7. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
8. I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
9. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
10. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
11. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
12. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new name.
13. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Philadelphia was once a large and powerful city, and it continued thus until later times. Prior to the time the Revelation was written, it had suffered severely from repeated earthquakes, which caused it to be almost deserted by its inhabitants. Subsequently, however, it recovered and became a prosperous, influential city.
The character Christ assumes toward this church is that of the Holy and True—one who will justly reward them for their patience and perseverance—and by virtue of his possessing the key of David (a symbol of power and authority), he is able to place before them an open door which no man can shut.
The character of this church is wholly unlike that of the preceding. In that, there was nothing to commend, but much to condemn; whereas to this, all is admonition, encouragement, and promise, because they had "kept the word of his patience" and had not denied his name. Christ knew their works and that they were worthy of approval. They still possessed "a little strength" and had not denied his name.
Christ, who always upholds and rewards his faithful followers, although they be few in number and constitute the despised of earth, was not unrighteous that he should overlook this humble congregation of devoted disciples that had kept his word, but he made them a number of special promises because of their faith and perseverance. The first was the assurance that he had set before them an open door which no man could shut. A door is a means either of entrance or of escape, and signifies that God was going to open before them a greater field of enlargement and success, or else would furnish them a sure means of escape and protection from their cruel and relentless persecutors. It will be remembered that the church of Smyrna also received nothing but commendation and encouragement; but there was no promise of an open door to them. On the contrary, they were told that they should be tried, cast into prison, and suffer tribulation ten days. They were comforted, however, with a certain assurance of future reward and a crown of everlasting life. But before the church of Philadelphia there was opened a scene of greater prosperity, deliverance from enemies, greater enlargement, and the glorious prospect of seeing multitudes of souls brought under the influence of the saving gospel of Christ.
The next promise was that of deliverance from opposing Jews, who were to be humbled before them. This refers, doubtless, to persons who had a mere profession of Christianity and who were not recognized by the congregation—the same as the blaspheming Jews of Smyrna. The faithfulness of God's elect would eventually be the means of bringing them back to an experience of salvation, so that they would worship in the midst of the church again.
Another promise to this congregation was, "I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world." Some dreadful calamity is here predicted, during which the power of God would be mercifully manifested in granting this church a special preservation. Some suppose it to have reference to a great general persecution throughout the Roman empire, during which the Christians of Philadelphia would be spared. This may have been the fact; but whether it was or not, we have no means of information. When we come to consider the symbols of chapter 9, in which the delusive error of Mohammedanism is set forth, we will see what a period of sore trial this delusion was to the Eastern churches. It is also a fact that, in the midst of this abounding heresy, the church of Philadelphia was preserved as was no other church of Asia. When the followers of Mohammed were sweeping like a whirlwind over the Eastern empire, ravaging everything before them, Philadelphia remained an independent Christian city, when all the other cities of Asia Minor were under the power of the Saracen sword. It held out against the Ottoman power until the year 1390 A.D., when it surrendered to Sultan Bayazid's mixed army of Ottoman Turks and Byzantine Christians (?). This was six years after the death of Wickliffe, "the morning star of the reformation," who opposed the corruptions of the Papacy, gave the world the first English translation of the Bible, and sowed the seeds that soon grew and produced a Huss, a Jerome, and a Luther. So God preserved the Christians of Philadelphia in the East until he began raising up others to herald his truth in the West, whose labors soon ripened into the glorious Reformation of the Sixteenth Century.
His final promise to the overcomer is that he shall be made a pillar in the temple of God, and receive the name of God, of Christ, and of the New Jerusalem, or city of God. In some manner the Christian is labelled with the name of God, whose property he is; with the name of Christ, by whom he was purchased; and with the name of the New Jerusalem, or city of God, his inheritance and eternal abiding-place; and he is made a pillar in the temple of God. By turning to Heb. 12:22, 23, we find that the general assembly and church of God in this dispensation constitutes, in one important sense, the New Jerusalem, or city of God, in which the overcomers abide. "But ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem ... to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven." The church is also styled the house or temple of God, composed of people out of all nations who "are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord ... for an habitation of God through the Spirit." Eph. 2:20-22. See also 1 Cor. 3:17; 1 Pet. 2:5; 1 Tim. 3:15.
To be a pillar in this temple of God means to occupy a conspicuous or useful position in supporting the truth, examples of which are to be found in such characters as "James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars" in the church in apostolic times. Gal. 2:9. In the last prayer of Christ to the Father, he says concerning his disciples, "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name" (John 17:12); and since the church promised by Christ (Mat. 16:18) has been established, we continually bear the name of the Father, its title being the church or city of God. We also bear the new name of Christ, as explained in chapter [2:17], and we meet together and worship in that name (Mat. 18:20), obeying the exhortation of the apostle Paul—"Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him." Col. 3:17. A better understanding of the manner in which we receive the name of God and of his city will be obtained when we come to the consideration of the followers of a false, degenerate church represented as receiving the "mark of the beast," by which they are designated.