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:
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:
‘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. Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you. Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 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 on 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. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’"
The Lord Jesus opens His message to the church in Philadelphia He calls Himself the holy one and true one. By the way, the holy one and true one are both messianic titles. Christ is the holy and true Messiah. He goes on to say He has the key of David. And, whatever he opens no one will shut and whatever he shuts no one will open. This is a rather curious beginning. Primarily because up to this point the Lord's description of Himself in each of the letters to the seven churches, has used vivid imagery, as found in the first chapter of Revelation. This is the first time that Jesus’ description of Himself does not use a previously used image of Christ in Revelation.
We know, for obvious reasons, that there is no such thing as a perfect Christian. And, because the church is merely a collection of imperfect Christians, therefore, there can be no such thing as a perfect church. We all fall short of the absolute standard of God's holiness, this of course, includes His pastors. Pastors, are imperfect people. Because we are all imperfect, try as we may, we simply cannot be as faithful, as diligent and as obedient as the Lord desires for us to be. This is the case of the church at Philadelphia.
However, much like the church of Smyrna, there are no warnings, no condemnations, no threats and therefore, no judgments. In fact, there is no criticism from the Lord at all. This is the sixth letter given to the churches in Asia Minor. Philadelphia is located on the Cogamis River, in western Asia Minor, about 30 miles southeast of Sardis. Founded by the king of Pergamum, Attalus in 189, who was nicknamed Philadelphia because of having been known for a special love for his brother, Eumenes, the king of Lydia, which became the name of the city he founded. It was rich in agriculture, because there were frequent and disastrous earthquakes, being on the main fault line, there was volcanic ash deposited in that area, and things grew rapidly. One of the richest industries there was the wine industry. The fertile land made them the center of a vast vineyard district, and the wine industry thrived there. And, for this reason, the Greek god Bacchus, the god of wine, had many followers in this city. His image was stamped on their coins
Today this city is known as Alasehir, which means "city of God," and is located in modern Turkey. We are told that in A.D. 17, a powerful earthquake destroyed 12 cities in the area, including Sardis and Philadelphia. The emperor Caesar Tiberius, helped to rebuild Sardis, and so a monument was made to him and he was worshipped there.
Verse 7, "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
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 angel, or the messenger, is the representative that will carry back the book of Revelation, and in particular, this letter is for the church of Philadelphia. Notice that the author describes Himself as "He who is holy." This is very Hebrew, and refers to none other than God. Therefore, that is to say, that Jesus Christ, who is the head of the church and the author of this letter, is none other than God Himself.
He then goes a step further and says, "I am He that is true." The word for true here is the word "althinos," which means authentic or genuine. He is then saying, "I AM the true God." He is the holy God Who cannot tolerate sin. He is the true God Who has no place for error or falsehood. Notice that He still does not rebuke this church.
Then, as we noted earlier, He is identified as the one "who has the key of David," meaning He has the Messianic authority. The key is the emblem of ultimate authority over all the riches in heaven. Jesus Christ then is the Holy One, the True One, and the one who has access to all the treasures of heaven, of which He pours out by His own sovereign will, on His people. He is the root of David, the Anointed King, the Messiah, Who by His sovereign authority, opens the riches of heaven.
This is a direct reference back to Isaiah 22, speaking of a man named Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, the treasurer of David who had the key to all the treasures of the king.
He then says "who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens." Without Christ, we cannot enter the kingdom. because He alone provides entrance for us. In John 16, Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."
In Genesis, God shut the door of the ark, the rains came, and no one could get in or out.
Verse 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."
The emphasis of this statement is to affirm our Lord’s grace toward these true believers. This is very encouraging, because they weren't a perfect church, and here is the Lord, looking at this church in Philadelphia and He has nothing to rebuke, there is no warning, there is no judgement. They were a true and faithful church, consequently, the Lord opened the kingdom to them and all its blessings, and all its treasures. This is a divine commendation.
Follow along with me as I read it again, down to verse 10, to tie it all together. This is our Lord's blessing to faithful church, these are some really rich words. .
"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. Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you. Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth."
The Lord knows everything there is to know about them and He pours out His blessing. He says "You have a little power, that's the word dunamis,because they were few. This was not a sin issue, it was a size issue. But like a grain of mustard seed, there was spiritual power flourishing in that small church. That’s the second commendation
"And have kept My word, and have not denied My name." There are many warnings in Scripture for those who deny the name of the Lord. And, there are great blessings for those who endure in faith to the end. This was a church characterized by power, and their obedience and loyalty to the Lord. They remained doctrinally pure.
You know, we live in a day in which sound doctrine is cast aside. The politically correct church today has jumped on board the train of ecumenicalism, practicing that even those who belong to different denominations work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity regardless of what we believe. Claiming that "We must tear down the walls that divide us." I believe that there are core Biblical beliefs that must be considered non-negotiable, if we are to one day stand before the Lord and to hear Him say, "You have kept My Word, and not denied My Name."
If you’re talking about tearing down walls or racism, jealousy, preferences, methods, and side-line issues, I’m on board. But if you’re talking about tearing down walls of doctrinal truth, then I must say, I’m not touching a single wall that God built! We are a church that stands for the doctrinal truth called the gospel.
Then, in verse 9, comes a very significant promise: "I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie – I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you."
That's the posture of a humbled and defeated enemy. In other words, since they’re making life difficult for you, because there is persecution, I will make them bow. This is a picture of Jewish people from a synagogue bowing down to Gentiles and learning that it is the Gentiles that the Lord God loves. Some Jews have a hard time accepting that, look at Jonah. In the end, they will see that God has loved us, that the blessing of God has been on the church.
Isaiah makes this same reference in Isaiah 60:14 says "The sons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you, and all those who despised you will bow themselves at the soles of your feet; And they will call you the city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel."
Throughout church history, God has been saving both Jew and Gentile, through faithful churches. I believe that this means salvation came to Jews in Philadelphia, because the door was open to the kingdom there. Christ, Who is the way to the grace of God, has established an open door to salvation. This is such a precious promise given to us by our Lord. It does not matter what people do to us or what may happen to us, we do not lose our salvation or our standing in God’s kingdom.
Paul said in Romans 8, " If God is for us, who is against us?" No matter how fierce the suffering is that we face, our suffering does not mean that we have been rejected by God.
Verse 10, "Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth."
This is a remarkable promise. We don’t know what that is specifically, there isn't any historical event to point to. The use of the word "world" has always had a limited context. If it does point to a historical event, they were kept from that devastation. It may be the world from their perspective. The language is very sweeping, so there may be something more here. An hour of testing has limitation, so this is not not a permanent trial. The phrase "those who dwell on the earth," is repeated in the book of Revelation about half a dozen times or more, and it always refers to unbelievers.
Unfaithful churches will experience judgment here and now, temporal judgment. Perhaps the Holy Spirit is giving us a look at the end of redemptive history, a time when severe judgement comes on the earth. It is important to note that Christ is not saying that they would not also participate in the suffering and hardships. God’s purpose is to save our souls from eternal punishment.
Many Christians today have this attitude that it’s God’s privilege to have us here, they define church attendance with an "if." If I'm not too busy, if something better to do doesn't come up. If I don't have a ballgame to attend or watch on television. We have a very poor outlook of what it means to be faithful. If you think you can be anything less than 100%, then you are sadly mistaken. Satan will test you and see what it takes to keep you home from church.
In verse 11, there's a warning with that promise, "I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown."
"You're not going through that final time of testing, I'm going to come and take you out of it, so hold fast what you have." You can’t lose your salvation, but you can lose your reward, you do not lose what you have accomplished. This verse reminds us that it’s possible to lose a crown by not continuing in the faithfulness that earned it. God has promised rich blessings to us if we’ll be faithful! So I encourage you to keep being faithful!
In II John 8, John says "Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward."
This is pretty consistent in Scripture in texts that look at the future. This very well may be referring to the rapture, this "coming quickly." Because there’s no judgment, it cannot be Revelation 19. So, this appears to be a deliverance from that final hour.
Then, in verse 12, "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 on 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. "
This is a picture of security and permanence in the temple of God. A pillar that cannot be removed is a critical part of the structure. This shows that Christ's faithful followers are His. This is a promise to encourage us, to comfort us. This means that you're going to live in heaven forever, a permanent eternal inheritance, in the glorious dwelling place of God.
As a footnote, in ancient times, cities would erect pillars and the pillars in the temples were dedicated to those people, it would have the name of an honored person carved on the temple pillar. Our names will be carved into the temple of heaven. "I will write on him the name of My God," that's equivalent to possession, a pillar in the temple will have your name on it, and God will write His name on you, God’s forever honored, the pillars of those who were faithful. These are the true holy people of 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." Whatever that name is, encompassed in that name is the fullness of His eternal majesty. I will take you from this world into a place of eternal glory! This is the security forever in heaven, eternal citizenship in the New Jerusalem.
And then He in verse 13, the Lord ends this letter like all the rest, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’" This verse challenges believers once again to heed what the Spirit says to the churches. Some hear the Word, and yet they do not allow it to take root because the seduction of worldly pleasures and comfort overcomes them. Others, they reject the Word because of persecution or trials. Others hear the Word and open themselves to understand and accept it, and so it transforms them. The Lord is calling for people to pay careful attention and take heed. It is up to the individual hearer to decide whether or not to take the Word seriously and pursue understanding, and allow the Word to bear fruit to the glory of God.
In Closing..
At some point in life, most all people have been or are being exposed to the Words of God, it takes a willingness to listen, to be challenged and to be changed. The world does not want to make peace with those who follow Christ, in fact, the world wants to compel those of us who pursue righteousness to conform to the evils of the world. The world wants nothing more than to force everyone to accept that they are fine as they are. But we must not fall into the trap of seeking peace with the world system.
It's easy to be tempted to focus on this life, and we must be careful that our disgust over the conduct and immorality of this fallen world is not permitted to become anger. Society has lost its way; no longer fearful of God and sadly, they are incapable of concern for others. Compassion, courtesy and consideration are concepts that have grown increasingly rare in our world today. The primary cause of this downward shift in our culture, is because God has been excluded from our lives. And we have the audacity to wonder what went wrong!
God's word contains valuable lessons we must take to heart and then apply them to our lives. If we will listen, learn and obey the inspired Word of God, we will then become the illustrated Word of God to the world. Our Lord promises to fellowship with anyone in the church who would heed His voice and welcome Him.We must not simply read them for our intellectual knowledge but study them for our spiritual good.
May it be so..
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen