Jesus Opens the Door
Philadelphia, the modern city of Aleşehir, Turkey, got its name from the loyalty and love between the two brothers who were influential in founding the city, Eumenes II and his younger brother Attalus II. The city was located on one of the major trade routes and was called the gateway to the east. It was situated in a very fertile valley ideal for growing grapes. Its vineyards and wines were famous. Unfortunately, it was located in an area prone to earthquakes, and in AD 17 the city was devastated by a major earthquake. For some time many of the residents had to live outside the city.
V. 7 — And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the word of the holy one, the true one, the one who has the key of David, who opens and no one will close, who closes and no one opens.
1. The Holy One, The True One
Jesus is the Holy One. The Old Testament uses “the Holy One of Israel” (Is 1:4; 37:23; Has 3:3) as a title for Yahweh. The New Testament uses “the Holy One” for Christ (Mk 1:24; Lk 1:35; Jn 6:69). God is set apart from this world. He is the Wholly Other, Wholly Different, and alone worthy of worship. Jesus Christ is God. He is Yahweh and his followers represent the true Israel.
Jesus is the True One. He is the true Messiah in contrast to the lying Jews who rejected Him as the false Messiah. The True One also speaks to Jesus’ faithfulness. He is the faithful witness (Rev 1:5) who remained faithful in his obedience and witness to the Father. We are called to follow Jesus’ example of enduring in faithful witness. Christ is both the real Messiah and the faithful One. As the holy and true witness, He empowers those who are faithful to Him to be his faithful witnesses.
Jesus holds the “key of David.” This comes from Isaiah 22:22 where Eliakim was given the keys to the house of David. Jesus Christ controls the keys of the kingdom. Jewish leaders expelled Christians from the synagogues. They claimed that only those worshipping within their doors are God’s true people. But only Christ has that absolute power and authority. He has sovereign control over who gets into God’s kingdom. He opens and closes the gates to heaven.
Many Christians today, here and around the world, are excluded, separated, alienated from family and friends, from jobs and positions, from clubs, groups, or associations. Some are even rejected by their governments and fellow countrymen. But Jesus tells us that He will not reject or exclude us. We will always belong to Him.
V. 8 — I know your deeds. Look, I have placed before you an opened door that no one can close. I know that you have little strength, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
2. I Give You an Open Door
Jesus opened Kingdom’s door to us and no one will prevent us from entering his kingdom. What blessed assurance and encouragement!
“I know you have little strength.” The church was small and lacked status in society. They were looked downed upon. They had little authority, power, and influence. But they were faithful. The little power they had, they expressed through keeping Christ’s word and not denying his Name.
What does success in ministry and Christian living look like? Big church buildings, growing numbers, thousands of members, big budgets, many programs, and activities? God is more interested in faithfulness than success. In God’s eyes, success is faithfulness — enduring faithful witness all the time, everywhere. Success is faithful witness in word proclaiming the gospel in season and out of season with complete patience (2 Tim 4:2), trusting that his Word is powerful and will achieve its purposes. It does not depend on our power. All it needs from us is faithful study, preaching, and teaching of the Word. Success is faithful witness in deed through living the kingdom life in obedience to our Lord.
When we stand before God’s throne one day He is not going to ask us if we became a world champion in our sport, achieved a Ph.D. in our academic pursuits, became a CEO of a company, president of a university, or a billionaire? He is going to ask us, “Have you endured in faithful witness to Me? Have you kept my Word? Have you acknowledged or denied my Name before others? These worldly achievements are not wrong but as we work for them, we must do so in his Name and for his glory. We must do so while witnessing faithfully to Him. And if we should lose such achievements or success because of our faithful witness, then His rewards exceed these by far.
3. I Will Make Them
V. 9 — Look, I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan and are not, but lie — look, I will make them come and bow down before your feet and they will know that I have loved you.
We have already seen in the letter to Smyrna that these are the Jews who claim to be the true Israel but they are not because they do not believe in Jesus the true Messiah, and they persecute his faithful witnesses.
This is an ironic fulfillment of Isaiah 49: 23 — “Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground; they will lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who hope in me will not be disappointed.” And Is. 60:14 — “The children of your oppressors will come bowing before you; all who despise you will bow down at your feet.” This has been fulfilled in the multiethnic, multicultural, global church, which has become the true Israel by virtue of their faith in Jesus Christ.
To his faithful followers who do his will to the end, Jesus will give authority over the nations and they will rule over them (Rev 2:26-27). Christ promises that the persecuted Christians will be vindicated by God. All oppressors and persecutors, Jewish and Gentile unbelievers, will submit and pay homage to the believers. And then they will know that God loves these and they are his true people.
4. I Will Make Them
V. 10 — Because you have kept the word of my patient endurance, I will also keep you from the hour of testing (trial) that is going to come on the whole world to test those who live on the earth.
In Revelation, “those who live on the earth” is the technical term for unbelievers who rebel against God and suffer his judgment. The “hour of testing” represents the trials and tribulations that are described in this book. Both believers and unbelievers experience these trials. For the unbelievers, these are God’s judgment and serve as their punishment. For believers, these trials refine and strengthen their faith. They will never experience God’s wrath but they experience persecution at the hands of God’s enemies in this world.
Jesus Christ will show his faithfulness to the believers because they have been faithful witnesses to Him. They kept the word of Jesus’ own endurance, who “for the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (Heb 12:2-3). Therefore, we fix our eyes on Jesus, and following his example, we endure in our witness.
He protects us and preserves us with his power. We are not exempt from nor are we removed from these trials. Jesus warns us, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33). Jesus prayed for our protection, “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name … While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me … My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one” (Jn 17:11-12,15). The great Christian hope has never been removal from trials but the resurrection from the dead. This is one of the key messages of Revelation. We may suffer physical harm and even physical death but Christ protects us from spiritual harm. He preserves us through our trials and He will vindicate us when He comes. With the multitudes, we will come out of the great tribulation, wearing robes washed and made white with the blood of the Lamb (Rev 7:14). And we will enter into his kingdom through the door He has opened for us.
5. Pillars & New Names
Vv. 11-13 — I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one may take away your crown. The one who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God and he will never go outside again. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from heaven from my God, and my new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Jesus is coming and He brings vindication and reward. He will vindicate us for our suffering and He will reward us for our endurance and faithful witness. While we wait we must hold on fast to what we have, the open door that no one can close. If we fail to hold fast we could lose our reward, the crown of life that Christ gives to us.
But when we overcome He will make us pillars and give us new names. The temple of my God symbolizes God’s intimate and eternal presence in the new creation. There is no physical temple in the new Jerusalem “because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (Rev 21:22). Just as a pillar is secure and permanent, so Jesus will give the victorious a permanent place in his presence (Is. 56:3–5). He promises stability, security, and permanence. This was especially meaningful to the Philadelphian Christians. They have been kicked out of the synagogue’s fellowship. They lived in a city prone to earthquakes from which they must go out when earthquakes happen. Now they are promised permanent citizenship in God’s kingdom and they will never go out from it.
The new names identify us with Christ, and promise security and living in eternal fellowship with God. To have “the name of my God” is to belong to God. Believers are sealed on their foreheads (Rev 7:3) and they are given the name of God (14:1; 22:4). We are of God. We are his children. We belong to him.
The name of the city of my God speaks of our citizenship in God’s kingdom. The new Jerusalem descends from heaven and fulfills the biblical promise of living in the presence of God. ‘I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away”’ (Rev 21:2-4).
The third name is “my new name.” I believe it is the name of Revelation 19:16, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The most amazing thing is that we share his Name. We are permanent citizens of his kingdom. We are identified with and belong to the King of kings, the Lord of lords.
We live in a world that is unstable and insecure. This life is filled with suffering, heartache, and death. We should not allow fear and anxiety to overcome us. Success in our faith and spiritual journeys is not determined by our power or prestige in the eyes of the world. Success in living the Christian life is determined by our willingness to persevere in simple obedience and faithful witness to Jesus Christ, our Lord. He knows that we have little strength. He strengthens us in the midst of trials. He protects us from the enemy. He opens the door of God’s kingdom for us. He gives us eternal citizenship in his kingdom. He ensures us that we will live eternally in the presence of God. In this life hearts and bones will break but in the end He, the Light overcomes the darkness. Let us claim his promise in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 — “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore we will boast all the more gladly about our weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on us. That is why, for Christ’s sake, we delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when we are weak, then we are strong.” Let us hold fast what we have in Christ in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience (Lk 8:15). Our Lord is coming. We will be vindicated. We are citizens of God’s kingdom.