These things says
He who is holy,
He who is true,
“He who has the key of David,
He who opens and no one shuts,
and shuts and no one opens.”
Revelation 3:7
As the Lord does with each of the seven churches He begins His letter by presenting Himself to His church based on their needs. “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” means looking to him for guidance. Since each church (and believer) is different the lord begins with four characteristics designed to encourage, strengthen and motivate the believers in Philadelphia.
These things says He who is holy As we read this term we immediately think of God. Throughout the Old Testament we are taught that God is absolutely holy. When Moses met God in the Midianite desert he is told to remove his shoes for God is holy. In many passages God is called the “Holy One of Israel. In Isaiah 6 and in Revelation 4 we hear the Cherubim around the throne of God praising Him “Holy, Holy, Holy.” This term is also used of Jesus. Interestingly in Mark 1 a demon possessing a man cries out when it sees
Jesus, “I know who you are, the holy One of God.” Then in John 6 Simon Peter says “We have believed and come to know that you are the holy One of God.” So this term reminds His church that He is God, the holy one. He wants them to remember who He is, the living God who is in separate and different than all others.
Second, the word holy indicates absolute purity. The Greek word for holy is “hagios” which means separated. What is the Lord separated from? First and foremost, sin. The Lord is absolutely pure, separate
from all blemish. Because the Philadelphians follow Him, they are to be that way also. “Be you also holy even as I am holy.” This is the core characteristic of God that creates reverence, awe and the fear of God that is the beginning of wisdom. Don’t forget that truth!
There is a third dimension of the word holy and in many ways this is the message I think the Lord shares with the church at Philadelphia. As we have seen the word for holy “hagios” means separate. Its primary meaning is to denote something that is set apart for a special purpose, often in a religious or spiritual context. The Lord uses this term hagios here to remind the church that He is God and He is pure but He has also been set apart by God (as have they) for a special purpose in this life.
What can we learn? When the church at Philadelphia would think of the term holy they would think of their situation. They lived in a city that had been set apart to reach the entire area with the Greek culture. (The city succeeded so well in this mission that by 19 A.D. the Lydian language in their area had been completely replaced by Greek.) They would also remember that the Lord Jesus had been set apart by God for a unique purpose – to save the world from their sin. As they ponder that truth they would realize that their little church had also been set apart by God for the same purpose. God gave them a mission no one else could do – to preach the gospel in their area. Thus they would realize that they were to follow in the foot steps of the Savior who suffered for preaching the truth just as they were. This is the message that the Lord sends to each of us – we are set apart to follow His great commission. We are set apart to do a work no one else can do just as Christ was.