An organization in Montana once offered a bounty of one thousand dollars for every wolf captured alive. Two young entrepreneurs named Sam and Jed decided to make some money and set out for Montana. They scoured the mountains and forests day and night for three days without any success. Finally after they setup camp, during the night, Sam suddenly woke up to find that he and Jed were surrounded by a pack of wolves, with flaming red eyes and bared teeth, snarling at the two hunters. Sam nudged Jed and said, “Hey, wake up! We’re gonna be rich!”
When a church is surrounded with threats we can consider ourselves rich! We have Jesus who is the faithful one.
25 miles SE of Sardis, the last city we reviewed in Revelation. Philadelphia was founded in 159 BC as a center of Hellenistic culture in the east. It was renowned for its temples, vineyards, and cultural festivals, and for this reason it was nicknamed “Little Athens”. The city was founded by Attalus II and was named for him-he was called Philadelphus because of his love for his brother Eumenes. Philos is a Greek word for love or affection, and adolphos means brother; so “Philadelphia” means the “city of brotherly love”.
During the Roman era, Philadelphia was a favored city and became strategic with trade with the east. Yet, it was located on the edge of a great volcanic plain which was fertile as a result was perfect for growing grapes. There was still at least one temple for the Greek god Dionysius, (dia uh nia sus) the god of ecstasy and wine – no surprise. Yet the city’s proximity to active volcanoes caused regular tremors that threatened the people. Many people lived outside of the city due to the threat from falling buildings within the city walls.
A majority of the population of the city of Philadelphia were Jews who rejected Jesus, the minority were Christians and Christian Jews who believe in Jesus! To the church in Philadelphia, Jesus spoke in terms which are relevant to the audience.
Jesus’ disclosure.
7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘these things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”. Revelation 3:7
Jesus encourages the church especially the Christian Jews. Jesus told them four things in verse 7 – He is holy, He is true, He holds the key, He is the door keeper.
1) He is holy – this phrase could read: “I am the holy One.”
This phrase is an exclusive designation for God. It discloses the trinity. This phrase is used for God (John 17:11), Jesus Christ (Luke 1:35), and the Holy Spirit (Mark 12:36).
2) He is true -Jesus claims to be “I am the true One.” Recall when Moses approached the mountain top he was told
“I am that I am”. (Exodus 3:14.) God described to Moses and the people that “He is the true one” in Exodus 3:15-16 “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations. 16 “Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt.”
God established in these words that He is the One who is true, characterized by integrity, dependable and trustworthy, so that Abraham and all those who followed, found God TRUE! Jesus Christ is reminding these believers at Philadelphia of the same fact. He is not going to change! It might be said this way “I am The One to follow!”
3) He holds the Key of David. – Literally this phrase is saying Jesus is the eternal King! He has the key of David, the phrase here means Jesus Christ holds the symbol of acquisition “the key”. This key is exclusively in the Davidic family line as a symbol of ownership of the rightful throne of the kingdom of God.
Each of these were very relevant since the church was mainly converted Jewish people. The church at Philadelphia faced heavy opposition from the Jews. Some scholars think that the church started out meeting in the Jewish synagogue until they locked the doors on them – keeping them from meeting there. That may be why Jesus refers to giving them an open door that no one can shut.
4.) He opens and no one shuts. It’s similar to what Jesus said to the Jewish people in John 10:1-5 “I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! 2 But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. 5 They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”
The background of the text is that Christians were ostracized from the Jewish people and the synagogue. They were banished! Often it is those in religious circles that bring some of the greatest attacks to Christians.
The Church’s Condition
I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me.” -Revelation 3:8
1) They were weak. – This was a small church with seemingly no prestige. It was regularly persecuted by the local Jews who had condemned them. But because they were weak, they relied upon God.
2) They were Word focused. – They kept God’s Word. We could likely conclude that they spent time studying God’s Word and that was sufficient to carry them through life.
3) They did not waver. – When the Jews knew a person who believed Jesus they called them Christians. The disciples of Jesus Christ were called Christians (Acts 11:26). The Christians in Philadelphia withstood the persecution. They did not deny Jesus’ name. Here was a church, no matter what they faced, they refused to give up on Jesus. The ridicule, the peer pressure, the opposition even in persecution.
How well did they do? Many years after this, the church had such an impact in Philadelphia that long after the rest of the region had fallen to the Muslims, Philadelphia remained a Free Christian City. Philadelphia was the last bastion of Asian Christianity, standing firm throughout the Muslim invasion, until the city fell to the Turks in 1390 AD, long after the surrounding area had succumbed to the forces of Islam. It is one of only two cities that still remains today, and here we can see ruins that date back to when this letter was written alongside relatively modern apartment buildings.
Jesus comforted the church.
9 Look, I will force those who belong to Satan’s synagogue—those liars who say they are Jews but are not—to come and bow down at your feet. They will acknowledge that you are the ones I love. -Revelation 3:9
Shut out by the Jews, the Christians are assured they have fellowship with Jesus. By the Jews exclusion of the Christians and rejection of Jesus, the Jews in Philadelphia have shut doors on themselves. Jesus confirms this in verse 9.
1) They are liars. The title of a Jew is supposed to mean that they are God’s people. They instead have partnered with Satan.
2) As a result they will be forced to come and bow down before their feet.
3) They will also be forced to admit that the church is indeed the people of God.
Because the Christians have kept His word…
Jesus will reward them.
10 “Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world. 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown.” – Revelation 3:10-11
The interpretation of these words is consistent with many other passages of scripture. An imminent trial is coming upon the whole world, it’s called a future time of the great tribulation, a time of the outpouring of the wrath of God upon the world in the days when the antichrist rules on the earth. What is God’s promise to Christians? He will protect them. But just how the Christians are protected from it is a matter of debate. We who believe in a Pre-tribulation rapture, see that this passage and others like it teach that the Christians will be taken out of the earth (raptured) before the great tribulation and so will be protected.
Others who hold to a later rapture during or after the tribulation believe that this promise is not to remove the Christians from the earth, but to offer protection to them while on earth.
It is sufficient to say that every Christian has an awesome promise – Jesus will protect His own. We will talk about that some more in the weeks ahead. But for now Jesus promises recognition, relief, and reward to faithful Christians.
In the days of the Greek and Roman Games the “crown” was the laurel wreath awarded to winners of contests. For a believer the crown became a promise in the New Testament of a symbol for rewarding faithful service. Paul writes to Timothy, shortly before his death:
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not to me only, but to all who have longed for His appearing” – II Timothy 4:7-8.
Jesus promised security.
12 “All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of my God, and they will never have to leave it. And I will write on them the name of my God, and they will be citizens in the city of my God—the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from my God. And I will also write on them my new name.” – Revelation 3:12
1) Jesus says faithful Christians will be like pillars in His temple. When the earthquakes hit the city, often the only thing standing were the pillars of the different temples. Jesus promises security to these faithful believers. But even more than this, in the first century when a prominent citizen did something noteworthy and worth memorializing, they would inscribe this on a pillar in one of their temples.
In the Jerusalem temple which was destroyed in 70 A. D., there were two great pillars in the front; one called Jachin (yakhin which means “established, permanent”), and the other Boaz (“strength”). Pillars were synonymous with strength and permanence. Jesus promises to set His believers up in such a secure fashion that they can never be moved.
2) Jesus says I will write on him the name of my God. To the Christians who are not ashamed to identify with Jesus, Jesus is not ashamed to identify with them. He places His seal, His stamp, His mark of identification on them. Everyone will see that we belong to Jesus
3) Jesus said that believers will be citizens in the city of God. This is the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from God. The last 2 chapters of Revelation speak about the New Jerusalem.
Those of us in the bible hour last week remember the words in Ezekiel 48:35—The city will be named Yahweh-Shammah. “All the way around shall be eighteen thousand cubits; and the name of the city from that day shall be: THE LORD IS THERE.
Presently they were outsiders in their own city, but this promise was very encouraging to help them be faithful to Jesus. Yet again, we will learn more about the New Jerusalem in the weeks ahead.
What wonderful promises from Jesus to all who trust Him!
• Our enemies will be humbled.
• We’ll be protected from the great tribulation.
• We will be strengthened and made secure.
• We can earn a crown for faithful service on earth.
• We’ll be given a new name.
• We’ll live in a glorious city.
These are the promises that were available to Philadelphia and are also available to us. But in a mercy plea Jesus gave a warning for all.
Jesus’ warning.
“Anyone who has an ear, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” – Revelation 3:13
The church at Philadelphia knew what was critical. It is Jesus and His word for all mankind to hear and obey!
John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. 18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because He has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
That name is Jesus Christ! Revelation 3 verse 11 reads Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.