The Beloved Disciple

by Beth Moore

  Encouragement. "I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name" (vv. 11-12).

  Pergamenian King Attalus II (159-138 B.C.) established Philadelphia. The city was named for his nickname Philadelphus, meaning "brother lover" in honor of his love for his brother. I was astounded by the many times the name of the city changed. At one time it was renamed Neocaesarea (New Caesar) and another time, Flavia. Later, due to the establishment of the emperor cult in the city, it earned the title Neokoros or "temple warden." Little Athens became its nickname in the fifth century. Jesus may have referred to the ever-changing identity of the city in the verse- 12 promise of a new name.

  Living in a city with an ever-changing identity wasn't the only chal­lenge the church in Philadelphia faced. Christ said, "I know that you have little strength" (Rev 3:8). Scholars almost unanimously agree that the ref­erence was not to spiritual strength, or Christ would not have placed the characteristic in context with such commendation. Christ never com­mends spiritual weakness. Rather, He views weakness as an opportunity to discover a divine strength beyond our imagination (2 Cor. 12:9-10).

  Bible commentators believe Christ's reference to the "little" strength of Philadelphia's church referred to their diminutive size and small visible impact. Lower, less influential classes comprised the church of Philadelphia, yet they endured patiently (v. 10). In our numbers-oriented society, we can hardly overestimate when we see ourselves as ineffective. I believe outright opposition can be easier to bear than the thought of futility or incompetence.

  Don't think for a moment the enemy won't do everything he can to convince you that your efforts in Christ's name are in vain. Nothing is more destructive than feelings of uselessness and worthlessness. That's pre­cisely why the enemy seeks every avenue to fuel and perpetuate them. Beloved, each of us has a God-given need to matter.

  You are not self-centered and vain because you have that need; you are human. What you and I do with the need can become extremely vain and self-centered, but the need itself is sacred. Fragrant flowers don't need someone to smell them to keep blooming. Lions don't kill their prey for significance. They're simply hungry. Man alone yearns to matter. God acknowledged the need immediately following our creation and signifi­cantly before our fall into sin.

  Notice how God granted purpose to humans in each of these scriptural examples.

  • He gave the assignment to be fruitful, fill the earth, and have domin­ion over it (Gen. 1:28).

  · He gave Adam the charge to care for the garden (Gen. 2:15).

  · He commissioned Adam to name the animals (Gen. 2:19).

  God could have created the beasts of the field naturally subservient to humans. Instead, He acknowledged our God-given need to matter by telling us to rule over them and subdue them. Furthermore, God could have made the garden of Eden self-maintaining. Instead, He appointed Adam to work it and take care of it. God could have created the animals with names, but He knew Adam could use the challenge and the satisfac­tion naming them would bring. In the same way Eve received a purpose that granted significance. No one else was a suitable helper to Adam.

  Why is the need to matter sacred? God formed us to seek lives of pur­pose and, for those of us who follow His lead, find them ultimately in Him alone. Have you recognized your own need to matter?

  The Father desires for each of our lives to bring forth much fruit. I des­perately want you to flourish in the ministries God has for you, and I think the church of Philadelphia offers us a few pointers in the process.

  First, Christ alone is judge of what matters. The small, seemingly insignificant band of believers in Philadelphia may have been blind to the fruit of their own efforts, but Christ found them beyond rebuke. I think the key word in His commendation is the description He used for how they endured: patiently. So often we are tempted to give up before the har­vest comes.

  Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us "there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven." In Genesis 8:22, God promised "as long as the earth endures, / seedtime and harvest, / cold and heat, / summer and winter, / day and night / will never cease." Though far less predictable, we experience seasons spiritually as well. The church in Philadelphia had been in the seedtime season without a large harvest probably longer than they wished-yet they continued to endure patiently.

  According to the parable of the sower in Luke 8:11, the seed is the Word of God. After acknowledging their little strength, Christ com­mended the church in Philadelphia because they kept His word and did not deny His name (Rev. 3:8). Unashamed of Christ's name against a bit­ter majority, they kept Christ's word, thereby faithfully planting seeds. They did not give up though the harvest seemed dreadfully distant. Remember, a landowner doesn't judge a harvest by the quantity of fruit alone. Diseased fruit means nothing but loss to him. He looks for quality.

  Do you happen to be frustrated by what appears to be a small return on much effort in a ministry opportunity? Keep in mind that God not only allows long seasons of seedtime but also sometimes appoints them to enhance the quality of eventual harvest. At times He actively tests our faith­fulness in smaller things to see if we can handle bigger things. I hesitate to make this point because "big" is not the goal. Christ revealed is the goal. However, if a high-volume ministry is one way God chooses to reveal His Son, those to whom He temporarily appoints them by His grace (1 Pet. 4:10) could undoubtedly describe countless appointments to small and frustrating "opportunities" along the way. In retrospect most now rec­ognize them as crucial tests.

  I can remember pouring my heart into preparing several discipleship courses when only two or three people showed up. I sensed God asking me, "What are you going to do now? Cancel the class? Or give them no less than you would give twenty-five and finish out the semester?" I am certain those were not only precious opportunities; they were tests. I also believe He tested me to see whether I would esteem the opportunity to teach Mother's Day Out or four-year-olds in Sunday school. Both extended the profound opportunity to mark young lives for eternity, yet some would be foolish enough to deem them unimportant.

  Thankfully, we obviously don't have to be a genius or particularly gifted to pass God's tests because I certainly would have failed. God is pri­marily looking for faithfulness to fulfill whatever duty He has placed before us. He also guards our hearts by dissuading us from feeding our egos with result-oriented service.

  Only after we have learned to prioritize faithfulness rather than results are we ready for the next truth. Christ is the door opener. Revelation 3:8 tells us something critical about doors Christ opens and shuts. What He opens no person can shut.

  One reason for so much frustration in ministry is our determination to open our own doors-in Jesus' name, of course. Some of our fists are bloody from beating down doors that we believe were supposed to open for ministry. When our blood, sweat, and tears produce little or nothing, we are often offended by God, whom I imagine sitting on His throne saying, "Did I tell you that was the right door? And if it were, would I not have opened it for you?" I often think of the gate of Peter's prison automatically opening for his escape because God appointed it (Acts 12). I picture God with an invisible remote control in His hand, controlling every door of opportunity on earth.

  As a rule of thumb but not without exceptions, I usually conclude that if the door requires beating upon to open, it's probably not the right one. And if God has shut a door, forget trying to open it! Remember, for a true harvest to result, the Holy Spirit has to prepare the way and go before us through the door. That's how it opens! Otherwise, it's either the wrong door or the wrong time. Watch for doors that open by God's remote con­trol, and patiently remain faithful until they do.

  Because the c
hurch of Philadelphia endured patiently, Christ placed before them an open door that no one can shut. Many scholars believe that open door was for missions directed farther east to other parts of Asia. Therefore, some commentators call the church of Philadelphia the "missionary church." Scripture often uses the open-door terminology to describe a missionary opportunity. Paul wrote of "a great door for effec­tive work" that God opened to him in 1 Corinthians 16:9.

  Dear one, each of us is called to missions. As we seek to "keep" Christ's Word and stay unashamed of His name (Rev. 3:8), He will open doors of opportunity for us in His own time. If we faithfully sow seed, the harvest will one day come. Some missionaries never viewed their harvests from the fields of earth, but what better seat than heaven to get the full picture?

  I want you to see two more jewels in the crown of the Philadelphians. Refresh your memory over Christ's promise to them. He said of those who persecuted the believers, "I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you" (v. 9).

  One of the meanest tricks Satan ever plays on us is to try to convince us God doesn't love us and that we're exerting all this energy and exercising all this faith for nothing: Look at all you've done, and He doesn't even care! It's all a big joke! He used the Jews in Philadelphia to demoralize the small church, and he uses countless puppets to demoralize us. Christ promised the church in Philadelphia that one day the very people who sneered at them would acknowledge how much He loves them.

  Beloved, you and I are not to be motivated by spite. At the same time, Jesus wants you to know that one day everyone will know how much He loves you. You have been unashamed of Him, and He most assuredly will prove unashamed of you.

  Finally, Christ promised to make the overcomers pillars in the temple of His God. What significance this terminology had to the Philadelphians! The city was under constant threat of earthquakes. The threat was espe­cially vivid after a devastating earthquake in A.D. 17. Decades later some historians say the church had already rebuilt their small sanctuary several times because of tremors. Often the only things left standing in a city lying in ruins are the pillars.

  Hebrews 12:26-27 says God will shake both the heavens and the earth so that only that which cannot be shaken will remain. "Therefore, since we

  are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our `God is a con­suming fire"' (Heb. 12:28-29).

  Christ's promise to the overcomers was that they would be kept from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world, and they would stand like pillars in a kingdom that can never be shaken. Why? Because they mattered and, contrary to popular opinion, they chose to believe it. So, dear one, do you. Let no one take your crown by convincing you otherwise.

  Chapter 43

  TO THE CHURCH

  IN LAODICEA

  You say, `I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. "But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. (Revelation 3:17)

  Next we have quite a trip before us. The final stop in our tour of the seven churches is Laodicea. We'll find the city forty-five miles southeast of Philadelphia and about one hundred miles due east of our first stop in Ephesus. As we walk through the gates, we will have indeed come virtually full circle. By the way, you might want to fill up your canteen in Philadelphia before we leave. I hear the water in Laodicea isn't worth drink­ing. We'll meet at Revelation 3:14-22.

  Hear Christ's message to the Laodiceans:

  Identification. "These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation" (v. 14).

  Commendation. Christ offered no word of commendation to the church.

  Rebuke. "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, `I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked" (vv 15-17).

  Exhortation. "I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent" (vv. 18-19).

  Encouragement. "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne" (vv. 20-21).

  The wordplays and inferences are so plenteous in this segment of Scripture that I am frantically asking God to help me choose what to teach and what to leave behind. I want to excavate the whole city! In one word, how would you describe Laodicea? Many adjectives could apply, but let's consider the following three:

  1. The church of Laodicea was indifferent. No one could accuse Christ of a lukewarm rebuke. Center on the impassioned statements, "You are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!" I agree with scholars who resist the interpretation that Christ wanted the Laodiceans to be either hot or cold spiritually. Though such figures of speech are com­mon in our era, terming someone "hot" or "cold" in the faith wasn't part of their vernacular. Furthermore, I hope we could safely conclude that Christ-who never desires for anyone to perish-would also not prefer anyone to be cold toward Him rather than lukewarm. I believe Christ meant, "For crying out loud, be of one use or the other!" We have much to learn about this distinct city that will shed light on Christ's rebuke and exhortation.

  In Colossians 4 Paul spoke of Epaphras's ministry to the Laodiceans. Epaphras was probably somewhat of a circuit preacher from Colossae. He divided his time between the church in his hometown and churches in Laodicea and Hierapolis. Laodicea lay directly between the other two cities, seven miles southeast of Hierapolis and less than ten miles north of Colossae. Hierapolis was famous for therapeutic hot springs. Colossae was known for sparkling cold waters, but ruins reveal a sophisticated six-mile­long aqueduct that drew water from other sources for Laodicea.

  In 1961-63 a team of French archaeologists excavated a structure called a nymphaeum located practically in the center of the city. The square water basin had stone columns on two sides and two semicircular fountains attached to it. The ornate fountains very likely stood as beautiful center­pieces in the city square. Characteristic of Laodicea, their beauty vastly exceeded their usefulness. You see, by the time the water was piped to the city from miles away, it was neither cold nor hot.

  You might easily imagine someone cupping her hands under the entic­ing waters to take a refreshing sip only to spit it out in disgust. Sound familiar? Hot water has therapeutic value, and nothing is like the refresh­ment of cold water, but lukewarm? If only I knew the Greek word for "yuck!"

  Christ's vehement frustration with the church of Laodicea was that she'd be of some use! The last thing I want to tout is a works-centered faith, but we have been called to faith-centered works. Christ intends for us to be useful! Churches are meant to be viable, active forces in their communities.

  In our previous chapter we talked about how each person's innate need to matter requires us to discover how our gifts and contributions can be useful. Anyone can be useful. In the spirit of Christ's exhortation to Laodicea, anyone can offer a cold glass of water to the thirsty or a hot cup of tea to the hurting. Or how about a frozen casserole? Or a warm pound cake? At times of my life, nothing has ministered to me more than those two things! Christ exhorts His bride, "Be of use to my world!" At times therapeutic. At other times refreshing. Each of us can be hot and cold.

  2. The church of Laodicea was independent. If we all need to be signifi­cant, what in the world happened to the church of Laodicea? Where was their need to be useful? The Laodiceans did what many people in our cul­ture do today. They filled their gaping need to matter with possessions
then gauged their usefulness by their wealth. Praise God, neither then nor now can wealth state worth. Save your breath trying to convince Laodicea, how­ever. When Christ drafted His letter to John, Laodicea was the capital of financial wizardry in Asia Minor, a marvel of prosperity. She described her­self as rich and in need of nothing (Rev. 3:17).

  Mind you, Christ's letter isn't addressed to the city of Laodicea. It is addressed to the church of Laodicea. I can almost imagine the preacher glancing at the order of service during worship and saying, "Skip the offertory! After all, we're rich! We do not need a thing!" We'd die of shock at our church. I can't remember a time when we've had more money than needs. If we can't think of a thing to do with our surplus, I fear we've lost touch because the needs out there are endless.

  I discovered some interesting pieces of information that help explain the audacity and laxity of the Laodicean church. In A.D. 26 the city placed a bid to the Roman senate to build a temple to the Emperor Tiberius. They were denied on the basis of inadequate resources. Their wealth so vastly increased over the next several decades that by A.D. 60 after the devastation of an earthquake, they didn't accept aid from Nero. They had plentiful resources to rebuild themselves. (Do you hear the hints of independence?) In a nut­shell, they thanked Rome but assured them they "did not need a thing."

  Much of Laodicea's original fortunes in the first century came from the fertile river valley that supplied lavish grazing for nice, fat sheep. The Laodiceans specialized in a tightly woven, black wool fabric that sold for a pretty penny. Behind their fortune, however, were farm animals that stank.

  I grin as I recall Keith's glib comment many years ago over a sudden outburst of superiority from one of his beloved sisters. He looked over at me and said, "I wonder if now would be a good time to remind her that our family `fortune' was made in other people's toilets?" (His father owned a plumbing company.) With much glee, Keith and I have occasionally reminded our own daughters of the same profession that butters their bread.