Day 66 

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this: ⁸ ‘I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have followed My word, and have not denied My name.” Rev 3:7-8 NASB 

The letter to Philadelphia has a unique feature. Jesus does not just analyse the church’s past and offer a remedy, He describes what He is doing for them in the present. He has placed before them an open door that no one can shut.  

What is this door and why does Jesus offer it and hold it open? Commentators have three main suggestions in answer to this question. 

1) Jesus is the door. As in John 10 Jesus is the one who guards the entrance to the church. Access to Jesus cannot be denied to His faithful Philadelphians. 

2) A door of missionary opportunity. Jesus promises them that their efforts to evangelize the lost would be successful  

3) The door of heavenly knowledge. If this is Jesus’ intention, it would be in anticipation of Rev 4:1, where there is a door standing open in heavenly places concerning   the things received by John in the book of Revelation.  

Of these three I particularly like the first. Although others (the synagogue in Philadelphia) have excluded them from salvation, Someone far greater than their opponents welcomes them! 

The protestant revival of the 18th and 19th centuries (The Philadelphian church) saw the greatest expansion of Christianity since Pentecost. But there was a dark side to this expansion. Missionary endeavours too often rode on the back of Western Colonial expansion. As a result, many non-Christians today see Christianity as a self-serving tool of Western imperialism rather than a humble, self-effacing movement that seeks to improve the lives of others. The gospel today must not rely on political and economic support for its success. (see 2Cor 12:9)