Posted By Joe on November 30, 2009

Seven Letters to Seven Churches

• Seven Letters to Seven Churches: Introduction
• Seven Letters to Seven Churches: Ephesus
• Seven Letters to Seven Churches: Smyrna
• Seven Letters to Seven Churches: Pergamum
• Seven Letters to Seven Churches: Thyatira
• Seven Letters to Seven Churches: Sardis
• Seven Letters to Seven Churches: Philadelphia
• Seven Letters to Seven Churches: Laodicea

So far, we've looked at the first five of seven letters Jesus writes to the churches of Asia Minor.

The letters we have looked at so far are:

• Ephesus: "The Light of Asia"
• Smyrna: "The Church of Suffering"
• Pergamum: "The Pagan Church"
• Thyatira: "The Church of Romanism"
• Sardis: "The Protestant Church"

We now come to Philadelphia. It's one of my favorite letters. It's the letter that speaks to the church of our time!

Philadelphia: "The Revived Church"

Philadelphia is the smallest city of the seven. As you probably know, "Philadelphia" means "brotherly love." It was located about 38 miles SE of Sardis.

Today, Philadelphia is a prosperous little Turkish town known as Alasehir. It sits on the Cogamis River, a tributary of the Hermus River. The city got its name from Attalus II. He had a great love for his brother, Eumenes who was king of Pergamum. Because of Attalus' great love and loyalty to Eumenes, it is called "the city of brotherly love."

Philadelphia is the only other church, besides Smyrna, that Jesus has no word of condemnation. It's noteworthy that the two churches Jesus only has praise for, are the only to cities still in existence! The churches have disappeared, though, since that time.

The church in Philadelphia represents church history from about the beginning of the nineteenth century to the Rapture. This is the revived church: the church that turns back to the Word the God.

Jesus' Letter to the Church at Philadelphia

"And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this." --Revelation 3:7.

Here is yet another self-description of Jesus. Jesus describes Himself as the Holy One, the truth, and the All-Powerful One.

The "key of David" is a quote from Isaiah:

"Then I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder, when he opens no one will shut, when he shuts no one will open." --Isaiah 22:22.

This is a different key from the "keys of death and of Hades" that were mentioned in Revelation 1:18 and the "keys of the kingdom" that are found in Matthew 16:19. The key of David signifies Jesus' royal claim as Ruler of the Universe.

"He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end." --Luke 1:32-33.

Jesus is clear who has the authority:

"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." --Matthew 28:18.

The Good News

"'I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.'" --Revelation 3:8.

Jesus commends this church on several points:

• "I know your deeds": Jesus is looking for our fruit (Ephesians 2:8-10).
• "An open door which no one can shut": this is the Word of God.
• "You have a little power": the Greek word used is "δύναμις" which is transliterated "dynamis" where we get our English word "dynamite." As we have said, Philadelphia was the smallest of the churches. But their power was likened to dynamite. What was that power? The Word of God!
• "Kept My Word": Jesus praises this church for keeping His word. Jesus would have the same praise for us today who treat His word--the Bible--as the authoritative and inspired Word of God!
• "Not denied My Name."

"'Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie--I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you.'" --Revelation 3:9.

The true "Jews" spoken of here are those that left the synagogue and the practice of the law for Christ (Romans 9:6). Paul considered the true Jews to be those who gave up the law as a means of salvation and justification for Christ's redemptive work of the cross.

• "I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you": Jesus tells the church that the enemies of Philadelphia will know that Jesus loves this church.

"'Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.'" --Revelation 3:10.

• Perseverance: so often Jesus tells His followers to have patience and perseverance (2 Thessalonians 3:5).

Jesus then promises to keep the believer from the "hour of testing." Here Jesus specifically says that He will deliver His church from the Great Tribulation that "is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth."

The Deliverance of the Church from the Great Tribulation

I believe the Bible teaches a pre-Tribulation rapture. There are different schools of thought on this point, but I believe that if you carefully study what the Bible teaches, it would appear that the church will be taken up to heaven before the Great Tribulation begins.

Paul sets the stage for this in his second letter to the Thessalonians:

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. --2 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

This is the believer's "blessed hope":

Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus. --Titus 2:13.

Because of this, the church should not anticipate the Great Tribulation with all of its judgment:

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." --John 5:24.

And:

It was also given to [the Antichrist] to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. --Revelation 13:7-8.

Getting back to Revelation 3:10, Jesus specifically says that He will keep the church "from the hour of testing."

If the rapture had occurred in the first century preceding the tribulation which the book of Revelation describes, they were assured of deliverance. By contrast, those sealed out of the twelve tribes of Israel in [Revelation 7:4] clearly go through the time of trouble. This implies the rapture of the church before the time of trouble referred to as the great tribulation. Such a promise of deliverance to them would seemingly have been impossible if the rapture of the church were delayed until the end of the tribulation prior to the second coming of Christ and the establishment of the kingdom. --Dr. John Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ.

The Believer's Crown

"'I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown.'" --Revelation 3:11.

This is a short, but interesting verse. The flip side of this verse is that you can lose your crown.

In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. --2 Timothy 4:8.

Incredible. But keep in mind, this is not the believer's salvation. That is completely different. The crown is the reward for works done in faith because of the believer's free gift of salvation.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. --Romans 6:23.

The Promise to the Overcomer

"'He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and 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 out of heaven from My God, and My new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'" --Revelation 3:12-13.

J. Vernon McGee says of the pillars:

There are two pillars in Philadelphia today. One is that of the Byzantine church, which I do not think is the reference here. But there is also a pillar on the side of the hill, hidden among those cedar and laurel trees. That pillar is all that remains of the city of John's day. "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God." The church down here was destroyed, but the permanent pillar is up yonder. --J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee.

Jesus' statements about writing "the name of My God" and the "city of My God," are the authorizations for the believer's access anywhere in God's kingdom. Much like a passport gives you access to other countries, this is our heavenly passport in the heavenlies!

The last letter, written to the church of Laodicea, we will look at next time. The church of Laodicea is the apostate church. It's a sobering letter, but not one without hope.

May He Increase!

Categories: 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 2 Timothy, Ephesians, Isaiah, Luke, Matthew, Revelation, Romans, Titus
Tags: crown, david, faith, grace, great tribulation, j vernon mcgee, john walvoord, key, love, rapture, salvation, throne, works