Some names seem to be just names. Like: Bill, Fred, Sam, etc. Some names carry a deeper meaning. When the 1960s ended, San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district reverted to high rent, and many hippies moved down the coast to Santa Cruz. They had children and got married, too, though in no particular sequence. But they didn’t name their children Melissa or Brett. People in the mountains around Santa Cruz grew accustomed to their children playing Frisbee with little Time Warp or Spring Fever. And eventually Moonbeam, Earth, Love and Precious Promise all ended up in public school.
That’s when the kindergarten teachers first met Fruit Stand. Every fall, according to tradition, parents bravely apply name tags to their children, kiss them good-bye and send them off to school on the bus. So it was for Fruit Stand. The teachers thought the boy’s name was odd, but they tried to make the best of it. “Would you like to play with the blocks, Fruit Stand?” they offered. And later, “Fruit Stand, how about a snack?” He accepted hesitantly. By the end of the day, his name didn’t seem much odder than Heather’s or Sun Ray’s. At dismissal time, the teachers led the children out to the buses. “Fruit Stand, do you know which one is your bus?”He didn’t answer. That wasn’t strange. He hadn’t answered them all day. Lots of children are shy on the first day of school. It didn’t matter. The teachers had instructed the parents to write the names of their children’s bus stops on the reverse side of their name tags. The teacher simply turned over the tag. There, neatly printed, was the word “Anthony.”
Probably important to get the name right. When it comes to Jesus, we need to get the name right. He gives us many names. In fact, this is how He choses to identify Himself or reveal himself to us. He has many, but in some cases He uses a particular name)s). In our text we find Jesus identifying Himself to the church of Philadelphia using specific names. These names are usually identified as what they are, attributes. They are names to identify Jesus to this specific church. He could have used one of over two hundred. Instead. These must have meaning.
Our text is Revelation 3.7-13. Starting in verse 7 we read— “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth”. Here we have Jesus identifying Himself as: Holy; True; Hath the key of David; He that openeth and…shutteth. Each of these have meaning. We cannot possibly exhaust the study of these, nor can we fully uncover the mystery of who He is. We can take one of these at a time to see the way Jesus is identifying Himself to His church of Philadelphia, personally. He is personal. He speaks in specifics, to those who are His. Because of these personal identifiers, this letter makes sense. Church makes no sense without His manifested self. It makes no sense without Him revealing Himself and relating to us in a vertical way. We can see all of these particular attributes within this letter.
“He that is Holy”. He is separate from us. He is ‘other’ from us. He transcends. Numbers 23.19 says— “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” He is not like us. He is other. He is beyond. He is indescribable. Isaiah 55.8 states— “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.” How much so? “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (55.9). He transcends. This one identifier makes it clear what is wrong with most believers today. Simply put, we think God is like us, thinks like us, and sees things the way we do. He does not. This false thought enables us to a false reality. We think we’ve gotten away with it, or we have been ‘noticed’. When neither is accurate. Jesus is holy… He transcends us.
“He that is true”. Make no mistake here, this did not say “truth”. He is that as well, as Jesus mentioned in— “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life…” (John 14.6). He is true. In other words He is to be trusted. He is the benchmark by which all else is measured, weighed, and determined. He is the full embodiment of truth, to the end, that He is the only one that can be counted on. ‘alēthinós’ is an adjective that mean literally— “real, authentic, and substantially true”. What He says, what He reveals, and what He does is, the ultimate in integrity. He is the definition of integrity of what is true, down to its core. HE can be trusted. Again, this is the identifier this church needed to hear, but also one we need to hear. In Psalm 40.4 it says— “Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.” How many times are we tempted to listen to our friend more than God. How much trust do we put in man, more than what Jesus said? Do we put stock in it? David famously said— “In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.” (Psalm 56.11). How about Psalm 146.3— “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.” Jesus said He and only He is the true one. Trust Him.
“He that he that hath the key of David”. He is the authority. Not you, not me, not a group of men. No one but Jesus. He established the home and made authority there. He established government and placed authority there. He also made and builds His churches, placing authority in it as well. They all operate differently from one another, but under one ultimate authority. Jesus is that authority. One day all will recognize it— “For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” (Romans 14.11). Until then, His churches better recognize who is their rightful “head” (Ephesians 5.23, Colossians 1.18). If He has the key to something then He is the one allowed to open it up and shut it down. A little later in the text and in the next post we will uncover the “open door” Jesus has for the church of Philadelphia. He opened it, and no man can shut it. In fact, this also is an identifier, but I am taking the liberty of rolling it into this one. It is the natural attribute of God to have the authority, He is God after all. But does He chose to do this or that? That is the question. He has the authority to open and close any and all things. The question is, do we start kicking at doors and making our own way? Or, do we seek to escape and ignore an open door when we would rather is close, so we walk off from it? He is the authority, not you and not us. He alone should be deciding what we do and do not do. He isn’t taking a poll, asking for opinions, or searching through a committee of some sort. He is God! He is THE authority! Because He is that authority and walks around with the keys, He also then has the authority to close something in such a way that no man can open it. He also has the authority to open something in such a way than no man can close it. I believe I have been in meetings at church where I saw a church in one accord, vote Jesus right out of the room. Upon further investigation, no one even asked Him what He wanted. Man has an ability to do this. This is so disheartening… but God. You see, if Jesus opened that door, there is no way anyone can close it. You can’t stop Him! If He shuts something down, there is no way anyone can make it succeed. You can’t stop Him! So you disciples out there—take note who the bearer of keys is, and seek His will. Because, once He uses those keys, its a done deal.
Do you really believe that Travis? Yes, because He is true, He is holy… and I am not. I do not want to hear more voices on the subject, including my own. I want to know His will and execute it by His might, and not mine. These identifiers let me know that someone transcends me, is authentically real, and is formidably trustworthy. If He says it’s open, it’s open. If He says it’s closed, it’s closed.
Based on this information, we see He is the one who can rightfully say— “I know thy works…” (Revelation 3.8). He knows. He knows what no one else knows. He knows for real what is and is not. He is true and transcends remember? This church isn’t getting the same details the church of Laodicea got. This church is getting their tailor-made letter from their rightful King and Head. Do you think we also need to be reminded about His identifying character names? Do we need to be attentive to who is He not only to Philadelphia, but also us? Definitely. I want to recognize Him for who He is. I want to see Him for who is He… to us. I need it, how about you? When it gets depressing and stressful, I want to be reminded that He is a God that needs nothing or no one. He is God!
Because He loves, because He knows, because He sees it unvarnished, He commended this church. He told them— “…behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it” (8). We will uncover ‘why’ in our next post. For now, know this, Jesus wants to open a door of opportunity for His Gospel to us. I want Him to also. Do you see Him as the only one who can, and the only one who can shut it again? We must become desperate for Him again. He must be the only source again. He must be the one and only voice we obey. Ready?