The Church of Philadelphia, Rev. 3:7-13
Rev. 3:7 “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” ’ ” The Scriptures tell us that the Lord is holy, so we should also be holy in all our conduct (1 Pet. 1:15). After all, we are to become more and more like Jesus. God formed us after His own image, so the more we learn of Jesus, the more we may give ourselves to that vision and be transformed. Jesus was holy, meaning set apart for God’s purpose. Jesus knew His purpose and gave Himself to it. He is so set on his purpose as our Savior, that even now He is interceding for us, washing us from sin, blessing us with gifts to build His church, and more. He is completely devoted to the purpose of saving us and preparing us for an abundant entrance into His kingdom. Blessed are those who discover their gifts and direction in life, and pursue it. They will have many blessed moments of illumination and empowering as they follow the Lord’s will with all their hearts.
Jesus calls Himself, “He who is true.” With this name and the previous, Jesus is in direct opposition to “those who are of the synagogue of Satan” (Rev. 3:9), who is the father of lies goading the Jews against the Christian Jews in this assembly. Philadelphia means “brotherly love,” a love the church has not been receiving from its neighbors. Christ’s love is true, and they can count on receiving its fullest measure from Him. They are not interpreting the persecution of the city against them as God against them. Do we embrace this conviction, that nothing shall be able to separate us from His love (Rom. 8:38-39)? How happy we are if we are not counting our negative circumstances as God being upset with us. What a good conscience that is!
Jesus has the “key of David … who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens.” We can find a reference to this in Isa. 22:22-24, which Christ redirects to Himself: “The key of the house of David I will lay on his (Eliakim’s) shoulder; so he shall open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut, and no one shall open. I will fasten him as a peg in a secure place, and he will become a glorious throne to his father’s house. ‘They will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the posterity, all vessels of small quantity, from the cups to all the pitchers. In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘the peg that is fastened in the secure place will be removed and be cut down and fall, and the burden that was on it will be cut off; for the Lord has spoken.’ ”
The person in this passage (Eliakim) was a contemporary to Isaiah, who was a good man, but even he fell and the “secure peg,” was removed. On the other hand, Jesus has complete and final access to the kingdom, much more authority over this church than the synagogue of Satan does. Satan is our sworn foe, but Jesus our Savior is greater by far. He has the key and decides the church’s final end, not man or Satan. He is holy and true, and as secure a peg as one could wish for.
With the key, Jesus could lock and unlock doors to which no one else had access. These doors may open to access earthly opportunities or blessings in God’s own storehouses. We have only to run to the throne of grace and ask for help. Blessed are those who believe in answered prayer and have enjoyed this advantage!
They have kept His word and not denied Christ’s name, Rev. 3:8, in this city. In other words, they struggled to persevere, in their testimony of the risen Messiah, going against the tide and their own inward pull to cave in. What do we get if we stand for holiness, separated to the Lord to honor Him? What is the reward of being true, of manifesting His image of love in the midst of corruption and Satan’s wrath?
“I will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” (Rev. 3:10). If you are a pre-trib believer, it means you’ll suffer hardships, then will be taken away to be with Him. If you are a pre-wrath believer, it means you’ll suffer hardships, then be taken away to be with Him. If you are a post-trib believer, it means you’ll suffer hardships, then be taken away to be with Him. (See this sequence in 2 Thess. 1:4-8). Jesus has the key. He has complete authority over the earth and all its evil. He is holy and true, and will keep His word forever. He is our hope and expectation in our hour of need.
