Now we come to the message of the sixth church, Philadelphia, found in Revelation 3:7-13. This was a Greek city about 30 miles southeast of Sardis. There was a Jewish synagogue in Philadelphia and this group of believers was mostly Jewish. There are some who claim this Philadelphia was actually Amman, Jordan, as there is credible evidence that city was actually called Philadelphia during the time of the apostles. However, there is no real evidence that the Philadelphia of Revelation 3 was this city.
You will find the message to this church unique in that while the other messages contain both commendations and condemnations (the exception being Sardis, where there were no commendations – though there were evidently some there still faithful), in this message to Philadelphia, there are no condemnations. Philadelphia is commonly called “the good church” in most commentaries.
The city was partially destroyed in AD 17 by the same earthquake that destroyed much of the area. It was eventually destroyed by the constant tremors that resulted. It was rebuilt with the help of the Roman emperor Tiberius and renamed Neocaesarea, the New City of Caesar. All this was happening during the time this church existed. So, these people knew what it meant to live in trying times. Their faithfulness to Christ ran counter to the culture that surrounded them. The Jews hated them, the Greeks derided them, the Romans suppressed them, they were scorned and persecuted and the city was continually falling down around them. It is here that you can build a good case for the fact that real spiritual maturity is more often developed under stress, rather than comfort and ease (remember Matthew 7:13-14).
“These are the words of the Holy One and True, Who holds the key of David, Who opens and no one can shut, Who shuts and no one can open.” (Verse 7) Again, Christ identifies Himself as the one speaking. The key is always a sign of authority. This is a quote of Isaiah 22:22 that references Eliakim, one of the kings of Judah who served God faithfully. The point is that when God puts you in a place of authority and you serve Him, no man can oppose you.
The next verse has the commendations. Again we see ta erga, translated “works”, this time a positive context. “Works” is an inclusive term used to illustrate the activities of one’s life. It is evident those in the church at Philadelphia lived according to the Godly character they had developed in their faithful service to Christ. I have to emphasize this again. What they did was determined by who they were. Who they were was determined by their submission and loyalty to Christ. This is another example of the fact that in Philadelphia these believers still understood and practiced that all-important principle (the one that had been mostly lost in the other churches) – the individual priesthood of the believer. They were personally, individually accountable to God and as such, maintained an intimate relationship with Him. In other words, religion had not spoiled them.
Next we see the phrase “Look! I have set before you an open door, which no one can shut.” This is the reality of what I explained above about authority. The door is open so they can enter into something. What is it they will enter? The kingdom is the promise here. Christ is telling them the door is open for them to enter His kingdom and no one can shut that door. Then when you look at the construction of the remainder of the verse He gives three reasons why this door is open to them. “Because you have only a little power, yet you have kept My word and have not denied My name.” In the midst of a culture that rejected them, this small group of believers refused to compromise with religion. They held on to what they knew by experience to be right and true. And, they were willing to suffer the consequences of being identified with Christ.
Verse 9 is another reference to the “those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews, and are not, but they lie”. We saw this earlier in Revelation 2:9 in the message to the church in Smyrna. Again, Jews tried to subvert the church by insisting that the rituals and customs of Judaism be observed. They were willing to tolerate this new thing as long as it was simply added on to the old. This, of course was a satanic plot to destroy the reality of the New Covenant in Christ by combining it with an Old Covenant that had become nothing more than a dead religion. Jesus had made it clear the old could not be combined with the new (explained in the article “The Parables of Jesus, Part 2, The New Cloth and New Wine”).
The message then ends with these promises, starting in the last part of verse 9. The Lord says He is going to expose those of the synagogue of Satan by making them “bow down before your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you”. This is a promise that would have been fulfilled in their day, as was the one found next in verse 10. “Because you have kept My word of patience endurance, I will keep you from the time of testing that will come upon all the world to test those who live on the earth.” This is not a reference to the future tribulation period, but in context a time of testing that came on these churches to see if they would remain faithful to the truth or compromise with religion. The “all” in “all the world” refers to all those involved in these churches during John’s day. It is the same as the “all” in Revelation 13:16 referring to “all” those forced to receive the mark of the beast, where “all” has to do only with those in Antichrist’s kingdom, not all men in all the world.
Verse 11, I am coming quickly”, is a reference to the rapture (coming for the saints), not the Second Advent (coming with the saints). The statement, “hold fast to what you have, that no one may rob you of your crown” is another example of the fact that the supposed eternal security of the believer is nothing more than a religious myth.
Then, finally, verse 12 has 5 more promises that are yet future, held in store for these faithful believers in Philadelphia. The first is that they will be “pillars” in God’s eternal, earthly temple, meaning they will hold positions of spiritual authority there. This is quite a promise, but understandable given the fact that this church seems to be the only one of the seven that refused to compromise with the world and religion. The second is that these will permanent positions, “he will never be put out of it”. The last three have to do with names. We’ve talked about these in previous lessons. They will have written on them the name of My God, the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem and My own new name (that is, Christ’s new name).