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M.T. Rankin stated that the large Church is not always the great one, while the great one is not always large. The Church at Philadelphia was probably the smallest of the seven Churches. The statement, “thou hast a little strength” (Vs.8), would seem to suggest that this congregation was small.
Warren Wiersbe taught me a lesson I have never forgotten. He was to preach at the Church I pastor and before service I took him out to eat. As we sat at our table a couple that had recognized him walked up to and began to talk to us. As we talked I asked them where they were from. When they told me where they were from I said, “Oh yes, I know where that is. I preached in a little Church there one time.” Dr. Wiersbe laid his hand on mine and said, “There are no little Churches.”
We need to be reminded that there are no “little Churches.” There are some smaller than others but we must never forget that God does not measure the Church by its attendance. God views Churches in light of their call and His plan for that Church. We so often try to build our Churches after another, but our concern should be to build our Churches after God’s plan for us.
Each congregation has a certain call and work to do. So many Churches have started this and that just because that’s what so and so is doing. What God wants to do in one Church may not be His plan for another. Because God has a plan and purpose for each congregation there are no “little” Churches. The Church at Philadelphia by human standards was small but by heavenly standards was significant. They were little in ministry but large in ministry. As someone has said, “Instead of counting numbers, we should make numbers count.”
I have read that there are three massive doors that lead into the Cathedral of Milan. Above each door is an inscription. Above the door to the left is a craved wreath of roses and the words, “All that which pleases is but for the moment.” Above the door to the right is a carved cross and the inscription, “All that which troubles is but for the moment.” Over the center door are the words, “That only is important which is eternal.”
The Church at Philadelphia may have been small but what was important to them was the eternal. They were little, but God was with them, in them, and on them. Our Lord’s letter to them was without complaint or condemnation. In essence He wrote to them and said, “Little is much, when God is in it.”
As we look at the Church at Philadelphia we first see:
1. THE OPPORTUNITIES OF WHICH THEY WERE PRESENTED
Benjamin Franklin once said that the morning hour has gold in its mouth. He was implying that each day began with its opportunities. Someone has written:
To each is given a bag of tools, A shapeless mass, and a book of rules, And each must make, ere life is flown, A stumbling-block or a stepping stone.
I read about two shoe salesmen who were sent to Africa to open new sales territories. Three days after they arrived, one salesman faxed a message, “I will be returning on the next plane. I can’t sell shoes here. Everyone goes barefoot.” A fax was received from the other salesman, “Send all the shoes you can. Prospects unlimited. Nobody here has shoes.”
Each day we are given opportunities but don’t always recognize them. The Church at Philadelphia, although small had been given wonderful opportunities by God. Jesus said to them, “I have set before thee an open door” (Vs.8). They had realized these opportunities and had stepped through the door God had opened for them. As we think about these doors we are reminded that:
A. There Are Doors Of Opportunity That Are Sought
I think of Paul. He was a man that sought future and further opportunities. He asked the Church at Colosse, “Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ” (Col.4:3). He was asking them to pray that God would open doors for him to preach the gospel. He wanted to use every available means at every available moment at every available opportunity to preach to every available person.
Francis Bacon said, “A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.” I will add to his statement and say that a wise man will seek more opportunities than he has. The constant prayer of Hudson Taylor was, “Lord, give me wide usefulness.”
We are also reminded that:
B. There Are Doors Of Opportunity That Are Shut
There is an Arabian proverb that speaks of four things that do not come back: the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity. Many times opportunities are opened unto us, yet we fail to take advantage of those opportunities until it is too late and the door is shut.
We commonly associate the invention of the telephone to Alexander Graham Bell. Yet about fifteen years before Bell uttered the famous words, “Mr. Watson, come here; I want you,” German scientist Philip Reis had developed a crude working telephone. Even earlier an Italian scientist, Antonio Meucci offered the patent office a rough description of a telephone's structure and principles, but nothing ever came of it. Bell was not the first to invent the telephone, but was the first to patent it -- barely. Many scientists were working on a telephone at the same time. One of them, Elisha Gray, arrived at the patent office just two hours after Bell. Some say that Gray’s phone was better than Bell’s. If Gray had gone to the patent office just 2 hours earlier we may have South Central Gray instead of South Central Bell. He missed his opportunity.
Paul said, “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Gal.6:10). Paul was not only encouraging us to seize our opportunities but also implying that our opportunities could be lost.
Clarence Macartney tells of driving across Chicago with William Jennings Bryan. They passed the coliseum where Bryan delivered his famous address at the Democratic Convention in 1896. It was that speech that made him the presidential candidate for his party three times. As they passed the coliseum, Dr. Macartney said, “Mr. Bryan, I suppose many times you have made speeches just as great as the one delivered here, but they were never heard of.” Bryan replied, “Yes, I suppose so, but that convention meeting here was my opportunity, and I made the most of it.” Then he added, “That is about all we do in this world; lose or use or opportunities.”
Furthermore, we see that:
C. There Are Doors Of Opportunity That Are Sent
Paul said, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me” (I Cor.16:9). “Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord” (II Cor.2:12). “And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how He had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles” (Acts 14:27). As God had opened doors for Paul He had opened doors for this Church. Christ is the Lord of the Harvest and the Head of the Church. He is the keeper of the keys (Vs.7). He allows us to serve Him and He arranges how and where we serve Him.
Even though the Church at Philadelphia was small, God had opened doors for significant service. Little is much when God is in it. If we are yielded to His will, He will open doors of service. You may be amazed at the doors God will open for you. You may feel you are small and insignificant, but remember the Church at Philadelphia. Jesus said, “He that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth” (Vs.7). The implication is that God is in charge. If He is in charge we need not fear or fret. We can leave our ministry, our future, and plans in His hand. He will open the door.
Secondly, think with me of:
2. THE OBEDIENCE FOR WHICH THEY WERE PRAISED
There are some Churches that are large but are disobedient to God. This Church was small but obedient. The Church at Sardis no doubt felt there was many things about them the Lord would praise, yet not one word of praise was given. Yet the Church at Philadelphia no doubt felt there was nothing about them worthy of praise, but that is all the Lord did in His letter. In the words of Alexander Maclaren the Lord, “doles out His praise with a liberal hand.” That which the Lord so liberally praised was their obedience. Jesus said “thou . . . hast kept My word” (Vs.8).
Someone has said, “Every great person first learned how to obey, whom to obey, and when to obey.” The Church at Philadelphia had learned how to obey, Whom to obey, and when to obey.
There was a missionary translator that was having problems finding the right word for “obedience” in the native language. Obedience was a virtue that was seldom practiced among the people. As he returned home one day, he whistled for his dog. The dog came running at full speed. An old native, seeing this, said admiringly, “Your dog is all ear.” Immediately the missionary knew he had his word. Obedience is being all ear. This Church was all ear and it was praised by Jesus.
We see that:
A. Their Obedience Was Expected
The obedience they gave was what was expected of them. Would you think that anything less than obedience to God’s word and will was expected of them. Do you think anything less is expected of us? The Lord praised them for obedience, but nonetheless it was what he expected of them as well as every Church.
Sir Leonard Wood once visited the King of France and the King was so pleased with him that he invited him to dinner the next day. Sir Leonard went to the palace and the king meeting him in one of the halls said, “Why, Sir Leonard. I did not expect to see you. How is it that you are here?” Sir Leonard, somewhat astonished, replied, “Did not your majesty invite me to dine with you?” The King replied, “Yes, but you did not answer my invitation.” It was then that Sir Leonard Wood uttered one of the choicest sentences of his life: “A king’s invitation is never to be answered, but to be obeyed.”
We also see that:
B. Their Obedience Was Enlarging
God had opened doors for service for the Church at Philadelphia. They had been presented with opportunities to be used of God. Yet it seems that the reason they had been given these opportunities was because of their obedience. Jesus said, “I have set before thee an open door . . . for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept My word, and hast not denied My name” (Vs.8). Because they had kept His word He opened doors and provided them their opportunities. Obedience had been expected of the Church, but it also had been enlarging for the Church.
W.B. Riley used to tell the story of a man who had walked the streets of Philadelphia searching for employment. One day he happened to into the office of a well-known businessman by the name of Girard. When he asked for a job, Mr. Girard said, “Yes, I can give you work. See that pile of bricks over there? Carry them over to the other end of the yard and stack them up.” The man worked all day and at the end of the day reported that he had moved all the bricks. The next day he came in and Girard asked him to carry the bricks back to where he found them. For more than a week he carried those bricks back and forth. It became evident that he was dependable and could be trusted to do exactly what he was told. Then he was given a new and bigger responsibility. He was sent downtown and was told to bid on a large quantity of sugar. No one at the auction knew the fellow and were somewhat surprised by his bid. His bid was accepted by the auctioneer and asked him who would pay the bill. “Mr. Girard,” replied the man. “I am his agent.” The man earned his position by being faithful and obedient in a menial task.
I have often been asked, “How can I be used of God?” The answer I have always given is to do what ever God tells them to do. Obedience is the key to being blessed of God. If we will do each thing God asks, He will give us further opportunities and open doors for greater service.
A story in the Chattanooga Times was entitled, “Don’t Underrate Power of Prayer.” It was a story that came from a Hamburg, Germany newspaper. A Spanish businessman, who was a devout Roman Catholic, had stopped at a Church during a trip to Stockholm. The Church was empty except for a coffin containing the remains of a man. Eduardo Sierra, knelt and prayed for the deceased for twenty minutes. Sierra, 35, signed a condolence book after he saw a note saying that those who prayed for the dead man should enter their name and address. He noticed that he was the first to sign. Several weeks later he received a call from the Swedish capital informing him that he was a millionaire. The man he had prayed for, Jens Svenson, was a 73 year old real estate dealer with no close relatives. He had specified in his will that “whoever prays for my soul gets all my belonging.”
The story reminded me that when we do what God asks, we always become the recipients of His blessings and are given greater opportunities. The key that unlocks doors of opportunities is obedience.
Thirdly, we see:
3. THE OPPOSITION BY WHICH THEY WERE PERSECUTED
Jesus also praised them because “thou . . . hast not denied My name” (Vs.8). Like many of the other Churches they found themselves persecuted. As we look at their persecution we see:
A. The Foes They Had Encountered
Jesus said, “Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie” (Vs.9). It would appear they had experienced opposition from the Jewish population of the city. It seems that these Jews were so fanatical in their resistance to Christ as the Messiah that they were called a synagogue of Satan. They had been obedient to God and had been given opportunities by God. The result was they were used of God and one can always expect satanic opposition when God is using them.
Bob Cook, Youth for Christ, used to say, “Remember boys, where the light shines the brightest, the bugs come flying in.” God’s smile always brings Satan’s snarl. Blessings from God are always followed by battles from Satan.
We also see:
B. The Faithfulness They Expressed
In spite of their opposition, they had not denied the name of Christ. They had worked on, pressed on, and kept on for Christ. This along with their obedience was one of the reasons God opened the doors He did for them. If we will obey His will and be faithful to His name, he will bless and use us. The prayer of our heart should be, “Dear Lord, I want to obey you in all things. By your power keep me faithful.” If we mean it from the heart, it will not be long that you will hear the Lord’s keys rattle as He opens doors of opportunity. |
