The Book of Revelation: Part 8

Revelation 3:7-13 (BSB)

To the Church in Philadelphia

We are in week 8 of our sermon series on The Book of Revelation, and we are reading the sixth of seven letters written to seven different churches. So far, we have examined the letters to the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, and Sardis, and today we are looking at the one written to the church in Philadelphia.

Like we’ve discovered about these other cities, the city in which this church was located no longer exists as it did in the first century. Some of these ancient cities, like Ephesus and Sardis (now called Sart), exist only as archaeological sites, while others continue, but their names have changed: Smyrna is now Izmir, Pergamum is Bergama, and Thyatira is now Akhisar. Like them, Philadelphia’s name was also changed. In the 14th century, it was conquered by the Ottomans, and eventually its name became Alaşehir. It too is located in modern day Turkey and is about 27 miles southeast of Sardis, and nowhere else is it mentioned in the Bible.

If you visit there today, you won’t find much in the way of archaeological evidence. In 1922, at the end of the Greco-Turkish War, Alaşehir (Philadelphia) suffered through a terrible fire. Like the horrible fire that was set in Smyrna, fires were also set in Alaşehir at that same time. Some 3,000 people died and 4,300 of the 4,500 building were burned. The most significant things that survived are the ruins of six massive pillars that once supported the dome of the Basilica of St. John church, which was built around 600 A.D., but only two of the pillars have survived intact.

Now, let’s read through the letter. Revelation 3:7-13 says:

7 To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: 

These are the words of the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open.

8 I know your deeds. Behold, I have placed before you an open door, which no one can shut. I know that you have only a little strength, yet you have kept My word and have not denied My name. 

9 As for those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead, I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you.

10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 

11 I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.

12 The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from My God), and My new name.

13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Like the letter to the church in Smyrna, did you notice that this church is not rebuked for any behavior? Those two churches alone hold that honor. Instead, both churches are encouraged to continue to hold fast to what they have; to continue to be faithful. Both letters also speak about the suffering they are experiencing because of the “synagogue of Satan,” which is a group of people who “claim to be Jews” but who are not. As we read through the letter again, taking it one verse at a time, we will examine more of what that means.

Starting again, let’s read verse 7. Like each of the previous letters, this too begins with the usual salutation and then an additional unique statement. This one says, “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open.”

The One who is holy and true is none other than Jesus Christ. And He is “the One who holds the key of David.” To understand this verse, we should know that Jesus is quoting from Isaiah 22:22, which says, “I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.”

That verse is about Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was appointed by God to be the steward or vizier of King Hezekiah’s household. In Ellicott’s Commentary he explains, “[Eliakim] alone was to decide who was to be admitted into the king’s chamber, and for whom the king’s treasury was to be opened. In Revelation 3:7, the symbolism is reproduced in its higher application to the King of kings.”

Why is this significant? As Ellicott said, this verse is symbolic of the true King of kings. Jesus is the One who can open the door for us to be admitted into the King’s presence. As Jesus says about Himself in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Part of this verse is also repeated in verse 8, which says, “I know your deeds. Behold, I have placed before you an open door, which no one can shut. I know that you have only a little strength, yet you have kept My word and have not denied My name.”

As we saw in the previous verse, this open door before them was opened by Jesus, and just as it’s true that what He shuts no one can open, what He opens no one can shut.

This little church in Philadelphia was under persecution. In addition to the many Roman temples and shrines to their many gods, there was also a prominent Jewish synagogue in the city. They had favor with the Roman rulers, and together they persecuted the Christians. The Jews who did not acknowledge that Jesus was the Messiah who died and rose again, they were most likely telling these Christians that they were in the wrong. They might have told these Christians that they were not welcome in their Jewish synagogue. Maybe they literally closed the door on them. But Jesus is telling this church that they do not need to bother with gaining that access. They don’t need to go to the old synagogues to worship the true King. David’s God is not accessed by the old system any longer. The King’s treasury has been opened to all people who believe in the One who holds the key to the house of David: that is Jesus the Christ. And what He opens, no one can shut.

Like all the letters, Jesus tells this church what He sees. He says, “I know your deeds.” And in this case, He wants them to know that He sees their suffering. He knows that they are being shut out and excluded.

Then verse 9 says, “As for those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead, I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you.”

In the letter to Smyrna, we saw a similar statement. Jesus said to them (interestingly enough, it is also in verse 9) in Revelation 2:9, “I know your affliction and your poverty—though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.”

When we studied that letter, I also mentioned that the Apostle Paul addressed this same issue. This time, let’s read what he said. Romans 2:28-29 says, “A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God.”

So, there were people claiming to be followers of the One true God—claiming to be Jews—but they were liars. They were liars because they were not proclaiming or believing what is true: that Jesus is the Son of God, the prophesied Messiah, the Savior of the world. They did not believe in Jesus. Only those who believe in Jesus know the Father. So, to be a true Jew—to be a child of God—a person must believe in Jesus Christ. These people who were still worshiping at a synagogue in Smyrna or in Philadelphia were not believing what is true. That’s why Jesus says, “those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews,” they are “liars.” They were believing a lie instead of believing the truth.

Then He adds, “I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you.” There are many opinions on what exactly Jesus is speaking about, but I really like how N.T. Wright explains it in his book, Revelation for Everyone. He says, “In Malachi (1.2) God declares to rebellious Israel, ‘I have loved you,’ contrasting Israel, the descendants of Jacob, with Edom, the descendants of Jacob’s brother Esau. Now we have a similar contrast: the unbelieving synagogue will realize that Jesus, their own Messiah, has loved this little group that believes in him. And, whereas ancient prophecy had spoken of times when foreign nations would come and bow before the people of Israel, acknowledging that the one true God was with them, now it’s going to be the other way round. Like Joseph’s brothers in Genesis 42, the Jewish people will bow down before the Jesus they had previously despised. Eventually it will be clear that the followers of Jesus are the ones who can go through the open door, the ones who are to be pillars in the new temple” (p. 35).

I agree with that interpretation. As it stood at the writing of this letter, the true people of God (the new believers in Jesus) were being excluded and persecuted. To them, the idea that those who were persecuting them might one day bow down before them would have been mind-blowing. It would have been so incredibly encouraging and reassuring to know that in the future the persecution and threats would end; and that when Jesus returned, the whole world would see that Jesus is God and the Christians are the true believers—or using the language of Scripture—the true Jews. Because not only would it give them renewed hope for the future, but it would have confirmed to them that they were on the right path. They could hold in their hearts and minds the promise that eventually all peoples of the world would know that God loves those who believe in Jesus. Just as He said, “they will know that I love you.”

Then Jesus gives them another promise. He says in verse 10, “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”

As we discussed in last week’s sermon, again we see that obedience is connected to our salvation. Our faith is proven by our works, so because they have kept God’s Word by obeying God’s commands and because they have not denied His name, Jesus will keep them from “the hour of testing” that is to come on all people.

Some scholars think this “hour of testing” was during this church’s lifetime. But as Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible says, “This cannot refer to the bloody persecutions under the Roman emperors, for from those the church at Philadelphia was not preserved. We read of twelve members of it that suffered with Polycarp.”

Rather, I think it’s safe to assume that even though sometimes the “whole world” means the Roman Empire, I think Jesus is speaking about some trial that will literally “come upon the whole world.” The word translated as testing is usually translated as temptation whenever it’s used in other verses in the Bible, so it seems like He’s speaking specifically about end-times tribulation. I think this could be what He’s speaking about here, because then verse 11 says, “I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”

The start of this verse might make us wonder how the Lord can say it’s “soon” when almost two-thousand years have passed since these words were spoken to John. Maybe this is why some people think Jesus is speaking not about His return, but about some event that happened near to the time this was written. It could be, but based on the context, I think Jesus is speaking about His return, and I think the reason “soon” sounds odd to our ears is because to us, who only live at most 100 years or so, two-thousand years seems like a long time. But to an eternal God, two thousand years would be like a day or two. As 2 Peter 3:8-9 says, “Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.”

In light of eternity, a thousand years or two is very soon. But if we hold fast to the faith we have during the short time of our earthly lives, then no one will take our crown.

About this crown, MacLaren points out a needed explanation. He says, “It contributes to the understanding of the meaning of the metaphor to remember that the crown spoken of here is not the symbol of royalty, not the golden or other circlet which kings and emperors wore, but the floral wreath or garland which in ancient social life played many parts: was laid on the temples of the victors in the games, was wreathed around the locks of the conquering general, was placed upon the anointed heads of brides…, was the emblem of victory, of festivity, of joy.”

In the letter to the church is Smyrna, they too are promised a crown: a crown of life. In Revelation 2:10, it says in part, “Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

That promise of a victor’s crown is not just given to those who were in Smyrna or Philadelphia, though. Many verses tell us that all believers who keep their faith will receive a crown. For example, James 1:12 says, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.” If we hold fast to our faith, and “overcome” as the next verse tells us, we too will be given a crown.

But we should note that Jesus adds that we must hold fast. That means it’s possible that if we don’t hold fast, someone can take our crown. As 2 John 1:8 warns us, “Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be fully rewarded.” In other words, our crown can be taken from us if we do not hold fast to what we have.

I also really like what MacLaren writes about this verse. He says, “That temptation that seems to threaten so little and to promise so much is really trying to rob us of the crown. If we would walk through life with this thought in our minds, how it would strip off the masks of all these temptations that buzz about us! If once we saw their purpose and understood the true aim of the flattering lies which they tell us, should we not see over the lies, and would not they lose their power to deceive us?”

The devil, and those who are blindly or intentionally following him, are constantly trying to get us to abandon our faith in Jesus. The world wants us to deny our faith in Jesus and compromise our walk and live like them. But we must not listen to them. As verse 12 says, there are promises for those of us who endure. It says, “The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from My God), and My new name.”

As I mentioned at the start, today in this city you can see the remains of some massive pillars. They were built about 500 years after this letter was written. It stands to reason that the people who built the church that those pillars supported knew about this letter and wanted to make their church a visible representation of this prophecy. It’s impressive what they built, but even as sturdy as they were, only a few of them remain. Most of them have been demolished. Whereas the pillar that Jesus will make of the “one who overcomes” will never be destroyed or removed, no matter what might assail it. As the verse said, if someone is a pillar in the temple of God, “he will never again leave it.”

Something else that’s interesting to know is that Philadelphia, as well as the surrounding cities, had many temples and buildings that had impressive pillars. So, when Jesus says He will make those who overcome into “a pillar in the temple of My God,” the people reading this could have pictured any number of massive pillars in their city.

I love this visual that Jesus gives of a person who overcomes, and it’s a visual that is used elsewhere in the New Testament. For example, Galatians 2:9 says, “And recognizing the grace that I had been given, James, Cephas, and John—those reputed to be pillars—gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.”

We can be pillars in God’s temple because the temple of God is no longer a physical building. 1 Corinthians 3:16 says, “Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” And 2 Corinthians 6:16 says, “For we are the temple of the living God.”

About that verse in 1 Corinthians, Alexander MacLaren makes a beautifully profound point. He says, “Now, do not run away with the idea that that is a metaphor. It was the outward temple that was the metaphor. The reality is that which you and I, if we are God’s children in Jesus Christ, experience. There was no real sense in which that Mighty One whom the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain, dwelt in any house made with hands. But the Temple, and all the outward worship, were but symbolical of the facts of the Christian life, and the realities of our inward experience. These are the truths whereof the other is the shadow. We use words to which it is difficult for us to attach any meaning, when we talk about God as being locally present in any material building; but we do not use words to which it is so difficult to attach a meaning, when we talk about the Infinite Spirit as being present and abiding in a spirit shaped to hold Him, and made on purpose to touch Him and be filled by Him.”

After I first read those words of MacLaren, I had to pause and reflect on them. I had not considered before that the physical temple was a metaphor for our bodies being God’s real temple. That is truly profound. 1 Corinthians does not say that our bodies are like God’s temple; it says that you yourselves are God’s temple. We are the temple of the living God. And in this temple not made with human hands, as Hebrews 9 says, those who overcome will be “pillars in the temple.”

What does it mean to be a pillar? Someone who is a pillar in a group of people or a community is foundational to that group. That person plays an important and active role in the group and is known and trusted. Can you imagine being called a pillar in God’s eternal kingdom? 

And as the rest of verse 12 of this letter says, upon those pillars — “Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from My God), and My new name.”

That tells us that three things will be written on the people who overcome: the name of God, the name of the city of God, and Jesus’ secret new name. We will read more about this in Revelation 21, which speaks about the new Jerusalem.

For now, let’s do what the last verse of this letter tells us to do. Verse 13 says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

How do we hold fast to what we have so we can overcome and wear a victor’s crown? How do we overcome so that we too can be pillars in the new temple of God’s people? We must do what this group of Christians in Philadelphia were doing: we must keep God’s Word and never deny the name of Jesus.

We keep God’s Word whenever we believe and obey it, and we keep from denying the name of Jesus by properly confessing His name through our words and our righteous actions. Let us hold fast to the faith we have in Jesus Christ. As He said, He’s coming soon. Let us be ready, so we too can wear the crown and stand as pillars.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, we pray that You would help us by Your Holy Spirit to hold fast to our faith in Jesus. Please help us to endure whatever temptations we face so that we do not lose the crown You have for us. Thank You for your forgiveness and mercy that is available to us each new day, as we humble ourselves before You and ask for Your grace and forgiveness. Help us to endure with faith so we can stand as pillars in Your new Jerusalem. We love You and praise You forever. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.