Introduction: The city of Philadelphia....

Modern "Alashehir, Turkey." About 25 miles southeast of Sardis lay the city of Philadelphia, newest of the seven cities. An imperial road passed through it from Rome to the east, at the juncture of the approaches to three major provinces of Asia Minor: Mysea, Lydia and Phrygia, so it became known as "the gateway to the East."

Philadelphia means "brotherly love." The city was established by Attalus II (159 B.C.--138 B.C.), who was called Philadelphus ("brother lover") in honor of his loyal affection toward his brother, King Eumenes II of Pergamos. During his brother's lifetime Attalus II was his most loyal assistant. He successfully commanded his brother's forces in several wars and later became the trusted ambassador to their ally, Rome. There he won respect and admiration from the Romans for his brotherly fidelity.

The city was prosperous, partly because of its flourishing grape industry. Dionysus was its patron god, though temples throughout the city were erected in honor of other gods as well. The city was founded as a missionary center for Hellenism, that is, for spreading the pagan culture and thought of Greece.

The residents of Philadelphia experienced frequent earthquakes, such as one in 17 AD that destroyed the city. As earthquakes increased more of the residents moved their homes to outside of the city. An imperial grant from Tiberias Caesar helped the city to recover from the devastation; and in gratitude the city changed its name to Neo-Caesarea. At a later point, the name of the city was changed again. The new name, Flavia, reflected another injection of money from Vespasian (emperor from 69-79 AD). (Vespasian's wife's name was Flavia.)

Something from the vision of Christ is mentioned in each of the seven letters. How does Christ present Himself to the Church in Philadelphia?

7 "To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no-one can shut, and what he shuts no-one can open.

Previously, in Revelation 1:18, Jesus said "I hold the keys of death and Hades." Here He says something similar, but a little different. He holds more than one key. He holds ALL the keys. He has all authority over life and over death. He also has all the authority of the Son of David. Why would the Son of David have authority? Because of the Covenant that God made with King David a thousand years earlier...

2 Samuel 7:8-16 contains what we call the Davidic Covenant.

• 8 "Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: I took you from the pasture and from following the flock to be ruler over my people Israel.
• 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men of the earth.
• 10 And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people shall not oppress them any more, as they did at the beginning
• 11 and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies. "‘The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you:
• 12 When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.
• 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
• 14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men.
• 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you.
• 16 Your house and your kingdom shall endure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.’"

The Davidic Covenant had an IMMEDIATE fulfillment in Solomon and the other human descendents of David. But it had a GREATER and eternal fulfillment in Jesus Christ. He was truly David's seed. He became the King of David's eternal Kingdom.

What Revelation 3:7 says to the church in Philadelphia, and to us today, is that Jesus is our King, and He has all authority to be the King of the entire earth, based on the Davidic Covenant. Caesar, Vespasian, etc., all the kings of the earth, must bow the knee to King Jesus.

What He opens, no one can shut. What He shuts, no one can open. The keys remind us of Jesus' sovereignty over the nations, and the progress of the Gospel. Remember what Jesus said when He sent His disciples out into the world in Matthew 28:18-20...

• 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
• 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
• 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

The progress of the Gospel is sovereignly controlled by King Jesus. The nations may say to us: stay out! Don't speak the Gospel here! But the King says to us: "Go there! Preach the Gospel! Obey MY authority." Jesus has the keys, and He will open and shut doors to the nations as it pleases Him.

To a church like the church at Philadelphia the Lord says he will open doors of ministry and service, and no one can shut them. The Apostle Paul uses this analogy about himself. On his second missionary journey he tried to go into the province of Asia to preach the gospel but was forbidden by the Holy Spirit; it was a shut door. Then he tried to go into Bithynia, on the southern shore of the Black Sea, but was not allowed of the Lord -- another shut door.

But when he came to Troas he had a vision of a man from Macedonia, and he learned that the Lord had opened a door for him into Europe. Paul's commitment to enter that open door has changed the history of the whole Western world, affecting all of civilization since that time. It was an open door of tremendous significance which the Lord had opened for Paul. Later, in First Corinthians 16, he says of Ephesus, the capital of Asia, "A great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me," (1 Corinthians 16:9 NIV). So the door which had been closed to him once was opened to him later by the Lord.

God is still opening and shutting doors today to the nations. In the past twenty years, the Lord has, to everyone's surprise, opened doors in Russia, Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Albania and Hungary; doors which had been closed for decades. It is wonderful to see how the people are responding to that open door. Yet Communist China and the Islamic countries are closed to missionaries. Christians are forbidden to practice their faith there. No churches are allowed. It is a tightly closed door. We are encouraged to pray for these, but it takes the One who "opens and no man shuts, and shuts and no man opens" for those prayers to succeed.

Jesus said to the church in Philadelphia, "I know your deeds!" The Christians there had been doing their best. They had been witness for Jesus Christ. They had shared the Gospel with their neighbors. They were weak and small, but they kept the Word of Christ. They were persecuted by the Jewish community (Synagogue of Satan), but they didn't quit. In Revelation 2:9 we read that the church in Smyrna was also persecuted by the local Synagogue. The Jews hated Christians, and in those early days they have the numbers, and they had political clout.

The record in Acts about Stephen, and a Synagogue in Jerusalem, and Paul the Apostle paints a picture of how the Jews persecuted Christians. Acts 6:8-15; 7:51--8:3

• 8 ¶ Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.
• 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. These men began to argue with Stephen,
• 10 but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.
• 11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, "We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God."
• 12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin.
• 13 They produced false witnesses, who testified, "This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law.
• 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us."
• 15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
• 51 ¶ "You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!
• 52 Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him—
• 53 you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it."
• 54 ¶ When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.
• 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
• 56 "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."
• 57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him,
• 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
• 59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
• 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.
• 1 ¶ And Saul was there, giving approval to his death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
• 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.
• 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.

Note: Christians are NOT anti-semites. But we can speak the truth of God's Word to the Jews. You cannot claim to be a REAL Jew, a child of Abraham, and loyal to Abraham's God, and reject Jesus simultaneously. Why not? Think about it: suppose you had sent YOUR son to me to do me a huge favor. To rescue me from mortal danger. And suppose I said to you, "No thanks. I want to be YOUR friend, but I want nothing to do with your SON." What would you think of me? Would you continue to keep me as your friend? What does the Bible say?

I John 2:22-23 "Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also."

Jesus now makes four predictions about the future.

a. The non-believing Jews will come to Christ (Rev. 3:9).

"I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you."

The Apostle Paul predicted the same thing would happen in Romans 11....

• 1 ¶ I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
• 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel:
• 3 "Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me"?
• 4 And what was God’s answer to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal."
• 5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.
• 6 And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
• 7 What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,
• 8 as it is written: "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day."
• 9 And David says: "May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling-block and a retribution for them.
• 10 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent for ever."
• 11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.
• 12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fulness bring!
• 13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry
• 14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.
• 15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
• 16 If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
• 17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root,
• 18 do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.
• 19 You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in."
• 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid.
• 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.
• 22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.
• 23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
• 24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!
• 25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.
• 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.

You don't hear about this. It's not on the evening news. There are people who don't want you to know. But at this present time there are hundreds of thousands of Jews who are coming to Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

An online encyclopedia (Wikipedia): "By 1993 there were 160,000 adherents of Messianic Judaism in the United States and 350,000 worldwide. By 2003, there were at least 150 Messianic synagogues in the U.S. and over 400 worldwide."

Look at just a few of the famous Jews who have become Christians:

• Mortimer Adler
• Bernard Nathanson
• Jay Sekulow
• Lawrence Kudlow

b. An hour of trial will come upon the entire earth (Rev. 3:10).

A time of God's judgment on an unbelieving world is predicted in the Gospels, and is detailed in other parts of the Book of Revelation.

Matthew 24:7-14

• 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
• 8 All these are the beginning of birth-pains.
• 9 "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.
• 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,
• 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.
• 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,
• 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
• 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Verses we haven't yet studied in Revelation make the same prediction. See Revelation 6:15-17...

• 15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
• 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!
• 17 For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"

c. The Philadelphia believers will be kept, or "preserved" (Rev. 3:10).

"Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth."

There is going to be a world-wide, global time of great suffering. We read much about this time all through the Book of Revelation. For example, Rev. 13:5-10...

• 5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months.
• 6 He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling-place and those who live in heaven.
• 7 He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.
• 8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast-all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.
• 9 He who has an ear, let him hear.
• 10 If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.

Obviously, every Christian who lives for Jesus will NOT be kept physically out of the great troubles that are going to fall upon the earth. We know there are many faithful Christians who are suffering for their faith even in our generation.

Perhaps Jesus promise to the Philadelphia Christians was not to keep their bodies from suffering and death, but to keep their souls safe from harm. Similar to the bedtime poem we used to recite:

Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray thee Lord my soul to keep
If I should die before I wake,
I pray thee Lord my soul to take. Amen.

The word "kept" is used this way in other places in the Bible, not that our bodies will be preserved from death, but that our souls would be kept safe.

Jude 1:1

"Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ..."

I Peter 1:3-5

• 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
• 4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
• 5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

d. Jesus is coming soon (Rev. 3:11).

"11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no-one will take your crown."

How soon is soon? The Book of Revelation was probably written around 95 AD. Did Jesus come back to earth around that time? Some people (not many) think that Revelation was written around 65 AD, and that Jesus DID return in 70 AD. Or is "soon" really some time in the far future, as far as first century Christians were concerned, or even future to us today? But how could Jesus say to them that He would return SOON, and then not show up YET?

Well, it's possible, because "soon" can mean many things.

For example, if I say to you, this sermon will be over soon, you will expect me to be finished in just a few minutes from now. If I say, soon you will be having lunch, you may think an hour from now. My daughter is planning to visit us before she goes to Germany at the end of September. If I say that I will see her soon, I may be thinking three or four weeks. If I say, soon we will have a Presidential election, and a new President, soon can be more than a year away.

The word and concept of "soon" is used like that in the Bible, too.

Psalm 37:10 "A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found."

That verse was written three thousand years ago. So, "a little while," or "soon" can be three thousand years.

The Angels told the disciples that Jesus would return just as they had seen Him ascend into Heaven (Acts 1:6-11):

• 6 ¶ So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
• 7 He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
• 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
• 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
• 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.
• 11 "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

So, Jesus is coming back. As we sometimes recite in the Apostles' Creed:

"He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead."

Most Christians do not believe that He has already returned, and we missed it. We believe that His return is still future, and we are looking for His appearing.

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

As with all seven letters, the message is not just for the particular local church. It is for all Christians. It's for us today.