A Door of Opportunity
Door of Opportunity
Revelation 3:7-8 (NIV2011)
7 “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 8 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.
We have just completed the first of many parts of our Revelation Study and it certainly has been convicting for me. That is because we have been studying what Jesus had to say to the seven existing churches of Asia Minor. For those who don’t know, Jesus A appeared to John on the island of Patmos and told him this:
Revelation 1:19-20
19 “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.
20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
What John was seeing at that moment was the glorified Christ. In fact, it was such an awesome experience that John fell down as if he were dead. Jesus tells John to write what is now also. That has a dual meaning for us. It meant for him to write down what Jesus saw in the churches of John’s day and it clearly was meant to highlight the various spiritual conditions of the church today. That is the part that speaks to us.
The church at Philadelphia was one of only two that Jesus found no issues that needed to be corrected. It appears to me that one of the biggest reasons is, this church was given a ministry opportunity and they responded to it. If we remember that Jesus is not simply talking to the churches but to the individual believers that make up these churches, then it should tell us something. Jesus is pleased when we take advantage of the opportunities that he gives us for kingdom work. However, if you have been in our study you know that when we don’t respond Jesus has a problem with us. Of course, when Jesus tells John to write down what will take place later he is speaking of the tribulation period. Please consider joining us on Sunday nights but if for some reason you cannot, at least read these letters for yourself because there are two things that we need to note here that each of these letters has. First, if there is a problem, Jesus always stresses that it can be corrected and that a reward will result. Second, every letter ends with these words: “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Folks, what that means is, take a moment and consider as you read these letters what God’s spirit is trying to say to you and respond accordingly. The wonderful thing is there is still an opportunity to do something about it.
In Christ,
Steve, Holly and Rosie