Revelation Chapter Three, The Hour Of Trial

Revelation 3:10b I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

The Lord commends Philadelphia for keeping His command to persevere, and tells them that in doing so, He will in turn keep them from the hour of trial that will come upon the whole earth. Now this sounds initially like a promise to only certain Christians. “If you do as I command, I will preserve you and not others.” But, as we will see, this promise is for all genuine believers which the church of Philadelphia is.

Revelation Chapter Three, Keeping His Command

Revelation 3:10a “Because you have kept My command to persevere,

What does the Lord mean that Philadelphia kept His command to persevere? Did Jesus ever give a command for this church to persevere? If the Lord says so, the answer is yes. The question arises then, when did this command get issued?

Revelation Chapter Three, Satan's Synagogue In Philadelphia

Revelation 3:9 Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie–indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.

It would seem that the Philadelphian church was contending with the same synagogue that persecuted Smyrna. The pair of churches have two things in common. First, the Lord has nothing negative or detracting to comment regarding their corporate worship and evangelization.

Revelation Chapter Three, An Open Door

Revelation 3:8 “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.

We shall see, like Smyrna, Philadelphia has nothing for the Lord to correct them about. Commendation is always followed by correction, and in this instance–as with Smyrna–there is no correction necessary. The church is unified and submitted to God the Holy Spirit.

Revelation Chapter Three, David's Key

Revelation 3:7c “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”:

The third descriptor Jesus offers the church is that He possesses the key of David. What is the key of David? Isaiah, writing about 250 years after David, writes about Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, the high priest. Eliakim is in this passage seen as a type of Messiah or Christ, a picture of He who was to come.

Revelation Chapter Three, Christ Is True

Revelation 3:7b He who is true,

Christ tells the church of Philadelphia that He is first holy, and then that He is true. Once our Lord simply stated that He is, “the way, the truth, and the life,” John 14:6. Homing in on this with greater focus, Jesus tells us, “I am…the truth.” Holiness and truth are interwoven, and the reason why is simplicity itself.

Revelation Chapter Three, Christ Is Holy

Revelation 3:7a “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy,

We have come to a pristine, spiritually vital church. Unlike Sardis, who was falling apart at the seams so to speak, Philadelphia was a spiritually active and powerful organism. God was clearly at work in them mightily. But we will get to that in due time.

Revelation Chapter Three, Still Listening?

Revelation 3:6 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’

Before merely skipping past verse 6 since we have covered it several times now, I would like to briefly relate God’s penchant for instructional repetition. God inspires the writers of Scripture to repeat something several times, and that for good reason. We easily forget, gloss over, or outright ignore something staring us plain in the face.

Revelation Chapter Three, The Book Of Life

Revelation 3:5 “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

Verse 5 cinches the truth revealed in the previous verse. Those who are worthy and walk with Christ in white are not made worthy by human effort, but by divine interposition. This is the crux of what John meant when he wrote, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right (authority) to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God,” John 1:12, 13.

Revelation Chapter Three, Worthy

Revelation 3:4 “You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.

We arrive at the deplorable spiritual state of the church in Sardis. The Lord attests that there are only a few in Sardis that have not defiled their garments; that is, conducted themselves carnally. Jude says of such people, “But others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh,” Jude 23.

Revelation Chapter Three, The Hour Christ Comes

Revelation 3b Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.

This language hearkens back to Matthew’s Gospel. There our Lord informed the apostles, “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming,” Matthew 24:42. He also specifically says to the apostles, “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect,” Matthew 24:44.

Revelation Chapter Three, How We Receive

Revelation 3:3a "Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent.

Verse 3 merely continues the Lord’s dialogue from the previous verse. Sardis is cautioned to be watchful, to strengthen the things that remain, and that their current works are not perfect before God.

Revelation Chapter Three, Course Correction

Revelation 3:2 “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God.

The Lord issues a solemn warning: the disciples are to be watchful. In other words, now that attention has been directed to the source of the church’s issues, amend them at once. Vigilance is required, and more than a little humility.

Revelation Chapter Three, Corporate Death

Revelation 3:1b “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.

Five times now the Lord has told the church that He knows their works. Scripture states, “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account,” Hebrews 4:13. David writes in the Psalms, “You know my sitting down and rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether,” Psalm 139:2-4.

Revelation Chapter Three, Sardis

Revelation 3:1a “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, ‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars:

The Lord turns His attention to Sardis and reveals Himself thusly: as He who has the seven Spirits and the seven stars. We know that the seven stars represent the seven angels Jesus is currently addressing, Revelation 1:20. He also refers to the seven Spirits, seen later before God’s throne, Revelation 4:5.

Prayer Request For Kim

I write today, asking my fellow believers in Christ to lift up an acquaintance of mine in prayer. Her name is Kim, and she is having a number of issues right now in her life, which is causing all manner of havoc for her. She is having trouble focusing on work because of personal and family issues, and it is causing her thoughts to spiral into a bad place.

Revelation Chapter Two, Are We Listening?

Revelation 2:29 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’

The Lord Jesus Christ instructs believers to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the churches. Not just these seven Asiatic churches, but every church of every age from the onset of Pentecost to the last day when the Rapture occurs and the church ceases.

Revelation Chapter Two, The True Morning Star

Revelation 2:28 “and I will give him the morning star.

This is an interesting verse because of the language Jesus uses to describe Himself. He told overcomers that they will sit on His throne reigning over the nations with Him, and then they will likewise receive the morning star. So, what is the morning star?

Revelation Chapter Two, Keeping His Works

Revelation 2:26 “And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations–[27] ‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed to pieces like a potter’s vessels’--

The overcoming promise does appear to have a secondary requirement attached apart from merely being an overcomer. The Lord wanted to stress that keeping His works until the end was vital to achieve this particular blessing.

Revelation Chapter Two, Holding Fast

Revelation 2:25 “But hold fast what you have till I come.

To properly exegete this verse, we must move a little further ahead, quoting Revelation 3:11. “Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.” Further context helps us understand what is being said by our Lord when He warns the church of Thyatira to hold fast.