The Letter to the Church in Philadelphia
Rev. 3:7-13
Ancient Philadelphia is now called Alesihir in modern day Turkey. Philadelphia was the youngest of all the seven cities. It was founded by colonists from Pergamum under the reign of Attalus the Second, who ruled in Pergamum from 159 to 138 B.C. It was never to attain greatness in worldly terms as it was off the normal trade routes, although it was on the road to the Eastern cities of Asia Minor. The city was often seen as an outpost of the Empire of the time - being dubbed a ‘missionary city’ with “open doors that would never be shut”.
This message, along with the message to Smyrna, are the only two in which there are no rebukes and there does not seem to be anything that is not pleasing to God. But there are warnings: this small community would not be immune from the persecution coming on Christians throughout the Roman Empire. But members of this little fellowship were not to be fearful as they would be kept through these days – they would not be spared the trials and times of suffering and persecution, but would be given the strength to hold firm – no-one would be able to take the crown of life away from them.
So who was this church? Well, Philadelphia was a strategically located trade town in Asia. It stood between Rome and the eastern world and was known as “little Athens” because of it’s many gods and idols. But though it was filled with idolatry, the church remained faithful to Jesus. They had little power, as Jesus mentions in the letter, but they “have kept My word, and have not denied My name” - Rev 3: 8 . They also faced persecution from the Jews, which we see in verse 9. But despite weakness and opposition, they trusted His word and remained faithful to Him. In a city filled with idolatry, they listened to Jesus alone, and that was their greatest achievement. That’s our call today—listen to and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Scriptures must be the centering point of every church.
The ciy was situated where the borders of Mysia, Lydia and Phrygia met. It was founded with the deliberate intention that it might be a missionary of Greek culture and language to Lydia and Phrygia; and so well did it do its work by peaceful means that by A.D. 19 the Lydians had forgotten their own language and were all but Greeks.. Later on the Risen Christ speaks of the “open door” that is set before Philadelphia. Earlier Philadelphia was founded as an open door to spread Greek language and culture in the lands beyond; and now there has come to it another great missionary opportunity, to carry to men who never knew it the message of the love of Jesus Christ.
Philadelphia had a great characteristic which has left its mark upon this letter. It was on the edge of a great plain called the Katakekaumene (Greek #2618), which means the Burned Land. The Katakekaumene was a great volcanic plain bearing the marks of the lava and the ashes of volcanoes then extinct. Such land is fertile; and Philadelphia was the centre of a great grape-growing area and a producer of wines. . In A.D. 17 there came a great earthquake which destroyed Sardis and other cities. In Philadelphia the tremors went on for years;
It often happens that, when a great earthquake comes, people meet it with courage and self-possession, but recurring minor shocks drive them to sheer panic. That is what happened in Philadelphia. Aftershocks were an everyday occurrence. Gaping cracks appeared in the walls of the houses. Now one part of the city was in ruins, now another. Most of the population lived outside the city in huts and feared even to go on the city streets lest they should be killed by failing masonry. Those who still dared to live in the city were reckoned mad; they spent their time patching up the shaking buildings and every now and then fleeing to the open spaces for safety. These terrible days in Philadelphia were never wholly forgotten, and people in it ever waited subconsciously for the ominous tremors of the ground, ready to flee for their lives to the open spaces. They well knew what security lay in a promise that "they would go out no more." Rev. 3:12 - " Extract from William Barclay's Daily Study Bible"
The opening salutation in the letter differs from the others – as it does not come using words from John’s opening chapter of Revelation with its powerful description of God. It comes instead from 1 John 5:20 where Jesus is described as the One who is true and who also has the ‘key of David’ (Isa 22:22). Keys are symbolic in opening up hidden secrets in our understanding - whether they are mysteries of God (Job 11:7), or mysteries that have been entrusted to us as servants of Christ (1 Cor. 4:1), or mysteries requiring further revelation, as in the deep truths of the Kingdom taught by Jesus.
Let us see how Jesus introduces himself in verse 7. “The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.”
We have in that single verse a four-fold description of Christ.
1) He’s the holy one. This is the distinctive attribute of God. He’s set apart, perfect and pure.
2) He’s true. He cannot lie. He keeps His word. He’s fully trustworthy at all times and in every way.
3) He has the key of David. Keys and locks and doors are a sign of power and official authority. Jesus holds the key not to Philadelphia but to the house of David. Remember, God told David that he would establish his kingdom and his son would reign on the throne forever. Jesus is that Son who takes the seat, the eternal throne.
4) He is the one who opens and shuts the doors. He’s sovereign over all. He’s powerful, able to open and shut.
We need this message today because at some point our faith will be tested, just as the Philadelphian church was, and when it is, we need the everlasting word of Jesus to help us stand like pillars of righteousness.
Look again at verse 8 “I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”
Jesus opens every letter with His knowledge of each church. What does he know about this particular church? That they have little power. That’s not an insult or rebuke. It’s just an acknowledgment that they had very little influence in their culture. They were small in size. Even more, they were persecuted by the Jews who were stronger than they were, as we see in verse 9. Yet in the face of opposition, they did not deny their faith in Christ.
Jesus wants them to know that the opposition they faced was not their fault. Their suffering wasn’t a result of their lack of faith or being disobedient to His word. They kept His word. They stood firm. They faced persecution because they were faithful to the Word. He knows of their faith toward Him and their love for Him. So, to reward them for their faithfulness Jesus says He set before them an open door, which no one is able to shut.
What is this open door?
(1) At least four Scriptures explain that the term “open door” refers to the ability of the church in Philadelphia to preach the gospel in all the world as a witness to all nations, prior to Christ’s return. Acts 14:27 states, “He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.” 1 Corinthians 16:9 points out, “…a great and effective door has opened to me” in Ephesus. 2 Corinthians 2:12 says, “…when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord…” Finally, Colossians 4:3 states, “…that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ.”
These Scriptures show that the open door is associated with preaching Christ’s gospel of the Kingdom of God. However, the term “open door” is not limited to just preaching the gospel message to the world. There are other Scriptures that identify additional aspects of the “open door”:
(2) In the parable of the ten virgins, the five wise virgins, who were ready, went with the bridegroom to the wedding, and, as Matthew 25:10 tells us, the open door was shut. When the foolish virgins, who were not ready, came and said, “Lord, Lord, open to us!”, The bridegroom answered them, “I do not know you” (verses 11-12). Likewise, in Luke 13:25, we read that the time will come when the Master of the house will shut the door and won’t let those in who are standing outside, knocking.
The open door, then, is also associated with the ability of the five wise virgins to enter God’s Kingdom. The foolish virgins were unable to do so — for them, the door was shut – why? Because they were not ready.. Christ told us to “enter” by the narrow gate which leads to life, and that only few will find it (Matthew 7:13-14).
(3) Christ identifies Himself many times as the “open door.” In John 10:1-9, Christ talks about Himself as the door to salvation. He says that he who enters the sheepfold by the door (verse 2) is the true shepherd, and that everyone will be saved who enters through Christ. That is what the five virgins did, when they entered the wedding room through Jesus Christ- the open door - going in and finding pasture (compare John 10:7, 9).
Revelation 3:12 says that those who are faithful in Philadelphia will be “pillars” in the temple of God, and that they will go out no more. It is given to them to go through the open door – Christ - into the temple of God, in order to be pillars there.
(4) God closed the door of the ark, after Noah and his family and the selected animals had entered the ship. - Genesis 7:16, “The Lord closed the door on him.” God did so, after righteous Noah and his family had entered the ark . They entered the ark to be saved from destruction.
Many evangelical churches are scrambling to find strategies and formula that will enable them to reach out effectively with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Despite a rich heritage of gospel teaching there is a sense of discouragement, even despondency, among many Christians about the prospects for evangelism in our time. And so a variety of pragmatic schemes are being employed to assure success in the communication of the gospel. Because many people believe that large numbers indicate true success of the gospel in the area of evangelism and also in the area of church growth.
We have already succumbed to this temptation to craft strategies that accommodate the gospel for church growth and for evangelism . Before we go any further we need to listen carefully to Christ’s letter to the church in Philadelphia. In this letter, Christ speaks to a small and beleaguered church, which was assailed by fierce opposition to its testimony to Christ, and warmly assures them that He will set before them an “open door” of opportunity to witness to His name (Rev. 3:8). Because of their grip upon the true testimony concerning Jesus Christ, the witness of the church in Philadelphia will be a beacon of light, drawing the unsaved and others into fellowship with the living God and entrance into His temple-sanctuary.
Many believe that the lack of popularity of Christianity prove the need for some new reformation to take the gospel to the unreached . But this only shows that Jesus was absolutely right when He said that His way was narrow and that few walked on it, while the wider path was more popular and many walked on it. But this wider path led on to destruction. While the narrow path led on to eternal life,- Matt 7:13-14 Most churches have shown a willingness to lay aside the clear teachings of Scripture and cling on to pragmatic schemes in order to find success in this world
We must get out of the premise that the church and her teachings must be popular with the world in order for the church to succeed. Jesus told His disciples that the world would hate them. – Luke 12:12; John 15:20 The churches in Revelation that were commended were small and persecuted. The idea of a church that appeared so attractive and successful that the world willingly embraces her is a description of the Laodicean church, not the church described by Jesus and His apostles.
The letter to Philiadelphia shows us that it is not programmes or formula that will help our churches in proclaiming the gospel to our community but it is the Lord Jesus who makes us effective witnesses with His “open doors” policy because of our commitment and obedience to the Word of God and to the leading of the Holy Spirit - “I know your works. Because you have limited strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name, look, I have placed before you an open door that no one is able to close. .” (Rev 3:8])
Here is the answer to most “ Church Growth schemes”
Now lets look at verses 9 and 10: “Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. Because you have kept my word with patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth”
Persecution shows us who we really are. When we suffer with Jesus, we see what sort of faith we have . But when things don’t go as planned, we realize we need more than our resources. We need more than our wisdom. We need more than what we can gain by our work.. We need a foundation beneath us stronger than the happy platitudes of this world. We need the rock of the Bible.
It’s that rock of the Word of God that sustained these Christians in Philadelphia. We see in verse 9 that the Jews in the synagogue of Satan have caused harm to the church. These Jews, Jesus says, are not really Jews, but lie. What does that mean? It means what Paul meant in Romans 2 when he said no one is a Jew outwardly but inwardly, by the Spirit. These Jews didn’t love God. They loved themselves and their power and their status and their self-perceived righteousness.
These Jews didn’t trust Jesus. They, like Satan, set themselves against Him. So Jesus will show them how wrong they are and how right the church is. Jesus will bring about the vindication the church longs for. Jesus always makes things right. It might not be in the time we would choose, but it’s coming in His time! And in His timing, the Jews will not only see from afar how wrong they were, they will see close up how much Jesus loves His church, and the Jews will bow at their feet in confession of their error.
We know the story of the Jews. They were the religious elite, the official establishment. They even had the backing of Rome in some areas of the world. They thought they held the keys to the kingdom, but Jesus is that key, and if they reject him, they never gain entrance to the Kingdom.
And now, this upstart band of misfits who claim Jesus as Lord are withstanding persecution from the Jews and enduring. And Jesus is about to show them how much he loved this little church. See what he says. “Behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.”
If we’ve come to Christ in repentance and faith, everything in our life—all the good and all the bad and everything in between—is a witness to the dying love of Jesus. We may know his love but one day the whole world will see that He has loved us. The Bible says He will present us to Himself without spot or wrinkle , that we might be holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:27). It doesn’t matter how much the world roughed you up. On that day, he will wash us clean and show the cosmos how He has loved us.
No one can take that from you. The world may say you’re worthless but Jesus died on the cross to prove otherwise. The world may say you’re ignorant but Jesus says your true knowledge is in Him. The world may say you’re wasting your life but Jesus is just getting you ready for the entrance into abundant, eternal life.
Look at the second phrase in verse 10. “I will keep you from the hour of trial…”
Because the church in Philadelphia has kept Christ’s word in patient endurance, it may be confident that, in the “hour of trial that is coming upon the whole world” prior to Christ’s coming, it will be spared. This assurance, contrary to the interpretation of some, is not a promise that the Philadelphians will be “raptured” before the time of testing comes but that they will be preserved through the testing when it comes. Nothing will separate them from God’s love in Christ. And so, as they hold fast to their “crown,” they are encouraged to look forward to the future, when they and all who share their faith in Christ will dwell in God’s presence forever.
The message is not promising untroubled times: obviously, just as the Philadelphians experienced unexpected (and unwarranted?) persecution from those who were nearest to them in beliefs (the Jews), so we too can expect opposition – but if we stay firm and endure patiently, our reward is assured.
There are many other gems and words of encouragement in this letter that can help us in today’s world. Unusually, the words “I know your deeds” are followed by a list of commendable factors and here it also includes the recognition that “you have little strength”. In fact, an understanding of our dependence on God’s strength and not on our own, could be an essential part of any strategy for real growth to take place.
We are to hold on to the faith that we have, so that we will become pillars that survive the test of time and will be a support to others. We are told that “I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem…and I will also write on them my new name” (Rev 3:13). We will indeed become ‘Ambassadors’ for Christ!
The message to the ‘overcomers’ in each of the letters is significant. The Messiah is coming soon; if we hold onto our faith we will not lose the crown waiting for us and we will be established so firmly that we will be like pillars in the Kingdom of God.
Look at verses 11 and 12. “I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.”
Jesus is coming soon. Therefore, he says, hold fast. He means to hold on—to keep a firm grasp on your faith. So that one can steal your crown. He gives that crown to all His people suffering the thorns of this world. No one takes what He freely gives.
It is not a question of someone stealing their crown but of God taking it from them and giving it to someone else, because they were not worthy to wear it. Many people in the Bible have lost their place to someone else because they had shown that they were not fit to hold it. Esau lost his place to Jacob (Genesis 25:34; Genesis 27:36). Reuben, unstable as water, lost his place to Judah (Genesis 49:4; Genesis 49:8). Saul lost his place to David (1 Samuel 16:1, 1 Samuel 16:13). Shebna lost his place to Eliakim (Isaiah 22:15-25). Joab and Abiathar lost their places to Benaiah and Zadok (1 Kings 2:25). Judas lost his place to Matthias (Acts 1:25-26). The Jews lost their place to the Gentiles (Romans 11:11).
Jesus is saying, “Don’t give it up. Endure! Hold fast! Don’t give up”
“To the one who overcomes,” Jesus says, “I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God.” We know from history that Philadelphia suffered a major earthquake in 17 AD, and there were others as well. It’s hard for a pillar to stand when the ground beneath it shakes, but Jesus promises to make His church into an immovable pillar. The world may knock you down in this life, but in the life to come, no one will have that power. Jesus will give every faithful believer a permanent place in the structure of God’s Kingdom. The faithful are not only included in the kingdom of God in some general sense, as some extra in some film; they’re people of prominence in His Kingdom. They’re pillars. Their future in Christ is solid.
And it’s an unending future. “Never shall he go out of it,” Jesus says. This may be a promise of security. We have seen how for years Philadelphia was terrorized by recurring earthquakes and how, when such times came, its citizens fled into the open country to escape and when the tremors ended, came back. Life was lived in an atmosphere of insecurity. Now Jesus says “Never shall he go out of it,” Jesus is promising them that they are safe in His Kingdom. There is for the faithful Christian the promise of a settled serenity in the peace which only Jesus Christ can give.
No one can come in and undo the work of Jesus. He will reign forever. His people will live forever in the presence of God in safety as the people of God for the glory of God.
But there’s more “I will write on him the name of my God.” That means we’ll belong to God. We’ll be marked as God’s people, renamed for His glory.
“And the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven.” We’ll have permanent citizenship in this kingdom. It will feel like home because it will be home. It will come down from God out of heaven and make its place on earth. The earth will be recreated, the old will fade away and everything will be new . It won’t even feel like a foreign country. We will be more fully home there than we are even now!
“And my own new name.” A new name in the Bible means a new status, a new function. What is this new name? We’re not sure, But whatever that name is, it’ll be written on us, marking us as His enduring people, claimed by Him for all time.
Jesus said, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Various Churches have proved themselves to be untrue because they were not maintained in the character of "golden lamps" set to shine in this world. They have not been genuine in their profession. But Christ is "the True". In whatever way we see Him, He was absolutely genuine, whether it was Godward or manward. He is the true Light (John 1:9), the true Bread (John 6:32 ), the true Vine (John 15:1), the true God (1 John 5:20 ), and the true Witness (Rev. 3:14). In whatever way we look at Him, He is the perfect setting forth of that truth according to God. Everything that God had in mind as regards man has been seen and displayed in Him to perfection.
Even though we may be weak, may we be faithful – and live up to the Philadelphian slogan ‘Open All Hours - we are never closed’
