The Churches of Revelation
In Revelation, Jesus addressed the church at
Ephesus. He recognized the people’s works,
their unceasing labors and their intolerance for
sin; yet He rebuked them because divine love
was not operating in their midst. They had lost
their first love, so all their works and labors
were worthless. The Lord instructed them to
repent or He would remove His presence from
them as a church.
Jesus then addressed the church at Philadelphia.
He recognized the people’s good works
and commended them for living according
to the Word of God and for being true and
faithful representations of Him. We know the
people in that church were full of divine love
because when Jesus was on Earth, He said, If
ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide
in my love (John 15:10). The people in that
church were abiding in God’s love.
Jesus went on to tell them, 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). That does not mean those people
were physically weak. It means that because
they lived according to the Word of God and
stood for pure truth, they were not popular.
The majority of the people in Philadelphia
at that time were not a part of the church, but
that is how it has always been for the true
people of the Lord—when people stand for
truth, they are always in the minority. Jesus
said, If ye were of the world, the world
would love his own: but because ye are not
of the world, but I have chosen you out of
the world, therefore the world hateth you
(John 15:19).
Because the church in Philadelphia was
faithful, full of love and kept the Word of God,
Jesus gave the people a mighty opportunity—
an open door that no man could shut. Today,
that open door is technology that allows us to
take the Gospel to the whole world.
Be Ready to Go
In this final hour, I encourage you to live
your life rooted and grounded in divine love.
Keep the Word of the Lord, be a doer of the
Word and abide in His love. But be ye doers
of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving
your own selves. For if any be a hearer
of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto
a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his
way, and straightway forgetteth what manner
of man he was. But whoso looketh into
the perfect law of liberty, and continueth
therein, he being not a forgetful hearer,
but a doer of the work, this man shall be
blessed in his deed (James 1:22–25).
Jesus continued to address the church at
Philadelphia saying, Because thou hast kept
the word of my patience abided in my
love, I also will keep thee from the hour
of temptation, which shall come upon all
the world, to try them that dwell upon the
earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that
fast which thou hast, that no man take thy
crown (Revelation 3:10,11). Until that day,
we must finish the work God wills for us
to do; and then Jesus will return to take His
Bride to Heaven.
Commit thy works unto the
LORD, and thy thoughts shall be
established.
(Proverbs 16:3).
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