The
Seven Churches of the 21st Century
Chapter 7
Philadelphia: Faithful In All Things
Revelation 3:7-13
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
After seeing the terrible progression of the last three churches, we now joyfully come to the church in Philadelphia. This church is indeed a breath of fresh air. We find in this church a group of faithful believers who loved the Word of God, who stood for the truth, and who were witnesses of Jesus Christ. They truly were “faithful in all things.” This is the church to which every other church should aspire.
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
The picture of Christ here is the most beautiful of those given to the churches. The picture is actually threefold.
First, our Lord refers to Himself as he that is holy. How imperative it is that we grasp the holiness of God (and the holiness of Christ). As we’ll see later, this has great bearing on “The “Regard” of the letter. Holiness is the supreme quality of God. No one has said it better than the Puritans. Thomas Watson, for example, declared: “Holiness is the most sparkling jewel of His crown; it is the name by which God is known.”[1] Likewise, Stephen Charnock writes in his classic work, The Existence and Attributes of God: “This attribute hath an excellency above His other perfections . . . None is sounded out so loftily, with such solemnity, and so frequently by angels that stand before His throne, as this . . . [and] it is the glory of all the rest.”[2] It is around the attribute of holiness that all of God’s other attributes revolve. We cannot even begin to get a glimpse of God, much less understand anything about, until we first understand his holiness. We can’t even fully understand our own salvation, in fact, until we understand His holiness.
We’ll see later that God’s holiness was one of the great themes of the preaching of this period of Church History; in fact, some of the greatest preaching in all Church History took place during this period. Only when we grasp just how holy God is will we then be able to be faithful in all things.
The usual word translated “truth” in the New Testament is alētheia. As one Greek authority puts it: “Etymologically alētheia means “nonconcealment.” It thus denotes what is seen, indicated, expressed, or disclosed, i.e., a thing as it really is, not as it is concealed or falsified. Alētheia is “the real state of affairs.”[3] The fundamental concept to understand about Truth is that it is that which is absolute, that which is incontrovertible, irrefutable, incontestable, unarguable, and unchanging. If something is true, it is always true and can never be untrue, no matter what the circumstances. Another form is alēthēs, which refers to a “true statement.”
Still another form, however, the one used here for true, is alēthinos, which carries the idea of that which is “genuine” or “real.” Our Lord is saying of Himself, then, that He is the Genuine and True One. The Apostle John writes the same truth in his Gospel, “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (Jn. 1:9). In other words, in contrast to John the Baptist, Jesus was the True Light, the Genuine Light of the World. What a stark contrast this is to other claimers of the Truth, such as: Rationalism, Existentialism, Modernism, Humanism, or any other “ism.” Only Christ is the Genuine Article.
Those profound words, He that hath the key of David, demonstrate Christ’s authority. Revelation 1:18 is in contrast to this: “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” Not only does Christ have authority over death and hell, an authority that he took from Satan at the resurrection, but He also has authority over “the house of David.” What does this mean? Verse 7 is actually taken from Isaiah 22:22: “And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.” This verse describes a man named Eliakim to whom was entrusted the key to king David’s treasury. So, Eliakim was what was called “a steward,” one who was entrusted with running a household. The most important quality of a steward was (and is) faithfulness. This fact is clearly stated in I Corinthians 4:2, “Moreover, it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.” We’ll come back to this a little later.
All that we have seen is a type of Christ in two ways. First, all this pictures earthly treasures, but in Christ are all spiritual treasures. Second, the one who has the key has great authority because he can “open and close.” Well, our Savior has the key to all things, including our lives, and He should, therefore, have all authority over us. It is up to Him to open and close doors and show us where He wants us to go and what He wants us to do.
Let’s go a little deeper here and examine how our Lord has the key to five crucial doors, all of which we find illustrated in our Lord’s parable of the Good Shepherd in John 10.
First, Christ holds the key to the door of salvation. Jesus declares in John 10:9-10, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved . . . . I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” Not only does our Lord hold the key to the door of salvation, but He also is the door! There is no other way of salvation, no other door into Heaven. We’ve all heard jokes that begin, “Two guys went to Heaven and met Saint Peter at the pearly gates . . .” followed by some inane (if not blasphemous) story that contrasts which one gets to go in and the other doesn’t. But it’s Jesus Christ alone Who is the door through which we must enter. John 14:6 cannot be repeated too often: “Jesus saith unto [Thomas], I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Second, Christ holds the key to the door of security. Our Lord also says in John 10:27-29:
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
Here is one of the grandest pictures of the security of the Believer in all Scripture. Once we are in the fold, nothing can remove us. Flowing from this security is another picture.
Third, Christ holds the key to the door of safety. As we’ll examine later in verse 10, our Lord will protect true Believers “from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world,” that is, the Great Tribulation that is to come.
Our Lord speaks about another aspect of safety, however, in John 10 parable. He actually begins in verse 1 with these words: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.” In verses 8 and 10, He again emphasizes, “All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. . . . The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” There are countless deceivers in the world who pretend to love the sheep but who simply want to steal them either to fleece them or even to devour them. As a safeguard, Jesus says in verse 5, “And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.”
Now, while this safeguard works with literal sheep, it tragically does not with many Christians today because they simply are not listening to the Shepherd. Where does the shepherd speak? Well, nowadays it is claimed that he speaks through visions, dreams, inner urgings, and other such subjective means. Such sincere folks think they are hearing the Shepherd, but they most certainly are not. The Shepherd speaks through Scripture alone, and because such people don’t recognize that fact, they don’t even know what His voice sounds like. As a result, they mistake the voice of false shepherds for the True Shepherd and are lead into error and even destruction. Flowing from this principle is another.
Fourth, Christ holds the key to the door of sustenance. Verse 9 declares not only that those who enter the door are saved, but that they also “shall go in and out, and find pasture.” It is through that door alone, solely through our Lord, that we find food. Countless Christians today are feeding on nothing but the junk foods of emotion, human philosophy, and entertainment. Yes, such food is filling and “tastes” good, but it has no nourishment. The result of such malnutrition is spiritual weakness and a tearing down of the spiritual immune system. And sadly, most of the blame lies with shepherds who would rather give the sheep what they want instead of what they need.
Fifth, Christ holds the key to the door of service. As we’ll examine in more detail in verse 9, “I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.” This pictures our Christian service, as we go out from the fold and proclaim the message of the True Shepherd.
Philadelphia is made up of two Greeks words: philos, which means “tender affection,” an emotional type of love, and adelphos, which means “brother.” So, this word literally means “brotherly love.” This has great significance, as we’ll see in “The Regard.”
Prophetic
History
This church pictures the period
of Church History during which the “great revivals” of the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries took place. We’ll return to this in “The Regard.”
Philadelphia was located about twenty-eight miles southeast of Sardis and was built about 140 B.C. by Philadelphus, king of Pergamum. The city was noted for its agriculture and was especially famous for its excellent wine. But Philadelphia was also afflicted by earthquakes, which destroyed the city several times. And, like all the other cities in Asia Minor, pagan worship was present in this city, mainly the worship of Bacchus, the god of wine. His image, in fact, was imprinted on coins. In spite of this, however, there was a faithful Christian testimony in Philadelphia that continued through the years, and to this day there remains a city on that site; that city is called “Ala-sheher” (City of God).
I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
The key to understanding the church at Philadelphia is the word faithfulness. We recall the faithfulness of the believers in Smyrna (see 2:10), and both there and here in Philadelphia there was no complaint; in both churches the believers were truly faithful to the things of the Lord. May we again consider I Corinthians 4:2: “Moreover, it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.” The word “faithful” is the Greek pistos, and how important this word is! It means “reliable, trusted, consistent, certainty.” But the word goes even further to show that if a person is truly faithful, there is not the slightest doubt of his reliability. In other words, the master can assume, without doubt, that the steward will do what is required. God wants faithful servants. He does not want “up and down” or “hit and miss” servants. He can only use those who are faithful. We see here in verse 8 five areas of faithfulness that were true of the believers in Philadelphia and should challenge our faithfulness.
Works is once again the Greek ergon, which we’ve seen in every letter (2:2, 9, 13, 19; 3:1) and again speaks of systematic labor. Here, then, it refers to deeds that were done for others out of concern and compassion, which coincides with the name “Philadelphia.” These were works done by faithful Believers for faithful Believers.
Christian love is not coming to church and shaking hands with other Christians and asking, “How are you doing?” Among Christians today there’s often a serious lack of concern for the needs of one another. The attitudes of the world, which have overflowed into the Church, are, “Let the state take care of it,” or, “Let the insurance company handle it,” or, “I have my own problems to take care of; let others take care of theirs.” It’s a blessed thing indeed to see a church where Christians see a need in the life of a fellow believer and meet it.
The term open door is a beautiful reference to opportunities to witness and proclaim the Word of God. The door was indeed wide open! Paul spoke of this over and over again. When he and his co-laborers returned to Antioch (his home church, which sent him out as a church-planter), we are told that “when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles” (Acts 14:27). Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries” (I Cor. 16:9). He also wrote to the Corinthians, “when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit . . . I went from thence into Macedonia” (II Cor. 2:12-13). Paul encouraged the believers at Colosse to pray “that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ:” (Col. 4:3). This challenges us to each day look for open door[s] for witness and testimony.
It is that very thought that makes us realize that the true essence of Christian service is being a witness for Christ. We hear much about Christian service these days, that it is doing any number of certain tasks for God. While all those are wonderful, the real heart of service is witnessing. Acts 1:8 records the commission which has been given to every believer: “But ye shall receive power, [when] the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
Sadly, among many Christians and Christian leaders, that emphasis has been turned around; many think that it is the pastor’s job to go out and “knock on doors,” win people to Christ, and build the church. But not one verse of Scripture supports that approach. On the contrary, Ephesians 4:11-12 teaches that the pastor spends the majority of his time in the Word of God so that he can teach and equip the sheep to go out and “do the work of the ministry.” The shepherd does not reproduce sheep; rather sheep reproduce sheep. Every Christian, therefore, must be sensitive to opportunities for witness and alert to the doors that God opens. May we add, “witnessing” (Greek martus, “give evidence, testify”) is done not only with the lips but, more importantly, with the life.
How tragic it is when we fail to see any open door of opportunity. Commentator Lehman Strauss observes that after World War II Japan was a wide open door to Christian work. General Douglas MacArthur, in fact, called upon Christians in America to send 5,000 missionaries through that open door. But we failed to answer that call.
Here is a wonderful encouragement. The words have a little strength do not refer to spiritual weakness but rather numerical weakness. This church was a small one, and the Christians there, like many in small churches today, were concerned whether their small number was pleasing to the Lord. It needs to be said in no uncertain terms that today’s “numbers craze” is an abomination to the Lord; it is prideful and humanistic. I have actually heard Christian leaders say, “If it’s not big, it’s not of God.” Frankly, I have heard few things more disgusting than that! There is not one place in Scripture that teaches such a humanistic idea. The body of believers in Philadelphia was a small one, but it was powerful! The Christians there didn’t use the gimmicks, gadgets, promotions, and programs that we are told today are “absolutely essential.” They just used the Word of God. This leads to the next area of faithfulness.
Another application of this, however, is something that the majority of Christians today do not recognize, namely, that True Christianity will always be the minority. Christianity today has been so diluted to embrace anyone, regardless of how nebulous their view of salvation is, that it’s popular to be “a Christian.” Church leaders today go out of their way to satisfy “felt-needs” and to appeal to whatever so-called “seekers” want. Nothing is sacred anymore, nothing is off limits. Whatever people want, we are ready and willing to provide it. Why? Because the opinion is that we should appeal to the majority of people. But nothing could be further from the Scripture precedent. Abraham could muster only 318 men to go up against four kings and their armies (Gen. 14:14-16). Gideon had only 300 when he went up against the Midianites who number is likened to a plague of grasshoppers (Judges 7:12-23). Elijah alone faced 400 prophets of Baal (I Kings 18:21-40). Most significant of all, how many followers did Jesus have after some three years of ministry? Only 120. Our Lord, in fact, referred to those who follow Him as the “little flock” (Lk. 12:32). In each case, however, God gave the minority victory over the majority. A Christian, therefore, better stop and think if he ever finds himself in the majority, because God has never used the majority.
The Greek word for kept is the same one used in the Sardis letter for the words “hold fast.” To repeat, the Greek is tereō, “to keep watch, guard as with a fortress.” In the Sardis letter, is in “The Requirement” section. That church, and the Reformers of Church History to a certain extent, did not really guard the Word of God. But the believers in Philadelphia did guard the Word, as tereō is “The Regard” section. The remnant in Sardis (and in the Reformation) returned to the Scriptures to some extent, but those in Philadelphia were fervently clinging to and guarding the Scriptures, emphasizing Its authority alone.
Prophetic
History
As stated earlier, the church at
Philadelphia pictures the time of great revival and great preaching that took
place in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and may we add, the VERY early twentieth
century. Think of some of the great preachers and theologians of those
days: Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Robert
Murray McCheyne, Matthew Henry, Andrew Bonar, Thomas Chalmers, Charles Hodge,
Robert Haldane, Richard Fuller, John Henry Jowett, Andrew Murray, C. H.
Mackintosh, Alexander Maclaren, and others. Though there were still a few
problems that remained from Reformation thought, men like this nonetheless
stood on the Word of God more firmly than anyone had in some 1800 years of
Church History. Some folks would ask at this point, “But isn’t this true today?”
To this we must answer, absolutely not! Sad to say, the Word of God and
the strong preaching of doctrine and practice are not the emphasis today. How
churches today need the depth of the Word and strong doctrinal preaching!
We will examine this subject in
more depth when we study the church at Laodicea.
This fact is shown in the words did not deny my name. Even with the paganism that raged around them, they never wavered from “The Truth,” that is, Jesus Christ. As Paul commands, “Be steadfast, unmovable” (I Cor. 15:58), and don’t be “tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14). As we saw earlier in Ephesians 4:12, it is the pastor’s responsibility to equip the saints; indeed, he does this so that God’s people will not be “tossed to and fro.”
As already mentioned, like the letter to the church at Smyrna, there is no rebuke to be found in this letter to the Philadelphians. Here was a group of faithful believers to whom no rebuke was given. Oh, that we would be as faithful!
Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
As we also noted in the Smyrnan letter, there is still a requirement given even though there is no rebuke. May we reemphasize that every believer needs constant challenge regardless of how mature he or she might be or what level of spirituality has been attained. Therefore, Christ’s challenge was, hold that fast which thou hast.
There is a fascinating contrast between how that phrase is used here and how it is used in the Thyatira letter (2:25). In that letter the Greek word (kratesatē, “lay hold of, seize, adhere to”) appeared in the Aorist Tense showing that those believers had “let go” of certain truths and needed to grab hold again. But here the word is in the Present Tense (continuous action in the present). These dear ones already had a firm grasp of the truth, so the Savior is saying, “Just keep holding on to that which you are already holding!” Oh, may we do the same so that we do not loss our rewards!
Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. . . . Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
The Lord gives three reassuring promises to the Philadelphian believers.
Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
Like the Smyrnan believers, the believers in Philadelphia were bothered with those of the synagogue of Satan, that is, the “false religion crowd.” Jesus promised that the day would come when these apostates would have to acknowledge that Christians were right. You see, sooner or later, either in salvation or in judgment, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Phil. 2:10-11).
Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
It is a puzzling, indeed, how anyone can hold any view other than a Pretribulation Rapture in view of verse 10. Here is a direct affirmation that believers will not go through any of the Tribulation Period. If Scripture is viewed with a consistent literal and plain approach, one will not only be Premillennial, but will also believe in the Rapture and that is it a Pretribulation Rapture. It is inescapable. The Church has been the focus throughout two whole chapters, but beginning in chapter 4, the Church literally disappears from view and is not seen again until chapter 19. The same thing is declared in I Thessalonians:
And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. (1:10).
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (4:16-17).
For some inexplicable reason, some teachers want to spiritualize that idea away, but they have neither the right nor the justification to do so. God has always taken His true people out of the way before He pours out His wrath. The Tribulation Period is the judgment of the “nations,” Israel and the Gentiles. The Church is no longer here because she is not a nation; God will no longer be dealing with the Church and will take her home before pouring out His wrath on the nations. So, to the believers in Philadelphia, and to believers today, our Lord says, “Just hold on; I’m coming to get you.”
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
There is a special kind of honor pictured here. A common practice in John’s day was to honor a great man by erecting a pillar with his name written upon it. The parallel is that God’s “pillars” are faithful believers.
Most of us have at one time heard a smug, carnal member of a church say, “I’m a pillar of this church!” Is this person really a pillar? What it means to be a pillar is to be a faithful Christian in every area of life. A faithful Christian is one who is faithful in his attendance to the local church. Oh, the necessity of this! After all, isn’t a pillar of a building “always there”? God’s people need to be in God’s house to hear God’s Word. The failure to do this is one of the most serious problems in Christianity today. A faithful Christian is also faithful to the Word of God; he loves to hear It and obey It. A faithful Christian gives sacrificially to the financial needs of the local church. A faithful Christian is a consistent witness for Christ in his daily living; people can see Christ in him.
Then notice that, as God’s pillars, He will write three things upon us. First, He will write His name upon us, as masters often branded their slaves, to show that we are His. Second, He will write the name of His city upon us to show that we are legal citizens of His heavenly city. Third, He will write the new name of Christ upon us to show that we are in Him. We know not what this new name will be, but whatever it is, we know that “we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (I Jn. 3:2).
Dear Christian, what a blessing it is to see this faithful
church in the midst of so many unfaithful ones. It shines as a gem among so
many that are dull and lifeless. What a challenge it is to each of us! Are we
really faithful, consistent, and reliable in the things of God? As with all
these churches, will we listen to the challenges our Savior gives in verse 13? He
that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.