Life Study of Revelation message 15

The Church in Philadelphia

"philadelphia" in Greek, means brotherly love. as the reaction to the dead Sardis, the Lord raised up some brothers to come back to the original church life at the beginning. 

here the Lord reveals Himself as the true One, the holy One, the One who has the key of death and Hades. we already mentioned before the significance of the Lord as such a One. 

Revelation 3:8 I know your works; behold, I have put before you an opened door which no one can shut, because you have a little power and have kept My word and have not denied My name. 

what really impresses me is the "little power" here. in our own concept, we intend to think that, ah, if we want to be an overcomer, if we want to overcome all these negative problems, we must try so so so hard, because it is so hard. but here the Lord praises the church in Philadelphia, that they only have a little power and they did keep the Lord's word and did not deny His name. this clearly shows us that the Lord does not require much from us, and He does not require us to do much or try much. the Lord has deposited a little faith with a little power in our spirit already, and He has granted us sufficient grace. therefore, we just need to exercise our little power to cooperate with His all sufficient grace, and we will be enabled to keep the Lord's word and to not deny His name. we all have this a little power. may we all use our "a little power" to allow the Lord to produce us to be His overcomers. 

Revelation 3:11 I come quickly; hold fast what you have that no one take your crown. 

the church in Philadephia is the only one among the seven churches, who did not receive any rebuke, because they are the recovery church, which the Lord has recovered back to His original intention. there is nothing in Philadelphia that the Lord charged them to repent. the Lord only charged them to hold fast what they have. but they do have a danger, which is that their crown may be taken, which did happen later, that we will see in the church in Laodicea. the Lord has granted them the crown because the church in Philadelphia is well pleasing to the Lord. so they have the crown already but they may lose the crown if they do not hold fast what they have. this is also the warning to us. if we feel that we are in the Lord's recovery, so we will have no problem to become the overcomers. NO NO NO. the fact that you are in Philadelphia does not guarantee that you will become the overcomer to receive the reward. if you are slothful, or self content, then it is possible that you will miss the Lord's secret coming and also miss the reward. the Lord's charge here is a reminder to us, that we need to be watchful and faitful, so no one will take our crown. 

the Lord's promise to the overcomers here:

1. to be kept out of the hour of trial

this refers to the three and half years of great tribulation. the Lord promises that if we hold fast to what we have, He will rapture us before the great tribulation. 

2. to make him a pillar of the temple in God's temple

once we are made a pillar in the temple of God, of course, we shall by no means to go out anymore. the palmist expressed his desire in the Psalms, that he has asked Jehovah for one thing, that is to dwell in the sanctuary of God, and to behold the beauty of the God. here also, the reward to the overcomers is that they not only dwell in the temple, they themselves even become the pillars of the temple. 

3. to write upon him, the name of God, the name of New Jerusalem, and the new name of the Lord

this means that the overcomers will be fully possessed by God, by the holy city of God and the Lord, and will be one with God.