, resurrected, but ultimately went through hell on this planet for us, He never lost his sense of purpose to do the will of God, that he was set apart to give his life for us. Remember that Jesus is the one who is holy, the one who is true. When he says something, you can believe it. And when you especially realize that he calls you to do powerful things that are beyond your ability to do, we cannot trust in anyone but him ultimately to do those things. He is holy, he is true, and he has the key of David. In Isaiah chapter 22, it speaks of one of the key leaders of Hezekiah. who was under the thumb of the Assyrians who were coming to destroy the lower two tribes of Israel known as Judah. Hezekiah had no strength. He had no ability to stand against the Assyrians. And yet God said, I will give you the key of David. I will open for you things that you will never believe, and I will close those evils that may come your way." And as you read, God protected and saw Judah through the attempted attack of the Assyrians. In fact, the language here is used about the key of David and opening and shutting is taken right from Isaiah chapter 22. But the reminder is God is the one who can open doors for us as his people. God is the one that can shut doors that need to be shut, that especially his people who find themselves without sources of great power or support or networks that will stand with them we need to realize that actually it is God that we need to trust. Notice what he says here in verse eight again. I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. God reminds them, I'm all you need. Don't worry about people that may persecute you, intimidate you, may create difficulties for you, may even attack your faith. I will open a door for you that no one can shut. I will give you the ability to be fruitful in a way that no one else can. Put your confidence in me, in your town, in your collected group of Christians in your fellowship rather than the outside world. And what does he affirm in their place of being powerless? He affirms the fact that they have kept his word and have not denied his name. What stands out in God's mind with his people, even when they don't carry a lot of weight or power, especially when they don't, that they might keep his word care about his word, and want to live it out as best they can in his power, and that they would not deny his name, not only by saying that I deny Jesus, but by being strong by what we say, but by the way we live too, that we don't deny what we believe, that we do not deny Jesus in the way that we live, but that we seek to live faithfully for him. Remember that around the world, and even here in the U.S., as I think more and more are putting Christians in the scope of who they want to attack, to realize that God is still able to open doors for us and to use us. Even when we look around and say, what do we have to offer? What power do we bring to the table? God is able to do that. I think of a pastor in Turkey, Pastor Sali, who was starting a church in a very difficult town in Turkey. And as he got started and people began to get the word that here is a Muslim that has become a Christian and wants to plant a church in this town, people became angry. And there was a group of young people, teens, that would follow him around and just throw rocks at him, throw stones at him. He ended up in the hospital a couple of times because of injuries that he received from that. And he said, God, I have nothing. There's nothing that I can bring. The police department, the elected leaders in our town, no one's gonna help me with this. I am powerless with this. Lord, please open a door for me. Please help me to know how I can be fruitful when the town is against me. And he seemed to feel that the Lord gave him a plan. And so what he did, He knew who some of these kids were. He visited their homes. He introduced himself to their families. He just expressed, how can I be of help to you? How can I show love to you? He brought candy to their kids, and he just showed love. And he went down the list of the families of all these kids, showing them love, showing that he cared about them. And did I say he brought candy to their families? And pretty soon, these kids stopped following him around, stopped throwing rocks at him. In fact, some of them started coming to his church, and he began kind of a little hoodlum youth group within his church. And some of these kids really wanted to know about Jesus. You know, it's sometimes when we're in the places where we have no power, there's nothing that, you know, there's no other sources of strength around us that will help us, where we turn to God desperately and God will show us a way through. God will use us, especially in our places of weakness. Secondly, we see in this, in verse 9, that God promises not only to use this weak a resourceless group of Christians, but that secondly, he will affirm them in their difficulties and challenges. He is the one that will stand up for them. Look at verse nine. Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews but are not, behold, I will make them to come and bow down at your feet and to know that I have loved you. Now he's talking in this community, there were those who claimed to be God's people, but they weren't doing what God wanted them to do. Certainly within the first century, one of the biggest challenges was between those that stayed within the Jewish community and those who left the Jewish community to follow Christ. And for a while they stayed connected, eventually they split apart, there were challenges, misunderstandings, difficulties, and some, within the Jewish community, who were not really following the teaching of Judaism, began to really attack these Christians and give them just great heartache and difficulty. And the Lord says, I will take care of that. Sometimes we feel like somebody does something to us because we're a Christian, we thought, I'm gonna get them back. I'm gonna take care of that. I'm gonna let them know And maybe there's times we need to confront these things, it's hard to say, but the thing we must never forget is that God will help us. I think of Romans chapter 12, Romans chapter 12, beginning in verse 14 that says this. Bless those who persecute you, bless and curse not. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all. In fact, if possible, as far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people. How can you do that when people are criticizing you as a Christian and condemning you? But it goes on to say, never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him. And if he's thirsty, give him to drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals upon his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Again, I'm not saying there aren't times when maybe we need to say something to someone who attacks us, but we need to never forget God will ultimately set every wrong right, even if it doesn't happen in this lifetime. You know, it probably may not be in this lifetime that everyone who attacked that first century church in Philadelphia would come and bow down at the feet of the Christians and acknowledge you were right. You are following God. You are the ones that God loves in a special way because you're his people. That may only happen after. the death of those folks where they recognize that and in eternity come to bow down and acknowledge that they were wrong. Whatever the case is, the point that he's making to these Christians who are under attack, who are having difficulty every day of their life, realize, do as best as you can in this life, but forgive and know that God will set the record straight in his time and in his way. I think of Pastor Samir, a very faithful pastor in Istanbul, who one Easter morning was getting ready to preach, and about three or four young kids broke into the church. No one else was there at the time that Pastor Samir was there getting ready for what he hoped would be a lovely Easter service. They just beat him up, left him just hurting. in probably the kind of shape that he should have gone to a hospital. But he decided, I'm going to preach my sermon that morning anyways. And when asked about it afterwards, he said, there's nothing I can do about a community that's angry just for the fact that I have a church here. There's nothing I can do that people hate me. Not everybody, of course, but there are many who hate me in this community. All I can do is faithfully serve Christ and trust that God will affirm me, that God will take care of me, that God will stand for me because I don't have the power to fully stand for myself in the issues that I face. will take us in our weaknesses as his people. He will use us. He'll open a door that no one can close. He will affirm us. Those that say things against us, we're not gonna be able to set all of that right. There's stuff that's being said over the airwaves today and on newscasts today about Christians that are absolutely false. We can never set all of that right. All we can do is faithfully serve Christ and trust that God will ultimately set it right. He will use us. He will affirm us. Thirdly, he will protect us as we see in verse 10. Look at verse 10 with me. Because you have kept the word of my perseverance, Of these seven churches mentioned in Revelation chapter two and three, only two of them have nothing critical said about them. The other five have some very critical things said about them. They had lost their focus on God in many ways, but not the church at Philadelphia. Because you have kept the word of my perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world. to test those who dwell upon the earth. Now, we could spend a whole sermon and many sermons on what exactly is being said by the Lord here to this church in Philadelphia. Is he talking about the the suffering that would come just about this time in the latter part of the first century? Is he talking about the fact that God would remove someday, remove Christians from wrath and persecution at the rapture? Is he talking about what we read about in the book of Revelation that God says, be sure to mark my people on their forehead? so that they do not experience my wrath during the Great Tribulation. They may experience persecution and difficulty from people, but they will never experience my wrath during the Great Tribulation. What the full meaning of this is, we don't know, but what we do know is he's saying, trust me, hard times are coming. It may not be fully in your lifetime, it may be in the lifetime of those who follow you. But understand this, I have you in my hands. I'm not going to allow you to experience the wrath that Christ has already paid for on the cross for you when that wrath is poured upon this planet someday. I am going to care for you. I am going to protect you. You can trust me to take care of you. And again, as I say, I think because of this in the book of Revelation as you go forward, many passages talk about God putting a mark on his people to protect them and know them and see them through the difficulties that will come one day. But the point is this, we can trust God. Maybe what he's talking about here isn't that he's gonna keep us from every assault or intimidation of those around us because they know we're a Christian, but he is gonna ultimately save us from his wrath because that has been taken care of in Christ. And often he does show us a way through the difficulties where we find protection. I think very clearly and very strongly of my dear friend Pastor Emre in Turkey, who one day there was a knock on his door and it was a number of police officers who said, we have just found out that there is a group of over 20 Turks that have been following you and watching you and have planned to kill you. And the plan was to be executed the next day. But the police said, we've just found out on this, we've arrested them, we've stopped them. Well, all of them have been let out of prison since that happened. There was never any meaningful consequence for any of this. The sad thing is that some of those 20 plus people were attending his church and saying that they were really interested in Christianity and wanted to know more. Some of them he trusted so much that they babysat his own children, but all the time they were there to scope out the church and to find out ways to get in his confidence to get at him someday to accomplish their purposes. God graciously chose to protect him in that, and he's still pastoring today. You'd think some would say, enough of this, I'm doing something else. But for a while he had to stay out of that community, but he came back and he's even starting a church in a nearby community. God is there. God will keep us. God will help us, especially when we realize there's no one else we can depend upon but him, ultimately. And finally then, we find in verses 11 to 13 that he will reward us as we follow after him and stay true to him as these Christians were staying true to him in the first century city of Philadelphia. He says, I am coming quickly. Hold fast what you have in order that no one take your crown. Crown referring to rewards. Stay true to me. I will reward you one day. He goes on to say, he who overcomes, and that is the mark of a Christian. In all seven of these letters, it talks about Christians as those that overcome. That's just the assumption of God, that his people, whatever they face, ultimately will overcome those things that we need to think of ourselves as overcomers. And what's the reward? I will make him a pillar. in the temple of my God. In an area, in this area, especially in Philadelphia, that has constant earthquakes, the one thing that people felt secure in is being in a place where there were strong, well-placed, secured pillars. It was a place of safety. And he goes on to say here, in the temple of my God, and he will not go out from it anymore. And I will write upon him the name of my God. and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God and my new name. He says, never forget, as my people, no matter what you face in this world, your future is secure, a place of security against the earthquakes and all of the vicissitudes of life. God will protect his people and their ultimate future is one of security and hope. With his name written upon our lives and the name of the beautiful city coming down mentioned in the end of the book of Revelation, that we will be a part of and ultimately the new heaven and the new earth. And what does he say in light of all of that? He who has an ear, verse 13, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Remember, stay true to him. Hold on to him. and realize that he is our ultimate source of hope. There may be others, certainly churches in Turkey have almost no other place to turn but to the Lord. There may be other places here in America we can turn, but I think those sources are becoming fewer and fewer, and we need to hold on to the Lord. You know, there are some commentaries that I have read and I've looked into this, that have said of all of the places within Turkey through the 2,000 years of Christianity that have been very rocky, that it is in this area of Philadelphia that there's been a remnant of Christians throughout the 2,000 years. I've had trouble, I've seen that remnant, I've had trouble in the 20th century to find that remnant, but I think through many of the years of Christianity there was a remnant when many Christians were wiped out or driven out as Islam came into the area. But I think it's God had special favor on his people in Philadelphia because they were willing to trust him as they realized they had nowhere else to turn and no other sources. I hope that we will remember the faithfulness of God in our lives and as the body of Christ together. Let's pray together. Gracious and loving Father, we thank you. Thank you for your love, for your grace. We thank you for your incredible power that though we may look around and go, what can we accomplish? What can we do? But Lord, you are willing to open a door that no one else will close. for ministry. And Lord, we may go, how can we deal with the criticisms of others? Lord, remind us that you, that you and you alone will affirm us and stand for us. And Lord, we may go, Lord, how can I possibly deal with the difficulties and challenges and maybe what could be life threatening things. You will protect us, Lord, and show us a way through. And ultimately, we thank you that as we stand for you, the reward is incredible. Lord, keep us strong and faithful to you, we pray, as these early Christians were, for we ask this in Jesus' name, amen.