Please turn in your Bibles this evening to Revelation chapter 3 as we continue our study through the Word of God.  Tonight we are going to look at the sixth of seven letters that Jesus wrote, and they are written to specific churches that are located in the Roman Province of Asia Minor or the western part of modern day Turkey.  Tonight our focus will be on this letter’s historical and prophetic significance and then on Sunday we will be looking at how this letter relates to us individually, the same format we have used as we looked at the previous five letters.

            And, as we have done with the previous letters we have studied here in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, we will be looking at the 7 key principles of this letter: the destination, the title or description of Jesus, the commendation except for Laodicea, the rebuke except for Smyrna and Philadelphia, the exhortation, the warning except for Smyrna and Philadelphia, and the promise that Jesus gives to all who will listen and obey these words that the Spirit is speaking to them!

            With that said, let’s begin reading in Revelation chapter 3, starting in verse 7 and see what the Lord has for us this evening as we look at this letter that Jesus wrote to the church in Philadelphia.

REVELATION 3

VERSE 7

            The destination of this letter is Philadelphia, and, as with the other letters that Jesus wrote, He once again is writing to the pastor of this church who would then share these words of God with the people that God has entrusted to him.  Now, let’s take a few minutes and look at this city because it will help us to understand this letter that Jesus wrote to them.

            The city of Philadelphia was located about 25 miles southeast of Sardis.  This city sat upon a 800-foot hill overlooking an important road that lead from Europe to the east!  The main purpose for this city was to make it a center from which the Greek culture, language and manners could spread throughout the Roman Province of Asia Minor.  Barclay makes this point as he says, “Philadelphia had been built with the deliberate intention that it might become a missionary city.  Beyond Philadelphia lay the wilds of Phyrgia and the Barbarous tribes; and it was intended that the function of Philadelphia should be to spread the Greek language, the Greek way of life, the Greek civilization, throughout the regions beyond.”

            Philadelphia was also known for the many gods they worshiped and the many temples they had to these gods. One of the gods they worshiped was Dionysos, who was the god of wine and revelry, which makes sense. You see, this city was known for its great agricultural production with grapes toping the list and out of those grapes they made wine!  Sounds like many in our country worship this god today!

            Also, because of all these temples, this city was known as “Little Athens.”  Barclay makes this observation on this point, “Philadelphia had so many gods and so many temples that sometimes men called it “Little Athens.” To walk through its temple-scattered streets was to be reminded of Athens, the center of worship of the Olympian gods.”

            Philadelphia was also known for its frequent earthquakes, causing the city to be evacuated on several occasions. Back in 17 AD an earthquake destroyed the city.  Then, with the help of Tiberius, the city was rebuilt.  Thus, as you can see, the ground was very unstable and that is going to relate to our study this evening, as you will see.

            The name “Philadelphia” means “brotherly love” and that is what a spirit-filled Christian should manifest in his life.  John hits this point hard in I John 2:9-11 as he tells us, “He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now.  He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”  Where did John get this?  Obviously the Holy Spirit inspired him to write these words but I also believe that he learned this from his Lord, that Jesus taught him this lesson for in John 13:34-35 Jesus tells us, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”  Folks, if you can’t get along with the brethren, well, that is not really true.  It is not that you can’t, it is that you won’t, it is a matter of the heart and you are in rebellion against God!

            Ironside, in speaking of this church and their love, said, “This implies that those contemplated here, love as brethren. They are born of God, and His love is shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Spirit given unto them, and they are characterized by love to all who are Christ’s.”  That is truly the character that should be seen in us as Christians, this unconditional, this AGAPE love that is from God and distinguishes us as Christians!

            The Gospel probably came to this city during Paul’s missionary stay in Ephesus where we are told in Acts 19:10, “And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.”  And so this is the church of Philadelphia, historically speaking, it was a real church that existed in John’s day.  Today this city is a Turkish town called Ala-shehir and there is still a Christian church there, their light and their love has not gone out!

            Prophetically speaking, where does the church of Philadelphia fit into church history or the church age?  We have seen so far the church of Ephesus, who left their first love, Jesus Christ. This church represented the apostolic church or the church to around 100 AD.  Then we came to the church of Smyrna that represented the persecuted church from around 100 AD to 312 AD, where some 5 to 6 million Christians were martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ by Rome. From there we moved to the church of Pergamos or the church of compromise as the church united with the state and this covered a period of time from around 312 AD to 590 AD.

            Now, from the church of Thyatira on, these churches are in existence today and for some, if they don’t repent they will be cast into the tribulation period. The church of Thyatira represented the corrupt church that denied the finished work of Christ on the cross of Calvary.  This church represented the Roman Catholic Church and covered a period of time from around 590 AD to 1517 AD, almost 1,000 years of corruption and it was a period of time known as the dark ages!

            Out of the dark ages came a period of time called the Renaissance, which means “rebirth.”  It was a time of the great awakening as the Protestant Reformation moved away from the corruption of the Roman Catholic church and got back to the truths of God found in the Word of God. The time frame here is from 1517 AD to 1750 AD and as time went on, this church became lifeless, cold, and dead!  They were no longer being lead by the Spirit of God but by tradition, orthodoxy. Yes, they had a name but there was no life in them without the Spirit of God in them!

            Now, out of this Protestant Reformation there are two main branches or end-time churches, and Philadelphia is one of them.  You see, out of this dead church there were people who loved the Lord and His Word. People who were guided by the Spirit of God and it lead to the spiritual awakening of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that began over northern Europe and the British Isles and overflowed to America.  There were men like D. L.  Moody in America; C. H. Spurgeon in London; William Carey doing missionary work in India; Hudson Taylor doing missionary work in China; and there was Wesley, Finney, Edwards and others as God put aside the old wineskins of dead orthodoxy and was using the new wineskins to work through.  That is the church prophetically speaking covering a period of time from the 1700’s to the late 1800’s.

            Now the title or the description of Jesus that He uses here does not completely come out of Revelation chapter 1 as the others did.  But, in saying that, it does portray our Lord beautifully.  You see, Jesus said that He is the one “who is holy, He who is true.”  I believe that His holiness identifies Him with His deity for God alone is holy. In John 6:69, from The Amplified Bible, Peter said, “And we have learned to believe and trust, and [more] we have come to know [surely] that You are the Holy One of God, the Christ (the Anointed One), the Son of the living God.”  You see, His holiness speaks of His complete separation from evil, from sin.  Thus, as believers, Peter admonishes us, “but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’”  I Peter 1:15-16.  This church in Philadelphia, not being perfect but strived to live their lives separated unto God and God acknowledged their faithfulness and obedience to Him!

            Jesus also says that He is “true” or ALETHINOS, (al-ay-thee-nos’) in the Greek and it speaks of being genuine or that He is the real thing. In the midst of falsehood, in the midst of perversion and error, Jesus is truth and this church in Philadelphia was also the real thing because their faith was in Jesus who said, “ . . . ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’”  John 14:6.

            Here in Revelation 3:7 Jesus also describes Himself as “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens.”  What does that mean?  I believe it is an Old Testament illustration that comes out of Isaiah 22:20-25 where we are told, “Then it shall be in that day, That I will call My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah; I will clothe him with your robe And strengthen him with your belt; I will commit your responsibility into his hand.  He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem And to the house of Judah. The key of the house of David I will lay on his 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.’”

            You see, Eliakim was the steward over king Hezekiah’s household. In other words, he was able to open and shut the doors that lead into the treasures of the king. And so we see here that Jesus Christ, whom Eliakim was a type of, is the faithful steward of the kingdom. You see, we have access to the Father through Jesus. We have access to heaven through Jesus and apart from Jesus the doors of heaven are closed.  It is as Jesus said in Revelation 1:18, “ . . . I have the keys of Hades and of Death.”  You see, the holy and true God opens the doors both to the kingdom of God and to Hades.  The One who judges the spiritual life of the church also examines our own hearts!

            Not only that, but I also believe the picture here is of doors of ministry that Jesus opens for us and some that He closes for us because He doesn’t want us to go in that direction.  In Acts 16:6-10 we see a picture of this as we are told; “Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’  Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.”  God still opens and closes doors of ministry for us and we will see that again as we move into the next verse.

            One last point about those verses we read in Isaiah before we move on.  That peg that was cut down is the Lord and that burden that hung upon Him was our sin as He hung on the cross of Calvary for us!  It is as Paul said in Colossians 2:13-14, “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”  That is our Lord!

VERSE 8

            Jesus speaks of this open door, which I believe relates to their ministry because He says prior to this, “I know your works.”  A door of opportunity was opened for them by the Lord, a door of ministry for them to walk through. Paul, in I Corinthians 16:9 said this to the Corinthian church regarding the ministry in Ephesus, “For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.”  In Acts 14:27 Paul shares what the Lord was doing on their first missionary journey, “Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.”  And in II Corinthians 2:12 Paul tells us, “Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord.”

            And notice that Jesus says they “have a little strength.”  That was not a rebuke but realty.  The work they were doing was not in their own strength, but in the strength of the Lord.  Paul, in Philippians 4:13 tells us, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  They not only believed it, but also lived it!  You see, God is still working and He has placed an open door for each of us, which no one can shut, but we must step through it, step out in faith and walk!  God not only provides the opportunities for us folks, but He equips us for the work He has called us to do. And remember, it is not because of how great you are or how talented you are, but how gracious and merciful He is towards you!

            But how often do we miss these doors of opportunity or negate them because we don’t think they are very important!  Let me give you one example of a man who was saved and came to Spurgeon one day and asked him how he could win others to Jesus. Well, Spurgeon asked the man, “What are you?  What do you do?”  The man said, “I’m an engine driver on a train.”  Then Spurgeon asked him, “Is the man who shovels coal on your train a Christian?”  The man replied back, “I don’t know.”  “Go back,” said Spurgeon, “and find out and start on him.”  You see, look and then walk but you need to look at what God has before you, don’t miss out.  That is what the church in Philadelphia was doing, they saw the open door and they walked through it knowing the Lord would bring forth the fruit.

            And think about this for a minute.  This city was to spread the Greek culture, the Greek language to the whole region, but now it is going to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole region because the door Jesus opened and their obedience to walk by faith through that door.  How about you, are you willing to walk, not in your own strength or with your own ability, but in the strength of the Lord as He opens those doors of ministry for you? I hope so!  Peter tells us in I Peter 4:10-11, “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”  Start walking and using the gifts that God has given to you and through it all, give the Lord the glory that is due His name for He not only opened the door but He equipped us to do the work!

            The commendation to this faithful church by Jesus is two-fold.  First of all they have kept God’s Word, they did not deny it or negate it or even water it down!  Folks, that is a big deal because it is proof of your love for Jesus, if you love His Word. Do you doubt that?  Jesus said in John 14:21, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”  You see, it is not only reading God’s Word, but applying it to your life, it shows that you love Him!  Tragically, in many churches today God’s Word is not even taught or if it is they tend to make it all fluff or water it down or misrepresent it, but not here in Philadelphia and I pray that I would stay faithful to God’s Word as I teach it to you!

            Secondly, they were devoted to the Lord, they did not deny His name.  They were pressured to, but their love for the Lord caused them to live for the Lord.  Today we see people, churches, deny the name of Jesus, who He is and that is tragic.  Katharine Jefferts Schori who is now the head of the Episcopal Church said the following and this is from The Herald Times Reporter, September 4, 2006.  We are told: “Jefferots Schori personally believes in a relationship with God through Jesus, but does not see it as the only true path. ‘If we insist we know the one way to God, we’re putting God in a very small box,’ Jefferts Schori said. . . .  In a sermon at the general convention she said, ‘Our mother Jesus gives birth to a new creation – and you and I are His children.’”  How sad that is and she is leading a church, a denomination to Hell!

            Another sad example took place at a women’s conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota back in 1993 and these are some of the churches that were involved in this conference: The United Church of Christ, United Methodists, The Lutherans, The United Church of Canada, and the Presbyterians.  And listen to what they heard at this conference regarding Jesus Christ. Dr. Delores Williams, a professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York said, “I don’t think we need a theology of atonement at all. I think Jesus came for life and to show us something about life. . . . I don’t think we need folks hanging on crosses and blood dripping and weird stuff.”  How sad that is and they call themselves Christians or followers of Christ and yet they are denying His name, all that He is.  She is a professor at a cemetery, I mean seminary!  Yes, Jesus did come to teach us about ourselves, that we are sinners separated from God by our sin and without His shed blood atoning for our sins, we are still dead in them!

            The church in Philadelphia, like all the faithful churches that are in existence today, love the Word of God and they uphold the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  We truly are seeing the true church separate from the false church, like oil separating from water.  In fact, as you look at the final two church letters, Philadelphia and Laodicea, they represent two streams of practice that came out of the Protestant Reformation.  One was sweet and had a great love for the Word of God and a vibrant personal relationship with Jesus, the church of Philadelphia. And the other was bitter and moved away from the Word of God, moved to experience instead. They turned cold and into intellectualism, leaving no room for Jesus, the church of Laodicea. And we will see that next time as we conclude these letters.

            As you can clearly see, there is no rebuke for the church of Philadelphia.

VERSES 9-10

            There were unbelieving Jews in this city of brotherly love who were hostile towards these Christians.  They were Jews but only by name. You see, spiritually speaking they were not connected with Abraham or to the people of faith because that is done as a person believes and receives Jesus as Lord and Savior!  And what happened back then is still happening today.  In our society we see tolerance as the new motto we are to follow, and if you don’t agree with what they are saying, what they believe, you are not tolerant; you are hateful, unloving and-so-on.  What is amazing to me is that when we stand up for what we believe, this tolerant group of people becomes very intolerant. They will accept all kinds of immorality and wickedness but when we stand up for the truths of God found in the Word of God, when we love the Lord, they attack us, and I guess they are not very tolerant!  It is as McCarrell said, “The Philadelphia letter reminds that any true church at any time, and especially during the last days, meets satanic opposition . . . through imitation, religious ritualism, and hypocrisy – opposition strengthened by mixtures of worldliness and religiousness – church and state.”

            Now we see the exhortation that Jesus gives to this church and it is two-fold.  In verse 9 Jesus speaks of protecting this weak church from the hostile attacks of the enemy.  And in the end, the love of God flowing from these believers will save some of those Jews who were persecuting the Christians.  A door of ministry for them – those who were persecuting them!

            Then, the second exhortation is that Jesus will keep those who love Him, who keep His command to preserver, out of the tribulation period!  The reason I believe Jesus is speaking of the tribulation period here and that Christians will not go through any part of it is as follows.

            First of all the word “from” is the Greek word EK and it means “out of” or “away from.”  Now, what is the Lord keeping us out of or away from? He tells us, “the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”  Revelation 3:10b.  Now, before we deal with what this trial is all about, let’s look at who this is for. Jesus tells us it is for those who are earth dwellers or unbelievers. You see, Paul tells us in Philippians 3:20-21, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”

            Thus, we are not earth dwellers, we are citizens of heaven, we are just pilgrims and strangers passing through this land on our way home to be with our Lord and one day He will come back for us.  Thus, this trial is a judgment upon the earth dwellers and that speaks of the tribulation period, that last 7 year period of time where God will pour out His wrath upon a Christ rejecting world before the Lord comes back to set up His kingdom here on the earth with His bride, the church.

            And so, the church, believers will be raptured out before the tribulation period begins as I Thessalonians 4:13-18 and I Corinthians 15:51-58 tells us.  In fact, Paul tells us in I Thessalonians 5:9, “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”    And in II Peter 2:9 we are told, “then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment.”  Thus, we are, “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”  Titus 2:13.  And we will deal more with the rapture and what it is all about when we get to Revelation chapter 4 as the church age comes to an end, John is caught up into heaven. But until then, keep this in mind.  Walvoord reminds us, “As far as the Philadelphian church was concerned, the rapture of the church was presented to them as an imminent hope.”  It is the same for us folks!

VERSE 11

            When Jesus says He is coming quickly, He is not saying right now, for it has almost been 2,000 years since Jesus wrote this letter to the church.  He can come at any moment, but that is not the point that Jesus is making here.  What He is saying is that when He does come it will be sudden, it will be unexpected!

            The warning that Jesus gives to this church is simple, “hold fast what you have.”  In other words, they needed to keep a firm grip on what they had, they were not to give up, but to forge ahead, don’t grow weary.  They needed to continue on because the Lord is coming back and that message is to us also – HOLD FAST!  But to what are they to hold on fast to?  They were to hold fast to what Jesus said back in Revelation 3:8, “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.”  They needed to hold fast to the door that the Lord had opened for them – MINISTRY.  They needed to hold fast to the little strength they had – THEIR RELIANCE ON GOD WHERE THEIR STRENGTH CAME FROM.  And they needed to hold fast in keeping God’s Word and not denying His name – THEIR FAITHFULNESS TO JESUS.  Paul admonishes us in I Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”  Don’t give up!

            The crown that Jesus speaks of here is not the crown of a king but the Greek word is STEPHANOS or the victors’ crown. Jesus is not speaking of our salvation here because I don’t believe the Scriptures teach that a person can lose their salvation. I believe Jesus is speaking of finishing the race that God has us in, to preserver to the end so we may receive the crown He has for us, the victors’ crown!  Paul put it this way as he used his life as an example in II Timothy 4:6-8, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

But, for those who have made an empty profession of faith, they will not receive this crown because they never were saved! John tells us in I John 2:19, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.”  If you faithfully preserver you are a child of God and you will not lose your salvation because you are saved by faith in the finished work of Christ for you and thus, you will receive the victors’ crown, keep persevering until He returns!

VERSE 12

            Keep in mind that the ancient city of Philadelphia suffered many earthquakes and thus, the ground was not stable.  And the promise to this church is that He would make them a pillar in the New Jerusalem. It speaks of stability, a strong city, no longer is the ground unstable.  And as a pillar, the only thing supporting it is the foundation and our foundation is Jesus!

            Not only are we pillars but we shall go out no more.  We will be with our Lord forever.  Barclay makes this point regarding this: “The citizens of Philadelphia lived an unsettled and tremulous life.  Whenever the earthquake tremors came, and they came often, the people of Philadelphia fled from the city out into the open country, to escape the falling masonry and the flying stones which accompanied a severe earthquake shock. Then, when the earth was quiet again, they returned.  In their fear the people of Philadelphia were always out and coming in; they were always fleeing from the city and then returning to it.”  But for us, we shall go out no more because we are secure in Christ!

            And these marks; writing on us the name of God, the city of God and His new name are all marks of identification.  Think about it.  When you were young and in school you would write the name of your girlfriend or boyfriend on your arm, why?  Because you were identifying yourself with her or him and the Lord shows us that He not only identifies with us but we identify with Him!  We belong to God!  You see, because we identify with Christ by faith, He will identify Himself with us!

VERSE 13

            Again Jesus closes with these words – do you have spiritual ears to hear what the Spirit of God is saying to you and are you willing to apply these lessons to your life?  He wants you to!

            As I bring this study to a close, let me say this.  Everyone wants to be a Philadelphia church, for there is only good spoken of this church by Jesus.  Now, I do believe that this church here in Manitowoc, this body of believers is a Philadelphia church.  Not that we are perfect, there are no perfect churches and if you are anything like me, you have a ways to go. But I see this church love the Word of God and desire to apply it to their life.  I see this church in love with Jesus, believing in all that His name stands for.  And that is a great joy to me. We don’t have much strength on our own, but we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.  And look at all that God has done in and through this church. But don’t rest upon that, look ahead to what God is doing now and keep forging ahead in the work, don’t give up!

            Let me leave you with these words from Paul in Colossians 3:1-4 as he admonishes us, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”  Let us continue on until He comes for us, His Bride!