Above is a picture of an ancient fresco painted on the side of one of the ruins in Philadelphia, Turkey. I took the picture because a few of us were having trouble seeing what our tour guide was pointing at. Once I got what he was showing us I took the picture and then was able point out on my camera screen the painting. You can see a faint image of Jesus at the top center and a faint image of Mary in the lower left. (The white line at the top intersects the image of Jesus; the faint red at the bottom is the clothing of Mary and her arm is just above the red. She is facing to the right. You can see why it was difficult for us to see!)
As I reflected on our time at this site, and also the words of Jesus to the believers in Philadelphia, I realized that we need to hold fast to what we have too! Kind of like looking at this painting, once I understood what to look at, I got it! And once I got it, I could show others. A simple truth of life is that once you've got something, you've got it! Once I have a car, I have a car.
Jesus tells them to hold fast to what they have. We too need to hold fast to what we have been given. Now in terms of faith this needs a little explaining. I believe that once we have the gift of salvation that comes through faith in Jesus Christ, we cannot lose that salvation (see Romans 8:31-39; Ephesians 1, esp. verses 13-14; and Philippians 1:6 just to name a few).
However, we need to "hold fast" to our gift and not neglect it. Jesus commends the Philadelphians for keeping His word. The root word in the Greek for "keep" is teros and means "to attend carefully." Back to the car illustration—unfortunately this example doesn't work because it is possible for me to lose my car! But let's assume, that the car is like Christian salvation and it is not possible to lose. If I just leave that car in my driveway and don't "attend carefully" to it, then it will have little value. However, if we attend to the car, if we keep God's Word and attend to it carefully, then there is great value for ourselves and for others. And ultimately great glory is given to Jesus Christ!
One you get it, you get it. Once you have been saved from your sins, you have been saved! (And this Christmas remember that the reason Jesus was born was to save us from our sins--Matthew 1:21.) Hold fast to what you have been given. Attend carefully to the gift of faith and you too will persevere as the Philadelphians did!
"To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars--I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.
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. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. --Revelation 3:7-13
1 comment:
We must remember that growing in our faith is part of attending to it. Constantly striving forward to the goal of loving like Christ.
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