My dear readers,

Jesus Christ – True and Holds the Key of David

Truthfulness is one of the most important attributes of God that He has passed on to us after our salvation. Before our salvation, our lives were a mixture of lies and truth. We will be truthful only if it benefits us. If it does not, then the end justifies the means. Lying characterizes the life of every sinner. For children of God, truthfulness must characterize every saint. With truthfulness as the medium through which we relate to people, the witness for Christ will bring great blessings. Conversely, when truthfulness is absent and replaced by “half-truths” (i.e. lies), then sin and evil will breed. The witness of Christ dies. The glory of God departs from that church. This was the struggle that confronted the church of God in the city of Philadelphia (Rev 3:7-13).

Certain Jews in Philadelphia claimed to be the people of God and opposed the church (Rev 3:9). They might have also persecuted the Christians for claiming that they were the children of God. Such attacks and struggles were common in the early church. The Jews had been called the people of God for hundreds of years since the time of Moses and Joshua. Now that the churches started to replace the Jews as the people of God, and also to use the Bible to establish their claims, the Jews probably retaliated. They weakened the convictions of the Christians, especially the Christian Jews. These Christian Jews might have been charged by them as traitors for changing sides. The Christian Jews believed that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, i.e. the Christ (meaning the Anointed One in Greek), whom the Jewish leaders had persecuted and crucified for blasphemy! If these Jews had succeeded, the testimony of the church in Philadelphia would be jeopardized.

The Lord Jesus Christ introduced Himself in Revelation 3:7-8: “…he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; 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.” Jesus is truly all that He claims Himself to be, the very Son of God. He is Emmanuel – “with us is God”! He is God incarnate who walked amongst sinful men as the perfect Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He lived perfectly and died in accordance with the Word of God and rose from the dead for every believer’s justification. He is the way, the truth, and the life. All who sincerely believe in Christ as Lord and Saviour will have eternal life.

Even as the church in Philadelphia suffered, they were not to give up the truth that they had embraced. Their embrace of this truth that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ had resulted in their persecution, and they must trust in the Lord who holds “the key of David” (Rev 3:7).

The “key of David” represents the absolute authority of Jesus Christ to enter into every door. Christ holds the key to heaven and hell. Who goes to heaven and hell is in His sovereign hand alone. However, the context here is about the earthly ministries of God's servants. The discouragement of God's servants can result in termination of ministries and witness for Christ. Fear of persecution is an effective tool used by the enemies of Christ to thwart God’s work in Christ. To know that every ministry on earth in the believer’s life is in the hand of Christ alone is most reassuring. If Christ wants a ministry door to remain open, no one can close it. If He wants to close the door of a ministry no one can open it! 

Therefore, let these enemies shoot their fiery arrows. God's faithful servants must lift up their shield of faith and trust in the Lord to put out the fire and stop the arrows. Christ Jesus knows the strength of every believer. He knows where we are weak. He knows that we have little strength like the believers in the church in Philadelphia, but like them we must keep the faith and not deny His blessed Name. Keeping and obeying His Word in the midst of persecution and fears is the definition of faithfulness.

The believer must persevere on. The Jews lied when they said they were the people of God. Jesus Christ would make them come and worship before the feet of the believers. This means that by the believers’ persevering faith, these persecuting Jews would be converted and become believers themselves. They needed to know that the Lord Jesus Christ loved them even though they persecuted Him. To be such a witness for Christ is the reason why believers are left on earth after their salvation. Was this not the experience and testimony of the great Apostle Paul? Surely the martyrdom of Stephen, stoned to death for preaching Christ, impacted the hardened heart of Saul (later called Paul) which Jesus used to bring about his salvation!

In the midst of temptations, we must exercise patience. In this way, we experience the presence of Christ in our lives. We will find inner strength that we did not know we have. It comes from the Lord. The peace that abides in our heart, knowing that we are doing His holy and blessed will, even in the midst of the darkest and most violent storm, is indeed from above and not below. The joy of obedience and the light in our soul when walking in His path of righteousness and holiness is priceless. The evidence of our salvation is our patience in the face of persecution. This is faith in practice. This is the life of a stranger and sojourner passing through this transient world on the way to his heavenly home in glory.

Revelation 3:10-13 are Christ’s most comforting words: “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. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. 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. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”