Resilient – A Revelation Daily Devotional – Day 12
Day 12 – August 8
Read or listen to the audio version of the Bible Reading and Daily Devotional.
Our sixth church, Philadelphia, receives the unique distinction of an entirely positive commendation from Jesus. He unequivocally praises their success, yet there remains much for us to observe. Jesus’s primary command to them is simply to “look!”
This church, though clinging to God, endures persecution from both their Jewish contemporaries and the Romans. I once heard a pastor preach that we never drift into personal holiness. Sanctification, the process of being conformed into the image of God, is progressive, motivated and sustained by the Holy Spirit’s work. The truth of this, however, does not negate the personal demands of sanctification. While we will never be more forgiven than we are at this moment, we should certainly find ourselves continually molded into God’s image as we walk with Him. This “walking with Him” necessitates beholding Him, or, to put it another way, we must look where we are going.
When the Philadelphian church looks, they are invited to see a risen Savior who “will never go out of it.” These words are undoubtedly profoundly meaningful to a church situated in an area of volcanic activity, where inhabitants frequently fled the city. This promise offers constant hope to a church accustomed to migration and navigating both personal and corporate change. The change awaiting them, in response to their faithfulness, is one of finality: no more going out and coming in, but rather, an open door to a constant, unchanging God.
The door mentioned is undeniably a symbol of eternal hope, but it also serves another vital purpose for the church. The church at Philadelphia would become an open door for spreading the Gospel within Greek culture. From this small yet obedient group of believers, God would accomplish a mighty work. Their faithfulness opened the door for them to testify to their culture about God’s goodness, and as they proclaim His goodness, they anchor their hope in an eternity that allows them to overcome the temporal.
Does the way the American Church lives today mirror that of the Philadelphian? This is a critical question as we find ourselves in an age of spiritual curiosity and existential crisis. The promises of modernity and the sexual revolution are continually failing those who sought meaning in the identities afforded by these philosophies. Every new idea comes and goes, met with varying degrees of outrage. Perhaps at the core of this outrage is simply fatigue—a soul-numbing weariness from an inability to keep pace with changing cultural tides.
The open door, which no one can shut, is built on a life that testifies to the supreme value of Christ. Now, perhaps more than ever, we possess the ability to echo Jesus’s cry to the culture around us: to look upon His glory and find answers to questions that have, until now, appeared unanswerable. May we, as a resilient church, boldly call people to come to this door and find life.
Prayer: God, help me to keep my affection and attention on You. May my life serve to beckon all who witness it to behold the majesty of Your Son, Jesus.