By Pastor Patience Kimathi
7 “And to the [a]angel of the church in Philadelphia write,
‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”: 8 “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, [b]and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. 9 Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept [c]My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11 [d]Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. 12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.
13 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’(Rev. 3:7-13, NKJV).
Do you have a favorite scripture or verse of the Bible?
Genesis 16:13 is mine. Genesis chapter 16 tells the story of Hagar after Sarai, her mistress kicked her out of her household, pregnant and with nothing. The Angel of the Lord found her by a spring in the desert and spoke God’s promise to her. After that encounter, she described God as a “the God who sees for me.”
And truly ,God sees as we can see in the theme verse which was written for the church in Philadelphia. God was telling them that he had seen their labours despite the fact that they had little strength. As a result, he was going to reward them.
However, he also gives them an assignment; “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more…” (Rev. 3:12)
The verse specifies that only those who overcame would receive a reward of the Lord which means there was a group in that church that did not overcome and thus missed the reward.
The church has two types of believers and these are captured in Matthew 25 when Jesus talks about the ten virgins. Five of the virgins were wise and went the extra mile to wait for the groom. I would liken these to believers who wait upon God and hold on to his promises because he that promised is faithful.
Then there were five foolish virgins who fell asleep when the groom tarried for too long. I would liken these to believers who give up on the way because they feel like the wait has been too long. Sadly, they give up just at the last hour when the groom is about to come.
We must be those who wait and overcome if we are to be made pillars in the temple of the Lord as the Bible tells us in Revelation 3.
When God wants to do something great among men, he first gives them an assurance of what he has accomplished for them. In other words, he first accomplishes it in the spirit then calls us to engage so that it can manifest in the flesh.
I hope that we can be patient enough to wait for the groom to come. May God give us the grace to overcome so that we can receive the reward he has promised us.