Messages to the Church Revealed (Philadelphia) ...

The sixth church out of the seven that comprised the whole of those who follow Christ, was located in the city of Philadelphia in Asia Minor.  Many people are aware of the city’s name being associated with “the love of one’s brother”.  This began historically as it was established by an ancient king who gave it to the brother he loved and would succeed him in his reign.  But throughout the message of Christ in the book John recorded in Revelations chapter 3, there is no reference to this characteristic being associated with the Christian church there.  Because “we” associate brotherly love with the name Philadelphia, we imply it to this Christian church.  But there really is no specific mention of it in Revelations that would cement this point of view.  There is also significant debate about the time period associated with the Philadelphia church.  It is generally thought that it occurs near the end of the reformation, perhaps in the middle of the 1800’s; but when it ends, or even if it ends, is still a matter of study.  Some believe it overlaps with Laodicea and extends to the return of Christ, others believe only the final church period exists at that time.  None the less, what matters is the revelation of Jesus Christ that is made clear in His message to His church which was located in Philadelphia, and what relevance that same message has to us reading it today.

John begins in verse 7 to relay what he hears … “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;”  It is important to realize the author of the coming message remains Jesus Christ.  The only one who was ever holy in our world was Jesus Christ.  The only one who remains ever true (or is truth itself) is Jesus Christ.  This message did not originate from the apostle John, or Peter, or any leader of the church.  As in the past 5 messages, Jesus begins by identifying traits about Himself that will be relevant and meaningful to the church He is about to address.  In this case, it is His holiness, and His truth.  But the introduction does not end there.  It is Christ who has “the key of David”.  It is Christ who is able to “open and no man shutteth” or Christ who alone can “shutteth and no man openeth”.  This distinction is important.  As with his other churches, Christ is asserting His leadership of His followers.  He has NOT delegated these roles to any man among us.  We have NOT been given this authority or responsibility.  Christ alone retains it.  Christ is the rock upon which His church is to be built.

There are way too many “spiritual leaders” of every sect who believe themselves to have authority in both this world and in heaven.  From the Pope, to the popular evangelist, to the leader of the megachurch on TV, to the local pastor; many believe themselves to have authority in this world and in heaven.  They believe themselves to have a special relationship, with special access, and a special role with respect to God.  But here is Christ saying that only He has the key of David.  It has not been given to men.  Christ alone has the authority, the leadership, the access to His Father – it is He alone who can open the doors to heaven, or to close them, for He alone holds the keys.  As if for clarity, John relays the message of Jesus, that we should not look to men for leadership of our salvation, but to Christ alone.  Our role will be one of servant, not one of leader, whether we serve only a few in our homes and communities, or whether we serve many through our participation in His ministry and service.  Christ alone will be our leader, He alone will hold the key to heaven, and to our salvation.

John continues in verse 8 … “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.”  This is not exactly a stunning endorsement of the success of the church of Philadelphia.  As before, Christ plainly states that He is aware of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and what works have resulted in the church of Philadelphia.  And in association with those works, He immediately reveals He has set before them, an open door that no man can shut.  Apparently what the church of Philadelphia needs most is access to Him and His Father.  We need His word to point us to Him, and we need the ability to find Him unimpeded by the distractions of men, who might otherwise close the door.  The condition of the followers of Philadelphia is that they have “a little strength” in that they have “kept my word” and have not “denied my name”. 

To keep the word of Christ is derived from the “little strength” we may have.  Perhaps we have discovered that even a partial surrender of our will to Christ, allows in our lives a small measure of His strength.  How much better we would be if we were to allow a full surrender of our will, to see a full measure of His strength within us.  To hold fast to the name of Christ, is more than a false profession, but a genuine recognition of our need of Him to save us from who we are.  It appears that while Philadelphia is not perfect, nor incredibly strong, they have at least experienced a small measure of strength in Christ.  They have not attempted to use grace as a license to sin, but rather have attempted to use grace as an escape from sin.  This is the power of the name of Christ used in our lived.  It is the basis of our salvation, and is every bit as needed today as it was when this message was penned.

John continues in verse 9 … “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.”  This is where the key of David becomes important.  There are those who claim to have access to God, by a means outside of Jesus Christ.  They claim that Jesus is not necessary for access to God.  They have access by right of birth, through a lineage that dates back to David, or Moses, or Abraham.  Today they may claim a different lineage, one that makes Jesus nothing more than a prophet, like Muhammed, and a lineage that traces back to Abraham through Ismael, or Esau.  Those who claim access to God, either through a competing ideology such as humanism, or by right of birth through a lineage that dates back to Abraham, have disassociated themselves with Jesus Christ, and in so doing are here revealed as being part of the synagogue of Satan.  When we divorce ourselves from Jesus Christ as the author of our salvation, when we trust only to our own wisdom, we adopt the precepts of the synagogue of Satan.  Claiming a heritage of association with God does not make it so.  Because our parents were devoted followers of Christ does not make it so for us. 

One of the ideas, made popular by His enemy, is that prosperity alone is the only symbol of the favor of God.  Because the Lord so loved His Jewish people, because He loved Moses, and Abraham, and David, He richly blessed them, even in this world.  This blessing was only ever a symbol of His love for us.  It was never intended to be “the” living witness of His favor.  But we sometimes misinterpret wealth as the only sure sign of God’s blessing and favor in our lives.  We forget, He is often the author of our trials as well.  He permits trial and temptation to enter our lives, and instructs us to rely on Him when it does.  This builds our trust in Him, our reliance on Him, and can make of us gold tried in a fire.  But when the bad things happen, we sometimes interpret them as did Job of old.  “what did we do wrong?”  “Aren’t we doing what you said?”  “Why do bad things happen to good people?”.  Those who do not rightly understand salvation, who embrace false ideologies, look at our lives and laugh.  They taunt us and try our faith by pointing out that we do not have wealth and ease, and obviously are living in the disfavor of our God, if there even is a God.  This false sense of identification of worldly wealth, with the favor of God, must be broken.  And so the True author of our salvation, and of the only access to the True God, will cause these members of the synagogue of Satan to see that followers of Christ were truly loved by both Christ and our God.

When through our submission to Christ, we find the freedom that comes from seeing sins removed.  When we find the peace that comes from “wanting” to love and serve others, for the joy of it.  When we truly learn how to love, not with thoughts of what is in for us, but what can be given by us to others.  Our lives will be lives worth living.  They will stand in contrast with the selfishness in the world.  They will be a reflection of His light, His grace, and His love and favor.  To this stark contrast, those who trust only to self, will see the error of their ways.  They will be compelled to see that a true follower of Christ has found a salvation that is meaningful even in the here and now.  Perfection comes ahead of the final transformation, and the peace of living with sin departing is one the world cannot take away.  Those who do not know the truth of this will see it lived in the lives of those who do.

John continues in verse 10 … “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.”  The goal of Christ is to see us redeemed.  All of us.  His mission is one of our redemption.  He delays His return, because of His stubborn love for us, and His efforts to make every attempt to save us from ourselves by the power of His so great love.  The members of Philadelphia understand that this may mean a delay in His return, but that His patience will yield a crop of souls in His Kingdom.  They do not lose heart at the delay of the coming of the Lord, for they understand His delay is for our own benefit.  He is reaching and seeking every lost soul, to try to lure them back to the gift He so longs to give them, and to us. 

Because the members of Philadelphia understand the reason for His delay, He offers them the promise of being spared from the hour of temptation which will come upon all the world to try them that dwell on the earth.  This temptation is ever as it was.  From the origination of evil being born into the universe, the only real question has ever been … do we trust God, or in our own wisdom.  Lucifer failed this test as he chose to turn away from God and believe in himself.  Evil was born as a result.  Adam broke trust with God, even in perfection, as he chose to love Eve, more than to trust in the love of God to save Eve.  You and I face the same challenge today, will we trust in our wisdom in scripture and doctrine to save us, or will we trust in Jesus Christ to remake us a new in this world.  The members of Philadelphia who understand the patience of the Lord in His delay in returning, do so, because they have already answered this question for themselves, and have embraced Jesus as the sole source of their salvation.  Therefore they are spared the hour of temptation because they already know it is Christ alone who can save us all from ourselves and our wickedness.

Jesus continues His message to us as John writes further in verse 11 … “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”  Despite what we see, or what Philadelphia sees as a delay in His return, from the point of view of Jesus, He is coming quickly.  It is faster than we may imagine.  And once again we are admonished not to allow any “man” to take our crown.  We are not to put our faith in the words of others, or in the leadership of others, but in Christ alone.  We are not to relinquish our salvation to the Pope, or Billy Graham, or Joel Osteen, or our local pastor, or our parents.  We are to keep our salvation steadfastly based alone in Jesus Christ.  It is trusting in Christ alone that will see us saved.  When we replace Christ, even when it is with those we perceive to be living a righteous life, or seem to have great spiritual enlightenment, we allow another “man” to take our crown.  We must remain steadfast in our reliance on Christ alone to see His gift of the crown of our salvation remain with us.  Crowns of victory are to be GIVEN to us by Jesus Christ.  They do not come from our fellow man.  They do not come because we earn them.  They are His gift to us.  They are His victories wrought in our lives.  We are to be the beneficiaries of His perfection remade in us.

The promise continues in verse 12 … “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.”  What must be overcome then?  A trust in self, a trust in those who believe themselves to hold the Key of David instead of Christ alone, an impatience to see Christ come now so that our suffering alone can end, the idea that access to God can be achieved outside of Christ;  all these ideas must be overcome through our constant submission of our will to Christ alone.  When through our submission we find His victory, we are promised to be made “a pillar in the temple of my God”.  This idea of permanence would have been quite meaningful to a people who suffered through the effects of earthquakes in the region in which they lived.  It is equally meaningful to us, as we see we are promised a permanence in the ministry of our God, a place in the mission of redemption to which all of heaven is engaged. 

Then the promise gets extreme.  For it says … “he shall go no more out”.  Our faith, given to us by Christ, will be shaken no more.  We will not choose to leave the temple of my God.  We will see evil rise no second time within us.  For our salvation will be made complete by the working of the Holy Spirit and the gift of our Creator in our lives, to see us restored and remade completely in His image.  We will never again choose to leave the value, the principles, the government, the law, and the love of God.  We will not decide again to see it questioned in us; for we shall “go no more out”.  We, through the gift of Christ, will be cemented in the salvation He brings to our lives.  And symbolically our identity is to be changed again.  We are to have written upon us, the name of my God, the name of the city of my God (which is new Jerusalem), and my new name.  We are to be branded, to be named, to be associated with, on a very personal level – the God of the universe and His son Jesus Christ.  How we are known is to be altered by Christ Himself.  We are to lose our earthly name, and our earthly association and be known now, only as He would choose to name us.  We are to have His name, the name of His God, and His city, implanted so deep in us that it is a part of us.  Our reflection of this new identity will be complete in every part of “who” we are. 

This is perhaps the greatest promise made so far, as to see us known to be something completely different than who we are today.  It is our character, our identity itself that is to be remade by Christ alone.  This is His ultimate gift to us, that we are more closely associated with God, than anything that has defined us to date.  This is the promise of a new life, taken even a step farther.  For it is not just new in the sense of how we live it, but new in the sense of who we are.  It is the depths of our salvation that we are to be known for our close proximity to God, for our participation in His love and mission to redeem, for our unending gratitude and worship of who He is.  The remainder of the sentient universe is to come to know us differently than they know us today.  Instead of our association with the long history of sinful selfish things we have done again and again.  They are to see us remade and rebranded by the Son of God, to carry His name written upon us, and a new name that reflects the transformation and salvation He has wrought within us.  We are to be known by them forevermore as being tied to His God, His City, and Him, and named by Christ Himself that is a unique reflection of His work in us.   This is a new life that is quite beyond our comprehension, yet penned by John as the revelation of Jesus Christ to you and I.

John concludes this revelation by again quoting the words of Christ in verse 13 … “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”  This message is to be for more than just the members of the Philadelphia church who followed the true Christ.  It is to be for us, for we who have ears, and are eager to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  What must be overcome is relevant to us, but also the patience, and promises that are contained in these texts.  The fullness of our salvation is wrought by Jesus Christ and Him alone, and so we have His promise of even a new identity found in Him alone.

And the messages were not over yet …