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The Church at Philadelphia
The Church at Philadelphia
Good afternoon.
The next church we are going to be looking at is the Church at Philadelphia.
Rob weren’t you born in Philadelphia?
Not quite sure it’s the same one though.
Just kidding.
The church at Philadelphia was in certain aspects a lot like we are as a church.
They were a small church lacking people, money, and any real influence within the city.
As a result the world saw them as a church of little power.
And I suspect many within the church were beginning to see themselves in this same light as well.
But Jesus.
Jesus has something to say to this small humble church from two-thousand years ago.
And oh do those words ring true today for us here.
So, let’s look at what Jesus was for this little church and hear Gods words for us.
In Revelation chapter three verses seven through thirteen we read.
Philadelphia
Philadelphia
The city of Philadelphia was the youngest of the seven cities mentioned in the book of Revelation.
The primary problem that the church in Philadelphia faces comes not from the surrounding culture but rather from the Jews living in the city.
Which is really interesting because God’s intent was to unite the Jews and Gentile believers together as brothers in Christ Jesus.
But the city of brotherly love wasn’t always very loving to this little church.
Even still it does appear the the church is a healthy church.
The church receives absolutely no condemnation from Jesus in this letter.
They may have appeared weak to the world, we will see this in verse eight, she remained deeply faithful to Jesus in the midst of the trials and temptations she faced.
Jesus Revealed
The Holy One
Jesus begins with “The words of the holy one.”
We will see later in the book of Revelation that his is often times used as a title that is given of God.
The struggle that we have today is that we tend to equate that which is holy with that which is righteous or clean.
But, that isn’t the biblical idea of what something holy is.
Something that was declared as holy was set apart for something special in particular in regards to worship of God.
So, for instance, all of the tools that were used in the original temple were said to be holy.
Not because the tools were clean or righteous.
They needed to be ritually cleansed before being used in the act of worship.
But they were holy because of their purpose.
And so what we have here is that Jesus is called holy not because he is righteous but because he is completely dedicated to God the Father.
The True One
So this phrase is a bit unique.
Our struggle to understand this phrase is one of language.
The struggle comes about because John wrote the book in Greek.
However he often times uses Greek words with Hebrew meanings behind them.
And that is what we have going on here.
So in Greek the word true carries the idea of that which is genuine or real.
It is true as in true or false.
In this context we would be saying that Jesus is the real McCoy.
Which is not false.
But not the truth John was trying to convey.
In Hebrew the idea of true comes closer to what our word trustworthy would convey.
They come from the same root concept but are slightly different.
This phrase is often used in Hebrew in the Old Testament in relation to His faithfulness.
For instance in Psalm 146:6 we read.
And so Jesus as the true one is the one whom we can trust will keep his word.
Next Jesus is called.
The Key of David
The key of David.
The key of David is essentially the key to Davids house — The Messianic Kingdom.
And so Jesus uses this phrase because of the immediate context that our church in Philadelphia now finds itself.
The Jews in the city would have claimed that they alone are the true people of God who hold the key to the Kingdom of God.
And Jesus just wants to set the record straight.
He is the one who holds the keys to the kingdom.
The Jews had essentially given up their ability to hold the keys by rejected their Messiah.
It is Christ alone and not Israel who can grant entrance into the messianic Kingdom.
So, contrary to many jokes and popular understanding.
Saint Peter is not standing at the pearly gates waiting to open them wide for those who are worthy.
It is Jesus who holds those key and Jesus alone.
And this is related to the final way in which Jesus identifies himself.
He says,
Who opens and no one shall shut, who shuts and no one opens.
Jesus is now gives a fuller understanding to what it means that He is the Key of David.
It is to Christ alone that absolute and exclusive power is given by the Father to allow entrance and to exclude from the Kingdom of God.
This is the most detailed of all of the descriptions that we receive in these letters concerning the person of Jesus.
And he does so in just a handful of very short concise phrases.
And after revealing himself to Philadelphia and who he wants them to see in relation to them he then writes in verse eight.
I Know Your Works
In every other instance we have an idea of the works that the church was committed to.
But not here.
I believe this why.
It’s not necessarily the content of the works.
But it is the good works done in the name of Jesus that are pleasing to Jesus.
We were just told that the church has little power.
They were small, had very few resources, and little influence within the city.
But it is the character of the church that counts.
What mattered to Jesus was that they performed good works for his glory even in the midst of trials and tribulations.
He then says,
I have set before you an open door
There are a couple of different ways that one can view this verse, I prefer one over the other because of the context of the passage.
So often times an open door in the book of Revelation is a reference to salvation.
And that may be what is in mind here.
However the phrase is also often used in the New Testament in reference to God opening the possibilities to perform good works for his glory.
And the greatest of these being the declaration of the Gospel of Jesus.
We see this in Colossians 4:3 where Paul wrote.
I believe that what Jesus is saying is that He has opened a door of opportunity for the church in Philadelphia to make the gospel known.
Remember the Jews in Philadelphia were hostile to this little powerless church, as they saw it at least.
And the Jews would have claimed that only Israel could grant access to the Kingdom of God.
Well, Christ says otherwise, and in fact he says that none are able to shut this door that he has opened for them.
Now we get to this phrase that I have alluded to several times already.
I know that you have but little power
Within the city this little church was small, poor, and uninfluential.
And so in worldly terms she appeared to have little power within the city of Philadelphia.
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