June 3rd, 2010 by Kristi Stephens

In the midst of letters which seem to keep getting worse, we find the letter to the church at Philadelphia. While their contemporaries in surrounding towns were falling away, becoming overrun with heresy and moral compromise, and embracing dead religion, these believers stood firm.

I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.  I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.

Revelation 3:8-9

This church had “little strength.”  Perhaps small in numbers, perhaps composed primarily of slaves or other poor and “unimportant” members of Philadelphian society, Jesus looked on this church with different eyes.  This passage calls to mind for me 1 Corinthians 1:26-29-

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.

Some of the other churches we have looked at appeared outwardly strong.  From a human perspective they may have seemed healthier, more spiritual, more effective.  But it was this church, this church with “little strength,” that Christ looked at with his laser-clear vision and had nothing but good things to say.  It might not have impressed us, but Jesus saw them for what they truly were.  They kept His Word.  They did not deny His name.  They suffered persecution and remained true – and how He loved them.

Tomorrow we will look at the specific promises given to these believers.  For today, just consider this: I don’t know what you are going through in your life, but He sees.  The Apostle Paul knew a little about suffering and looking foolish in the eyes of the world, and His perspective is one we should all take to heart.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

He must become greater, we must become less.

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Art used (with permission) by Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992. To order prints visit her “Revelation Illustrated” site,  http://revelationillustrated.com.