18
THE WAR CRY/MARCH 17, 2012
T
he ancient city of Philadelphia was founded
to spread the Greek culture throughout the
Middle East. But it ended up being a danger-
ous location. In 17 AD a disastrous earthquake
destroyed the city with tremors continuing to rumble
for years. Ten cities were left in ruins. Philadelphia
was so dangerous that it was said that only a fool
would live in the city.
To this stricken area, Jesus identified Himself in
Revelation 3:7�13 as the one who is "holy and true"
(vs.7). Jesus was saying that because He was of the
same essence as God the Father, He shared His
absolute holiness as well. He also said He was true,
reminding the Philadelphians that He was the ulti-
mate reality. We are also told that He held the key of
David. His authority was symbolized by the keys to
the Kingdom. (See Isaiah 22:20�14).
Although severely criticized by their enemies, the
Lord found no fault in this church, The promise of
a holy life is that we can be blameless before God
because He understands the intent of our heart. We
will never be faultless or free of defect, but like a
dented pail, the defect doesn't prevent us from hold-
ing pure, clean water.
Because of this blamelessness, Jesus told them
that He held before them an open door (vs.8). They
were welcome to enter and to go out, entering to
have fellowship with Him and exiting to share with
the world.
The difficulty of their surroundings is under-
scored by Jesus' caustic term, "the synagogue of
Satan" (vs. 9), speaking of those adherents of the
Jewish faith who targeted Christians as their ene-
mies. Often they were well placed in business and
government while the Christians were largely poor
or slaves. Unfortunately, through the ages Christians
have experienced the most persecution from those of
other faiths. In the face of this, Christians are not to
repay kind for kind but through the heckling, the
wounding and the dying to exemplify the spirit of
Christ by loving our enemies and being free from
resentment. No one seeks persecution but when it
comes, the Christian ought to show the world how
to bear the suffering.
BIBLE STUDY
7
7
PART
SIX OF SEVEN
: P
HILADELPHIA
Challenges
For
Seven Churches
Challenges
For
Seven Churches
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