The Church in Philadelphia (Rev. 3:7-13)

Philadelphia means ‘the city of brotherly love’. Whether that was true of the city is unlikely. Yet it was true of the church there because Jesus finds no fault within it. It is the second of the seven churches to have this level of commendation, along with the church in Smyrna. This means that the city of brotherly love had a community of brotherly love within it.

Jesus, the divine ruler

In describing himself, Jesus says that he is both God and man, which is how we should think of him when focusing on what he has done since his incarnation. His deity is seen in his description of himself as the one who is holy and true. Yet they would also be accurate descriptions of his human nature. As the one who is holy and true, he cannot tell a lie, which would be of great comfort to the small church in Philadelphia as he makes promises to them about their future.

The significance of him having the key of David is connected to what is described in Isaiah 22:20ff where the prophet reveals that the Lord is going to remove Shebna from his place of power because of his unfaithfulness and Eliakim in that position of power. The key symbolised the power that Eliakim would have. They revealed that the king had given him authority to act. Jesus means by this description that as the Messiah he has been given full authority by God the Father. 

The person who had the key in the palace in Jerusalem could go into any room he wished. He also allowed or prevented other people from having access to those places. In other words, nothing could happen without his decision or permission. In a far higher sense, nothing happens without the permission of Jesus. He has access to everything in heaven, including the details of God’s eternal plan. Therefore, he can make definite promises to the church in Philadelphia.

It is obvious that Jesus wanted to communicate this information to his people. He wanted them to get the benefits that come from knowing that this is his role. It would mean that whatever happened to them should be connected by them to the key that Jesus possesses as God’s Messiah. The same is true for us.

Encouragement from Jesus

Jesus points out to the church in Philadelphia that he has given to them an open door. What does he mean by that? He is referring to his use of the key in the previous verse that symbolised his authority. Does he mean by his door that they have access to heaven or entrance into his kingdom or does he mean that they have access into the community around them? 

They may have been barred from areas of life in the city. The Jews may have stopped them from attending the synagogue and the city authorities may have prevented them from having opportunities for work. Whatever doors were closed by their human opponents, they could not close the door that Jesus kept open.

The implication is that they were meant to go through the door and use whatever the access was that was available to them. They could go into the presence of Jesus in prayer and they could enter the community with the gospel. It looks as if Jesus is describing an entrance that no power on earth could ever close, which would indicate that the open door is entrance into the presence of God at any time.

This would have been a great encouragement from Jesus to a church that was regarded as insignificant in the community. They were small in number probably and had little influence in the city. Yet they had remained true to him, even when they were opposed by others.

The opposition to them seems to have been led by the Jews, which was a common experience for the New Testament church. Because Jesus has the key of authority he is able to deal with that situation. He informs the church there that on the Day of Judgement they will be recognised as belonging to him, with that recognition including their opponents bowing down before them. In the Old Testament, it was predicted that Gentiles would bow to God’s people, and no doubt the Jewish opponents of the church had assumed that the church would be among the Gentiles. Jesus reveals that those Jews would be among the Gentiles who would acknowledge the place that Christians will have through their connection to Jesus. So he gives them encouragement from their future blessings as well.

On that great future day, the opponents of the church will recognise that Jesus loved his people. The recognition will include different ways in which he loved them. His love for them was eternal, it led him to become a man and go to the cross to pay the penalty for their sins, and it caused him to look after them in numerous ways since they became his disciples. On that day, those who despised believers will discover and see the greatness of Christ’s love for his people.

Jesus, who has the key of authority (as he mentioned in verse 6), then informs the church in Philadelphia that he would protect them during a looming worldwide crisis. He does not say what the crisis would be. Perhaps there would be political turmoil, with its dangerous consequences. Whatever it was, Jesus promised his people in that city that they would be safe. Here we have a reminder that sometimes Jesus prevents trouble for his church whereas he allows it elsewhere, as he did with the church in Smyrna.

Instead of being concerned about worldwide events, they are told by Jesus to remember his second coming. What is the proper response to the fact that Jesus is coming again? It is not to speculate about it. Instead it is to serve him faithfully Day by day knowing that he always has the key of authority.. 

Who is the one trying to seize their crown? It cannot be Jesus because he wants to give it to them. It is not likely to be another believer. Instead, it is the enemy, those encouraged by the devil. The point is that a good church can become a useless one if it loses hold of its priorities. Jesus did not want that to happen to the church in Philadelphia.

The reward for the overcomer 

Several times in this promise to the overcomer, Jesus refers to ‘my God’. He is speaking of the Father, but is describing the relationship he has with his Father – Jesus is the mediator, the Father’s servant. We can see his activities in this connection described in Isaiah 53, where the prophet mentions both the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. As the servant of the Father, he has the role of outworking the divine plan and some of its details are mentioned in the promises here.

Jesus says that he will do two things for those who overcome. One is that he will make them pillars in God’s temple and the other is that he will write three names on each of his people. Probably, the idea behind a pillar is stability and the idea behind the writing of names is security. In both cases, the outcome is eternal.

The temple of God is another way of describing the new heavens and new earth. Calling it a temple reminds us that one of the main activities of the eternal state, as well as being one of the main expressions of eternal life, is worship, with the leader of the endless praise being Jesus himself. Each of his people will continue as a devout and enthusiastic worshipper for ever.

It is possible that there is a connection between the pillar and the writing, with the names being written on the pillar so that others can read them. This was a common use of pillars in ancient times. Writing a name on something indicated ownership and here the three names are Father, new Jerusalem and Lord (Jesus was given this title in a new way at his ascension, as Paul says in Philippians 2:6-11). So the names say that each true believer will be a son of the Father, a resident of the eternal city, and a subject of the sovereign Saviour, and all of them for ever.