An Open Door
Revelation 3:7-13
October 1, 2006

For apostates let there be no hope, and the kingdom of insolence mayest thou uproot speedily in our days; and let Christians (noserim) and the heretics (minim) perish in a moment, let them be blotted out of the book of life and let them not be written with the righteous. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who humblest the insolent [quoted from the Council of Jamnia’s Eighteen Benedictions in S. Kistemaker, New Testament Commentary: Revelation, 160].

That’s not the prayer of one who is favorable toward Christianity! Yet it made the rounds among Jewish gatherings somewhere around 90 AD, shortly before this letter arrived in the city of Philadelphia in the ancient area of Lydia (modern Turkey). It demonstrated the attitude of some of the Jewish synagogues toward the small churches that had begun to dot the landscape of the Roman Empire toward the end of the 1st century. Evidently, the same spirit of anti-Christian sentiment continued on near the mid-part of the 2nd century, as the church father Ignatius wrote his epistle to the Philadelphian church, clarifying for these believers the spiritual condition of their virulent opponents.

If any one preaches the one God of the law and the prophets, but denies Christ to be the Son of God, he is a liar, even as also is his father the devil, and is a Jew falsely so called, being possessed of mere carnal circumcision [“Epistle of Ignatius to the Philadelphians,” chapter 6, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, 82].

Ignatius goes on to identify a number of false teachings that had put pressure upon the church in Philadelphia but the first in his list is those that claim to believe the law and the prophets yet deny Christ as the Son of God. Ignatius’ language gives evidence of his familiarity with the letter to the church at Philadelphia, as Jesus called the local Jewish opponents of this church, “the synagogue of Satan.”

It is significant that in the letters to the seven churches, one of the dominant themes of Christ unfolds the theological assault upon the churches. It came from “the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not” (2:9), “the teaching of Balaam” characterized by the Nicolaitans (2:14-15), and by the immoral emphasis of a particular woman identified as Jezebel that taught “the deep things of Satan” (2:20-24). Not only did the churches have to contend with economic and physical abuse at the hands of the enemies of the gospel, but also with the inward corruption that came through false teaching.
How could they survive? Consider what they faced. Due to their stand for Christ, many lost their livelihoods through refusing to participate in the idolatry perpetrated by the trade guilds. Others encountered a barrage of temptation to immorality under the guise of supposedly enlightened teaching. Those believers from Jewish ancestry were excommunicated from their synagogues and thus estranged from their families. Social and economic deprivation resulted from refusal to bow to the emperor cults. Yet through all of this we learn a most important truth: Jesus Christ preserves His church. Realistically, there’s no way that the early church should have made it into the 2nd century, much less to the 21st century, with congregations of believers in every nation. Jesus Christ’s mandate to “make disciples of all the nations,” called upon the church to do so, not by sword or political mandate or clever manipulation. But make disciples through Christians living out the gospel, preaching the gospel, and laying down their lives for the gospel in dependence upon the Lord of the Church to open a door for the gospel to be believed.

Jesus preserves His church through the ages. Just as He did so with the church at Philadelphia, He continues doing so today. How does Christ preserve the church?

I. A door for the church
We use the term “door” as a metaphor for an entrance or an opportunity or an advance into some new area. The little church in Philadelphia found the assurance of her Lord that He had given them an open door that no one could shut. Though without the trappings often accompanying churches in our day, the church continued and continues to this day even in the face of centuries of Islamic expansion [cf. Kistemaker 157]. We learn something of the sovereign might of Jesus Christ on behalf of the church in the opening portion of this text.

1. Christ’s authority v. 7
Though the identification of Christ in the previous letters to the churches borrows from the language of the first chapter of Revelation, this particular introduction does not. Instead, we find the same language used later on in the book of Revelation to describe our Lord. Each characteristic identifying Christ is meant to counter the shouting voices that opposed this little church. “He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David… says this.” The Greek states it without the verb: “the Holy, the True.” Throughout the Old Testament, the chief attribute that describes God is “holy.” The seraphim called out to one another, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory” (Isa. 6:3). In other words, God is completely, absolutely distinct from us. That designation of God is repeated in Revelation 4:8. “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.” Such a description in the title of Christ leaves no doubt concerning the implication. Jesus Christ is the altogether holy God. In spite of the blasphemous assertions of the local Jewish opponents in Philadelphia, Jesus is Holy God. Additionally, He is not a fake Messiah or one that merely claims to be God but is not. He is “true,” or maybe better put in this case, “Genuine.” He’s the one promised throughout the Old Testament law and prophets. Later, in 6:10, the martyrs beneath the altar call, “O Sovereign Lord (Despotes in Greek), holy and true.” What do these descriptive titles imply? As “holy” Jesus Christ has been set apart by the Father to carry out the work of redemption – there is no other Savior. As “true” He “can always be trusted to keep his promises” [G. E. Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John, 58]. So, in spite of the opposition they faced, these believers were encouraged by knowing that Jesus Christ “can be counted on to carry [His messianic task] to completion” [R. Mounce, NICNT: Revelation, 116].

He “who has the key of David” takes us to a prophecy in Isaiah 22:22 where the Lord puts His servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah as the chief administrator of Hezekiah’s kingdom. “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.” The context shows that Eliakim would bear this responsibility faithfully but his latter offspring would fail. In other words, Eliakim lacked eternal administrative responsibilities. He foreshadowed the Messiah “who has the key of David,” that is, Jesus Christ has undisputed authority over the Kingdom of God. While the local Jews excommunicated or shut out the Christians from their assembly, the One who has the key of David has opened the way to the Kingdom for those He has redeemed.

2. Implications of the open door v. 8
Christ’s words of commendation to the church in Philadelphia include the implications of His authority over the Kingdom of God. “I know your deeds. Behold I have put before you an open door which no one can shut.” Two things are implied.

 First, though they had faced opposition and the local synagogue’s argument that they were shut out of God’s kingdom for following Jesus Christ, He has assured His church that He has opened the door to the Kingdom for them. The “open door” means that the way has already been provided into God’s Kingdom. We find Jesus addressing this early in His ministry in Galilee. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). The way into the kingdom is through the gospel of Christ. It is the good news of God’s Son becoming one of our race so that He might fulfill the law’s demand of righteousness on our behalf, and might bear the judgment of God against us through His atoning death on the cross. At His death, the torn veil in the holy of holies expressed the Father’s satisfaction with the substitutionary death of His Son, vividly announcing “an open door” into the kingdom for all those Christ died to redeem (Matt. 27:51). The language is emphatic, “Look! I have put before your face [enopion] a door that has already been opened and remains open by Me” [the perfect passive participle implies that Christ opened the door at the point of His death and resurrection, and it remains forever open for the redeemed]. It is Jesus Christ that has opened the way into the kingdom so that believers might live under the glad reign of our King forever. Even in those times that it seems all of Hell stands in opposition to the saints, Christ has opened the door that no one can shut against us.

Second, this “open door which no one can shut” provided by Christ for the redeemed, declares the certainty of the gospel’s success as the church proclaims Christ in the world. The city of Philadelphia was considered to be a “missionary” city for the spread of the Hellenistic language and culture throughout the regions of Lydia and Phrygia [Mounce 115]. Now Christ gives the church there a new mission; that of spreading the language of the gospel to the unbelieving. It is a promise that Christ would honor their gospel conversations. The door of the kingdom is wide open to all that will believe. Christ has secured people from every people group as His own (5:9). No church should have felt more despair than the Philadelphian church. They were small, oppressed on every side, and yet the Lord opened the door for them to see the fruit of their gospel witness. When Paul and Barnabas returned from their first missionary journey, they told the church at Antioch how the Lord “had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles” (Acts 14:27). Later, in the 2nd missionary journey, the Lord opened Lydia’s heart to respond to Paul’s gospel message (Acts 16:14). We need to find in this letter a new impetus for evangelism and missions. Christ has opened doors where we may least expect it. Let us trust Him to save many through the gospel witness that we engage in at home and abroad.


3. Commendable church v. 8
To have the world commend the church means nothing, especially since the world’s standards lack the holy perspective to rightly judge the church’s character and motives. But to be commended by the Lord of the Church is everything! We learn something about what Christ commends in His church. “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.” The “little power” has to do with the ability and resources to accomplish their purpose as a church [note how the word dunamis is used throughout Revelation and is variously translated as strength, power, and wealth, showing both ability due to inherent strength and resources due to one’s might—1:16; 4:11; 5:12; 7:12; 11:17; 12:10; 13:2; 15:8; 17:13; 18:3; 19:1].

They lacked the pizzazz that the modern church considers essential for the church. Yet they faithfully used what the Lord had entrusted to them. The verb tense in the next two phrases of commendation suggest some previous events in which they demonstrated faithfulness to Christ while under trial (aorist tense). We don’t what these situations may have been. Perhaps it had to do with the opposition by the local synagogue or persecution from the popular Dionysian cult. These believers “kept” the word of Christ, which means that they held steadfastly to the gospel. In the face of those making mockery of the gospel, these Christians held their ground immovably upon the sufficiency before God in the death and resurrection of Christ the Lord. Stated the opposite way: “you…have not denied My name.” This has to do with their openness about being Christians and confessing to others their belief in the gospel. They didn’t have many outward resources but they discharged with faithfulness their Christian witness to the world about them. That is the same challenge before us. Christ commends the church’s faithfulness to the gospel.

II. Preservation and perseverance
We must keep in mind the constant message of overcoming in these letters. Each of the seven letters offers the promises in the gospel to the one who overcomes. That implies, as John put it in his first epistle, overcoming the world by faith in Christ (1 John 5:4-5). But this faith must never be thought of as passive mental assent. It is an active trust and dependence upon Christ that sets our affections upon Him in obedient trust. Faith affects our attitude and actions. If it doesn’t then it is spurious faith, as James so clearly explained. “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself” (2:17). Simultaneously, as Jesus Christ preserves us through His power, believers persevere in the Christian faith. I believe that we see this demonstrated in verses 9-11.

1. Reversed positions v. 9
So many of the Old Testament prophetic promises to Israel speak of the nations coming to Israel, specifically to Jerusalem, giving them their wealth, confessing that God is with them, even bowing before them (e.g., Isa. 43:4-7; 45:14). Additionally, Israel was given the charge to be a light to the nations (Isa. 42:6) and to be witnesses of the Lord to the nations (Isa. 44:8). Yet ethnic Israel abandoned the Lord and rejected His Messiah. The New Testament writers demonstrate the fulfillment of these prophetic passages in the church as the true Israel. Paul wrote, “He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God” (Rom. 2:28-29). George Ladd explains, “The Jews have surrendered their role as the people of god because they have rejected the Messiah. In their place, the church, largely Gentile, has become the true Judaism, the new people of God” [G.E. Ladd 61]. Pointing to Galatians 6:16, where Paul equates the church as “the Israel of God,” Robert Mounce concurs, “It was the church that could now be called “the Israel of God” (Gal 6:16), for the Jewish nation had forfeited that privilege by disbelief” [Mounce 118].

This is where verse 9 demonstrates a remarkable reversal. Instead of Gentiles coming humbly to the Jews, we see the Jews coming with humility to the mostly Gentile church! “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.” The Jewish opponents insisted that the Gentile and ethnic Jewish followers of Christ were under God’s judgment (note the prayer from the Eighteen Benedictions that opened this sermon). Yet by God’s favor in what Moffatt calls “the grim irony of providence,” Mounce explains, “What the Jews fondly expected from the Gentiles, they themselves will be forced to render to the Christians. They will play the role of the heathen and acknowledge that the church is the true Israel of God” [Mounce 118]. I believe the implication is that some of the Jews in Philadelphia that had been so obstinately against the Christians will now be worshiping Christ as new believers at the feet of the Gentile Christians (“bow down” is the word for “worship”; added to this is the preposition enopion that suggests “in the presence of” or “before”). I would translate it as, “I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and they will know that I have loved you.” They were not worshiping the Christians or merely acknowledging them but through the gospel, they are humbly joined with them in worshiping and confessing Christ.

2. Kept by Christ v. 10
The phrase, “because you have kept the word of My perseverance,” indicates that the believers in Philadelphia treasured and held steadfastly to the gospel. “The word of My perseverance” points to Christ “who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2). Consequently, these believers “kept” the gospel or persevered in the gospel. This theme pervades Revelation. “Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus” (14:12). Trust and obedience flesh out the implications in keeping the word of Christ’s perseverance.

But if is up to us to keep ourselves in the faith, we will surely fail! We lack the strength to endure apart from the supply of grace that the Lord richly dispenses to those He has saved. We are preserved because of Christ who prayed to the Father on our behalf, “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are… I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one” (John 17:11, 15). The keeping power of Christ secures us in the midst of temptations and trials. That’s the point driven home by the promise of Christ in verse 10. “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.”

To what does Christ refer in this statement? Dennis Johnson identifies three certainties in this text. First, the use of “hour” “points to a brief time of trauma.” Second, the aim of this “hour of testing” goes beyond Asia Minor to “the whole world.” This includes “God’s human enemies, who murder the martyrs (6:10; 11:10), worship the beast (13:8), and get drunk on the harlot’s wine (17:2).” Third, Christ shows the divine restraint in keeping His people. Johnson explains, “Given Revelation’s penchant for paradox and the fact that God promises to protect his church not from suffering but from apostasy, we should not assume that Jesus will keep believers from this trial by removing them from the scene or shielding them from pain” [Triumph of the Lamb, 88]. Instead, Christ preserves His people in the midst of trials. While the world faces God’s judgment, the church is purified for greater service and preserved from apostasy.

3. Hold fast v. 11
Jesus declares, “I am coming quickly.” This seems to indicate two certainties. First, that Christ will come in acts of judgment throughout the history of the world. Second, all of the temporal judgments are merely preludes to the finality of His coming to judge the world. The Revelation unfolds series of judgments that transpire throughout human history but culminate when the heavens open, and Christ returns in triumph as Sovereign Lord and Judge (19:11ff.). So, how should the church respond in light of both temporal judgments and Christ’s return as judge of all? “Hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”

Literally, we are told, “Keep holding fast the things you have.” This refers to our faith in Christ and obedience to Him [Mounce 120]. The church in Sardis needed to wake up and “strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die.” That’s the faith, obedience, worship, and disciplines of the Christian life. To “hold fast” means that you maintain a firm grip on the basics of living as Christians; that you keep pressing on by believing Christ, trusting the sufficiency of His death and resurrection, and obeying what He has commanded. The old hymn makes it plain: “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

The “crown” implies the successful outcome of one’s faith. With a city that held athletic games that rewarded winners (overcomers) with a laurel crown, these believers understood what Christ spoke of. Don’t stop in the middle of the race. Don’t give up on living as a Christian. You may be weak; you may face obstacles but the reward is before you as you press on in faithfulness to Christ.

III. Overcoming through Christ
“He who overcomes” is repeated from the other letters to the churches. It’s not referring to a special category of Christians, but rather it infers those who are genuine in their Christian faith. Christians are overcomers; overcomers are Christians. We mustn’t miss that point, not only in the letters, but also throughout the rest of the book. Jesus Christ saves us and preserves us. His work of preservation is shown by our perseverance as overcomers. This is demonstrated by the promises of Christ for the church at Philadelphia involving stability, security, and identity through union with Christ.


1. Stability
“He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore.” In a city that had large temples to different gods, the image of “a pillar” offered a vivid picture of what Christ does in preserving us. The pillars served to buttress the roof of the temple. They assured stability for the structure. Additionally, Christ insists that once they had entered into God’s temple, the believer would never go out from it again. In 17 AD, Philadelphia was destroyed by a massive earthquake and aftershocks. Though rebuilt by the generosity of the emperor, many were afraid to live again in the city. They would conduct their business in the city but lived beyond its walls in the countryside. The picture that Christ gives for overcomers assures the believer that nothing can crumble or destroy their relationship to the Lord. No earthly or devilish power can take away what Christ has given the Christian through faith.

2. Security
The idea of writing a “name” on the believer offers yet another metaphor to demonstrate the believer’s security in his relationship to the Lord. “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.” The high priest had an engraved golden plate on his forehead with the words, “Holy to the Lord,” showing that He belonged to the Lord God. That same image is offered in the words of Christ to these believers. You belong to the Lord God. You are His people and the sheep of His pasture (Psa. 100). You also dwell with Him, so the name of “the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God” is written on the believer. Paul expressed it to the Philippian believers: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20).

Christ’s “new name” refers to the full revelation of His character. Christians are marked by the character of Jesus Christ in this life (Gal. 5:22-23). But there is yet more to come, as evident in the scene of His coming in Rev. 19:12. “His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.” In other words, we do not yet have the capacity to grasp the glory and majesty of Jesus Christ. Yet the day will come when He will begin to unfold to us throughout eternity, the wonder of His “new name.”

3. Identity
Only those who overcome, those that Christ has secured and preserved for Himself will be marked with “the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God…and My new name.” Later, we find the unbelieving marked with anti-Christ’s name. Their identity is bound up in his unholy character. But the believer has been marked by Christ, even as we see the throng of believers in 14:1, “having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.”

Conclusion
Does your life bear evidence that you belong to Christ? That’s the appeal of this little church in Philadelphia. They kept His word and didn’t deny His name. Is that true of you? You see, that’s the life of the overcomer—it’s a life of faithfulness to Christ.

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