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Revelation 3

Rev. 3:8 KJV (With Strong’s)

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8

I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an openx door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

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1 Cor. 16:9• ⁹For a great and effectual door is open to me, and [there are] many adversaries. (1 Cor. 16:9)

Cross References

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Ministry on This Verse

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I know.

Rev. 3:1,15• ¹And to the angel of the church that is in Sardis write, These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
¹⁵I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot. (Rev. 3:1,15)

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Rev. 2:2• ²I know thy works and [thy] toil and thy patience, and that thou canst not bear evil {i}men{/i}; and thou hast tried those that call themselves apostles and are not, and hast found them liars: (Rev. 2:2)

an open.

Rev. 3:7• ⁷And to the angel of the church that is 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 one shall shut, and that shutteth and no one shall open: (Rev. 3:7)

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1 Cor. 16:9• ⁹For a great and effectual door is open to me, and [there are] many adversaries. (1 Cor. 16:9)

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2 Cor. 2:12• ¹²Now when I came unto the Troad for the gospel of Christ, a door being opened to me in [the] Lord, (2 Cor. 2:12)

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Col. 4:3• ³praying at the same time also for us, that God may open to us a door of the word to speak the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am also bound, (Col. 4:3)

a little.

Dan. 11:34• (Dan. 11:34)

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2 Cor. 12:8‑10• ⁸For this I thrice besought the Lord that it might depart from me;
⁹and he hath said to me, My grace is sufficient for thee; for [my] power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather boast in my weaknesses that the power of Christ may rest on me.
¹⁰Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in insults, in necessities, in persecutions, in straits for Christ; for when I am weak, then am I strong. (2 Cor. 12:8‑10)

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Phil. 4:13• ¹³In all things I am strong in him that empowereth me. (Phil. 4:13)

and hast kept.

Rev. 3:10• ¹⁰Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial that is about to come on all the habitable {i}world{/i}, to try those that dwell on the earth. (Rev. 3:10)

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Rev. 22:7• ⁷And, behold, I am coming quickly: blessed {i}is{/i} he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book. (Rev. 22:7)

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John 14:21‑24• ²¹He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; but he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him.
²²Judas, not the Iscariot, saith to him, Lord, [and] how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself to us and not to the world?
²³Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
²⁴He that loveth me not keepeth not my words; and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s that sent me. (John 14:21‑24)

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John 15:20• ²⁰Call to mind the word which I told you, A bondman is not greater than his lord. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also; (John 15:20)

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John 17:6• ⁶I manifested thy name to the men whom thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and to me thou gavest them, and they have kept thy word. (John 17:6)

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2 Tim. 4:7• ⁷The good combat I have combated, the course I have finished, the faith I have kept: (2 Tim. 4:7)

and hast not.

Rev. 2:13• ¹³I know [thy works, and] where thou dwellest, where the throne of Satan {i}is{/i}; and thou holdest fast my name and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein {i}was{/i} Antipas, my faithful witness who was killed among you, where Satan dwelleth. (Rev. 2:13)

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Prov. 30:9• (Prov. 30:9)

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Matt. 26:70‑72• ⁷⁰But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest.
⁷¹And when he went out into the porch, another [maid] saw him and saith to those there, This [man] also was with Jesus the Nazarene.
⁷²And again he denied with an oath, I know not the man. (Matt. 26:70‑72)

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Luke 12:9• ⁹but he that shall have denied me before men shall be denied before the angels of God; (Luke 12:9)

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Acts 3:13‑14• ¹³The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, did glorify his servant Jesus, whom ye delivered up, and denied before Pilate's face, when he decided to release [him].
¹⁴But ye denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you; (Acts 3:13‑14)

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1 Tim. 5:8• ⁸But if one doth not provide for his own and especially his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever. (1 Tim. 5:8)

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1 John 2:22‑23• ²²Who is the liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is the antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son.
²³Every one that denieth the Son hath not the Father either; he that confesseth the Son hath the Father also. (1 John 2:22‑23)

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Jude 4• ⁴For certain men have crept in unawares. They, who before of old were ordained to this sentence, ungodly men turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness and denying our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ. (Jude 4)

• It is not the way of God to produce great strength at a time of general ruin. At the era of the return from the Babylonish captivity, the Lord wrought in great grace. There was no outward power (“Lectures on Revelation 3:7-22: Philadelphia” by W. Kelly)

• Consider what it is to keep Christ's word. It is evident there had been a departure from His word. It might have been circulated; but had it been cherished? Had it been loved and sought into, as for hid treasure? Was it for this thing that men met together to pray and read — that they might understand it better? (“Lectures on Revelation 3:7-22: Philadelphia” by W. Kelly)

• See here the personal links — "my word," and "my name." The name of Christ apprehended by the soul is salvation; but it is much more; it is all. When the heart is brought down to submit to God's judgment of its sin, He Himself brings before that soul Christ's name; when it finds that it has no name in which to stand before God, He says, Here is a name, My Son's name. (“Lectures on Revelation 3:7-22: Philadelphia” by W. Kelly)

• There may be much to try our patience; but what we have to do is to wait on the Lord. This is what the Lord seeks — that we should have confidence in what He is and has, taking the place of weakness and dependence in prayer, however much we may be tried. (“Lectures on Revelation 3:7-22: Philadelphia” by W. Kelly)

J. N. Darby Translation

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8

I know thy works: behold, I have setg before thee an opened door, which no one can shut, because thou hast a little power, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

JND Translation Notes

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g

Lit. "give" or "have given" (ver. 8) and "give" (ver. 9).

W. Kelly Translation

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8

I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee an open door which no one can shut: fora thou hast a littleb strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not deniedc my name.

WK Translation Notes

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a

But surely the better rendering in the latter half of the verse gives the reason "because," instead of "that" as the Revisers say, connecting what follows with "I know thy works," and treating the intervening words (the open door) as a parenthesis.

b

Regarding the meaning of "a little strength, is not "little power" more suitable to the context than "a" little, meaning some? Weakness characterized the Philadelphian assembly, but they kept Christ’s word and denied not His name.

c

There seems no change of moment in the RV in vs. 8, though there is a marked literality of rendering, save that they depart from their usual preterite for the aorist at the close.