Read Revelation 3:7–13
Questions from the Scripture text: To the messenger/preacher (NKJ ‘angel’) of which church is this letter addressed (v7)? In what four ways does Jesus describe Himself? What does He know (v8, cf. 2:2, 2:9, 2:13, 2:19, 3:1)? What has He set before them? What can no one do? Of what does this church have only a little? But what have they kept? And what haven’t they denied? What does He call the people to whom He refers in v9? What do they call themselves? What does Jesus call this statement? What will He make them to do? What will He make them to know? Which command have the Philadelphians kept (v10)? From what will He keep them? Upon whom will it come? To do what? What is Jesus doing (v11)? At what pace (cf. 1:1)? To what are they to hold fast? Why? What does v12 call this “holding fast”? What will Jesus make such a person? Where? What will not happen to him? What three names will He write upon Him? For whose benefit, especially, is this letter written (v13)? What are they to do with it? Who is speaking this letter, and its subsequent preaching in Philadelphia?
What does Jesus do for faithful believers? Revelation 3:7–13 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these seven verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that Jesus rewards faithful believers, not on a principle of merit, but on a principle of grace upon grace.
In this letter, the Lord gives just the one command: “Hold fast what you have” (v11). The letter is full of promises.
Jesus has the right to give what He promises because He is holy (v7). He can be relied upon to give what He promises because He is true (v7). And He is able to give what He promises because He is the almighty, forever King Who had been promised from the line of David (v7, cf. 2Sam 7).
He promises an open door (v8)—New Testament language for fruitful evangelism (cf. Ac 14:27, 1Co 16:9, 2Co 2:12–13, Col 4:2–3). He promises to give it through the littleness of their strength. Open doors don’t come through great strength but through Christ’s Word (which we are to keep) and Christ’s Name (to which we are to maintain our allegiance). Faithfulness, conviction, and devotion are how evangelism bears fruit, because it is the Lord Himself Who gives that fruit.
He promises vindication in the present (v9). Jesus’s assessment of the Jewish church is that it was no longer God’s Israel (cp. Gal 6:16) but a synagogue of Satan. Now, the Lord promises to put them on their faces before the Philadelphian Christians. This, too, is an evangelistic promise, as 1Cor 14:25 bears out. Their great conclusion is that the best there can be is to be loved by Jesus, as these Christians are.
He promises vindication in the future (v10–11). They have kept the word of His patience, and He will keep them. Here is a promise to do what He has taught us to pray “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” He has given His Word for that purpose, and they have kept it, and now He Himself will keep them. It is impossible that they would stumble so as to fall. They are commanded to “hold fast,” and this holding fast is guaranteed to succeed. No one will take their crown.
He promises to use them and to identify with them (v12). He Himself has guaranteed their overcoming, and now He promises to reward the overcoming that He has guaranteed. How great is the generosity of our Savior! Specifically, He promises that they will be as a pillar in the temple (i.e. Himself, and His church). What has happened to the Jews will not happen to them; they will “go out no more.” Instead, the Lord will identify Himself with them, as He indicates by these three names that He puts upon them: the Name of His God, the name of the New Jerusalem, and His own Name. The Lord Jesus identifies those elect believers, who overcome, as those who belong to God as God’s own city in Jesus Christ.
Finally, we have the same application in v13 as has ended the other letters. In each one of these letters, those who have Spirit-given ears are to take the letter personally. Yes, it is written to a church, and to all churches. But, it has specific application to each of our lives. Jesus knows our works, and He delights to reward to grace-given faithfulness with an avalanche of additional, glorious gifts. So, be humble about your little strength, keep His Word, stick to His Name, and hold fast to what you have! Thus must each church do corporately, but thus also must each believer do personally.
With whom are you seeking an open door for evangelism? What have you learned from this passage are some things to which the Lord responds by giving such an open door?
Sample prayer: Lord, thank You for Your grace, which grants unto us to keep Your Word and not deny Your Name. Forgive us for when, instead of depending upon Your grace, we relied upon our own strength, as if it were not little. Grant that our hope would be in Your keeping us, and not in our keeping ourselves. Thus, make us to hold fast what we have so that we would not lose our crown, we ask through Christ, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP46 “God Is Our Refuge and Our Strength” or TPH435 “Not What My Hands Have Done”