OoHA“To the messenger of the assembly in Philadelphia write: These things saith he who is holy, he who is true, he who is having the key of David, he who is opening and no one doth shut, and he shutteth and no one doth open! 8 I have known thy works; lo, I have set before thee a door--opened, and no one is able to shut it, because thou hast a little power, and didst keep my word, and didst not deny my name;
Rev 3:7-8 (YLT)
8 I have known thy works; lo, I have set before thee a door--opened, and no one is able to shut it, because thou hast a little power, and didst keep my word, and didst not deny my name; "
Interesting, that a church with little power being the only church--two out of seven—that the Lord doesn’t call to repentence. (Smyrna, the martyred church being the other)This mention of little power is included in a list of the Lord: The Church did keep my word, and did not deny my name.”
So, obviously, this is something that the Lord desires in a church, and among things that the Lord is going to reward. Because thou hast a little power… kept my word…didn’t deny my name…” I have set before thee a door--opened, and no one is able to shut it.”
What is viewed as the successful church today? Perhaps the place to look is what God says about the church.
Commentary on the Philadelphia Church, by Dr. John Walvoord :
« The Philadelphia letter reminds us that any true church at any time, and especially during the last days, meets Satanic opposition ... through imitation, religious ritualism, and hypocrisy-opposition strengthened by mixture of worldliness and religiousness-Church and State.!"
Those in the church today who are experiencing such affliction and persecution may be assured that however violent the opposition and how¬ever direct the efforts to thwart and hinder the work of God, in the end there will be victory for the cause of Christ.
3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly; hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Promise of deliverance from hour of trial. One of the outstanding compliments given to the Philadelphian church is contained in verse 10. Because of their faithfulness, the Christians in Philadelphia are promised that they will be kept from the hour of trial which will come upon the earth as a divine judgment. It should be noted that this deliverance is not only from trial but from a period of time in which the trial exists. "the hour of temptation."
"Do not confuse the church with the church building. it may burn to the ground. But destroying the building does not destroy the church." Dr. Francis Schaeffer comments. " There was the time when Priscilla and Aquila at a church in the home. Was that less the Church? Of course not.... Does it mean that the Aquila and Priscilla were led of the Holy Spirit to have a church and their home? Yes.
In the matter of Priscilla and Aquila; this statement in First Corinthians 16: 19, about "The greeting from the church that is in their house" was something Paul wrote in his First Corinthian letter, and was written from Ephesus, meaning that Ephesus had house churches.
Does it really matter?
What is the purpose of the church?
The Bible says that the church is the body of Jesus Christ, and at no time is the church not the body of Jesus Christ. Using the gifts that God has given to the church, The purpose is to attain the unity of the faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to grow to a strong Christian in the Lord, growing up in all aspects into Him--Jesus Christ. Realizing from whom the whole body is being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, and causing the growth of the Body for the building up of itself in love.
Growth in the church is obviously something to be desired. A good question about growth, however is what are we talking about? Does this mean spiritual growth or does this mean numerical growth?
As a former pastor of seven churches, having church buildings, there was no question that numerical growth would be viewed as an indication of my success as a pastor, However, numerical growth doesn't always come from preaching God's Biblical truth, but I can say spiritual growth does.
A spiritually- charged growing church(obviously not the building or man created organization) is going to change the world culture and not the world culture changing the Church. The other way around, is what I believe is happening today. Look at today's world if your wondering about who is changing what.
How committed are the church elders to the Bible and it's teaching?
The world demands blurring gender lines--and the church is falling in line. Some years ago, in the president's corner of a periodical, when commenting on "Relativizing the Absolutes and Absolutizing the Relatives", Dr. Earl Radmacher Writes: ".. the clear teaching of the text of 1 Timothy 2: 11 - 15, submission of a wife to husband is not a matter of cultural relativity, but a matter of God's order of creation...." Actually, while Radmacher is using this passage to answer a question about husband and wife, verse 12 states: "But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet." Radmacher summarizes with: "In our attempt to bridge the two thousand years of cultural gap between us and the New Testament, let's be sure that we do not vitiate the essentials of man's relationship with God and with man by an unwarranted indulging in cultural relativity in order to make the message palatable."
The world is demanding many more changes. If we're caving on this one, which a seminary professor says is is a clear claim according to Scripture, what happens when the real Big changes come and the consequences are Much more costly?G
America is said to be in a post-Christian age. Something is failing in America. "You are the salt of the earth but if the salt becomes tasteless... it is good for nothing...." Jesus Christ in speaking to the last Church in Revelations says:" I know your Deeds that you are neither cold nor hot I would that you were hot or cold, so because you are lukewarm I will spit you out of my mouth. because you say I am rich and have need of nothing... you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked...." Revelations 3:15-19. If the church is neither hot nor cold....?
In the book of Acts 1: 8, Jesus tells us "to wait...you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my Witnesses...." I believe the church needs to be spiritually charged, and I believe that is happening in some churches today.
Speaking from experience, if the church you're leading is growing larger, you are usually viewed as successful regardless. Obviously, as an Evangelical pastor, you are called to the spiritual growth--you should desire both numerical growth and spiritual growth together, however, they don't necessarily come together. The last of the seven churches in the Book of Revelations probably was a large Church--having wealth and saying "they had need of nothing." But one thing we know, they would not have been concerned about Biblical truth--"they were neither hot nor cold" the Bible says that "God s pit them out of his mouth."
