The sixth letter is written to the church in Philadelphia. Philadelphia was founded by Eumenes II, a ruler of Pergamum, in BC 189. His brother Attalus II was his successor. Loyalty to his brother earned him the nickname “Philadelphos”, meaning “one who loves his brother”.
The letter to the church in Philadelphia is positive; Jesus Christ is quite happy with this church. If you were to place this church in the church age, it would start around 1730, when the revivals began in England and the American Colonies. It ended with the Second World War, when churches became lukewarm and materialistic.
The letter to the church in Philadelphia:
To the Church in Philadelphia
Rev 3:7-13 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.
Watch Dr Joseph, who provides a good study and an interesting historical overview to get more historical background.
To learn more about the historical background of Philadelphia, you can read about it at: Alaşehir – Wikipedia. Now that we have studied the history, let us examine the letter of Revelation Chapter 3.
The letter
Holy and True
In ancient Philadelphia, the pagans worshiped Asklepios, the serpent god, and Dionysus, the vile Greek god of revelry and licentious orgies. In the letter, there is no sign that the Christians of this church were attached to these gods. As we read, the letter to Philadelphia is one of the most positive letters of the seven letters in Revelation 2 and 3.
Key of David
Rev 3: 7b he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth
In Revelation 1:18, we read that Jesus Christ has the keys of hell and death.
Rev 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Jesus Christ has the keys of hell and death, but the verse is about the key of the house of David. There is a biblical reference to the Key of David in the book of Isaiah:
Isa 22:22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.
This verse is about Eliakim, the holder of the Key of David. Revelation references this verse as the line about open and shut is the same as in the book of Revelation. But what would be the treasure for the Church of Philadelphia? It is the soul of mankind. It can be found in the parables of Matthew 13 and, of course, in John chapter 3. Do read it for yourselves.
Not denied my name
The Christians at Philadelphia have kept the faith in word and deed, and because of that, they are kept from the hour of temptation, which will come over all the world. What could the temptation be that would reach all the world in the first century AD?
A Pillar in the Temple
Why would you like to be a pillar in a temple? A pillar is the element that keeps houses and temples standing firm. Remember that in AD 17, Philadelphia was hit by a great earthquake, and many homes and buildings were destroyed.
The letter of Philadelphia in the church’s historic view
After the reformation, at about 1730, revivals started in England and the American colonies. John Wesley was one of the first evangelists to travel around England to spread the gospel. Philadelphia was a centre of world travel, as was England and the American colonies in those days. These missionary times ended with the Second World War.
Holy and True
In the Sardis church period, the church had mingled a lot with people who didn’t have the focus completely on Jesus Christ. This is different in the church period, where the church is focusing on its first love again: bringing the gospel to the ends of the earth.
The Key of David
As we saw above, it is about the souls of men. The Philadelphia church period is about revivals and mission trips all over the world to spread the gospel and reap a great harvest of souls.
for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name
During the Sardis church period, many Christians became related to secret societies and denied Jesus Christ as Lord and their saviour. But some did not, apparently and they were the ones who started the revivals. Besides the Wesley brothers, George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards were influential preachers in England and the American colonies as well. A famous sermon of Jonathan is: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God – Wikisource.
Who say they are Jews, and are not
Revelation 3:9 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.
What do we have here, people who say they are Jews, but are not… Was there a secret society in the 18th century that resembled this statement?
Albert Pike, a famous Freemason of the 19th century, writes in his Book, Morals and Dogmas:
All truly dogmatic religions have issued from the Kabalah and return to it: everything scientific and grand in the religious dreams of all the illuminati, Jacob Bœhme, Swedenborg, Saint-Martin, and others, is borrowed from the Kabalah; all the Masonic associations owe to it their Secrets and their Symbols.
The Kabalah alone consecrates the alliance of the Universal Reason and the Divine Word; it establishes, by the counterpoises of two forces apparently opposite, the eternal balance of being; it alone reconciles Reason with Faith, Power with Liberty, Science with Mystery; it has the keys of the Present, the Past, and the Future.
The Bible, with all the allegories it contains, expresses, in an incomplete and veiled manner only, the religious science of the Hebrews. The doctrine of Moses and the Prophets, identical at bottom with that of the ancient Egyptians, also had its outward meaning and its veils. The Hebrew books were written only to recall to memory the traditions; and they were written in Symbols unintelligible to the Profane. The Pentateuch and the prophetic poems were merely elementary books of doctrine, morals, or liturgy; and the true secret and traditional philosophy was only written afterward, under veils still less transparent. Thus was a second Bible born, unknown to, or rather uncomprehended by, the Christians; a collection, they say, of monstrous absurdities; a monument, the adept says, wherein is everything that the genius of philosophy and that of religion have ever formed or imagined of the sublime; a treasure surrounded by thorns; a diamond concealed in a rough dark stone.
But are all Freemasons Jews? Not only a few… So they pass the test. They say there are Jews, but they are not.
In Mackey’s Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, we find in the definition of Solomon’s Temple:
Each Lodge is and must be a symbol of the Jewish Temple, each Master in the chair representing the Jewish King, and every Freemason a personation of the Jewish Workman.
So it is clear that this bible passage also applies to the time period of the revivals of the church.
I will make them to come and worship before thy feet
So did the Freemasons come to the churches? Yes, they did. As is mentioned in: Secret Societies and Their Infiltration of The Seven Churches of Revelation | PDF | John The Apostle | Jesus (scribd.com). As a result, many Freemasons have come to Jesus Christ, but again, the churches are infiltrated by the Freemasons as well. Is that a problem? Yes, doctrinal it is:
https://www.namb.net/apologetics/resource/freemasonry-overview
On this page, the main differences between Freemasonry and the church are described, and there are quite a few.
Will keep thee from the hour of temptation
This is a great blessing for the Philadelphia church period. In this church period, there were very few persecutions of Christians, and the hour of temptation will happen in the Lodica church period, not in the Philadelphia church period.
Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
This is not a warning, but more an encouragement. The Philadelphia Christians are encouraged to continue and finish the race.
And then we come to the 7th church period, the Laodicean period. This is truly a different church age.