(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 another of the cities of this province in Asia. It is now in the hand of the Turks. But though it bears by them the name of the fair city, yet, if we may credit Travellers, it is wretchedly inhabited. In distance it is nearly thirty miles from Thyatira. Our Lord begins this Epistle with those distinguishing characters he assumes to himself, and by which he is personally known, throughout the whole scriptures. These things, saith he that is holy, he that is true. He that hath the key of David. Be that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth. In whatever point of view we contemplate our Lord, as God, one with the Father and the Holy Ghost, or as God-Man Mediator, he is only holy, and true, such an High Priest became us who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heaven, Hebrews 7:26. And what tends to endear this part of our Lord's character the more to his people is, that in this holiness and truth, all his chosen are interested, So God the Father, at the first, chose the Church, that it should be in him, holy, and without blame, before him in love, Ephesians 1:4. So that he, that is, the true and faithful Witness, is also the holiness of his people. He is their sanctification and wisdom, 1 Corinthians 1:30, they are sanctified in him, and from him, and by him. Sweet consideration to the faithful in Christ Jesus! And by the key of the house of David, considering David as a type of Christ, and the Church Christ's house; Hebrews 3:6. It is his office, both to open and shut, and to none beside doth this belong. This was predicted of Christ, under the character of Eliakim, by one of the Prophets; and Christ confirmed it, in the first opening of this vision to John, Revelation 1:18; Isaiah 22:20-25. Reader! pass not away, from this precious scripture, without first bending the knee of adoration, love, and praise, to this Almighty Savior, at whose girdle hang all the keys of government, in all the departments of nature, providence, grace, and glory. He hath the key to open to all appointments, to give eternal life to as many as the Father hath given him, to gather his people, to pardon, to cleanse, to justify, to sanctify, to glorify them. None can open the grave to his saints, but Jesus. And when he opens, to each and everyone he saith, as he did to Jacob, fear not to go down into Egypt, I will go with thee, Genesis 46:3-4. None can open heaven but Jesus. None cast into hell but Jesus. Oh! the preciousness of knowing Him; and his Almighty power; and, that that power is everlastingly in exercise, for blessing and protecting his people!
The Lord having made himself known to his Church of Philadelphia, by the special, and personal features of his character, next proceeds to inform them of his knowledge of them, of his grace towards them, in setting before them an open door which none can shut, and of his securing them in the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world; and of his making all their enemies to come, and bend before their feet, and to know that Jesus hath loved them.
The good works Jesus speaks of, are the graces of the Spirit, producing in them faith, and love, and trust in Christ. And by an open door, it should seem to imply, the freeness the Lord would give, under this time-state of the Church, to the preaching of the pure Gospel. And, indeed, what is said here concerning the Church of Philadelphia, carries with it an assurance, of a greater out-pouring of the Spirit, and a greater in-gathering of Christ's scattered ones, than in any other period of the Gospel, from the first descent of the Holy Ghost at the day of Pentecost. The coming of the synagogue of Satan, in them that say they are Jews, and are not; evidently means, a great work of conversion by the Lord's grace, upon those that before persecuted the Church of Christ. By the synagogue of Satan, is intended those of the Lord's children, which, while in the blindness of nature, and dead in trespasses and sins, were in his service, and wore his livery, and did his work; but now, by regenerating grace, were called out of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son. But, by coming and worshipping before the Church's feet, doth not mean worshipping the Church, for the Church is no object of worship, but worshipping, with the Church, the Lord; and to know, that the whole Church share in the common love of God her Savior. So that those converts from Satan, will know their joint interest with the Church in Christ.
The glorious things here described, of being kept from the hour of temptation, while the whole carnal world is involved in it; of over - coming in, and by Christ; being made a pillar in God's temple, and having God's name, yea, Christ's new name, which, as Mediator, by his righteousness and blood-shedding, he hath purchased; the going no more out, and the like; these are allusions, not to the Church in glory above, but to the period of triumph below. For the Lord saith, let no man take thy crown. The heavenly crown cannot be supposed as meant, for who in heaven of the ungodly shall be there to take it. But it means the faith of assurance here below, Hold that fast, saith Christ, which thou hast; meaning your consciousness, that it is yours, in Christ. Faith gives present right, though not present possession. It becomes a reversionary interest, perfectly sure, and perfectly certain, after death, Faith, therefore, looks at it as such, and grasps it, as certain, as the heir of an inheritance, when he shall attain his majority, and is God out of his nonage. Reader! what saith your experience to these things? If the Lord the Spirit hath regenerated you from the Adam-nature of the fall, in that new birth; you are begotten to this lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to this inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away. The thing is certain, and the interpretation sure. Oh! the unspeakable mercy! There is no suspense, no doubt, no peradventures. A regenerated child of God, is in no uncertainty, as to the final issue. If Christ and his righteousness be mine now, it will be then, and then forever!
One word more, as to the period of this Philadelphian state. Here I presume not to speak in the least decidedly, In the general observations at the opening of this mysterious Book of God, I have assigned my reasons, why the Lord hath been pleased to keep the time a secret, until the events he accomplished. And the more I ponder the subject, the more I am convinced that these things are hidden from the Church generally speaking; though, as in the instance of Daniel, a child of God, here and there, may have secret intimations given him. See Daniel 9:1 throughout. And, with respect to carnal men, who have presumed to write on the prophecies of Scripture, unenlightened by grace, untaught of God; we have seen what awful business they have made of it. They run upon the thick bosses of God's bucklers, Job 15:26. From such men, everyone truly taught of God, cannot but turn away. Whether the Church of Christ be under the Sardis-state in the present hour, how far that state is advanced, whether this Philadelphian is to succeed it, and how near at hand, I am humbly inclined to believe, no man knoweth these things. As to the features of the Church of Sardis being suited to the present hour in many particulars, this may safely be allowed, and yet no conclusion therefrom drawn, how much of it is run out, and how, much longer it hath to last. And, though the Church of Sardis may be said to be more like the present state of Christ's Church in the earth, than any of the former; yet, it should he observed, that there is not one of the foregoing, but what in it may be discovered spots like our own. In a word, I may be singular, and I may be wrong; but, as I solemnly believe, that there never was a period since the emancipation of this kingdom from Popery, in which vital godliness was at a lower ebb than the present, I am inclined to think, that, before the Philadelphian-state, as here described, comes on, there will be a sifting time, Amos 9:8-10. Then, if the Lord so appoint, may succeed the blessed promises that follow, verse 11 to the end; which are in correspondence to the Philadelphian-state, as here described. But the scena ante penultima, that is, the scene before the last, will be perilous. So Christ seems to intimate, in closing up the Sardis - state. I will come on thee as a thief; and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee, Revelation 3:3.