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 [Revelation 3:8]. I know thy works: behold, I have given thee a door opened, which none can shut, for thou hast a little strength [Gr.: dunamin], and didst keep my word, and didst not deny my name. The church at Philadelphia was the one which was true to the Word of God. In our day the church which it represents could not be called the Protestant church or the Roman Catholic Church or any other church. Actually, it represents all churches the world over—regardless of their labels—which still remain true to the Word of God. The Lord commends the Philadelphian church on seven counts: 1. I know thy works. The Lord Jesus is looking for fruit; He is looking for works in the lives of believers. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them (Eph. 2:8–10). My friend, there is something wrong with your faith if it doesnt produce works. Good, old, practical, camel- kneed James was a great man of prayer who said, … shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works (James 2:18). Works are not works of law but works of faith. Calvin said, Faith alone saves, but faith that saves is not alone. Saying faith produces works. 2. Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. This could be a door to the joy of the Lord or to knowledge of the Scriptures. I personally believe that it is a door to the knowledge of the Scriptures, which means that if He opens the door, He intends for you to move in because He will open a door of opportunity for witnessing and for proclaiming the Word of God. I believe that both go together. 3. For thou hast a little strength [dunamin]. Dunamin is the Greek word from which we get our English word dynamite. He says, You have a little power. This was a humble group of believers which did not have impressive numbers, buildings, or programs. I get a little weary today hearing every Christian group making reports. My, how we like to talk about those things! My friend, that type of thing is not worth anything. I like to talk about the hundreds of letters receive from those who have accepted Christ—thats nothing. The important thing is whether or not we are getting out the Word of God. He will do the counting. God has His own computer which is registering all this, and He tells us that we had better not. The apostle Paul said, I dont even judge myself (see 1 Cor. 4:3). Why not? In effect he is saying, I may report too many converts. I may speak evangelistically and give you a wrong figure. I may look at this a little differently than God does. I need to wait until I get into His presence for the accurate rendering of it. 4. And hast kept my word. In a day when there was a denial of the inspiration of the Scriptures, this church believed the Bible to be the authoritative, inspired Word of God. A twentieth- century theologian, of course of the liberal ranks, stated that no intelligent person could believe in the verbal inspiration of the Bible. Well, that sure puts me in a bad light! I am, therefore, not an intelligent person because I do believe in the inspiration of the Bible—that is, if his definition is right, but I do not think he is right even about that. 5. And hast not denied my name. In a day when the deity of Christ is blatantly denied by seminary and pulpit, here is a group of believers who have remained true to Him by proclaiming the God- man and His substitutionary death for sinners. The church in Philadelphia has been labelled many things. Some have called it the missionary church; some have called it the serving church; some have called it a live church—all of these are accurate. I personally like to call it the revived church or the Bible- believing church; it is the Bible church. The thing that the Lord Jesus emphasizes is this:Thou … hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. In that day of unbelief and scepticism, the Lord Jesus is commending this church because it has kept His Word. This is the church that got out the Word of God and, as far as we know, this church lasted longer than any other of the seven churches mentioned here. Until the thirteenth century, it had a continuous existence. It was destroyed by the Seljuk Turks when they came in and brutally murdered all the believers who were left in this church. It was also a missionary church. It is the belief now that the fact that Christianity penetrated into India as early as it did was because this church had sent out missionaries.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 07:31:10 +0000
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