Revelation 3:7-13 | The Church with an Open Door – Part 2

Revelation 3:7-13 (Part 2)
The Church with an Open Door

I. Introduction

1. This church represents those churches that are found faithful at the return of Jesus Christ.
2. This church, known as the faithful church, can find its place all the way up to the return of Jesus to judge the world.
3. Philadelphia was known as the gateway to the east and was established centuries earlier to be a city to Hellenize the east.
4. Similarly, Jesus was using the church to walk through the open doors of evangelism provided to them by the Lord.
5. They were chosen for this task because they had little strength, but the Lord, who holds the key of David, was present to supply all they needed to accomplish the work.
6. Today, we will finish our study considering the promises made to this faithful church.

II. v. 9 Vindication

⁹ Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.^[1]

1. The persecutors of the believers in Philadelphia will one day realize they were on the wrong side.
2. Jesus is the Messiah, and they mistreated His followers.
3. They will bow before Jesus, recognizing that He was the Messiah and that those they persecuted were loved by Him.

III. vv. 10-11 Kept from the hour of trial.

¹⁰ Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. ¹¹ Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.

1. The hour of trial is the coming seven-year tribulation.
2. This passage is interpreted differently by those arguing whether the Church will be present during the seven-year tribulation.
   1. Some will argue that this passage teaches that Jesus is promising to uphold them through the tribulation.
      1. They argue that in John 17:15, Jesus used the same language, asking that the disciples remain in this world but be kept from the evil one.
      2. They point to how Israel was kept through the plagues of Egypt.
   2. Others believe this is teaching that the Church will be removed from the earth before the seven-year tribulation.
3. Much of the debate centers around the preposition from (ek).
   1. This preposition can be translated to mean “out of” or “through.”
   2. A different preposition in (ev) or through (dia) could have been used to communicate the idea of being preserved through or in the midst of the hour.
   3. So, while it is true that the ek could be interpreted to mean “through” or “out of,” it should be noted that ek is the preposition to use to communicate the idea of being removed from the hour of trial.
   4. “If Rev 3:10 is a promise of protection in the hour of testing rather than out of this period, then it would read as such. The Holy Spirit would then have guided the Apostle John to write the preposition ἐν rather than ἐκ in the text.”^[2]
   5. I am persuaded based on context and the overall teaching of a pretribulational rapture that we should interpret this verse to mean the Church will be raptured out of this world before the hour of trial.
4. I believe this verse makes it clear that the Church will not go through this period of tribulation and should be looking for the Lord’s coming to take us up to meet Him in the air at any moment.
   1. The emphasis of this verse is not that we would be kept from trials but kept from a specific hour of trial.
   2. You can’t take part in any minute of an hour and have it said you were kept from the totality of that period.
5. Those who say the Church will be sustained during the hour of trial are hard-pressed to demonstrate the reality of that promise, given all that believers (tribulation saints) endure during this hour of trial.
   1. The record of Revelation shows as much as three-quarters of the world’s population dying during the seven years.
   2. Revelation records believers being martyred and being overcome by Satan and the Antichrist.
      
      Revelation 6:9–11 ⁹ When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. ¹⁰ And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” ¹¹ Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.
      
      Revelation 11:7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.
      
      Revelation 13:7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.
      
      Revelation 13:15 He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
      
      Revelation 17:6 I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.
      
      Revelation 18:24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.
      
6. How exactly, then, is one to understand being kept through it?
7. The two witnesses and the 144,000 are afforded protection, so why not the Bride of Christ?
   
   Revelation 7:1–4 ¹ After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. ² Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, ³ saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” ⁴ And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed
   
   Revelation 9:1–5 ¹ Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. ² And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. ³ Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. ⁴ They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵ And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man.
   
   Revelation 11:3–6 ³ And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. ⁴ These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. ⁵ And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. ⁶ These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.
   
   1. If the Church, the Bride of Christ, will be given over to the Antichrist, despite having received a promise to be kept from the hour of trial, and yet the two witnesses and the 144,000 are sealed, one must ask exactly what kind of deliverance Jesus was promising in Revelation 3:10.
   2. “This verse does not say that the Church will be merely kept safe during the trial, but it will be kept from the very hour of the trial, that is, from the very time of it. This requires a removal before the Tribulation ever occurs. If Revelation 3:10 only means that the Church will be kept safe during the Tribulation, then something goes terribly wrong. Throughout the Tribulation, saints are being killed on a massive scale (Rev. 6:9–11; 11:7; 12:11; 13:7, 15; 14:13; 17:6; 18:24). If these saints are Church saints, they are not being kept safe and Revelation 3:10 is meaningless. Only if Church saints and Tribulation saints are kept distinct does the promise of Revelation 3:10 make any sense.”^[3]
      
8. Also, Jesus says in v. 11, “Behold, I come quickly.”
   1. In other words, I will not let you go through the tribulation, so look for my appearing to take you to be with me.
   2. I believe the language and context of this passage teach that the Church will be taken out of this world, not upheld through it.
   3. Jesus commanded the believers in Revelation 3:10-11 to hold fast because He was coming quickly.
   4. That language fits the context of being kept out of the hour of trial, not kept through it.

IV. v. 12a Be like a pillar in the Temple.

^12a He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more.

1. The symbolism in this verse would be especially meaningful to people living in constant danger of earthquakes.
2. Believers will not have to flee from any danger in heaven.
3. The idea speaks of honor and permanence in the presence of the Lord.

V. v. 12b Write upon us.

^12b 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 I will write on him My new name.

1. God will put His name on us, declaring His Lordship over us.
2. We put our names on things we value.
3. The place where he dwells is a statement of belonging in the presence of God.
4. Often, the persecuted are fleeing from one city to the next, but in heaven we will have only one city where we reside, known as the New Jerusalem.

VI. v. 13 Hear and obey.

¹³ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

VII. Conclusion

1. Go and walk through the doors the Lord will open for you.
2. Remember, He (Jesus) has all authority, so having only a little strength is no problem for our Eliakim.
3. Determine that you will obey the Lord and not deny Him, even if persecution were ever to come into your life.
4. Let us look forward with hope, anticipation, and obedience to our rapture into the presence of the Lord.

End Notes

This comparison is one of the clearest ways to demonstrate why many pre-tribulation scholars argue that John 17:15 is not an exact parallel to Revelation 3:10. The chart below was created with assistance from ChatGPT and my observations.

Feature	John 17:15	Revelation 3:10	Significance
Speaker	Jesus	Jesus	Same speaker
Audience	The eleven apostles (and by extension believers)	Church at Philadelphia	Both are promises to believers
Greek Phrase	tērēsēs autous ek	tērēsō se ek	Nearly identical wording (“keep…from”)
Object of Protection	The evil one (or evil)	The hour of trial	This is the major difference.
Nature of Object	A person/spiritual evil	A future period of time	Different kinds of objects require different understandings.
Explicit Statement About Remaining	“I do not ask that You take them out of the world.”	No such limitation	John specifically rules out physical removal; Revelation does not.
What is Removed?	Believers are not removed from the world	No statement that believers remain	Revelation leaves open the possibility of removal.
Promise	Spiritual protection while living in the world	Protection from the coming hour	Different emphasis. A being versus a time period,
Scope	Present church age	Future worldwide judgment	Different historical setting.
Purpose	Protection from Satan’s influence	Protection from a global testing of earth-dwellers	Different purposes entirely.

1. Notice in the diagram below that “the hour” is the object of the verb “kept.” “Trial” modifies “the hour.” The point being that the focus is being kept “from” a specific period. The entire time, not a portion of the time.
   
   

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^[1] All Scripture quotations are from the NKJV unless otherwise noted.

^[2] David Winfrey, “The Great Tribulation: Kept ‘Out Of’ or ‘Through’?,” Grace Theological Journal 3, no. 1 (1982): 16.

^[3] Arnold Fruchtenbaum, The Footsteps of the Messiah: A Study of the Sequence of Prophetic Events, Rev. ed. (Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries, 2003), 153.