The Revelation of Jesus Christ
John to the seven churches
Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.
“Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, … to Philadelphia…
“Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.
20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Christ, our risen Lord and Savior holds in His right hand the angels of the churches. Christ, our returning Lord and Savior stands in the presence of His golden churches – the believers to be taken-up along with those who have gone before us.
Yet each letter to the churches is specific to a group of believers: praise for faithfulness and call to continued faith. For not all who say, “Lord, lord,” will be taken-up. Not all who say, “Lord, lord,” will stand as a light of witness as a lampstand on His right. For some will be separated to the King’s left and He will say of those who did not glimmer with the light of Jesus, “I never knew you.”
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. – Matthew 25:46 KJV
Therefore: The warnings for the seven churches are addressed to the saints of every generation until the last.
You with ears to hear, let the scripture of Revelation speak to your eternal soul.
NO, not this Philadelphia.
Yet what defines this city in Revelation?
The Light and tone of the Lord’s exhortation (encouragement) for Philadelphia differs from the letters to the previous five churches.
To the Church in Philadelphia
7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.
8 “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.9 Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, 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 from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
NO condemnation; only encouragement to patient endurance.
Perhaps the ‘key of the city’ is handed to us as a reference to the City of David. It was said of David that he was ‘a man after God’s own heart.’
Only Jesus holds the key. Jesus protects His sheep within the walls of the Holy City.
Only Jesus is the door. He IS the key.
Jesus IS the Key and the Gate and the Door.
Jesus IS the Temple of the Living God!
His love for the sheep will keep them from the wolves and separate them from the goats.
Let’s get to the ‘heart’ of the Christians of this city.
What is “brotherly love?”
From a root: philadelphos – in a broader sense, loving one like a brother, loving one’s fellow countrymen
Even deeper: philos is a friend. (The English word as much misrepresented and undervalued as our word ‘love.’) Yet this is not the end of the word ‘Phila’ ‘delphos.’ The essence of its meaning is in the connection: adelphos – born of the same father and mother.
Consider your friend, born of your mother; born also of your same Father. Consider your Christian brothers and sisters as all having God our Father in common, with Christ Jesus as our Brother.
Brotherly love: Love one another as I have loved you. – John 13:34 & 15:12
This is the love of the church at Philadelphia.
Brotherly Christian love draws from the depths of the mysteries of God, where we are one with the Very Son of God. After His resurrection, Jesus speaks to the depths of this Godly love in His well-known ‘Do you love me?’ questions to Peter.
We now have a God-commanded love to share. You may find even deeper meaning to the brotherly love of the church of Philadelphia with further study of Jesus’ questions to Peter and Peter’s answers to Jesus in John 21:
- v.15 agapaō me more than these? You know I phileō you.
- v. 16 agapaō me? You know I phileō you.
- v. 17 phileō you me? Lord you know all things, you know that I phileō you.
The restoration of Peter: a friend who had denied the Lord three times
— a friend now bound by the relationships between God and man
— a friend also bound by his relationship between God and His brothers (even you… even me).
Dear brother; beloved sister; in the Lord:
Do you love Jesus?
Love one another.
Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.
NEXT (seventh and finally): Laodicea
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