No 23

(Laodicea, Philadelphia)

As a refresher, we have seen the following churches so far: Ephesus“The Apostolic Church”; Smyrna “The Persecuted Church”; Permagos “The Bad Neighbourhood Church”; Thyatira “The Corrupt Church”; Sardis “The Dying Church”. Of course, all these designations are not in the Bible; they simply correspond to the Spiritual Church of the Lord over the centuries. We now come to the last two: “The Missionary Church”, Philadelphia and the “The Apostate Church”, Laodicea.

Philadelphia The Bible says: “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.” Rev 3:8. There is an actual church in Philadelphia today that bears the name “The Church of the Open Door”. The ruins of this city tell us that it was built at the junction of three ancient countries and was intended to be a centre for spreading the Greek language and culture; another interesting point is that there were many earthquakes that occurred in that city. So, it could be said that as an ancient city that was built to spread a culture that was shakeable, the church in that city was built to extend another kingdom that was unshakable. “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Heb 11:10).

Laodicea “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:” Rev 3:17. What can you say to a rich church that is spiritually poor? Its history tells about how it survived earthquakes and was able to rebuild itself without the help of Rome at the time; this maybe acceptable under worldly standards but under heavenly standards, this church did not meet the mark. Many commentators have said over the centuries that the members of this church were not Christians; they were unfaithful but were not faithless. The text indicates that they were members of the body of Christ; they were carnal members but members nonetheless. In the context of the Spiritual Church, both these churches correspond to the same period; the one we are now in. Philadelphia began with the Reformation and Laodicea began during modern times We need not look very far to see both types of churches in our present age. Thank God that He knows which is the true Church, because at a horizontal vantage point, it is impossible to differentiate.