By Roy E. Ciampa, Ph.D., S. Louis and Ann W. Armstrong
Professor of Religion, Samford University
Faithful in All Things
Revelation 3:7–13
Any church would be honored and should strive to have Christ describe it the way He described the church in Philadelphia and to hear the promises He made to those believers.
Entrance into God’s kingdom is secure for those who have trusted in Christ. (7–8)
Jesus highlights His deity as “the Holy One, the true One.” Holding “the key of David” indicates that Jesus is the true Messiah, who has begun His reign (see Isa. 22:22, where similar words were addressed to a predecessor of the Messiah).
As the One who holds the key of David, Christ alone can open the door to the temple and kingdom of God. An individual cannot open it for himself or herself, and because Christ has opened the door, no one could possibly close it.
He has infinite power while the believers in Philadelphia (like us) had little power. Christ knew their works (as He knows ours) and that they had refused to deny His name, remaining steadfast in their commitment to Him, to His teaching and to carrying out works of service in His name, despite serious opposition.
Trust God’s protection. (9–10)
With the exception of practicing Jews, people in the Roman empire were required to offer sacrifices to Rome and its emperors, with severe consequences for those who refused.
Before Christianity came to be recognized as a separate religion, believers were considered part of a Jewish movement that recognized Jesus as the long-awaited Jewish Messiah, and they often participated in the local Jewish synagogue. Thus, they initially benefited from the Jewish exception.
The members of a synagogue “who claim to be Jews and are not, but are lying” are probably Jews who had made a similar claim about the Christians in their midst: Some of the local Jews had begun to insist that followers of Jesus were claiming to be Jews but were not, and they should not be exempt from the requirement to offer sacrifices to Rome. That endangered the lives of the Christians. Christ takes that situation and turns it on its head: It isn’t the Christians who are guilty of falsely claiming to be God’s people but those Jews who have sought to disown them and put their lives at risk. Jesus describes those seeking to harm His followers as “the synagogue of Satan.”
The believers will be vindicated in the end when their enemies will “come and bow down” not only at His feet but also at theirs, and their enemies will see how Christ loves them when they are standing with Him at the end.
Having remained faithful to the Lord while enduring terrible opposition, they will be protected from the even greater testing to be unleashed on all who disbelieve and rebel against God.
Hold on to the truth and provision of God. (11–13)
In verse 3, Christ warned the church in Sardis that He would come to them in judgment like a thief in the night. In verse 11, He promises to come quickly to the church in Philadelphia as well but to bring relief rather than judgment.
This is not a promise to experience Christ’s Second Coming but to know His presence in a powerful way that would preserve them in the midst of the trials they were called to endure. Christ has a crown in store for His faithful disciples, and believers must hold on to Christ and His truth to make sure “that no one takes your crown.”
Those who conquer, overcoming the pressures to give up the faith in the face of severe opposition, will experience God’s presence forever. Just like a pillar in God’s temple, they will always be in His presence.
And just as Woody in “Toy Story,” who has Andy’s name written on his shoe, faithful believers like those in Philadelphia will have God’s name, the name of God’s city and Christ’s own name written on them as signs that they are God’s permanent possessions.
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