Revelation 3:8

And to the angel of the church of Philadelphia, write: These things saith the Holy One and the true one, he that hath the key of David; he that openeth, and no man shutteth; shutteth, and no man openeth: Behold, I have given before thee …

Behold, I have set before you an open door, etc. The door of heavenly knowledge, which Christ has opened to his Church, is never shut by any force or effort.

Because you have a little strength, etc. He shows the reason that this church deserves these gifts, because it does not trust in its own strength but in the grace of Christ the King. It is the praise of the protecting God and the devotion …

I have given before thee an opened door - To enter into the joy of thy Lord; and, meantime, to go on unhindered in every good work. Thou hast a little strength - But little outward human strength; a little, poor, mean, despicable company. Yet thou hast kept my word - Both in judgment and practice.

I know thy works,....

I have set it open, and kept it open, though there be many adversaries. Learn here, (1.) Christ is to be acknowledged as the author of all the liberty and opportunity his churches enjoy.

Obedience, fidelity, and a free confession of the name of Christ, are the fruits of true grace, and are pleasing to Christ as such. Here is a promise of the great favour God would bestow on this church,

I have set before thee an open door - I have opened to thee a door to proclaim and diffuse my word; and, notwithstanding there are many adversaries to the spread of my Gospel, yet none of them shall be able to prevent it. Thou hast a little strength - Very little political authority or influence; yet thou hast kept my word - hast kept the true doctrine; and hast not denied my name, by taking shelter in heathenism when Christianity was persecuted.

I prefer the view given above. The Greek verbs are in the aorist tense: "Thou didst keep . . . didst not deny My name": alluding to some particular occasion when her faithfulness was put to the test.

‘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. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.’Revelation 3:8,10.

‘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. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.’Revelation 3:8,10. THIS is a message to the angel of the church at Philadelphia, and it is full of instruction to churches and ministers at this present time ‘He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.’ The Philadelphian church was not great, but it was good: it was not powerful, but it was faithful. The Spirit says, ‘Thou hast a little strength.’ Every band of believers has some strength: weak as we are in ourselves, the very fact of our possessing faith proves that we have a portion of strength. Still that strength is a matter of degrees and certain churches have a little strength’but only a little. I suppose that the Philadelphian church had but little strength in the following respects:’the number of its members would be small, and it had therefore but little strength for undertaking any extensive enterprize which would call for numerous bands of workers. The brethren needed all their strength concentrated on their home work, for they were few, and the miss of one or two from home evangelization and edification would be greatly felt. A church may have a very short muster-roll, and yet it may be very dear to God, who thinks more of quality than of quantity, more of obedience than of numbers. They had also little strength in the direction of talent. They were not like that famous church at Corinth, where everybody could teach everybody, but where nobody cared to learn of any one.

I know thy works - See the notes on Rev 2:2. Behold, I have set before thee an open door - Referring to his authority as stated in Rev 3:7. The “open door” here evidently refers to the enjoyment of some privilege or honor; and, so far as the language is concerned, it may refer to any one of the following things - either: (1) The ability to do good - represented as the “opening of the door.” Compare Act 14:27; 1Co 16:9; 2Co 2:12; Col 4:3. (2) The privilege of access to the heavenly palace; that is, that they had an abundant opportunity of securing their salvation, the door being never closed against them by day or by night. Compare Rev 21:25. Or. (3) It may mean that they had before them an open way of egress from danger and persecution. This latter Prof. Stuart supposes to be the true meaning; and argues this because it is immediately specified that those Jewish persecutors would be made to humble themselves, and that the church would but lightly experience the troubles which were coming upon the world around them. But the more natural interpretation of the phrase “an open door” is that it refers to access to a thing rather than egress from a thing; that we may come to what we desire to approach, rather than escape from what we dread. There is no objection, it seems to me, to the supposition that the language may be used here in the largest sense - as denoting that, in regard to the church at Philadelphia, there was no restraint. He had given them the most unlimited privileges. […]