Revelation 3:10Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The hour of temptation is either the persecution of Christians that was soon to come from the impious kings of Rome at that time, from which He promises to deliver His city, or the worldwide persecution of the faithful by the Antichrist before the end of the world. He promises to free from it those who confess Him, by their release from earthly life, so that they may not suffer temptations beyond their strength. He rightly says, "I am coming quickly," for in the Gospel it is also said that the Lord will come immediately after the tribulation of those days (Mt 24:29). Therefore the Lord warns them to keep the treasure of faith unplundered, lest anyone destroy the crown of patience.

Patience is a spiritual virtue. By it we calmly endure all that is inflicted on us, without malice toward those who insult us, remembering the commandment of God. The Apostle Paul commands Christians to walk worthy of God, pleasing Him in all things. They are to bear fruit in every good work and increase in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory, in all patience and longsuffering with joy (Col. 1:10-11).

Another reward for the Church of Philadelphia, because she kept the word of Christ's patience, that is, the teaching concerning hope in Christ, is deliverance from the hour of temptation, or trial, that is about to come upon the whole inhabited world to test it. This means the persecution of Christians that was to spread throughout the Roman Empire, the orbem terrarum (Acts 24:5). The Apostle may have meant the persecution under Nero.

To the Church of Philadelphia, in the province of Lydia, which had kept faithfulness to the Lord, He appears as the complete opposite of how the synagogue of Satan presented Him to believing Christians. That synagogue was the community of unbelieving Jews. The Jews blasphemed Him, but He appears as holy, as Jehovah was called in the Old Testament. The Jews mocked Christians because, according to them, Christians honored a false Messiah. But the Lord appears as the True One, who fulfilled all the prophecies concerning the Messiah. Finally, they ascribed to themselves alone the right to the kingdom of the Messiah. Yet the Lord appears with the key of David in His hands. Therefore it depends on Him whether a man is admitted to the throne of God or not.