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Philadelphia. The church at Philadelphia
was located in a city now called Alasehir which means “the city
of God.” It is located in modern day Turkey. Philadelphia was once
part of the Lydian Empire and was located about 125-150 miles (202 -
241 km) from the coast and about 28 miles (45 km) southeast of Sardis.
The city was founded by Attalus II Philadelphus (159-183 B.C.). It was
once a fortress city. Later in A.D. 70-79 the city was renamed Neocaesrea.
This made the citizens unhappy. Later in this passage we will see that
this was significant. The church was active and spiritually great. It
was eventually destroyed by the Turks in A.D. 1392.
There are only a few ruins left where the city once existed. A field
is all that remains of a once proud acropolis. The ruins of a theater
have been discovered among the rubble and only two columns of a very
large ancient church remain. Are these the columns of the ancient church
referred to in Revelation? If so, God has left a testimony about them
with us.
Success. Because these Christians were committed to Him, He promised
that many Jews in the city of Philadelphia would want Jesus to forgive
their sins. Their desire was not church growth but saved souls.
Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews, and are not, but lie - behold, I will make them to come and bow down at your feet, and to know that I have loved you. (NASB) Rev. 3:9
These Jews would come to understand that these Christians were correct.
They finally discovered that these Christians were not offensive to God
but that He loved them.
God did not promise an end to their suffering but only that many souls
would come to Jesus. Were these followers of Jesus encouraged? I think
they were because He gave them a new promise that they would not suffer
more pain and hardship from the future tribulation that is to come.
Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth. (NASB) Rev. 3:10 This is the Tribulation Period that Jesus referred to in the gospels
of Matthew and Luke.
But pray that your flight may not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath; for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall. And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short. (NASB) Matt. 24:20-22 The prophet Daniel has already taught us that this coming period of
suffering is God’s judgment on a sinful world. God is simply
promising these Christians that they will not go through it. Like
many other early Christians, they were apparently expecting the Tribulation
to come soon.
I Come Quickly. These words that we have been reading from the book
of Revelation were written by Jesus. How do we know? Look at the
next verse.
I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, in order that no one take your crown. (NASB) Rev. 3:11 This is Jesus. What a joy it must have been to see these words from
their Savior. But why does He say that He is coming quickly? In order
to understand this comment, we need to understand that the Greek
word used for “quickly” does not mean immediately. There
are actually a number of Greek words that can have the idea of quickly.
But the Greek word that is used here is TAXCHU. It has the idea that
something will occur suddenly at some time in the future but not
immediately. Jesus is telling them that He comes suddenly and not
immediately. He is telling them to not focus on how soon He comes;
but that when He comes, He comes fast. There will be no warning to
get ready. Every man and woman must be ready when He comes.
The gospel of Luke records an important statement that Jesus made
to His disciples about His Second Coming and the future kingdom.
And He said to the disciples, “The days shall come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.” (NASB) Luke 17:22 He tells them that they will not be alive when He returns. They will not see His Second Coming. He told this to all of His disciples including the apostle John who is writing the book of Revelation. This is an important point. It is important to understand that some early Christians misunderstood that Jesus did not promise to come while they were alive. He warned them and all of us that when He comes, He comes suddenly. He wants us to always be faithful.
More Promises. Jesus finishes His comments with more promises.
He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (NASB) Rev. 3:12-13 It was a custom in ancient times to give honor to a person by inscribing
their name on a column in one of the ancient temples. So Jesus promises
to honor them for their commitment to Him “in the temple of
My God.” We will discover more about this temple later in Revelation.
Did you know that God will honor us for faithfulness and devotion?
Jesus also promises them two new names. This is symbolic of His ownership
of them. Remember that the city of Philadelphia had bean renamed
to Neocaesrea. The citizens did not like that. So God uses something
that they are familiar with from their past to make a point. He wants
them. He loves them. He loves His faithful Ones in the city of love.
Conclusion. As the woman screamed at the empty Bible study, these
Christians were looking for Jesus to come. Only they had no doubt
that they were real Christians. They were giving their life for their
God. He had lived among them only seventy years earlier. These men
and women were ready to die for Him - to give their lives for Him.
When Cortez landed at Vera Cruz in 1519 he landed with 700 men. His
goal was to conquer Mexico and find gold. In order to ensure the
commitment of his men, he ordered his fleet of eleven ships to be
destroyed in the Gulf of Mexico. With no means of retreat and facing
survival in a new land, he knew his men would now be committed. Jesus
does not burn the ships in our life. But like Cortez He wants our
complete devotion. Is Jesus all that you want in life? Have you burned
your own ships?
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| Revelation: Prophecy of the Future | |||||
