Jesus' Letter to those who Patiently Obey

From: Jesus

Jesus, who is Holy and True is the keeper of the Keys of David. The person who holds a key carries the authority over anything to which that key admits entrance. This Key belonged to King David, who was granted a perpetual dynasty over the people of God culminating in the reign of Christ Jesus. Jesus was telling these faithful people that He had the authority to lock or unlock every storehouse throughout the Kingdom of God. What He opens, no one can shut. What He shuts no one can open. He is the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by Him.

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To: Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA
[fill ah DELL fih uh] (brotherly love)-a city of the province of Lydia in western Asia Minor (modern Turkey).
Philadelphia was situated on the Cogamus River, a tributary of the Hermus (modern Gediz) and was about 45 kilometers (28 miles) southeast of Sardis. It was founded by Attalus II (Philadelphus), who reigned as king of Pergamos from 159 B.C. until 138 B.C. Philadelphia was a center of the wine industry. Its chief deity was Dionysus, in Greek mythology the god of wine (the Roman Bacchus).

In the Book of Revelation, John describes the church in Philadelphia as the faithful church and the church that stood at the gateway of a great opportunity (Rev 3:7-13). Christ said to this church, "See, I have set before you an open door and no one can shut it" (v. 8). The "open door" means primarily access to God, but it also refers to opportunity for spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. Still a city of considerable size, Philadelphia is known today as Alasehir, or Allah-shehr ("the city of God"). (from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright (c)1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

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Commendation:

I know your deeds.
This phrase appears in five of the seven letters. In the other two Jesus tells Smyrna, He knows all about their affliction and Pergamum, He knows where they live. His knowledge of His followers is accurate, intimate and complete. He is totally aware of our every move, our every motive and all the surrounding circumstances and conditions. He knows us. Now this can be comforting to those who have nothing to hide, but rather disconcerting to those who have not aligned their deeds with His Word and His Will. This must have come as a surprise to the believers in Philadelphia. When your motives for service are to glorify God, rather than self, and to show your love for Him and those He has created, you rarely esteem your actions as noteworthy.

See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.
God has an open door policy for His children. "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16) Drawing near to the Lord is an essential activity for the child of God. It is where we obtain mercy and find grace. Because of His mercy, we have forgiveness for our sin. Christ Jesus died in our place and has opened the door of complete forgiveness for anyone who will enter through Him. I say complete to emphasize that His mercy and forgiveness, like God Himself, is eternal. It reaches back through all of history and projects forward into an infinite future. Nothing we have done or ever will do can separate us from the mercy of God in Christ, yet when we sense the oppression of guilt, He is the last person we want to approach. We hide from the only one who can lift the guilt that suffocates us.

It is by grace we are saved. (Ephesians 2:5,8) It is also God's grace that enables us to abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8) Grace by definition, is something given that was not earned or deserved. Therefore, anything we receive from God is grace. Each breath we breathe is by God's grace. Our ability to persevere in suffering is God's grace. God's grace is life and power to those who draw near to Him and receive it. We receive it by walking through the open door that no one can shut.

John 10:7-9
7 Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
NKJV

Beyond being our access to mercy and grace, this open door is our entryway into a relationship with Almighty God, our Father. God intends this relationship to open us up to a deeper spiritual and emotional intimacy than we have ever known. Like all relationships, it requires communication. If you are not experiencing this kind of soul satisfying relationship with the Lord, ask yourself, "When was the last time I crossed the threshold of this Open Door to converse with my Father?"

I know that you have little strength.
Contrary to the way we naturally think, this statement may be the best compliment that Jesus could have given. Our natural inclination is to view anyone with little strength as deficient, but in God's economy, it means they are approaching perfection. When Paul prayed to have his thorn in the flesh removed, the answer God gave him was "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9) When we begin to realize that we do not have the power to live the life we are called to live, we begin to look beyond ourselves. Until we reach this point, we believe we have something to bring to the table. We tend to think that somehow God needs us. Our pride refuses to accept that apart from Christ, we can do nothing (John 15:5). We need to realize that as believers we are in Christ and He is in us. The life we live we live by relying upon Him to guide us and empower us to accomplish His will. (cf. Galatian 2:20)

We are called by the Lord to live beyond our means. However, rather than relying on Master Charge, we need to put the Master in Charge. Living beyond our means is not for self indulgence, but rather for doing the will of God. When He calls you to do something, understand that it will cause you to live beyond your means (beyond your resources, capabilites and patience). You will have to depend upon Him to supply all that you need to carry out His calling. Therefore, have no concern for your lack of capability, time or resources; this is the normal situation. Your only concern should be is this the voice of God calling. If it is, say yes and start living in the power and under the direction of the Lord.

You have kept my word and have not denied my name.
What does it mean to deny Christ's name? It includes, yet extends beyond, simply refusing to be identified with Jesus Christ. Christ's name is above every name and as such, every other name is to be submissive to Him. Refusing to submit to His will for your life is tantamount to denying His name. His name is associated with His character. Denying His name includes failure to allow the character of Christ to permeate our lives. This is God's plan for your life that you might be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). If you do not spend time with Him and allow Him to be Lord of your life, you are denying His name. The Philadelphians are commended for not denying His name. They submitted their will to His. They allowed Him to change them from the inside out, becoming transformed by the renewing of their minds. They realized their strength was insufficient and relied upon Christ to empower them to accomplish all that He sent them to do.

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Problem:

The Lord does not identify any problem with the believers in Philadelphia. Some have said that His comment about their little strength was a criticism. As has been stated above, this condition is not a problem to God because His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

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Consequences:

Since the Lord did not specify any problems that the Philadelphians needed to correct, He does not give any word of warning or discipline.

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Promises:

Vindication:
"I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you." Synagogue is a place the Jews went to study the Scriptures and pray. Therefore the Synagogue of Satan must refer to people who follow Judaism in total opposition to the will of God. The following article on Judaizing Christians describes those of the Synagogue of Satan:

JUDAIZING CHRISTIANS
Judaizing Christians a term frequently employed to designate a class of early Christians, of whom traces appear in the N.T. epistles, and still more distinctly in the succeeding century. They are believed to have been converts from Judaism, who still clung to the Mosaic institutions, particularly circumcision. They appear to have been of two classes, some considering the ceremonial law as binding only upon Christians descended from the Jews, while others looked upon it as obligatory also for the heathen. The headquarters of the Judaizing Christians is said to have been first at Antioch. The council held at Jerusalem (cf. Acts 15) decided that the heathen should not be subject to circumcision. The more zealous Judaizing Christians, thus opposed by the apostles, abandoned Palestine, and went about trying to convert the heathen to their views, but with little success. They were probably the "false apostles," persons "brought in unawares," etc., so often mentioned by Paul, and are known in history, the more moderate as NAZARENES (q.v.), the others as EBIONITES (q.v.). See D. van Heyst, De Jud. Christianismo (1828). -- Pieter, Universal Lexikon, 9, 159.
(from McClintock and Strong Encyclopedia, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2000 by Biblesoft)

These people hounded Paul throughout his ministry. By espousing the need to be circumised and follow all the Mosaic law to maintain salvation in Christ, they were subverting the Gospel. They were "preaching another gospel" and would therefore, fall under the anethema of God. Their gospel was false because it placed the responsibility for salvation on the "redeemed" rather than on the "Redeemer". It is by grace that we are saved, not works. We were dead in our sins. Christ died for us, while we were rebelling against Him, then called us to come alive in Him. Paul spoke out against their subversion to keep naive believers from being enticed into following this false gospel.

Romans 16:17-18
17 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.
18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.

Galatians 5:5-12
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?
8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.
9 "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough."
10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be.
11 Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.
12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

Philippians 3:2
2 Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh.

Titus 1:10-11
10 For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group.
11 They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach-and that for the sake of dishonest gain.
NIV

The people belonging to the "synagogue of Satan" persecuted the Church of Smyrna and Philadelphia. Their zeal for their false gospel had caused untold pain and anguish for the Body of Christ. The Lord promised that the steadfast, humble faith of the believers in Philadelphia would be vindicated. Those who troubled them would acknowledge their error and concede that the Philadelphian Church had not only been right all along, but that God loved and honored them.

Protection:
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.

What is this "hour of trial"?

Who will be kept from it?

How will it be fulfilled?

Two things are fairly certain here. One, the "hour of trial" spoken of is yet to come as of 95AD. In 70AD the Romans devastated Jerusalem. At the time of this writing, the Romans were killing people for believing in Christ. Domitian, the Emperor had banished John, the writer of Revelation, to the prison island of Patmos. Two, this is not a promise to keep all Philadelphian like believers from trials and tribulations. God does not spare us from the trials that shape us into the character of Christ. He does, however, spare us from His wrath. (Romans 5:1-9; 1 Thessalonians 5:9). If the hour of trial spoken of here is an expression of God's wrath on the "whole world", we who are in Christ will be protected from it. The ultimate protection is eternal life in Christ. It is not an assurance that believers will be protected from hardship or persecution. It is a promise that all who place their trust in Christ Jesus have life that no one can destroy. In the Letter to Smyrna, the promise was to give them the "crown of life" after they had been persecuted to death. Here in this Letter to Philadelphia, they apparently will be kept from the trial rather than going through it like the Christians in Smyrna. Like most of the Promises in the Bible which are not limited only to those to whom it was originally given, this promise is for all who rely not on their little strength, but on the infinite grace of God to answer the call of God and endure patiently the consequences in this life. One possible way that this promise will be fulfilled is at the appearing of Christ Jesus. At that time those who are alive will be caught up out of this world of trials and tribulations to forever be with the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.

1 Corinthians 15:51-53
51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-
52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
NIV

Significance and Responsibility:
Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.

Those who overcome sin and death by placing their trust in Christ Jesus alone for their salvation will be identified with the Ruler of Heaven and Earth. As we travel this world we carry passports that identify us as citizens of the Kingdom of God. We carry with us the authority of His "signature" on our lives. It's as though believers sit in the United Nations as Ambassadors of God. How are you influencing the outcome of the important issues affecting our world today? How often do you consult with your Commander-in-Chief?

The right way to live beyond your means!