He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Revelation 3:13

Revelation 3:7–13– The Book of Revelation: Worship. Obey. Endure.
Second Sunday after Pentecost  – June 19, 2022 (am)

There’s nothing more unsettling than need, lack, that you don’t have the resources to address—you feel weak.

• You need a job and you have a solid résumé, but you just don’t match the profile of those who are being hired these days in your area of specialty.

• Your son just informed you of a personal struggle for which none of the current treatment models reflects your worldview or value-structure.

• Your wife said she can’t take any more in a tone of voice you’ve never heard.

An entirely new definition of weakness just crashed over you like an ocean wave and there’s just no way to put it into words. But it eroded the earth under your feet like a sink hole and you feel like you’re falling through darkness just waiting to hit bottom. In the midst of all this, someone at work tells you they think faith is just a crutch for the weak, to help them cope with hardships in life. But right now, you wonder if the picture of your own faith is even that rosy. And you may even wonder if it’s actually real at all. It’s not really Christ you doubt; it’s you, yourself. He’s strong, but your faith feels like a patchwork of Scripture snippets, scattered thoughts, and pious platitudes that can barely stand against a summer breeze, not to mention a winter storm. Where do you turn for help?

This pictures a bit of what life may have felt like in the first-century church in Philadelphia. As in Sardis (1-6), their physical surroundings pictured their spiritual state. Philadelphia was wealthy and well-located, the gateway to the East (Morris 80). But it was susceptible to earthquakes due to volcanic activity; it was destroyed by one in ad 17. They knew weakness and frailty, matters beyond their control. But they also knew something about patient endurance that may prove helpful to us still today. Let’s look at this letter under our four headings.

The Ascription – 7

Jesus identified Himself as holy and true (7) even though that’s not found in the vision of c.1. But it’s the precise description of God used by the martyrs under the altar in heaven when 6:10 they cried out…, “… how long before you will judge and avenge our blood…?” 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. So, hang in there; much more is going on here than just empty suffering. God has a plan.

Then Jesus mentions holding the key of David (7). This hearkens back to 1:18, but in an unusual way. There John referred to the keys of Death and Hades, but here it’s the key of David. Obviously, the key is a link to that vision, but it seems there’s a clearer link, to the story of Eliakim (Isa.22). In the days of King Hezekiah, a man named Shebna served as steward… over [his] household (Isa.22:15). Shebna hadn’t been faithful in his responsibilities; he’d been building himself an ornate grave among the rich while Jerusalem was under siege with its walls in disrepair (Isa.22:16). In pretty graphic terms, God said He’d remove Shebna. He’d wind him up like a ball and hurl him into the dessert! The sounds like Wile E. Coyote in a Road Runner episode! Isa.22:17 Behold, the Lord will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you 18 and whirl you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die, and there shall be your glorious chariots, you shame of your master’s house. God wasn’t happy with this guy! What He shut for Shebna, no one would be able to re-open! (cf. 7) And in his place, Eliakim would be given the key of David. Isa.22:22 … I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. To get into the King’s presence, you’d have to go through Eliakim!

Jesus uses this imagery as He writes to Philadelphia. It’s pretty tough talk, wielding His sovereign authority with little apparent wiggle-room! He’s the only One through Whom we can gain entrance into the palace and audience with the King. We already know Jesus is the door (Joh.10:9). Now we hear He also holds the key (7). But beyond all this, He has authority to open and shut the door as He wills. He’s the One who determines who gets in and who stays out; we see that made more clear in the next verse. So, all this power is going to come to bear right there in Philadelphia.

The Assessment – 8

8 I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Again, just as with all the churches, Jesus [knew] what was going on with them; He [knew their] works; all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account (Heb.4:13). But He’d set an open door before the church in Philadelphia and no one could decide to shut it. It didn’t matter one whit how little power they had in this world’s terms! Friends, do you hear that assurance to this weak but faithful church that lived in a hostile culture? Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts (Zec.4:6). The very passage that was alluded to in the letter to Sardis last week is brought to our minds again here in Philadelphia. It’s not about their strength, or ours! It’s all about His, still, today!

This open door may’ve been literal, a new place of meeting perhaps. They were, after all, experiencing persecution from the Jews (9) and may’ve been shut out of the synagogue. It may’ve been an open door of opportunity, for witness or the like. Such wording isn’t un-heard-of in the NT: Paul said a wide door for effective work [had] opened to [him] in Ephesus (1Co.16:9). And, even though a door was opened for [him] in Troas, [his] spirit was not at rest due to other circumstances (2Co.2:12-13). This is possible, but it doesn’t fit best with the context. What seems most likely is that Jesus is still talking about the door of the Kingdom. He opened that door before these Philadelphians and, despite their weakness, they remained faithful! They hung on! They endured! And no one could take that away from them, or close the door to their reward!

And this was the whole of Jesus’ assessment of this church in Philadelphia. Like only Smyrna before them, He had no negative remarks for them. Even with so little power, they [had] kept [His] word and [had] not denied [His] name (8).

The Assignment – 11

Because they’d been faithful, Jesus promised to vindicate them. He’d make their oppressors acknowledge in their very presence, with profound humility (9), that they’re indeed and undeniably loved by God! This would be all the more humiliating considering who these oppressors were, namely, Jews (9), who believed themselves to be the ones who know God! But they were lying to themselves. Just as in Smyrna (2:9), they’re called here the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie (9). These are ethnic Jews who believe themselves to have God’s favor. But they refuse to accept Jesus as the promised Messiah and thus they reject the only means of becoming God’s beloved children. Like many of the Jews during the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry, they were of (their) father the devil (Joh.8:44).

So, the Philadelphians’ favored standing with God would be tough for the Jews to admit. But in the midst of all this, it was the church that needed to seize and hold fast (11) to what they’d attained in Christ, to press on in endurance—not to let anyone lead them astray and, in so doing, rob them of their reward; that seems to be the sense of let no one… seize your crown (11). It draws in the all-important if that qualifies our salvation throughout the NT, as in Heb.3:14 … we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. True saving faith endures any and all hardship.

The Assurance – 9-10, 12-13

That’s part of what Jesus is alluding to (10) as He begins to offer His assurance to the Philadelphians. This actually began in v.9 with His assurance of His demonstrable love for them. But it continues: 10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance…. The idea is that this church endured like Jesus endured, imitating Him (Beale 1999 289). He was a faithful witness (1:5). Now they’re also proving to be faithful witnesses! Enduring in the truth is no easy task in light of the sort of hostility and false accusation these Philadelphians faced.

It is no easier in our day to keep our eye on the ball, to endure evil while continuing to be salt and light in the best biblical sense rather than to be swept into criticizing government, the economy, public policy, etc. Some of us, God help us, are more stirred by matters of government and policy than we are by the troubling number of people groups on this planet that have never heard the gospel or received the Scriptures in their own language. Patient endurance means keeping God’s priorities first even when we may be right in the crosshairs of this world’s rage.

When the ways of God are in conflict with this world, we want to be on His side, not theirs! Our strength doesn’t come from this world. Neither does our deliverance. And deliverance is precisely what Jesus promised in v.10b. He’ll save us from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world. Obviously this isn’t a literal hour, but a specified period of time, brief and intense, like Jesus speaking of the hour of his death (cf. Joh.2:4). The targeted group in this trial is those who dwell on the earth (10), a common description of unbelievers in Rev. (cf. 6:10; 8:13; 11:10; 13:8; 17:8) (Ladd 62), or even of idolaters (Beale 1999 290). But the church will be preserved during this testing (10).

Along with 1Th.5:9, this is one of key verses referred to regarding the promise and purpose of what we call the rapture, when the church will be caught up together… in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (1Th.4:17). We know that God has not destined for wrath any of those whom He’s chosen to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (1Th.5:9). Therefore, the church will not experience this hour of trial that is coming on the [rest of the] world. One big question, however, is: How does a particular promise to the first-century church in Philadelphia become an end-times promise to all churches everywhere? And a second big question is: What does this promise actually mean? And, believe me, we could spend a long time surveying the range of options of what v.10 is telling us! First, we apply this promise to the church as a whole in the same way we’ve done with all the other teachings and promises in these letters. As one commentator put it: if the church here is taken to be typical of the body of Christ standing true to the faith, the promise seems to go beyond the Philadelphia church to all those who are believers in Christ (Walvoord & Zuck 940). And second, without getting caught up in vast linguistic and grammatical details, let me say that the fairest way to restate exactly what’s being communicated here is to say: I will preserve you from the time of affliction which will come upon the whole world, meaning, the exalted Christ seems to promise that the situation of the Philadelphian Christians will not be adversely affected by the hour of tribulation that is approaching (Aune 239).

Much ink has been spent arguing for whether ἐκ (from) is best taken to mean free from (untouched by) or apart from (out of). To cut to the chase, I favor the idea that Jesus is promising to [protect the church through] the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, without removing them from it. And I believe this for three basic reasons. First, I believe Jesus is still speaking here about the open door to the Kingdom that He’s set before [the church] (8). Their endurance in faith is the ground for their receiving this reward. So, the immediate context is their endurance in trial, not their absence from it. Second, throughout these seven letters, trial and testing, endurance and conquering have been central themes. Suddenly to promise deliverance out of all that just doesn’t seem to fit with the whole tenor of these seven letters or the overall letter as a whole. And third, in the only similarly worded statement in the NT, this meaning seems to be favored by Jesus Himself. In His high priestly prayer for His disciples, He said: Joh.17:15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

This understanding also makes the best sense of the next verse, which sounds like the Philadelphians are living in a constant state of potential compromise: 11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. And this, then, leads us most clearly into 12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, 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 from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. You will be the very embodiment of strength and solidity, of endurance and identification and intimacy with God. His name will be all over you, and you will be safely His! These folk come into the presence of God through the fire, their robes washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb (7:14). These are people who know suffering and have faithfully endured.

Conclusion

So, what is the Spirit saying to the churches? (13) Never deny the name of God! Don’t cave in to the accusations and persecutions of people in this world who think they have a name, but really don’t. Hold fast. Don’t compromise, and you’ll bear His name for all eternity. You’ll be like a pillar in My own house, God says, one that’ll never be rattled by an earthquake! You’ll never crumble, like the walls of your city! You’ll bear the name of my city, and the name of my Son. You’ll be eternally secure and no one will ever try to seize your crown again! No one will try to shut the door of heaven in your face. No one will be calling you names like bigoted or -phobic or hateful or exclusivist or judgmental or narrow any more! No one will try to guilt or shame you into conformity with this fallen world any longer. You’ll have conquered in the truest and ultimate sense! And you’ll have received your reward. You’ll have walked through the open door into your eternal reward and you’ll never have to return!

Hold fast, friends, so that no one may seize your crown (11). There are ungodly all around us who think they’re right and we’re wrong. Some of you see it every day in the office, especially when an ambitious boss insists on questionable reporting and no one has a problem with it but you. Others of you see it as you visit family for the holidays in so-called broad-minded or outright pagan relatives who think they’re on the side of the angels. Students, you see it in confidently arrogant teachers and classmates who’ve bought the lie and believe they’ve disproven all need for God.

All of this is just like the Jews of Philadelphia who thought they were one thing when they were really quite another. But they made the church feel small, weak, marginalized, pressuring them incessantly toward further conformity. Hold fast, my friends, hold fast…, so that no one may seize your crown. Jesus said it Himself: I am is coming soon!

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Resources

Aune, David E. 1997. Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 52abc. Revelation, 3 vols. Dallas: Word.

Barclay, William. 1976. The Daily Study Bible. The Revelation of John: Revised, 2 vols. Louisville: Westminster John Knox.

Beale, G. K., and D. A. Carson, eds. 2007. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Revelation, by G. K. Beale and Sean M. McDonough, 1081-1161. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.

Beale, G. K., with David H. Campbell. 2015. Revelation: A Shorter Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Black, Matthew, NT ed. 1974. The New Century Bible Commentary. Revelation, by G. R. Beasley-Murray. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Bruce, F. F., ed. 1986. The International Bible Commentary, Revised Edition. Revelation, by F. F. Bruce, 1593-1629. Basingstoke, Eng.: Marshall, Morgan, and Scott.

                  , ed. 1977. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. The Book of Revelation, by Robert H. Mounce. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Carson, D. A. 1995. Personal Notes from 20-Part Lecture Series on Revelation. Waukesha, WI: Elmbrook Church.

                  , R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, and G. J. Wenham, eds. 1994. New Bible Commentary 21st Century Edition. Revelation, by George R. Beasley-Murray, 1421-1455. Leicester, Eng.: InterVarsity.

Clements, Roy. 1981. Personal Notes from Introductory Sermon in a Series on Revelation. Cambridge: Eden Baptist Church.

Dockery, David S, ed. 2012. New American Commentary. Vol. 39, Revelation, by Paige Patterson. Nashville: Broadman & Holman.

Grudem, Wayne, ed. 2008. ESV Study Bible. Study notes on Revelation, 2463-2497, by Dennis E. Johnson. Wheaton: Crossway.

Hendriksen, William. 1940. More than Conquerors. Grand Rapids: Baker.

Ladd, George Eldon. 1972. A Commentary on the Revelation of John. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Longman III, Tremper, and David E. Garland, eds. 1981. Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 13, Hebrews-Revelation. Revelation, by Alan F. Johnson, 571-789. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

MacArthur, John. 1999. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary. Revelation, 2 vols. Chicago: Moody.

Marshall, I. Howard, and Donald A. Hagner, eds. 1999. The New International Greek Testament Commentary. The Book of Revelation, by G. K. Beale. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Morris, Leon, ed. 1987. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Vol. 20, Revelation, by Leon Morris. Downers Grove: InterVarsity.

Walvoord, John F. 1966. The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Chicago: Moody.

                  , and Roy B. Zuck, eds. 1983. The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Revelation, by John F. Walvoord, 925-991. Wheaton: Victor.

NEXT WEEK’S SERMON: To the Church in Laodicea, Revelation 3:14–22