“I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little strength, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.” Rev.3:8
In the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the Lord had nothing negative to say to the churches in Philadelphia and Smyrna. As for the other five, He had some encouraging Words, but even more severe words of exhortation.
To the church in Philadelphia, the Lord said
”I know your deeds.” Their work may have been lost to others, but to the One who counts, it isn’t; “for God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name…” (Heb.6:10). They had a “little strength, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.” They were true to their name; Philadelphia, which means “love of the brethren “.
The howling winds of persecution came not from just the secular world but the religious community as well. Those that said they were “God’s people”, but were not. So we can easily imagine that they interfered with the ministry to the lepers who they deemed “unclean “,and maligned the brethren of Philadelphia , since they would not buy into their doctrine of “self-righteousness” .
Bruce Springsteen wrote a song named “ Streets of Philadelphia”. In it he describes a contemporary ‘leper’—a young man dying of AIDS, not unlike those lepers of the first century church, exacting a social death before the actual physical one:
“So receive me, brother, with your faithless kiss,
Or will we leave each other alone like
this
On the streets of Philadelphia ….”
I remember a patient who I was asked to see as a 4th year med student during my OB-GYN clerkship. The patient was a quiet middle-age woman who complained of painful bleeding per rectum. The nurse positioned the patient in the dorsal lithotomy position (in stirrups). To my surprise, my ‘female’ patient was a biologic male! I masked my astonishment, and proceeded with the exam without comment. I remember the humiliation and the aloneness I sensed in ‘her’. As we made plans for further evaluation, I remember thinking as a young believer that this is an obviously pathologically confused person. Salvation?— that was a bridge too far…
I was part of the problem. I was relying on my own reasonings, instead of being instructed by the Scripture: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature ; the old things passed away; behold new things have come….Be reconciled to God”. (2 Cor.5: 17, 20)
When we come to the communion table, break bread and share the cup, we might be surprised who’re eating with. But then again, why would we? Spiritually speaking, sin had made all of us lepers. Unclean!
There is only one thing that make us family, with one mission: “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation “ ( 2 Cor.5:19)
I am glad to say that Springsteen is wrong when he says,
“Ain’t no angel goin’ to greet me,
It’s just you and I my friend…”
If, like the thief on the cross, he surrenders to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, he will have this promise from the lips of Jesus Himself,
“Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)
He will not be greeted by an angel , but by the Lord Himself, and the fellowship of the saints; a true philadelphia.
“We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” Behold, all things are made new.
Questions To Think About?
In the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the Lord had nothing negative to say to the churches in Philadelphia and Smyrna. As for the other five, He had some encouraging Words, but even more severe words of exhortation.
To the church in Philadelphia, the Lord said
”I know your deeds.” Their work may have been lost to others, but to the One who counts, it isn’t; “for God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name…” (Heb.6:10). They had a “little strength, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.” They were true to their name; Philadelphia, which means “love of the brethren “.
The howling winds of persecution came not from just the secular world but the religious community as well. Those that said they were “God’s people”, but were not. So we can easily imagine that they interfered with the ministry to the lepers who they deemed “unclean “,and maligned the brethren of Philadelphia , since they would not buy into their doctrine of “self-righteousness” .
Bruce Springsteen wrote a song named “ Streets of Philadelphia”. In it he describes a contemporary ‘leper’—a young man dying of AIDS, not unlike those lepers of the first century church, exacting a social death before the actual physical one:
“So receive me, brother, with your faithless kiss,
Or will we leave each other alone like
this
On the streets of Philadelphia ….”
I remember a patient who I was asked to see as a 4th year med student during my OB-GYN clerkship. The patient was a quiet middle-age woman who complained of painful bleeding per rectum. The nurse positioned the patient in the dorsal lithotomy position (in stirrups). To my surprise, my ‘female’ patient was a biologic male! I masked my astonishment, and proceeded with the exam without comment. I remember the humiliation and the aloneness I sensed in ‘her’. As we made plans for further evaluation, I remember thinking as a young believer that this is an obviously pathologically confused person. Salvation?— that was a bridge too far…
I was part of the problem. I was relying on my own reasonings, instead of being instructed by the Scripture: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature ; the old things passed away; behold new things have come….Be reconciled to God”. (2 Cor.5: 17, 20)
When we come to the communion table, break bread and share the cup, we might be surprised who’re eating with. But then again, why would we? Spiritually speaking, sin had made all of us lepers. Unclean!
There is only one thing that make us family, with one mission: “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation “ ( 2 Cor.5:19)
I am glad to say that Springsteen is wrong when he says,
“Ain’t no angel goin’ to greet me,
It’s just you and I my friend…”
If, like the thief on the cross, he surrenders to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, he will have this promise from the lips of Jesus Himself,
“Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)
He will not be greeted by an angel , but by the Lord Himself, and the fellowship of the saints; a true philadelphia.
“We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” Behold, all things are made new.
Questions To Think About?
- Have you ever considered yourself a leper in the sight of God?
- Have you ever considered someone beyond the grace of God?
Posted in Philadelphia