Monday, 30 March 2020 Revelation 3:1-13
“…. you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied my name.” -Revelation 3:8
The letters of our Lord Jesus Christ to the Churches of Sardis and Philadelphia is the subject of our reading today. The letters to the Seven churches in chapters 2& 3 of the book of Revelation have a common style in which they are organized. There are five elements: 1-A description of Christ; 2-A commendation ;3-A rebuke; 4-A correction; 5-A promise to overcomers (NKJV Study Bible). In Rev.3: 1-13, the church at Sardis is the dead church and the church at Philadelphia is the faithful church.
In verse 7 Jesus is described as the one who is holy, true and the one having the key of David. The key of David is an expression denoting authority. Isa.22:22 says “Then I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder…….”
In understanding Jesus, we need to always remember that even when He exists as the loving Shepherd, He is at the same time holy and true. He will never compromise on any of them for the sake of the other. This means that He remains as a holy, true and loving Savior and all His actions will be based on this. He expects holiness and truth in His church as well as in each one who follows Him! When we study the letters to the 7 churches, we notice that the Lord has been keenly watching every church; He watches every believer; He is watching you!! His eyes are like a flame of fire (Rev.1:14) When He looks, He scans our hearts and reads every intent –He assesses our actions and the intention behind those actions!
He reads you like a scanning machine! We cannot hide from Him!! His evaluation of the Church of Philadelphia is in verses 8 to 10. The Lord says – He knew their deeds and then He adds that He had observed them and found out that they have only a little power! But with that little power, they kept the Word of the Lord and had not denied His name.
In Matt.28:20, one of the fundamental principles of the Great Commission is “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” Further in Matthew 10:33 – “But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.” To deny means not to recognize/ reject. The Lord found this to be commendable in the people of the church of Philadelphia- they were guided by His Word and a witness of Him!
This is what the Lord expects from us: Keep His Word and Lift His Name!
We may not appear to have great strength, but our strength is measured by the above two aspects – the faithfulness in living according to the Word of God and Confessing the name of Jesus at any circumstance. With the little power we have He expects us to Obey His Word and Witness His name. One is about our lives (keeping His word) and the second is about the lives of others (witnessing). The two very crucial aspects of our lives which the Lord watches keenly are: Is our life in line with the Word? And are we a witness of Christ? If so, there are a lot of things that follow in Rev.3: 9-13. But the key is our life – Word and Witness have to go together.
Thought for the Day:
How will Jesus find you when His eyes which are like flaming fire scans you today?