Revelation 3:7-8 “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. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
The next church in Asia-Minor is Philadelphia. The description of Jesus is interesting. Everything in these seven letters is significant and written for a reason. Jesus is holy, the same description given to God in numerous places in the Bible (Leviticus 11:45; 1 Peter 1:16). There is no one like the Triune God. The holiness of Jesus become more and more evident throughout Revelation in the way he is described. Jesus is the truth (John 14:6); there is no deceit in him. As the true one, he is the only way who can point the way and be the way to the Father. He holds the key David as the Anointed One, the Messiah, the Christ. He is the mighty king. His sovereignty is shown in the next description about his ability to open and close what he wants. He is in control. The doors of life and heaven are open and closed by his will.
Jesus opened a door for the Philadelphians that no one could shut. The image is one of escape, especially from the persecution by the “synagogue of Satan.” Even thought this group has struggled, they have remained true by being obedient to Jesus’ command and their confession of faith in him.
When pressure comes, there are two great temptations. The first is an open door to the second. The first temptation is to disobey. We do not like the negativity of this word, so we do not like to “disobey.” What tends to happen more often than not is that we simply become lazy and do not do as Jesus commands. We are deceived into thinking that this is not “disobedience.” But, we are not obeying either. We try to find a safe middle ground. Jesus will write about that in the letter to Laodicea next (v. 16). In other words, a lack of obedience is the same as disobedience. Disobedience or laziness weakens us. If we are not careful, we may come to the point of denying Jesus’ name. We lose our identity as Jesus’ followers. This letter is a warning about this slippery slope.
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