Since Jesus Christ's return is imminent the believers should remain faithful to Him so their detractors would not rob them of the reward that would be theirs for steadfast perseverance (cf. 2 John 8). The familiar closing charge (v. 13) reminds us again that the message of each of these seven letters is applicable to all churches.
Students of church history have seen the era during which the modern foreign missionary movement flourished, especially the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as similar to the Philadelphia church. During those years there were several revivals of return to God's Word. These took place under the leadership of the Puritans, the Wesleys, the Plymouth Brethren, and others. As the church at Philadelphia, these groups of believers were not flashy, but they were faithful.
