As we begin this challenging book, the first thing we’ll notice is that John, the disciple so beloved of Jesus, was “in the spirit” on the Lord’s day, when he was visited by Jesus, Who gave him some very specific instructions in the writing of letters to the seven churches of Asia. Most, if not all of these churches, had been founded by Paul, the greatest apostle of the New Testament church, and yet not one word is mentioned in all of Revelation about this great man of God. And John, so loved by Jesus, is not greeted with warm, friendly words from the Man he so loved. Instead, Jesus, “His hair white like wool; His eyes like flames of fire; His feet like highly polished brass and His Voice sounding like many waters”, has some “other matters” to tend to; He has some “house cleaning” to do...and that being to deal with some very important and needy matters concerning the churches of that day. Only...we must know: What He spoke to John -- and the things John wrote -- are also for us today.

Actually, I only want to focus on one portion of this letter-writing to the churches, but first -- let’s get a clear picture of Who is speaking to John. We know it is Jesus, the Man Whom the apostle John and the other apostles followed, served and loved for three-plus years -- and yet this is not the same Man Who was Teacher and Rabbi and Healer and Friend. I mean, He is all of these things, but here in John’s visitation, He says: “ I AM Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending. I AM the First and the Last...I AM He Who was dead but is Living and Alive forevermore! And I have the Keys of hell and of death!” All of this we can see in chapter one of Revelation (verses 8, 11, 18), and “all of this” caused John to “fall at His feet as if he were dead”. This, Whom John now saw, was the resurrected, glorified, and exalted Lord Jesus Christ, fully King of kings and Lord of lords and He Who reigns in Majesty forever and ever -- this is why John was on his face before the Lord, only Jesus did not leave him there. He reached down and touched him and told him to “Fear not”. And I’m sure John slowly arose to hear what His Lord had to say.

I mention all of this, because I think we all need to get a “closer look” at the resurrected Christ -- He is Mighty, Majestic, Awesome in Power and so Holy and Beautiful -- He is no longer the Lamb led to the slaughter, for He overcame death and is now Alive; He is no longer the suffering Savior, for His Victory is complete and finished. He is Alpha, Omega, the Beginning and the Ending. He is the First, the Last, and He was dead but is Living and Alive forevermore! He truly is a Mighty, Mighty God! And He also holds the Keys of hell and of death! But He holds another Key as well, and this is the Key upon which we will focus for this teaching...it is the Key of David.

The Key of David

Revelation 3:

(7) “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘These things says He Who is Holy, He that is True, He that has the Key of David, He that opens, and no man can shut; and shuts, and no man can open.

(8) I know your works; behold, I have set before you an open door, and no man can shut it. For you have a little strength, and have kept My Word, and have not denied My Name. (9) Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan (who say they are Jews, but are not, for they lie), behold, I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you .

(10) Because you have kept the word of My patience, I will also keep you from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. (11) Behold, I come quickly; hold fast that which you have, (and see) that no man take your crown.

(12) Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. And I will write upon him the Name of My God and the name of the city of My God, which is New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God; and I will write upon him My New Name. (13) He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches.”

Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation; for the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

The Key of David is mentioned only one time in the entire Bible, and this is certainly not enough scriptural “proof” upon which to base a Principle. But this term “Key of David” is not really a mystery, and is probably the single-most important Principle in all of the Word. First of all, who is David? We all know that David, spoken of here, is King David, a man after God’s own heart (see 1st Samuel 13:14 & Acts 13:22), but the name David is also of importance. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that names are not important to God -- they are very, very important.

People, places, and things are all under the watchful Eye and the concerned Heart of God. Even your name is important, and we may get into that in another teaching. Names are so important that to the church of Philadelphia (which I hope we all know means “City of Brotherly Love”) Jesus instructed John to write that, for all who would overcome, He would “write upon him the Name of My God, the name of the City of My God, and I will write upon him My New Name”. Names are important. And, as if that wasn’t impressive enough, in Rev. 2:17, Jesus tells us, “To him that overcomes I will give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knows except for him that receives it.”

Now, He doesn’t give us a new name because our old names were not “good enough”. No, these new names are of utmost importance and are very special. They are names of “intimacy”, suggesting our relationship with God, and how He may view us or know us. The new names He gives to those who overcome will be “descriptive names”. They will be names both He and we will readily recognize and understand. Take the name of David, for example. It means “to boil, as in fervent and intense love; by implication: a love-token, lover, friend, well-beloved, father’s brother, or uncle”. Now, “uncle” may not seem like much, but when you consider that David was a man “after God’s own heart” you can see how he was very close to God, well-beloved, as a father’s brother; or: as the Heavenly Father’s brother. David’s intimate relationship with God was very special.

Now, let us imagine for a moment what David’s new name might be...it would most likely describe someone who was passionate in their love for God; whose zeal was fervent and intense. While these words -- passion, fervent and intense -- may have a certain meaning for us in our everyday lives and usage, in the Kingdom of Heaven they are another matter all together. For Jesus said, in Rev 3:16, “So then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My Mouth.”

In the Kingdom of Heaven, fervent, passionate love for God is required, before we can be acceptable and pleasing to our Lord. And, let our hearts consider this: How will we ever “overcome” if we do not exhibit and possess a special love for God? Not some passive, casual, blase' kind of love...but rather a pure, fervent, intense love for our God. After all that He has done for us, He surely deserves nothing less than our very best.

What are we supposed to do, and how do we display our love for God? Sometimes in order to get a grasp of what we should do, it is good to see what not to do...and so, as a related teaching and for further discussion, you might want to go back to this Weekly Teaching: “An Open Letter (to All Christians)”, and take a look at a young man who “kidnapped” his brother; also read about the “confused lady” who tried to “share Jesus” with Troy Aikman, the Dallas Cowboy’s quarterback. But for now, we will look at “an incident” that might “look” good at first glance, but deep inside the heart of the matter we’ll see just some shallow, selfish expressions of a careless, carnal nature. After that, we will take a closer look at the Key of David.

As we usually would do, we drove from Oak Cliff (located on the south side of Dallas) up to Denton, Texas. Here were two universities: North Texas State University and Texas Women’s University. We always carried plenty of tracts, furnished by a close supporter of the Bible college we attended, and, as I recall, they were very contemporary tracts. One, called “The Revolutionary”, was supposed to give the picture of Jesus as quite a “world shaker”, but the actual picture on the front more closely resembled Ché Gueverra, a revolutionary Marxist quite popular at the time. Another tract, called “Absolute Truth”, was one of my favorites. It gave very convincing reasons why Jesus was the Truth, and all answers could be found in Him.

As we prepared to leave the college campus area one Saturday afternoon, I spied one lone young man sitting on a bench in the middle of a vacated quadrangle. The Lord very definitely spoke to my heart, “Go speak to that young man”, so I did. I told my friend that I was going to go talk to this guy on the bench, and I headed over to him. When he looked up at me, it was easy to tell that he was in turmoil of some kind. To a Christian witnessing, that’s usually a “good sign”, meaning the person is probably “looking for answers”, so I boldy handed him the tract, “Absolute Truth”, and I proceeded to tell him why Jesus had any answers he might be looking for. Now, I must confess something here to which most Christians will not readily admit... sometimes, in witnessing, and especially if we let our own “selves” get in the way -- and most especially if we perceive a need or even a “weakness” in the soul we’re dealing with -- we will “pounce” upon that poor soul and “move in for the kill”, as it were. Much like a predator chasing down a weak, struggling animal that it has marked for its prey. However, we must always realize this simple, but powerful Truth: Jesus said to be “wise as serpents, but harmless as doves”.

Absolute Truth...?

“There are no absolute truths”, he assured me, then he turned back to the book he had been reading.

I thought a moment, then replied, “Oh, but that’s not so...Jesus is the Truth and there are many more Truths found within His Word.” Somehow, I knew that this was not going to be “pretty”.

The young man sort of sighed again, then firmly stated, “No...actually -- there are none. No...absolute...truths!” He was very insistent, and his insistance and apparent confidence irritated me.

Now I knew this young man was wrong, and something rose up within me that made me want him to see what I saw, and it was not Godly Love or Godly Compassion. Instead, it was my own willfulness; my own stubborn pride that kept me from walking away. In retrospect, I am convinced this young man had probably had many such discussions about Jesus and church and religion in general -- probably with family or friends or loved ones -- and here I was, prepared to “set this young man straight”, all in a few moments time in one afternoon. I began to respond to his so-firm belief that there were no absolutes. I began to tell him why there were, what they were and how wrong he was. He was a patient young man, listening (not necessarily “hearing”, but listening) to what I had to say, and then when I had finally run out of ammunition, he just sort of half-smiled at me (for I had said nothing to him that he had not heard before) and he sadly told me once more, “I’m sorry, but you’re wrong. There simply are no absolute truths.”

Exasperated (and let this be a lesson and a clue to you who witness or hand out tracts or even go “door-to-door” -- exasperation is not a fruit of the Spirit) , I regrouped and searched my brain. “I can’t let him get away with that...telling me there is no absolute truth, when I know for a fact that there is!” My friend, who was much wiser than I, had been trying to get me to “go”. He knew there was no “open heart” here. I motioned to him “just a minute”, for I was not done yet. I had one more card to play, and to my great shame I played it.

I moved in front of this young man and told him, rather proudly and a little too defiantly, “Well, sir, you are absolutely wrong. I’ll give you two absolute truths: First, it is an absolute certainty that one day you will die and second, after that you will be judged, and without Jesus you will spend an eternity in hell!”

And then I walked away, cloaked in my vile self-righteousness, feeling justified and a little too smug. My friend would later tell me how -- even though I may have told that young man “truth” -- the manner in which I did it was absolutely wrong. So, while I was claiming to be telling him “absolute truth”, actually I was telling him “my version” of what I thought “absolute truth” to be. And to top it all off -- my motive was not what it should have been. Once I realized what I had done, I repented quickly, and asked God that we would get the chance to see that same young man the following week. We did not, of course, and I had to “struggle through” the careless, thoughtless act I had committed in Jesus’ Name. Also...I prayed for that young man for a long while...just in case.