Christ’s Praise and Blessing to Philadelphia
Philadelphia church is the only church among the seven churches in Asia that received one of the seven letters written by Christ who was praised by Christ. Christ blessed them for being loyal and faithful. In Christ’s letter, He introduced Himself as one that is holy, true and He that has the key of David.
‘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; 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’ (Revelation 3:7-8).
The Unique Church in Philadelphia
Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love was founded by the king of Pergamos by 140 BC and named after the king. It was situated about 28 miles southeast of Sardis. It was rich in agriculture, though beset by constant earthquakes. The city still exists today under a different name that means city of God. This city of Asia Minor had a faithful, true church that followed Jesus Christ whole-heartedly. There was no corruption in their doctrine, worship or practice. Consequently, Christ had no correction or condemnation for them. This church was unique and different from all others in Asia Minor. It was a Christ-honoring church.
‘For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him’ (2 Corinthians 5:21).
‘For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin’ (Hebrews 4:15).
When Christ introduced Himself to them, He presented His righteous nature, the truth, the one that has the final authority, He that opens and no man shuts and shuts, no man opens. Christ has sovereign and ultimate power, He is true and faithful which the key symbolizes. He has all authority to rule, reign do and undo at will.
‘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’ (Revelation 3:7).
He is the righteousness of God and the detail of divine purity. He humbled Himself, born in the flesh, experienced human weakness and all infirmities and become our High Priest. He faced every trial, tests and human limitation for our sake and in all point passed through whatever anyone had passed through, is passing through and will ever pass through. He knows what you are going through and is ready to help you come out of it victorious. No one has any excuse left for him to sin and deny faith because Christ is ready to deliver us. In His introduction to the holy and true church in Philadelphia, He manifested as the Holy, True and Authoritative one, the source of their strength, holiness and faithfulness. He has the key of every good thing, key to salvation, truth, holiness, deliverance, power to serve Him and the key to opportunities. No believer can do without Him and all unbelievers are counted as failure because any success without Christ is useless and as good as nothing.
‘Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me’ (John 14:6).
‘I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing’ (John 15:5).
‘I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture’ (John 10:9).
Christ’s Sovereign Authority and Warning
His introduction is pointing to His direction as overall and the best of the bests. To ignore Him is to reject life and accept death. If you leave Christ, you will miss your way in life and your end will be disastrous. To claim to be righteous, prove to be holy without relationship with Christ is a deceit. Every holiness, righteous living and purity is from Christ. If you want to do anything right, get anything right, you must have relationship with Christ.
There are believers, ministers and people who are so inpatient in life, so they go ahead of Christ to get good things and come back to serve Christ without true repentance and restitution. That is a deceit because, no matter how much you serve Him with those good things, they are not accepted. Many ministers ran faster than Christ and pursued power for service. They despised the laid down rules for true power for service. They break God’s laws, move ahead of time set for them for power and receive fake power from evil authority.
They have zeal to work for God, help the needy, the poor, prophesy, cast out devil and do many wonderful things for Christ in their heart, they are sincere to serve God but they went ahead of their time for service and empowerment. Their ways are perverse, defiled and filled with demons. They got what they wanted from the wrong side. They came back, start ministry, prophesy in the name of Christ, preach in the name of Christ and everything they do, they do in the name of Christ.
In their mind, they believe that they are working for God, they think they are pleasing God. But the truth is that, they are deceived and they operate under the influence of demons. They believe that they are casting out demons. The truth is that such people are not casting out demons. They are in covenant with evil spirit to transfer demons, postpone satanic activities and suspend demonic actions for a while.
‘Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity’ (Matthew 7:21-23).