Revelation 3:7-13
THE FAITHFUL CHURCH
[1 Corinthians 16:9 ]
The church at Philadelphia was a church that was worthy of praise. Christ hands out their praise liberally. Jesus did not wait for their work to be perfect or for their character to be sinless before He commends them. For this faithful church with a little strength there is no criticism (as there wasn’t with Smyrna).
The church at Philadelphia was faithful to Christ and to the Word of God. Jesus therefore opens up for them a door of opportunity that they might reach a lost world. Christ’s delights in giving those churches He approves of an open door of opportunity to minister. May He also find us faithful to Him and His Word and open a door for us, and may we walk through it.
I. CHARACTERISTICS, 7.
A. Greeting, 7a.
B. Christ’s Title, 7b.
II. COMMENDATION, 8.
III. COVENANT, 9-11.
IV. CALL TO COMMITMENT, 12-13.
Verse 7 begins the address to yet another church. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
The town of Philadelphia was situated about 28 miles south-east of Sardis. It was the sixth town the postman would have reached on his circular route to the seven churches of the Apocalypse, or the book of unveiling. Like Sardis, it was in the region of Lydia in a dangerous volcanic area that suffered severe earthquakes. It was situated beside a river in a fertile agricultural area.
Philadelphia, whose name in Greek is brotherly love, was the newest city of the seven. It had been planted at a strategic location on the main route of the Imperial Post from Rome to the east. Located at the door of three major eastern regions, it was known as "The gateway to the East." The church was located in a place of tremendous missionary opportunity.
b. Christ’s Title, 7b.
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 opens, says this:
The church is greeted by the One who is Holy and True. Christ first reminds us that He is holy, or in other words, "set apart" from all that is evil. For the child of God, that’s good news. It means that His love for us will never be corrupted by a lack of integrity or goodness on His part. His care will never be canceled out by selfishness or laziness. Because our Heavenly Father is holy and completely separate from all moral imperfections and the binding limitations they bring, He is able to love us with a full and perfect love. Second, He wants us to see that He is true. He is absolutely genuine. He’s not like the gods of the world, who are only gods in the minds of their worshipers. Because He is true, there is never any discrepancy between what He says about Himself and what He actually is. He is the perfection of righteousness and the fulfillment of all prophecy. Christ is the author of truth in contrast to all that is error, false, or perverted. Jesus Christ stands alone as the One who is completely true and must be completely truthful.
The Messiah is the One who has the key of David. Jesus has the key to the kingdom from where all blessings flow. He has the key to grace. All who would find salvation must find it in Him. He has the key that will unlock all the bars and barriers to man’s heart. He has the key to health and healing. He has the key to providence and provision. All that happens is under His domanian. He, not Peter, has the key to heaven. Jesus has all authority on earth and in Heaven. What He opens, no one can shut and what He shuts, no one can open (Isa. 22:22).
II. The COMMENDATION, 8.
I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.
As with all the other churches, Christ told them He knew their deeds. The entire panorama of the church’s witness was before Him and Jesus gives them words of commendation for their faithfulness. Though the good works are not further described, the church in Philadelphia abounded in authentic good works in the power of the Holy Spirit motivated by their love for Jesus.
Because of their faithful testimony and witness, Jesus places before them an open door. Most likely the door Christ opened for them was the same one He had earlier opened for Paul at Ephesus, a door of effective service (1 Cor. 16:9). The Lord of the Harvest was saying that if they would walk through the door of opportunity He was opening they would find the fields white unto harvest.
It would not be easy, for this church had only a little strength. It was not a large church. It had not many significant members. It lacked financial strength, but with what spiritual strength it had, it was faithful in using for the glory of Christ. It would be wise to invest our life not on the basis of where there are large numbers or finances, but where the people are faithfully dependent on the Lord.
The second reason Christ entrusted them with an open door is because they have kept Jesus’ Word. They were committed to the Word of God and would not depart from its teachings.
The third reason for the sovereignly open door is because they did not deny Jesus’ name. In spite of open opposition and persecution they continued bearing witness of and to Jesus Christ.
III. A COVENANT, 9-11.
Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews, and are not, but lie--behold, I will make them to come and bow down at your feet, and to know that I have loved you.
The persecution the church faced was from hostile Jews. The hostility exhibited by the Jews against the true believers was supernaturally empowered. The vim and vigor they received to carry on their persecution was from Satan. These believers carried on a battle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, powers, world forces of darkness and against spiritual forces of wickedness (Eph. 6:12). This spiritual battle will one day be terminated by the Lord Jesus.
Imagine the defeated on some battlefield being forced to bow before those they had previously abused, acknowledging they were righteous. [Some of these Jews in the flesh would become part of the true Israel (Rom. 2:17-29).] These rebellious religious peoples will acknowledge before God’s faithful witnesses that they were righteous because they followed Jesus. Jesus said He would cause these faithful witnesses to be so honored because He loved them.
Verse 10 gives a specific promise in regard to the Great Tribulation. Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you out of the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth.
To follow Christ is to learn how to endure, to persevere, in what He has asked us to do because of who and what He asks us to become. This is called the perseverance of the saints. To hold on and obey Christ’s word no matter what we encounter in life brings us tremendous blessings, here and in the life to come.
Because of their faithfulness, the Christians in Philadelphia are promised that they will be kept ( , will protect ?) out of the hour of testing which will come upon the whole world. The fuller fulfillment of this promise seems to be for the specific time of divine judgment that coincides with the tribulation period (Mt. 24:14-21). If the worldwide time of trial comes in your day, you will be kept from it. The promised deliverance of the faithful is often said to be the rapture of the true church (Thess. 4:13-5:11). They will be kept out of this trouble which will engulf (swallow) the whole earth. Their present suffering because of their witness to Jesus is enough.
Verse 11 is a command to persevere. I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, in order that no one take your crown.
The expression quickly is to be understood as something sudden and unexpected, not necessarily immediate. The Lord’s coming will be sudden and without announcement. He appears in an unexpected moment as world events begin to rapidly explode into prophetic fulfillment. In view of this, they are expected to hold fast to their testimony for Christ in order to receive their reward at His coming. The coming of Christ for His people in any generation is quicker that we realize.
They are told to hold fast so that no one takes their crown. The other churches were call to spiritual commitment in order to gain their crown; Philadelphia already has its crown and is told to retain it. The encouragement of the blessed hope is what they need to hold it fast. The thought that Jesus is coming to take them to Himself makes the present strain on their perseverance seem worthwhile.
IV. A CALL TO COMMITMENT, 12-13.
He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar 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 (12).
Again Christ makes a special pledge to the overcomer. If we will renounce in this life the way of complacent and compromising Christianity, then in the next life, in God’s heavenly city, (which is considered a temple) we will be pillars; stable, immovable, stalwart, and secure. [God will assign us to strategic places of support to uphold His ministry.] Philadelphian Christians might live in fear of earthquake shocks on earth but nothing will shake them in heaven.
A further promise is given that he will go out no more. This seems to indicate that he will no longer be swayed by the temptations and trials of this present life but will abide in the will of the Lord. In addition to this promise Christ gives them a threefold assurance that they will enjoy the heavenly Jerusalem because (1) they will have the name of God, (2) they will have the name of the city of God and (3) Jesus’ new name. These are eternal realities for those who overcome and enter through the open door of opportunities their faithfulness to God and His Word have provided.
Verse 13 concludes this letter with the now familiar challenge to truly hear, meditate upon it and then obey His Word to the church. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
CONCLUSION
The first challenge to all who will hear today is to receive Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord. To those who have received Him, it is to bear faithful witness for Him. If we are, He will open the doors of opportunity. If He does, we must go through them. If He doesn’t, we must wait.
But above all we must in our faithfulness to Him see the opportunities, not the obstacles for our witnessing. If we miss our opportunities, we will not win our crowns. But if we rise to the opportunities our Lord opens for us, then, like for those in Philadelphia, we too can receive the honors and enjoyments reserved for us in eternity because of our Lord’s provision.
