The Revelation 3:7-9 | Episode # 1023

September 10, 2025

Hope Alive: Applying God’s Word to Your Daily Life

The Revelation 3:7-9

I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.

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Transcript

This is Chad Harrison, and you're listening to Hope Applying God's word to your daily life.

Hi, this is Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and have been serving as a pastor for 25 years.

I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life.

I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open up his word to you and allow you to see him and to know him and to know his will, that you might glorify him and that you might walk in faith and power each and every day,

especially today in Jesus name.

He says in verse seven, and to the angel of the church of Philadelphia, write.

You need to know what Philadelphia means. Cause that's important, right? Feli is brotherly love.

Delphi is city.

Okay? So this is the city of brotherly love. I've been there many times,

went to universities about 40 miles northeast of it the university. I spent four years. I had a cousin that had dollar stores back when there weren't dollar stores. He was one of the original dollar store guys.

He had dollar stores in,

in Newark and Camden and, and all through New Jersey and, and, and. And all the way down to my name. For the city is filthy Delphia.

And if you ever been there, it's not. It's not really nice anyway. It's not super nice, but, but, but Camden's worse. Camden's definitely worth. Across the river. It's horrible, all right?

And really, we were really not in any of the nice places,

all right? And so, so Philadelphia is the city of brotherly love. You need to know that because, you know,

they really love their athletic teams. All right? He says these things.

All right? He says these things, says he who is holy,

who is true,

who has the key of David.

Huh?

So now he's saying,

look, I'm telling you that I am perfect.

I am the perfect manifestation of God. I'm holy.

He's saying, I'm true. I'm telling you exactly the way things are.

He says, and I have the key of David, or the authority of David. I'm going to Turn to Jeremiah 33, 14:16.

Jeremiah 33,

14:16.

It says, Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.

Remember, Jesus is the lion of the tribe of Judah. He says, in those days,

and at that time, I will cause to grow up to David a branch of righteousness meaning from his seed, I am going to cause a branch of righteousness to grow.

He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.

In those days, Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety. And this is the name by which she will be called,

the Lord, our righteousness.

So that is the key of David,

is the righteousness of God. And remember, righteousness comes by faith. You need to hear that every time I say that all. I say things like that all the time so that when I say it, you'll just think of it.

Righteousness. We don't have righteousness by works, we don't have righteousness by flesh. We have a righteousness that comes by faith and faith alone.

He says he who opens. He says he who I have the key of David. He opens and no one shuts and shuts and no one opens.

What he's saying is, is I have the power to make things happen and I have the power to keep things from happening.

And so he's saying, I'm holy, I'm true, and what I do,

no one can stop. And what I choose not to do,

no one can make happen.

Now this is, this is the idea of the sovereignty of God.

And it's one of those ideas that I talk about regularly, okay?

God is sovereignly in control.

That is a principle that is spelled out at the beginning of everything.

I am the beginning and the end. I am sovereignly in charge.

I am over all things. I'm King of kings and Lord of Lords. I am the power and the glory forever and ever. I am. What he's saying is I am sovereignly over everything.

And when I say something that's true and when I say something that's holy, that's the way it is.

Now,

Christians have a hard,

have trouble with that as they first enter the faith because they bring what they brought from their childhood to the kingdom.

And that is mine and know and I want.

Am I right?

And if you know any good one year old, I'm talking about a rock solid one year old on up to three or four,

they have that locked down. I mean, they know this is mine and it's not theirs,

so it's not there. Mine and know. When their parents say, this is what you ought to do,

and you go, why are you bringing that up? Because you don't change that much,

okay? Don't think you grew up that much, okay? Because you really didn't.

You're still saying mine and no and I want and all that.

You're still doing it.

It's not like you just totally overcome it and why and all that, right?

And God's gracious enough to not let you stay in it and gracious enough to give you an answer even though you don't deserve an answer.

Am I right?

Because he loves you,

but that doesn't mean that you're mature.

And he says. He says, what I open, no man can shut. And what I shut, no man can open. What he's saying is,

you need to understand this. This whole thing I'm in charge of,

I know it from beginning to end. I've planned it from the foundations of time. I have been at work in this the whole way.

Now, I want you to listen to me.

Some people ask, well, you know,

he's a Calvinist. I don't know what I am, but I am a biblicist, okay? I'm gonna tell you that. And I can tell you this.

One of the principles of Calvinism,

okay,

is that God is totally sovereign and in control.

And I'm going to tell you that's from Genesis 1 to the last verse in Revelation, chapter 21, okay?

He is totally in control.

So if. Huh? 22. Last verse in chapter 22. Yeah. Even deuced us 22 also. Okay? All right.

What I'm explaining to you is that that's a principle that you got to get. And he's telling that church that I'm in charge of these things.

You know, when. When you get to that place, it's really kind of relieving.

There's a spiritual relief that comes with that.

So all I gotta do is kind of trust God and go along what he's got going on. Yeah, pretty much.

Yeah. It comes that way.

Now, does that mean it's always easy to do it? No, but it does mean that we do.

He says, I know your works. Remember works. Again,

I have set before you an open door.

So he's told him I got the power to open it and to shut it.

And he says, I've opened the door for you.

By the way,

John Paul talks about this a whole lot in his writings,

okay? I mean, he talks about it over and over and over again.

He talks about in 1st Corinthians 16 and Philippians 1.

I mean, Philippians 3 and 2 Corinthians 2 and Colossians 4. He keeps saying, there's an open door here. There's a Galatians, God set before me an open door. He gave me an open door.

What is he talking about? He's talking about the Holy Spirit revealing a way all Right.

The Holy Spirit revealing to you a way.

Now, if Paul's talking about that all the time and he says there's. The door was closed to me.

If he's talking about that, you probably should be looking for doors.

Am I right?

Yeah, you probably should be looking for doors. And if you see a door, if. If you see God open a door, you should go through it. And if you see God close the door, you should be satisfied that it's closed.

And how do I determine that? Well, I got to deal with that thing that, you know, we don't really want to deal with the spiritual because these doors are not physical doors.

They're spiritual doors.

And the keys of the keys, the key of David is. Is a spiritual key.

It's not an actual key that we can dig up.

It's. It's. It's not. It's not the Holy Grail,

okay?

It's not a cup that you drink from and you have eternal life,

okay? It's not a key, if I've got it, that I can open anything I want to.

It's not the greatest key of all time,

okay. In our modern age.

It's not a key to open up all the Bitcoin in the world, okay?

It's not that. That's not what he's talking about.

He's talking about a spiritual key that opens up the will of God and makes it known to people.

He says, no one can shut it, for you have little strength,

but you've kept my word.

When he says. He says, I know your works that have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it, for you have little strength and have kept my word and have not denied my name.

Well, that's all kind of good stuff, ain't it? That's really good stuff.

He says,

you've gone through the door.

You've kept my word. You've not denied my name.

Indeed, I'll make those of the synagogue of Satan. That goes back to the last book in the last chapter, right?

And I think we kind of covered what that represented, right?

He says, indeed, I'll make those who are synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not,

but lie, indeed, I will make them come and worship before your feet and to know that I have loved you.

What he's saying is, I'm going to show everybody that you're favored by me.

Now. You need to see that God is going to show his favor on you, and you need to expect that. You expect his favor.

You need to seek his favor. Out. In situations where you're trusting him, you need to look for his favor to be full and complete before you.

Okay?

Sometimes we don't do that. Sometimes we don't seek the favor of God. But you need to.

And I'll say this.

I have come to understand the favor of God. And it's good.

It's the best.

And you need to seek out the favor of God.

Because when you walk by faith,

you know you are the apple of his eye. You are the one he wants.

He wants to see that from you.

And the way you do that, you believe that he's sovereignly in control, and you trust him with it as you go. Today, I pray that the Lord will.

Bless you and keep you, that he'll make his face to shine upon you, and that he will give you hope and peace today. In Jesus name.