Revelation 3:8; A Little Strength

Revelation 3:8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

And you notice that Christ’s described the members of the church in Philadelphia as having little strength. 

I believe, this is the mark of the true Christian – a humbleness of heart that brings with it spiritual power. 

Spiritual power is flowing through that church, transforming lives. Did not our Lord say at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount when He gave the marks of a true Christian – He has a poverty of spirit and he mourns for his sins. 

This is what it means to have a little strength. To know our need of God and to know we are totally incapable without Him. 

This is the thought I bring to you. Please continue to cleave to Jesus. This is the tense of the verb “to have”. It is “present active”. An action that we are to do continually.

And when we know our nothingness and our weaknesses and our inadequacies, and would want to seek God for cleansing, for renewal and for strength that we can be endued with strength.

But it is acknowledged that the strength of this church is little. In that, it has to constantly be in touch with the Lord for Him to fill us. 

Spurgeon made a good observation concerning our spiritual need when he wrote commenting on Psalm 42:1 “As the hart panteth after the water brooks...” describing how Christians need to be coming to God periodically, continually to be filled with a little strength. This is the verb “hath” describing a continual action. 

“A camel does not pant after water brooks, because it carries its own water within. But the hart does, because it has no inward resources. After being hunted on a hot day, it has no inward supplies; it is drained of its moisture. So are we. We do not carry a store of grace within of our own on which we can rely. We need to come again and again and again to the divine fountain and drink of the eternal spring. Hence it is because we have a new life, and that life is dependent on God, and has all its fresh springs in Him, therefore we pant and thirst after Him.” (Edited)

This is the mark of a thriving church, a sense of dependence upon God that brings spiritual power. 

And how can we continue to have that “little endowment of strength from the Lord”, it is by feeding upon His Word for nourishment and strength on a daily basis. 

I encourage you to begin the spiritual exercise to read the Bible in one year. The Lord will see you through as you tarry with Him.

Amen.