The Letter to the Church in Philadelphia

 

[Jesus said] “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. 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. 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. 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. I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. The one who conquers, I will make him ka 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. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” (Revelation 3:7-13 ESV).

 

One of our “must see” places when we visit the Great Smoky Mountain National Park is Cades Cove. Within the eleven-mile loop of the cove are several restored cabins and churches of the community that once thrived there. The picture I’ve attached is of the Primitive Baptist Church. You can enter the structure that still has the pews and pulpit of that long ago time when it was one of the active churches for the people of Cades Cove. I can easily imagine how central it was to the community of people living around it. I have pastored such a church also located in Tennessee. Santa Fe Baptist Church of Maury County, Tennessee, is still doing a great work in their community. They minister to one another with love and respect, affecting the entire community with a sense of the grace and love of God.

 

The church in Philadelphia in our reading today was also such a church. It is one of two churches that do not receive a complaint from Jesus (the other is Smyrna). What a compliment from “him who is holy and true”! Imagine what it was like for the church in Philadelphia to be greeted this way. The One who is holy and true is wholly set apart from all that is worldly. Everything that Jesus says and does is holy and true, both now and forevermore.

 

Jesus also says that he “holds the key of David” (cf. Isaiah 22:20-22). It is in the Isaiah passage that we find some background on this phrase. The one who holds this key can open and close the door of the house of David. Undoubtedly this refers to the kingdom that God promises to establish forever in Christ, a descendant of David (cf. 2 Samuel 7:11-16; Matthew 1:1; Revelation 22:16.) And when he opens or shuts the door, it is permanently open or shut. When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain in the temple in Jerusalem “was torn in two from top to bottom” (Mark 15:38). God did that, opening the way into his presence through the death of Jesus for all who are redeemed by His work of grace. Jesus has opened the way to his kingdom.

 

Do you see it? This is indeed the chapel we are toddling along to enter when we arrive! I hope to see you walking along with us! Trust in Jesus!