Church in Philadelphia

The Church in Philadelphia is very interesting. God doesn’t have anything bad to say about them but acknowledges their insignificance “you have a little power, and have kept my word and have not denied my name.” (Revelation 3:7-13) I believe the Church in Philadelphia represents those little groups of Christians who turned their back on the church establishment. This was started by some of the Brethren in the 19th century who left the organized church and the professional clergy system emphasizing for the first time since the early church the true priesthood of the believers – that all members are gifted and need to exercise those gifts. But like all true moves of God, even some of these assemblies became institutionalized and began to divide and go off in bizarre directions. We will come back to Philadelphia because I believe it still represents the remnant of simple believers who still gather in living rooms across the world to simply worship God and experience the simple life of the true church.