From Him Who Has the Key of David - Part 2

Revelation 3:7-13
June 14, 2020
Abraham Hong

Sermon Script

Dear Highland, you are greatly loved by Jesus. Jesus loves us. He has words to say to us. He is making promises about our life in the future. This is altogether lovely. The bridegroom that is Christ raising up the head of the bride that is the church and lifting up her eyes as the Day of the Lord draws near. This is the love of Jesus. The church in Philadelphia needed to receive this. And we need to receive this as well. As we go from being nobody to being somebody, it is the love of Christ that will carry us through. As we immigrate from this world that is to the world that is to come, it is the love of Christ that will carry us through. And as we go from invitation and anticipation to celebration and consummation, it is the love of Christ that will carry us through.

Point #1. Dear Highland, you may be a nobody right now. But you will be a somebody at the end. The church in Philadelphia had but little power. They were weak and insignificant and modest and simple. They were nobody. But not to Jesus. Jesus said that they had a crown. And Jesus said that they would conquer.

This is remarkable and unforgettable. The church experiences humiliation right now. But the church will receive exaltation later in the future. The church suffers in weakness and meekness. It’s like having treasure in jars of clay. The church is afflicted in every way, perplexed, persecuted, struck down. It looks like the church is losing. But the church is not losing. The church is winning. But the church is winning by losing. This is necessary. Because the church is united with Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ, who is the church’s forerunner and the church’s firstfruit, did not receive his crown before he first received his cross. And neither can the church. The church will receive exaltation. She will be somebody someday. But first, the church receives humiliation. She must be nobody now.

The church in Philadelphia needed to hear this. And we need to hear this as well. We are losers right now. We are last. But the last will be first. And we will be winners in the future. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. The humiliation that we go through is necessary. It is necessary for us to share in the sufferings of Christ, for we are united with him. But the humiliation will lead to exaltation. This is the way of Christ. This is what royalty looks like in his kingdom. We are fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. And at the end, we will have our crown. We will conquer. Because what goes for Jesus will go for us. You may be a nobody right now. But you will be a somebody at the end. Praise the Lord. Praise be to the one who has the key of David. His love with carry us through.

Point #2. Dear Highland, you may be a resident in this world. But you are a citizen of a better world that is to come. Jesus told the church in Philadelphia that an hour of trial was coming for the world, for those who dwell on the earth. But he also told the church in Philadelphia that he was going to keep them from it.

This is fascinating and profound. From this we can see that there is a clear separation and distinction in Jesus’ mind between the church and the world. There are two different stories for two different peoples. It’s like the difference between the Israelites and the Egyptians in the climactic hour of judgment and death: the difference between the Israelities who had the blood of passover lambs on their doorposts and the Egyptians who did not. Two different stories. Two different peoples. Two different worlds.

The church in Philadelphia needed to understand this. And we need to understand this as well. We live in this world right now. But we ultimately belong to another one. Our citizenship is in heaven. This makes us a different people with a different story. We pay the same taxes as our neighbors. We go to the same schools. We eat the same kinds of foods. We live with them. But our hearts and minds are not the same as theirs. And unlike their kingdoms and their kings, our kingdom is everlasting and our king is Jesus. We acknowledge that we are strangers and exiles on this old and fading earth. We make it clear that we are seeking another homeland. We desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. For the Lord is preparing for us a city, a new heavens and a new earth. And we are immigrating there. Praise the Lord. Praise be to the one who has the key of David. His love with carry us through.

Point #3. Dear Highland, you have the invitation and you have the anticipation at the moment. But soon and very soon, you will have the celebration and the consummation in the coming kingdom of God. Jesus promised the church in Philadelphia that he would make them a pillar in his temple and that they would never go out of it. And he promised that he would give them new names.

This is beautiful relationship language. The temple in the Old Testament was the very house, the very dwelling place of God. It was his throne room. It was his home. And the church will be there with him and close to him. The church will belong to him just as he belongs to them. It’s like the feeling you get when you come home for Christmas after being away for a long time. You are a part of your family. Your home will always be there for you. And for a special season, there are warm hugs. There is physical togetherness and closeness.

King David loved the idea of having this kind of relationship with God. In Psalm 84, he writes, “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord…. a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Being with God meant everything to David. For all you Animal Crossing fans out there - Being with God meant so much to David that he would rather have nothing and be no one on the far edge of God’s Animal Crossing island than have all the fish and bugs and money trees and furnitures on his own Animal Crossing island or on someone else’s Animal Crossing island.

The church will be made a pillar in the temple of God. The church will never go out of it. And the reason why is because the Son of God templed with us. Jesus took on human flesh. And when Jesus feeds you his bread and his cup, his body and his blood, he is saying that he is with us and he will never leave us. And soon and very soon, there will be warm hugs. There will be a physical togetherness and closeness that will melt away all the sadness of this old war on this old and fading earth. Our home is Jesus himself. This is our beautiful relationship with him.

And this beautiful relationship language continues with the promise that the church will be given new names. God will write on us his name, and the name of his city, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from of heaven. This is so personal and pure. It’s like the meaningful moment when loving parents choose and give names for their newborn children. It is a picture of wholesome togetherness and a sense of belonging. It is, simply put, a happy ending.

The church in Philadelphia needed to know this. And we need to know this as well. A happy ending is waiting for us. There will be wholesome togetherness and closeness between us and our God as we see Christ Jesus face to face. We will be with family. The new heavens and new earth will be our home, and it will always be there for us, we will never go out of it. Because we are given new names by God, we belong to him, and he belongs to us. This celebration and consummation is going to happen. Praise the Lord. Praise be to the one who has the key of David. His love with carry us through.

So, what do you think and feel about all of this? I hope you would believe that you are greatly loved by Jesus. I hope that your faith and your assurance is strengthened. Jesus is speaking to you today. Jesus is making promises to you right now. And it is altogether lovely. His love will carry us through to the end.

What should be our response to all of this? The Lord called the church in Philadelphia, and he calls our church that is Highland, to hold fast what we have. Good pilgrim, hold fast to Jesus. Like infants being carried in the arms of their parents who with their cute little hands hold tightly onto the clothes of their moms and dads. Babies who have but little power, using the little power that they have to hold fast what they really have. Their parents. Their family. Their love. Dear, Highland. We may not be much in the eyes of this world. But if we hold fast to Jesus, then that is true success. So hold fast to the clothing of Jesus’ righteousness. Hold fast to his words and his promises. When you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, as you live a life of an exile in the wilderness of this old and fading earth, as you go through persecution and suffering, remember that you are being carried by your Savior and Lord.

I would like to bring this sermon to a close by giving you one final truth from today’s text. Jesus is coming soon. Jesus says: “I am coming soon.” Dear Highland, the time is near. We are living in the last days. The history of redemption is pretty much over and done. And the history of exaltation, the celebration and the consummation of the church, is about to start. When that time and place comes, you will be there. You will dwell with God. You will be God’s people. And God will be your God. And he will wipe away every tear from your eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. We are very close to this. Soon means soon.

Highland, hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Hear the words of the one who has the key of David. And remember that he who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” And so we say: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Soli Deo Gloria