Overcome weakness - Revelation 3:7-13
This is a sermon by Peter Birnie from the Riverside Church service on 17th March 2024.
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Revelation 3 v 7-13 “Overcome Weakness”
Intro: The little daughter and her loving father
(Slide 1) Embedded deeply within the core identity of the people of God is the fact that though they are weak and small, God is strong and big. Think of the Exodus – a nation of slaves being made to scrape together the bricks they needed to build Pharaoh’s cities being led out in triumph after God did miracle after miracle and judgement after judgement on his enemies. (Slide 2) Or think of the capture of the city of Jericho – a fortified city that seemed impossible to conquer and yet all God’s people had to do was march around it in faith and leave the rest to God. The history of the people of Israel is littered with these type of situations.
(Slide 3) In Revelation 3 we have this hugely warm encouraging letter to the church in Philadelphia reminding them that though they are small and weak, their God isn’t! And this goes for us as well – CC Riverside, though we are small and can often feel our weakness very keenly, we are to live lives of faith in the almighty, sovereign God who will always accomplish everything he wants to, everything that is right and just and holy. The picture of a weak people with a strong God is a good one, and a true one, but by itself it just doesn’t do justice to the depth of the relationship that the almighty God has with his people. As I read through this passage this week it reminded me that God treats his loved people like a precious daughter (Slide 4). No one else is going to be allowed to do any real harm to her, and as for him, he is filled with patience and kindness and tenderness towards her. He loves her.
God uses his strength and might and power to both protect his people and to cause them to flourish even in very unpromising circumstances. So our response should be like the church in Philadelphia; in our weakness, we are to put our trust in his strength. In times of testing or opposition we are not to let go of his hand, we are not to disown his name, we are to patiently endure, knowing our loving father has it all under his righteous control.
1) God wants faithfulness in our weakness
(Slide 5) The God who loves his children wants what is best for them and so as Jesus writes this letter to Philadelphia, though he sees no sin to pick them up on, though he is pleased with them, he is clear that in their weakness he wants their continued faithfulness. And that’s what he desires from us in CCR as well: (Slide 6) “I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name … you have kept my command to endure patiently.”
What was happening in Philadelphia to these faithful believers? Doors were being shut in their faces. The Jews who wouldn’t recognise Jesus as their Messiah were refusing them entry to the Synagogue (lots of the early Christians continued to have meetings in the Synagogues until they were expelled). Believers in Jesus were on the outside of society, excluded, looked down upon. Believers in Philadelphia (the city of brotherly love) paid a real price in terms of reputation and relationships – not much love was shown to them, not much respect was given to their name. They were small compared to the unbelievers around, and they were made to feel small.
(Slide 7) And yet their witness didn’t dim. Their lampstand shone brightly. Despite their little strength (which really would have been rammed home to them when the synagogue doors were slammed in their faces, when the name of Jesus was made fun of and maligned around them), Jesus says that they have;
- Kept my word
- Not denied my name
- Kept my command to endure patiently
We are back to that narrow road again aren’t we (Slide 8), the witness way, the martyr’s path. The narrow path of following Jesus where things keep hitting you in the face, the narrow path of the cross that brings opposition and shame, where the persistent temptation is to give in, step off and settle for temporary worldly comfort. If the Philadelphian Christians would just bend God’s word a bit on the uniqueness of Jesus and his claim to be the only way to the Father, if they would stop talking about the cross and the name of Jesus, if they would just be quiet (don’t need to stop believing inside) then the synagogue doors might open up again, old friendships might be restored, maybe they would be back on the inside of society, accepted and respected.
(Slide 9) As a father, it is quite painful to see your child having trials and difficulties. Especially ones that could be avoided if they would just be exactly like those around them. But which would you choose for your child/self? An easier life of acceptance as an insider, or the harder life of the outsider which love for and obedience to Jesus will probably bring?
(Slide10) As God looks at CC Philadelphia, and as he looks at his people throughout time (us) as a father tenderly watching over his loved daughter, he chooses the life of the outsider for them, despite the costs that this brings. Jesus says “You have kept my word, you have not denied my name, you are enduring patiently”, yes this is painful, but I am so pleased with you, and this is so good for you.
(Slide 11) Christ Church Riverside, this is God’s call to us. We are to be ok being shut out because we love speaking the name of Jesus and telling our loved ones the gospel (over and over again). We are to put up with people thinking less of us and less of our name because we hold on to his word and won’t bend (again and again and again). We aren’t to flare up in temper, we aren’t to treat badly the people who treat us badly, we aren’t to get discouraged and downhearted with our father in heaven, instead we are to be patient as we keep on keeping on trusting Jesus. Our weakness is keep bringing us to Jesus rather than separating us from Jesus. Our loving father God wants faithfulness in our weakness.
2) God honours faithfulness with his strength
And here is wonderful eternal truth that brings such comfort and peace and joy as we endure – yes, God’s want faithfulness in our weakness, but our Father God, the almighty one, the creator, the redeemer, the conqueror, the victor, (Slide 12) he honours faithfulness with his strength.
When in our weakness our desire to be faithful drives us again into our Father’s arms for comfort and security and help then we are in exactly the right place. Because his arms, though they are loving, they are also mighty. And they act for the sake of the people he loves. Look at all the “I’s” in the passage, all the things Jesus declares about himself, what he is doing, what he will do, ponder these, treasure these, store them up, live faithfully by them; Jesus says …
(Slide 13) I know that you have little strength. “I know”. Are you feeling excluded right now from friends or family (or anything else) because you are faithfully living for Jesus? Or maybe right now you are tempted to compromise to make things a bit easier? Don’t move from Jesus. He knows your faithful efforts and he knows you don’t have much strength. His heart is with you right now, he won’t let you down. In fact, though Christians do feel small and weak, Jesus says …
(Slide 14) I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. Doors do sometimes shut for Christians when they live faithfully. Christians do get excluded from opportunities and relationships when they live by different values and rules. But our response is not to be feeling sorry for ourselves and our response is not to withdraw and go quiet. We are to realise that when Jesus opens a door then nobody else can shut it. (Container door!) We are to keep speaking the gospel unapologetically (open door), we are to keep following Jesus closely, we are to keep living holy lives zealously. We are to walk through the door Jesus has opened and he will make sure that the right things happen. And one of them is this …
(Slide 15) I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan come and bow. What is that about? The Jews who wouldn’t recognise Jesus as Lord, who barred the church from meeting in the Synagogue, look like the enemy but they aren’t. Our real enemies aren’t people at all but Satan himself. The source of opposition to Jesus Christ and his gospel is always Satanic (hence our desperate need to pray for help). But even Satan himself can’t shut the door Jesus opens and so the promise here is that the excluders, those making the Christians feel small right now, will one day feel small themselves, and one day will bow and acknowledge who Jesus is. One amazing example of this is the apostle Paul, who at one time persecuted the church and then bowed before the risen Lord and then spent the rest of his life planting the very churches that Revelation is addressing!
So don’t stop because of opposition, instead see the open door, see the power of the gospel, see the opportunity that comes to weak Christians to accomplish great things for Jesus by simply trusting that what Jesus says is true. Right now, are there people in your life you are intimidated by, who you are quiet about Jesus in front of, who you could neve imagine bowing and acknowledging the saviour? Do you think the door is shut? If Jesus has opened it then no one can shut it. You couldn’t and I couldn’t because we are small and weak, but if Jesus has opened the door then just walk through it. Pray for the people in your life you oppose you or intimidate you and then walk through the door and witness to them. Jesus might just blow all your tiny expectations away and do something extraordinary.
This is not an easy life that Jesus calls us small weak Christians to, it is a life of risk and trial and testing but Jesus knows this and he also knows what we need most when we feel the weight of opposition and the heartache of exclusion for his name and so he says the 3 things that a child would want to hear most when they are in distress …
(Slide 16) I have loved you … I will keep you … I am coming soon … Isn’t that was a child wants to hear through their pain and their tears? That is enough for us as God’s beloved children. It is enough! It is enough for us as a whole church family to know that we are loved by God, it is enough for us to know that he is going to keep us even when the whole world faces his judgement, it is enough for us to know that soon, soon he is going to come, and all of this suffering for his name will be over.
And it is enough for you each morning, it is enough. If you are trusting in Jesus then every single day when you wake up his mercies are new and he wants you to know that he loves you, he will keep you, he is coming soon. That is enough to get us out of bed, get dressed and get out there in all of our smallness and all of our weakness and to live faithful lives, walking through the doors that Jesus has opened for us, witnessing to him by proclaiming the gospel, living holy lives in the middle of a sinful culture, loving one another even when it hurts. Christ Church Riverside, he is enough. Shake off any despair you have slipped into and return to faithful, confident-in-Christ living.
Conclusion
In 1 John 3 v 2 (another letter that the John of Revelation wrote) we read this; “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears we shall be like him, for we will see him as he is.” When Jesus comes, wonderful things are going to happen to those who belong to him. We small, little, weak excluded, opposed, scorned people are going to be changed in an amazing way – we are going to suddenly be like the saviour that we have been trying to be like ever since he saved us. Verse 12 of Revelation 3 helps us to see more of what this will mean …
(Slide 17) I will make you a pillar in the Temple of my God, never again will they leave it. The Christians in Philadelphia had been excluded from the Synagogue, they were on the outside and Satan wanted to keep them there but when Jesus returns those same small weak faithful believers will become a fixture in God’s very presence, never again to leave it. The outsiders become the insiders. Pain is replaced by peace. Trials replaced by blessings. Prayers for help replaced by loud shouts of praise.
I can’t wait to see God face to face along with you (we can say to each other – “He kept his promises, it is even better than we talked about”)! I can’t wait to see God face to face and see others from our area and our lives who have come to Christ because of our faithful witness, because we went through the doors Jesus opened – we can say to them “We told you it was going to be good!”
The one who holds the key of David (Old Testament reference to having authority over God’s promised eternal Davidic kingdom) he is the one who changes us from outsiders to insiders. And (Slide 18) he is the one that gives those with no name in their society a new name – God’s name, the name of the new city, Jesus’ new name. Christ Church Riverside, live as weak but faithful believers, running to Jesus again and again for all that we need, willing to have our name dragged down and scorned, safe in the knowledge that one day, soon, all will bow in front of the name of Jesus and we will delight in that name forever.
He who has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Overcome Weakness Handout
Intro: The little daughter and her loving father
1) God wants faithfulness in our weakness
“I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name … you have kept my command to endure patiently.”
What was happening to the believers?
- Doors shut in their faces
- Excluded
- Names maligned
And yet they responded with faithfulness;
- Kept my word
- Not denied my name
- Kept my command to endure patiently
Which life should we choose? On the inside without Christ or on the outside with Christ? Our loving father God wants faithfulness in our weakness.
2) God honours faithfulness with his strength
Jesus declares;
- I know your deeds, I know that you have little strength.
- I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.
- I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan come and bow.
- I have loved you
- I will keep you
- I am coming soon
Shake off any despair you have slipped into and return to faithful, confident-in-Christ living.
Conclusion
In 1 John 3 v 2 “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears we shall be like him, for we will see him as he is.”
The one who holds the key of David says;
- I will make you a pillar in the Temple of my God, never again will they leave it.
- I will write on them the name.
| Memory verse: Rev 3 v 11 “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown”
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| Life Group Questions: Read Rev 3 v 7-13
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| Questions for later:
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