Philadelphia: The Faithful Chruch

About 25 miles southeast of Sardis lay the city of Philadelphia, newest of the seven cities. An imperial road passed through it from Rome to the east, so it became known as “the gateway to the East.” Christ says to this Church: “These things says He who is holy, He who is true . . . Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more” (Revelation 3:7, 11-12). 


Christ emphasizes His loyalty to His true followers and reminds them to be equally faithful to Him. If they persevere in His Word, He will give them a crown that they may rule with Him in His Kingdom. We find a definite theme of brotherly fidelity in this section. The Philadelphian brethren could well identify with this admonition.


Philadelphia means “brotherly love.” The city was named after the love the king who founded the city held for his brother. The city was established by Attalus II (159-138 B.C.), who was called Philadelphus (brother lover), in honour of his loyal affection toward his brother, King Eumenes II of Pergamos.


During his brother’s lifetime Attalus II was his most loyal assistant. He successfully commanded his brother’s forces in several wars and later became the trusted ambassador to their ally, Rome. There he won respect and admiration from the Romans for his brotherly fidelity. The New Bible Dictionary comments: “As Philadelphus was renowned for his loyalty to his brother, so the Church, the true Philadelphia, inherits and fulfils his character by its steadfast loyalty to Christ” (“Philadelphia” 1982, p. 926).


Men have their own differing ideas of where the Church actually is, but only the Bible’s view—God’s word—matters. Read it for yourself. Paul wrote to Timothy the evangelist, “…that you may know how you ought to behave yourself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (I Tim. 3:15). Many New Testament verses show that the Church that Christ built is unified—with all its members and congregations walking together in complete agreement with each other, and with the word of God. Another important scripture, demonstrating that the true Church is unified and teaches the truth emerges from Christ’s prayer in John 17, on the night of His betrayal.


He prayed: “And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth…That they all may be one; as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that You have sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them, as You have loved Me” (vs. 19, 21-23). God’s Church is a unified body and teaches “the truth.” In the end, no other view devised by men is acceptable.


These are powerful statements! Christ intended that His Church be unified—“one”—no less than were He and His Father! There is no room for disagreement in a Church that is this unified. These verses describe a perfect oneness through the truth—the same kind of oneness that the Father and Christ enjoy. It is only the word of God that can keep the Church completely unified. It is this kind of unity that allows true Christians to be “in” Them—be in Christ and the Father (vs. 21).


We read that Christ promised that when false leaders, whom He refers to in John 10 as “thieves and robbers,” have been able to get into the Church, “the sheep hear His (Christ’s) VOICE: and He calls His own sheep by name, and leads them out.” His voice is plainly defined in Scripture as “the truth” (John 18:37).


He went on in John 10 to add, “He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they know His VOICE. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers” (vs. 3-5). Christ continues by describing certain ministers: “The hireling flees, because he is an hireling, and cares not for the sheep” (vs. 13). This remarkable promise shows that Christ will never abandon His sheep and will always protect those who hear His voice and willingly follow Him when they are in danger of false doctrines! God wants His sons to understand His purpose.


God has given us basic comparisons that are easy to grasp. He compares His love for the Church in Ephesians 5: 25-27 as the love a Husband has for His wife. God concludes in Genesis 2:24 that “a man Shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh” —to make ONE human body. “For as the BODY IS ONE, and has many members, and all the members of that ONE BODY, being many, are ONE BODY: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into ONE BODY...” (I Cor. 12:12-13).


Colossians 1:18 and Ephesians 1:22-23 revealed that “one body” means the Church. There is only one Church with many “little flocks” and like the human body, all the flocks are connected by the truth. Notice, 1 Corinthians 6:19 adds, “… your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit” and in chapter 12:27 “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually”. The Church is an organized, structured and combined body of individuals, put together by Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit —it has Jesus Christ as the Head of its government! This solid unity of purpose (becoming the future bride of Christ), is of lasting value to the entirety of the true Church at any time in its history.