Background Passages: Revelation 3:7-12, Isaiah 22:17, Matthew 23:13, John 10:7-10
Holiday Inn-Express is our hotel of choice when we’re traveling in the United States. We’ve stayed in that chain often enough that we generally know what we’re going to get when we arrive.
These smaller, convenience hotels began to spring up about 15 years ago. Now, if one opens in your area, you can almost be assured others will build within a three-block radius.
As one with a background in advertising, I know you measure the effectiveness of an ad campaign by sales and market position. While they didn’t sway me, I always enjoyed the Motel 6 ads.
Motel 6 is a motel franchise with over 1,000 locations that started in Santa Barbara, California, in 1962 as a lower cost alternative to Holiday Inn. Motel 6 may be best known for its series of commercials that aired beginning in the mid-1980s. I’m sure you remember them.
The motel chain hired National Public Radio personality Tom Bodet to read the commercial script because of his warm and friendly vocal style. When he made the first commercial, Bodet extolled the virtues of the motel’s hospitality and warmth. Then, he ad-libbed and unscripted line, “We’ll leave the light on for you.”
The slogan was an instant and lasting success, winning the grand prize at the Radio Mercury Awards. More importantly to the franchise owners, it boosted sales and market share.
There was something comforting in the slogan. “We’ll leave the light on for you” reassured travelers that they would be welcomed and accepted. That there would be a room for them.
That’s one of the joys about being a Christian. When you put your faith and trust in Christ, you know where you’re going and you know Jesus will be there to welcome you. Still, it’s nice to hear a word of reassurance from time to time.
I’m near the end of my study of the seven churches to whom Jesus spoke in the second and third chapters of Revelation. The brief letter to the church at Philadelphia is all about reassurance. It’s as if Jesus is telling us, “We’ll leave the light on for you.”
It’s a good word to hear. Let’s look at the passage.
“These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have but a little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of earth. I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. The one who is victorious will make a pillar in the temple of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God, and I will also write on them my new name.” (Revelation 3:7-12)
Philadelphia, founded in 150 B.C. by King Attallus of Pergamum, whose nickname was Philadelpius, meaning “lover of a brother.” The king was noted for his deep affection for his brother Eumenes. Oddly enough, driven by a king’s ego, he named the city after himself to honor his love for his brother.
The church in Philadelphia is a little unique from the seven churches because it is the only one for which the Lord levels no complaint. Despite some serious attacks from the local synagogue, they remained faithful.
The Jews from the “synagogue of Satan” made life miserable for the Christians in Philadelphia. The Jews in the city had unwittingly aligned themselves with Satan and had little use for this offshoot religion of the one they felt was a false Messiah.
The Jews claimed to be spiritual descendants of Abraham, worthy of the blessings of God, when they were only ethnic descendants. Their attitude toward the truth of God and his new revelation in Christ was far removed from Abraham’s unwavering faith.
The Jews had Moses and the Law. The Jews had David. The Jews had God’s promises. To the Jews, these Christians were unclean Gentiles, pretenders and corrupters of truth.
Undoubtedly, these Philadelphia Christians experienced the same personal and economic hardships inflicted upon them by the Jews as did other early congregations. They were ostracized from the community, pressured and slandered, and labeled as political enemies of Rome because they would not worship Caesar.
Despite the opposition they faced, they endured. Jesus praised them for their perseverance while acknowledging their situation. Look at his words.
“I know your deeds…I know you have but a little strength.”
Jesus was not condemning them for being weak in faith. He was proud of them for remaining faithful when they were almost powerless to do anything about the opposition that confronted them. Small in numbers and influence, they had little ability to counter the hostility they faced. No political leverage. No social standing. Everything was stacked against them, yet they endured it all without sacrificing their faith.
These Christians from Philadelphia were hammered day in and day out by the Jews saying they were God’s chosen people…That God loves the Jews and them only…That God has no place for those who profess a faith in Jesus.
Though they never denied their faith in Christ, don’t you imagine these early Christians needed to hear a word of reassurance?
“You have kept my word and not denied my name.”
Don’t we all hope Jesus could write those words about us? The Philadelphian Christians heard that word. It’s as if Jesus was whispering in their ears, “I know you. You made your reservation when you believed in me. And, even if you’re not sure right now, I know where you’re going. I’ll leave the light on for you.”
That’s what all that verbiage about holding the key of David and the open and shut doors means. Jesus reminds them that he is the fulfillment of prophecy. Isaiah 22:17 says,
“I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David. What he opens, no one can shut, and what he shuts, no one can open.”
During the first Jesus and his followers battled the Pharisees about the true faith. Jesus used a similar thought to condemn the Jewish religious leaders.
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.” (Matthew 23:13)
The Pharisees acted as gatekeepers to God’s kingdom. While they would not allow others to enter the kingdom, they never walked through the door either.
Jesus called himself the door in the third of his “I am” statements in John.
“I am the door (gate) for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the door (gate); whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” (John 10:7-10)
Jesus offers reassurance to the battered souls of Philadelphia. Jesus has the key to the house of David. He sits on the throne. When he opens a door neither the Jews nor Caesar can shut it. If Jesus shuts the door, neither the Jews nor Caesar can open it. Jesus tells them, “I know you don’t have the political clout to stop the harassment, but, in the end, I hold the key. I’m at the door.” They are powerless against him.
I’d like to say I’ve never needed to hear God’s calm reassurance in my own life. I’d like to say I’ve never had others throw up arguments against my faith that left me questioning my eternal destiny. I’d like to say that, but it would not be true. Those who argue against faith can be convincing at times.
When pressured by opposing forces to abandon our faith, when it feels we wield so little influence against those whose influence seems so powerful, our hope is that we would respond as the Christians in Philadelphia responded…by keeping his word with absolute obedience to the teachings of Christ and by never denying the name of Jesus.
Jesus holds the key and stands at the open door. Nothing man can do or say and no one with earthly power and influence can hinder those who believe from entering the kingdom of God. That’s a word of reassurance we all need to hear at times.
How do we feel that sense of reassurance when everyone else is telling us we’re wrong? Jesus told the Christians in Philadelphia and he tells us, I think, three things.
“Since you have patiently endured, I will keep you from the hour of trial…”
Trials will come. All of us get to experience them. When we keep his word and honor his name, when we persevere through tough times, God keeps those tough times from being worse than they could be. He walks beside us and with us. He protects us from some of the ugliness of life because our eyes are focused on him.
“I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have so no one will take your crown…”
I’ve never worried too much about the second coming of Christ. He will come when he comes. In God’s eternal time frame “soon” is a relative term.
My task is to “hold fast.” To hang on to his teachings and live life accordingly. I am to be so grounded in his word that no one can persuade me to abandon my faith (take my crown).
“The one who is victorious will make a pillar in the temple of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God, and I will also write on them my new name.” (Revelation 3:7-12)
None of that makes as much sense in this context without knowing the whole of Revelation. Near the end of the book, John is sharing more of his vision of God’s kingdom as his temple and the New Jerusalem. It is a vision about being sealed within his protective care for all eternity. Jesus promised the church in Philadelphia. He promised us. Every believer has a home waiting for them. We are citizens of this heavenly city.
So, we find comfort when we endure the trials with him beside us. We find encouragement when we hang tough in the face of spiritual opposition. We find hope and reassurance when we understand that he has promised us a place in his kingdom.
When I read this passage in Revelation, that’s the line that kept jumping into my head. Jesus, speaking in that warm and friendly vocal style, reminds us that he his holding the door open. He praises the faithful for being obedient and never denying his name. Then, he urges all of us to hold on until he comes again, whenever that may be, with a simple reminder, “I’ll leave the light on for you.”
It is the promise that I know where I’m going. I know I’ll have a warm room waiting for me. I thank God I can see the light.