Text: Revelation 3:7–13
Topic: We have a new name, and we're going to live in a new city that cannot be shaken.

• There is something in a name.
  • Illustration: Breaux tells about his real name and the embarrassing way teachers used to pronounce his name.
  • Some people change their names over and over: Sean Combs.
  • Some people are known by just one name: Sting, Bono, etc.
  • Some cities are known by nicknames: The Windy City, The Big Apple, etc.
• Revelation 3:12 records Jesus' words to the city of Philadelphia.
• Philadelphia was in an identity crisis, because it had been named and renamed many times.
• Earthquakes and volcanic activity bred constant fear and rebuilding. Every time the city had to rebuild, Rome renamed it.
• Jesus writes meaningful words to this city living with an ever-changing identity: I will change your name to an unchanging name, one that will stand forever; you will live in and be citizens of an eternal city that cannot be shaken.

• In Revelation 3:7, Jesus says: My name is holy and true. I am transcendent, unchanging, eternal. I see all things and know all things. You can trust what I say.
• Isaiah 22:22 records a prophecy that the coming Messiah would hold the keys. Jesus holds the keys to the kingdom of God, the keys to life and death, to heaven and hell. He opens and closes doors at his discretion.
• We miss so much when we attempt to go our own way. We have someone who is holy and true opening doors for us, yet we still go our own way, knocking over barriers he has set up, or trying to force our way through doors that are locked.
• Jesus says: I know what's best. I have a view from above. Trust me when I open a door. Step through it and follow me.
• So many people say they want to find God's will for their lives. They think finding God's will is like seeing hidden pictures in the Highlight magazines or completing a Where's Waldo puzzle.
• It's not about finding God's will; it's about following God's voice. Jesus said, "My sheep know my voice, and they follow me." Jesus says: Just follow me when I open the door.
  • Illustration: NFL quarterbacks sometimes stand with their fingers in the ear holes of their helmet. An offensive coordinator is talking to them from way up in the press box, where he has a view of the whole field. All the quarterback has to do is listen to the voice in his helmet and follow it.
• Jesus says: I'm holy and trustworthy, and I've got a view from above. Just follow my voice.

• Illustration: Breaux tells about how he and his sons started their own version of Extreme Home Makeover. They sensed God opening a door, so they followed it. They soon realized they didn't have the money to finish what they started. But more volunteers came to help and people donated skills and resources.
• God proved that he is holy, he is true, he is faithful, and he pays for what he orders. He just asks us to follow his voice.
• Open doors are all around us. It's not tough to find God's will for your life. You just have to be willing to follow God's voice and walk through the door opened by the one who holds the keys.

• In every letter in Revelation 2 and 3 —with the exception of the letter to the church in Smyrna—Jesus says, "I know your deeds."
• Usually he rebukes them for what they're doing wrong, but not Philadelphia.
• Jesus says: I know how faithful and resilient you are. I see your courage and humility. You might not be the biggest or strongest or richest church on the planet, but I'm going to use you in powerful ways because you depend upon me. When you're weak I am strong.
• Some of you are from churches that are small and seemingly insignificant. When you come to Willow Creek, you think, Wow, what a place! Why can't we be like that?
• God didn't call you to be us! He called you to be you where you are. He called you to love him with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength—no matter how little that strength might seem.
• Throw a serving towel over your arm, get on your knees, and depend upon the Holy Spirit of God to supernaturally energize your ministry to walk through every open door God has for you.
• It's the Enemy who whispers, "You're small. You're ineffective. You're useless. You're weak. What great thing could your puny church ever do?"
  • Illustration: Rick Long, a pastor of a small but dynamic church in one of the Gulf Coast areas that was hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina, realized God had opened a door for the church to walk through in the wake of the hurricane damage. They organized an incredible relief effort that is now being called one of the best the National Health Department has ever seen in our country's history!
• That's the kind of church Jesus was speaking to in Revelation 3: a little church that had very little strength, according to worldly standards.
• The key for our effectiveness is to realize how little our strength is and stay dependent upon the one who has the strength—the Holy One, the true one, the one who holds the keys.

• One problem with open doors is that they usually let annoying flies in. When God opened the door for the church in Philadelphia, they got more than an annoyance; they faced persecution.
• Because of that, Jesus tells them: I know all about your persecution. I'm eventually going to settle the score. The ones who are persecuting you will be exposed for who they really are.
• The people Jesus is talking about were mentioned in the letter to the church in Smyrna. They were wreaking the same havoc there. Jesus says: Rest assured, I'm going to bring them down.
• Jesus goes on to say, "Since you've kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial … "
• We don't know what that refers to specifically, but Jesus encourages them that he will be with them.
• Jesus says: Don't let anybody or anything force you to live a defeated life. Choose joy every day. Stay hope-filled, and walk through the open door that I have placed for you.
• It's a good thing to remember that nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ.
  • Romans 8 passage from The Message

• Jesus writes to this little church in the city of Philadelphia to tell them that nothing is going to shake them loose from him.
• Look at what he promises these Christ-followers in a city that's constantly being rebuilt: Depend upon me and walk through the doors I have opened for you. When all is said and done, you'll be standing in a new city with a new name.
• Jesus says, "I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name."
• There's something about a name. Can you appreciate what it means when Jesus says, "I will write that name—my name—on you"?
• A name gives us a sense of identity. We have a new name, and we're going to live in a new city that cannot be shaken.
• He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit has to say to the churches.