An Open Door, My Word, My Name, My Love, the Word of My Perseverance, Your Crown, My Promises, My God!’”
Text: Revelation 3:7–13
Part 3
Part 1 is available in the July Gospel Herald.
Part 2 is available in the August Gospel Herald.
6. Jesus’ Commendation Part 3
We hear Jesus’ third commendation in verse 10a,
“‘Because you have kept the word of My perseverance,’”
While Jesus teaches us much about the importance of perseverance, His word of perseverance is unique here. It is a patient enduring, steadfastness, waiting patiently, the capacity to bear up under difficult circumstances.
Jesus stresses perseverance in the Gospels and in Revelation. Perseverance is very important in Revelation 1, 2, 3, 13–14
Revelation 1:9 I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
Revelation 2:2 ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false;
Revelation 2:3 and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary.
Revelation 2:19 ‘I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first.
Revelation 3:10 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 on the earth.
Revelation 13:10 If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.
Revelation 14:12 Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
Perseverance is a gift of God. Paul writes in Romans 15:5,
Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus,
Perseverance is a virtue we must add to our faith as Peter exhorts us in his second letter 1:6,
5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moralexcellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7. Jesus’ Promise Part 3
In verse 10b we have part 3 of Jesus’ promise, “‘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 on the earth.’”
Jesus’ people in Philadelphia have kept His Word, His Name and the Word of His Perseverance. In turn He promises to keep them from the hour of testing coming upon the world. What a relief for them who have been undergoing real testing of their faith by the Jews and their other neighbours from pagan religions who would want them to confess another god.
In context for the Romans, the whole world meant the inhabited world, the Roman world. Everything outside it was generally regarded as of no account to them. Inscriptions affirm that the emperors saw themselves as divine masters of all the world of any consequence. For the Greeks it referred to the land inhabited by themselves, in contrast with barbarian countries. It is the inhabited earth under heaven over the underworld and before the world to come.
There is an hour of testing and temptation coming soon. Temptation is one frequent translation. It is the effort or object that will make one do something wrong. Testing, on the other hand, is a process to confirm the quality and strength of something or someone. Tempting and testing can happen simultaneously as God said to Cain, “‘Sin is crouching at your door but you must master it’” (Genesis 4:7).
Jesus promised He will protect His people in Philadelphia from this hour.
8. Jesus’ Promise, Part 4
In part 4 of His promises in verse 11a Jesus said, “‘I am coming quickly’”;Jesus promises to come quickly. Whether Jesus comes today or tomorrow or He returns after our death, time is short. It goes by quickly for all of us. In eternal terms we will all meet Him quickly. Time is short, eternity is long. Time is precious, use need to use it with Him. When He opens the door we need to walk through it.9. Jesus’ Command Jesus commands, “‘hold fast what you have,’”
Holding fast is the strong word we have heard before. It is related to might, mastering, prevailing, grasping firmly and not letting go. The Philadelphians hold fast to Jesus’ Word, His name and the Word of His perseverance.
9. Jesus’ Consequence
11b “‘so that no one will take your crown.’”
The importance of holding fast to what they have is so that no one will take their crown (stephanos). Providentially again, among His seven letters, only to Smyrna and Philadelphia does Jesus tell them about their crowns. In Smyrna Jesus promised the crown of life. Here in Philadelphia His people are to hold fast to what they have so they don’t lose their crowns.
11. Jesus’ Promises Part 5
Jesus gives four more promises to the Philadelphians highlighting My God, His Father four times:
12 “‘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 on 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.’” “‘I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God.’”
Jesus’ metaphor of His people as pillars in God’s temple transforms the common physical pagan idolatrous experience of local temples. Physically, a pillar is an upright shaft that supports a building.
Temple pillars had a prominent place in people’s minds. Patrons and donors had their names inscribed on structural elements of buildings they contributed towards, pillars and beams. In many cases, masons and artists literally built and sculpted temple pillars in the shape of people. A pillar in a male human form is an atlas or a telamon and one in a female form is a caryatid.
In God’s spiritual terms a pillar can be a person or group recognized for spiritual leadership and support, fulfilling the role of serving and maintaining the assembly of those in Christ. In Galatians 2:9 Paul writes of “James and Cephas and John, they who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship.”
Ultimately in terms of God’s eternal temple: Jesus is the the chief cornerstone of God’s people in whom His Spirit dwells. In His visions of Revelation 1 and 2, Jesus has affirmed that He is present and walks among His people. In Revelation 21:22 regarding the New Jerusalem, John wrote,
“I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” “‘and he will not go out from it anymore;’”
In John 10:9, Jesus said, “‘I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.’”
Regarding those who are pillars in God’s Temple, Jesus uses a doubly strong emphatic expression when He says in 3:12, “‘he will not go out from it any more.’”
Life in God’s new heavens and new earth means we will not have to go out to find pasture. God’s sheep will not have to go out anymore because God provides everything for them in His eternal presence: He is their light, temple and source of life right there.
As promised to the Ephesians in 2:7, Christians are once again able to access the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life is also for the healing of the nations (22:2).
“‘I will write on 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.’”
As Philadelphia received a new name after its redemption from disaster, Jesus and His people will have new names in the consummation of time in the new heavens and the new earth: the names of God, His city, the new Jerusalem, and Jesus’ new name. Jesus also spoke to His people in Pergamum of giving them new names (2:17).
As we have noticed, names are very significant in Scripture. God gives names with special new meanings to many of His people including all the overcomers of Revelation.
In the days of Israel’s monarchy their kings would seal important documents and objects indicating their ownership, origins and quality. These seals could be made with signet rings or larger objects such as handles on jars for valuable contents. The latter are called in Hebrew L-Melek (LMLK) seals where melek is the Hebrew word for king and L is the prefix for “of.” The seals indicated the contents belong to the king or are “of the king,” that is they come from him.
The names Jesus will write on the Philadelphians signify many things including ownership, residence and value:
* ownership by God the Father and Jesus
* their possession/ownership of His people
* residence place of residence, the new Jerusalem
* value Jesus’ body and blood purchased His people and His lordship over them.
“His name will be on their foreheads” (22:4).
12. Jesus’ Command to Hear
13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’“
When God speaks, let’s listen. When God opens a door for us, let’s go through it. Hold Fast What You Have: An Open Door, My Word, My Name, My love, the Word of My Perseverance, Your Crown, My Promises, My God!
Waterloo, ON