“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write the following:
“This is the solemn pronouncement of the Holy One, the True One, who holds the key of David, who opens doors no one can shut, and shuts doors no one can open: ‘I know your deeds. (Look! I have put in front of you an open door that no one can shut.) I know that you have little strength, but you have obeyed my word and have not denied my name. Listen! I am going to make those people from the synagogue of Satan—who say they are Jews yet are not, but are lying—Look, I will make them come and bow down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. Because you have kept my admonition to endure steadfastly, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come on the whole world to test those who live on the earth. I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have so that no one can take away your crown. The one who conquers I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never depart from it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from my God), and my new name as well. The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ Revelation 3:7-13
New English Translation
What an encouraging passage. The church of Philadelphia was going through a lot as liars made their lives difficult. Yet, they stayed true to God, they didn’t let it stop them from being faithful to the One True God. Instead, with the little strength they had, they kept on obeying God. Then, God made it known that He was going to reward them for it! The tables were going to turn, and the liars were soon going to be made humble before those who truly honor God. Beyond that, God shared that because the church of Philadelphia was approaching the trials before them appropriately, God was going to spare them from the time of testing when Jesus returned. I don’t know about you, but all of this sounds like really good news to get in the midst of Philadelphia’s trials.
This question remains: how do I react to the challenges around me? What is my response when liars make my life difficult?
If you’re anything like me, you’re probably not lining up to get a gold star of success in the area of responding to liars. Honestly, it ticks me off when people get away with it and make my life harder because of it. The longing for justice within makes me feel like I need to do something, anything, to combat this, yet, I also know that Scripture tells me to be gracious and merciful to those around me. That’s why I don’t act on those thoughts.
Interestingly, 1 John 3:15 teaches us that hating a fellow Christian is equivalent to murder. Now, I hear you, it says “a fellow Christian,” but what about that annoying neighbor who we know isn’t a Christian? Are we exempt then? Well, in short, no. In Matthew 22:35-39, Jesus teaches us that just below loving God in importance is loving our neighbor, which Jesus clarifies that our “neighbor” is everyone in Luke 10.
Yikes, so, what I’m getting here is 1. my thoughts are also a part of me obeying God, and 2. even my thoughts toward others should reflect Jesus. That’s a hard pill to swallow.
So, the church in Philadelphia was not perfect, this we know because no one other than Jesus has ever or ever will be perfect. However, we do know that they were so faithful in obeying God that God was willing to cement His praise for their success for all time in Scripture. Also, we know that part of obeying God is monitoring and correcting our way of thinking about others. Let’s take this deeper.
We already established that when we encounter liars like Philadelphia’s church did, we can tend to have less-than-pleasant thoughts about the people involved. On top of that, we learned that Scripture teaches us that our thoughts toward others should reflect God’s love… and that includes our thoughts toward everyone. Another thing we know because of common experience is that thoughts rarely ever stop at just being thoughts. They start to influence what we say, what we do, and how we act around certain people. That’s why in Romans 12 Paul teaches that we should be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Thus, we can officially declare thoughts as crucial to our Christian walk.
Since the church in Philadelphia was able to deal with liars successfully, we can then realize that they were having to deal with their thoughts daily. They had to deal with discouragement, anger, frustration… yet, they always came out faithful. My question is this: HOW?!
Now, let’s be honest, this short passage in Revelation does not give us a play-by-play on how the church championed in this circumstance. I’m not even going to pretend it did, but we do have the entire Word of God to help us work this out.
These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up. You should tie them as a reminder on your forearm and fasten them as symbols on your forehead. Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and gates. Deuteronomy 6:6-9
New English Translation
In Deuteronomy, God makes it clear that His words to the Israelite people were so important that He wanted individuals to teach them to the next generation while doing normal life. He wanted them to make reminders of the words so they wouldn’t forget His truth, too. The same is still true today. God wants us to continually be reading and sharing His Word, all of Scripture, so that we don’t forget His truth. How are we supposed to react rightly to the world around us if we’re neglecting the guide God gave us to help us navigate life?
Another thing to remember, there is no point in spending hours in God’s Word if you’re never going to do anything with it. Realize this, the Pharisees who had Jesus killed were well versed and skilled in God’s Word, yet they didn’t even recognize the Messiah that Scripture taught about. What was the problem? They were reading Scripture to look good, but not so that it would transform their lives. What about you? Do you read and obey Scripture, even the hard parts?
See, when we’re willing to fill our minds with God’s Word over and over, and we’re willing to act on it, then it becomes embedded in who we are. Then, our thoughts are going to begin to change, which means our everyday actions are going to change. Are we ever going to be perfect? Absolutely not, but we will be different then we were.
Remember this, walking with God is never about being perfect, that’s straight up impossible. It’s entirely about letting God transform us one day at a time. If we look the same year after year, we are not walking with God. There should always be signs of growth in our life. Even though Revelation doesn’t clearly state it, we can know that the church of Philadelphia was letting God transform them because there is no other way that they could have overcome such challenges. My question is this: will you let God transform you by spending time in His Word and obeying what He tells you?