In this message we come to the church in Philadelphia, the church in recovery (Rev. 3:7-13). In Greek, Philadelphia means brotherly love. As a sign, the church in Philadelphia prefigures the proper church life recovered by the brothers who were raised up by the Lord in England in the early part of the nineteenth century. Just as the reformed church, prefigured by the church in Sardis, was a reaction to the apostate Catholic Church, prefigured by the church in Thyatira, so the church of brotherly love is a reaction to the dead reformed church. This reaction will continue as an anti-testimony to both apostate Catholicism and degraded Protestantism until the Lord comes back.
Verse 7 says, “These things says the holy One, the true One.” To the church of brotherly love, the Lord is “the holy One, the true One” by whom and with whom the recovered church can be holy, separated from the world, and true, faithful, to God.
To the recovered church, the Lord is also the One who has “the key of David” (v. 7), the key of the kingdom, with authority to open and to shut. Not many know the meaning of the term the key of David. According to Genesis 1, when God created man, He gave him dominion over all creatures. This indicates that, in God’s intention, man is to be the power representing God on earth. Due to the fall, however, man lost this power and has never fully recovered it. Man has not regained dominion on earth to represent God. In the lives of Adam, Abel, Enosh, Enoch, and Noah we do not see this power. Neither do we see it in the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We do not see this power until God’s chosen people, the children of Israel, entered into the good land and built the temple. Apparently, the temple was built by Solomon; actually, it was built by David, for he was behind the building of the temple. Remember what is revealed in Genesis 1:26. God made man in His own image that he might express Him and with His dominion that he might represent Him. The temple is related to God’s image because, being God’s house, it is His expression. The temple was built in the city. The temple signifies God’s expression, and the city signifies God’s dominion. The image and dominion revealed in Genesis 1 are, to some extent at least, fulfilled in the temple and the city. In the temple we have God’s presence for His expression, and in the city we have God’s dominion. God’s king is in the city representing Him as he rules on earth.
This is a necessary background for understanding what the key of David is. The key held by David is the key of God’s entire dominion. God’s dominion includes the whole universe, especially mankind. This dominion has a key which is possessed by the person who fought the battle for the kingdom and who made preparations for the temple. The name of this person is David. David represented God in establishing God’s kingdom on earth. Hence, he has the key of God’s dominion in the universe. David, however, was just a type, not the reality. The real David is Christ, the greater David. He is the One who built God’s temple, the church, and established God’s kingdom. Therefore, in the church today, which is both a house and a kingdom, we have God’s expression and representation. As the greater David, Christ has built up the house of God, the real temple, and He has set up the kingdom of God, the dominion in which He exercises full authority to represent God. Thus, He holds the key of David. The key of David is something representing God to open the whole universe for God. This is the key of David held by Christ. This term signifies that Christ is the center of God’s economy. He is the One who expresses and represents God, the One who holds the key to open everything in God’s dominion.
Verse 7 also says that Christ is the One who “opens and no one shall shut, and shuts and no one shall open.” Because the universal key, the key of God’s economy, is in His hand, He opens and shuts.
As we have pointed out, nearly everything found in the book of Revelation is not new but a fulfillment of things revealed in the Old Testament. This is also true of the key of David. Isa. 22:22-24 is a prophecy concerning Christ as the One who holds the key of David. The deep thought in Christ’s holding the key of David is found there. In Isa. 22 it was prophesied that Christ would not only be the One holding the key of David, but that He would also be a nail or peg. Very few Christians have heard that Christ is a nail. If you consider the context of Isaiah 22 and if you read the context of the word regarding Christ as the One holding the key of David in Rev. 3, you will realize that Christ’s holding the key of David is for God’s house, for God’s building. The crucial subject in Isaiah 22 is the house of God. And the epistle to the church in Philadelphia eventually speaks of the New Jerusalem. The overcomers in Philadelphia will be pillars in the temple of God, and the temple of God will ultimately be enlarged into the New Jerusalem. According to Rev. 21:22, there is no temple in the New Jerusalem, for, in eternity, the temple will be enlarged into a city, which, having three equal dimensions (Rev. 21:16), will be the enlargement of the Holy of Holies. This is the ultimate consummation of God’s house. Christ’s holding the key of David, fighting the battle for God, and building the temple and establishing the kingdom of God are all for God’s building.
Christ holds the key of David and He opens and shuts, not that we might be holy or spiritual, but that we might be built up. He does not care for so-called holiness or spirituality. During the past two centuries, certain people claimed to be holy and spiritual. Although they saw something, they were rather short-sighted. Holiness is not for holiness, and spirituality is not for spirituality. Both holiness and spirituality are to enable us to be pillars in the temple of God. Eventually, we shall not bear the name of holiness or spirituality but of the New Jerusalem. In 3:12 the Lord did not say, “I will write holiness upon you,” or, “I will write spirituality upon you”; He said, “I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name.” What we have here is neither holiness nor spirituality but God and the New Jerusalem. God’s purpose is not to make us holy or spiritual; it is to make us part of the New Jerusalem. God already has all the holiness He needs, but He does not yet have the New Jerusalem. God’s desire is not for more spirituality. He is seeking the New Jerusalem. God desires a builded church. He wants today’s Bethel, the house of God which will consummate in the New Jerusalem. Are you willing to see this?
When I saw this light eighteen years ago, I made a strong declaration in my message that God does not want spirituality. Some opposers took this sentence out of context and said, “Listen, Witness Lee says that we don’t need spirituality and that God does not want spirituality.” In that message I said again and again that any spirituality which is not for God’s building is not genuine. Our spirituality must be tested by the church life. If our spirituality does not fit into the church life, it is an abnormal spirituality. It does not supply the Body; rather, it is a cancer. Many so-called spiritual persons are cancers. Cancer is a disease of the cells in the body. Unlike germs, cells are constituents of the body, and there is nothing wrong with them. But if the cells are not properly balanced and become too concentrated, they will develop into a cancer. The so-called spirituality that cannot be tested, adjusted, or balanced and that cannot fit into the building of the church is a cancer.
The Speaker to the church in Philadelphia holds the key of David, not to make us holy or spiritual, but to deal with us that we might be transformed and built up. Once we have been built up, He will become a nail to us, and we shall be the vessels hanging on Him. Firstly, Christ holds the key of David and eventually He holds us. Christ used the key to open the door of our prison. Before we came into the church life, we were all imprisoned. For example, some were imprisoned in the dungeon of Catholicism. But wherever we were, Christ, the One who holds the key of David, opened our prison and released us. According to our experience, all the doors opened for us by Christ are prison doors. Although the opposers are trying their best to imprison us, and to make the church a prison, we are released by the key held in the hand of Christ. As today’s David, He has the key to open whatever God desires to open. Once He opens the door and we are released, we enter into the house of God where we become the household with many vessels held by Christ as the nail. If we remain in our mentality, we shall not have the realization or the sense of being held by Christ in this way. Nevertheless, Christ is the nail in God’s house, and by this nail, we all are held up from the earth.
Firstly, Christ uses the key to release us from prison. After we have been released and have entered into the house of God, He becomes the nail holding us off the ground. The purpose of His doing this is that we might be transformed into a pillar in God’s house. Eventually, we, the pillars, will become parts of the New Jerusalem. As we shall see, Christ’s writing the name of the New Jerusalem upon us means that we have been transformed into a part of the New Jerusalem. If you see this, your view will be changed. In the past, you might have pursued holiness or spirituality, but you sought holiness and spirituality in an aimless way. You did not have God’s goal in view. You did not see that both holiness and spirituality are for God’s building. Today, Christ, the real David, uses the key to release us from prison. He then brings us into God’s house that we might be transformed to be pillars and parts of the New Jerusalem. This is the church life, and this is the temple of God. Within this temple our Christ is a great nail holding us off the ground for God’s building.
In Rev. 3:8 we see the condition of the church in Philadelphia. Firstly, this church had “a little power.” Many times we estimate the church in Philadelphia too highly, thinking that this church was strong and prevailing. Actually, it was not so. Some may think that when the Lord raised up the brothers in England one hundred fifty years ago, every one of them must have been like David. While we estimate the church in Philadelphia very highly, the Lord says that she had “a little power.” What pleases the Lord is not that we are strong, but that we use our little power to do the best we can. Do not try to be strong. The strong ones may not please the Lord as much as those who do their best with the little power they have. You can never surpass what the Lord gives you. Simply spend what you have received from Him. Do not usurp the Lord’s grace. None among us can say that he has received nothing from the Lord. Even the least among us has received a certain amount of grace from Him. You must spend that grace, using it to do your best. If you do this, the Lord will appreciate you and say, “Good. You have a little power, yet you have kept My word with the power you have.” Do not seek to be a giant. The Lord is not happy with giants; He is happy with the little ones who have an amount of grace. Although that grace may be limited in its capacity, as long as we use it, spending it to do as much as we can to keep the Lord’s word, He will be pleased.
In verse 8 the Lord said that the church in Philadelphia kept His word. One outstanding feature of Philadelphia is that she kept the Lord’s word. According to history, no other Christians have kept the Lord’s word as strictly as these in the church in Philadelphia. Likewise, by His grace, we are keeping His word today. Although many condemn us, saying that we are heretical, among today’s Christians no one regards the Lord’s word more than we do. We keep the Word of God, not in the traditional way, but in the way of the pure Word. This offends those who want to hold the traditions of their forefathers. The church in Philadelphia does not care for tradition; she cares for the Word of God.
In verse 8 the Lord also said that the church in Philadelphia did not deny His name. Since the brothers were raised up in England in the early part of the eighteenth century, they have not taken any name other than the name of the Lord. The word is the Lord’s expression, and the name is the Lord Himself. The apostate church has deviated from the Lord’s word and become heretical. The reformed church, though recovered to the Lord’s word to some extent, has denied the Lord’s name by denominating herself with many other names, such as Lutheran, Wesleyan, Anglican, Presbyterian, and Baptist. The recovered church has not only returned to the Lord’s word in a full way, but has also abandoned all names other than that of the Lord Jesus Christ. The recovered church belongs to the Lord absolutely, having nothing to do with any denominations (any names). To deviate from the Lord’s Word is apostasy, and to denominate the church with any name other than the Lord’s is spiritual fornication. The church as the chaste virgin espoused to Christ (2 Cor. 11:2) should not have any name other than her husband’s. All other names are an abomination in the eyes of God. In the recovered church life we have no teachings of Balaam (Rev. 2:14), no teachings of the Nicolaitans (Rev. 2:15), no teachings of Jezebel (Rev. 2:20), and no mysterious doctrines of Satan (Rev. 2:24); we have only the pure Word of the Lord. Amen! The recovered church has no denominations (names), but the unique name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The deviation from the Word to heresies and the exaltation of so many names other than that of Christ are the most striking signs of degraded Christianity. The return to the pure Word from all heresies and traditions and the exaltation of the Lord’s name by abandoning every other name are the most inspiring testimony in the recovered church. This is why the church in the Lord’s recovery has the revelation and presence of the Lord and expresses the Lord in a living way, full of light and with the riches of life.
Because we have an all-sufficient name, the name above every name, we do not need the names Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, or any other names. We have only one name — the name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is a serious matter to take a name. Suppose you are Mrs. Smith. If you take the name of Mrs. Jones, it indicates that you have committed fornication. The church should have only one husband, only one name, the name of Jesus Christ. In the past, some friends in the denominations have asked me, “Why do you call yourselves the church? Why do you say that we are not the church?” I answered, “You call yourselves Presbyterian. Don’t blame me for this — you have designated yourself in this manner. If you are the church, why do you designate yourself in this way? Are you Mrs. Smith? Then why do you call yourself Mrs. Jones? When I call you Mrs. Jones and say that I am Mrs. Smith, you are jealous. Don’t blame me for this, for you have called yourself Mrs. Jones.” After this, all their mouths were shut. Do not think that a name is a small thing. We are saved in the Lord’s name. Besides His name, we should never take any other name. George Whitefield, a contemporary of John Wesley, once declared that besides the name of Jesus Christ he would have no other name. Although Whitefield was an Englishman, he renounced the name of the Church of England, not belonging to that name anymore. The church in Philadelphia does not deny the Lord’s name; she has no name other than His.
Sometimes people have argued with us, saying, “We have never denied the Lord’s name.” We replied, “Yes, you have never denied His name, but you have taken another name in addition to and even above His name. Now you have two names. Why don’t you drop the other name you have taken? If you would drop this other name, then we could be one. All other names cause divisions. You call yourself a Presbyterian. I hate that name because taking it makes me a fornicator. Since you like it and I hate it, if you still hold on to it, how can we be one? But if you drop this name, we shall immediately be one in the unique name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Some have said that the name on the outside of their so-called church building is merely an outward sign, and that they do not really care about it. If they do not care about it, then they should prove their honesty in this manner by removing that sign. But some have said that it is too difficult for them to do that because the “church” board would hinder them. To this I replied, “Then you must bear the responsibility for division.”
In verse 8 the Lord said, “Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut.” As the One who has the key of David and who opens and no one can shut, the Lord has given the recovered church “an open door which no one can shut.” Since the recovery of the proper church life began, in the early part of the nineteenth century, until now, a door has always been wide open to the Lord’s recovery. The more that organized Christianity tries to shut the door, the wider it is open. In spite of much opposition, the door today is open worldwide. The key is in the hand of the Head of the church; it is not in the hand of the opposers. Hallelujah, we have an open door! During the past fifty years, the denominations have tried their best to close this door. But the more they attempted to shut it, the more the Lord has opened it. No one can deny that there is an open door for the Lord’s recovery today. The Lord has the key. As long as we are in His recovery, the door will always be open to us.
Verse 9 says, “Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, those who call themselves Jews and are not, but lie; behold, I will cause them to come and worship before your feet, and they shall know that I have loved you.” The Jewish synagogue holds on to Judaism, which comprises the mediatorial priests, the ordinances of letters, the material temple, and the earthly promises. The recovered church has subdued Judaism by exposing its error and stubbornness in holding on to the above four things and has made the Jews know that the Lord has loved her. As we pointed out in message eleven, the Judaizers were Jews in flesh but not in spirit. Due to their stubbornness in clinging to their traditional religious concepts, they became one with Satan in opposing God’s way of life to fulfill His purpose. Hence, the Lord calls them “the synagogue of Satan.” Nevertheless, according to the epistle to the church in Philadelphia, the opposing Jews are subdued before the church, and the Lord’s love toward the church is made known to them.
All denominations are actually today’s synagogues. Do you know what a synagogue is? As revealed in Deuteronomy chapters twelve, fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen, God’s economy is to have one unique temple on earth. The Lord charged His people in Deuteronomy not to have any place as their worshipping center other than that place which He would choose. That chosen place was Jerusalem, and on the selected site God had the temple built. This unique temple not only signifies that the testimony of God must be one; it also maintains the oneness of God’s people. Eventually, however, God’s people became degraded, and, due to this degradation, division came in. As a result of this division, the people of God were scattered, having lost their unity. But since they still had to worship God and since they had no right to build the temple except on the designated site in Jerusalem, they established worshipping centers called synagogues wherever they went. A synagogue is a degraded worship center. There can be only one temple, but there are many synagogues, all of which are divisive. This is a type of the degradation of the church. As we apply this type to the church situation, we see that in God’s economy the church is uniquely one. But due to the degradation, the church was divided. In every division there is a worshipping center. These worshipping centers have become today’s synagogues. Just as the temple was unique, but the synagogues were many, so the church is unique and the denominations and free groups are many.
When the epistles to the seven churches were written, the church was being slandered by the Jewish synagogue (Rev. 2:9). But eventually, the synagogue realized that the Lord loved the church in Philadelphia. In typology, this is a sign of the real church in Philadelphia that the Lord raised up about one hundred fifty years ago. In the late 1820’s the brothers were raised up in England as the fulfillment of the church in Philadelphia. At that time, they were surrounded, not by Jewish synagogues, but by the synagogues of the denominations which criticized and slandered them. During the past fifty years, we also have been the subject of slander and rumors, and even today many rumors and slanders are circulating about us. The source of these rumors and slanders is today’s synagogues. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that the Lord loves the recovery, and eventually all the slanderers will acknowledge this fact.
While some slander us, some say, “We cannot explain why they are so strong,” others testify, “They truly understand the Bible,” and still others confess, “They always have new light.” Any light and understanding we have come from the blessing from the One who holds the key of David. Although I do not boast of myself, I may boast of the Lord’s blessing. The Lord’s recovery in this country is not the work of man. Who could do such a work? I certainly cannot. Eventually, all the critics of the Lord’s recovery will be subdued and realize that Jesus Christ loves us. Wait for another period of time and you will see more of how much the Lord loves His churches. He will vindicate His church before all the denominations. Our work is not the common work of Christianity, nor a work under human control. No, it is the work of His recovery. It is the Lord’s heart’s desire, and He loves it. When people touch this matter, they touch the apple of His eye. The Lord loves Philadelphia, and the opposing Jews of the synagogue of Satan were subdued before the church because the Lord’s love for the church was made known to them.
In verse 11 we see the Lord’s charge: “I come quickly; hold fast what you have that no one take your crown.” The recovered church has gained a crown already. However, if she does not hold fast what she has in the Lord’s recovery until the Lord comes back, her crown may be taken away by someone.
Let us now consider the promise to the overcomer in Philadelphia (Rev. 2:10-12). To overcome in this epistle means to hold fast what we have in the recovered church.
Verse 10 says, “Because you have kept the word of my endurance, I also will keep you out of the hour of trial which is about to come on the whole inhabited earth, to try them who dwell on the earth.” “The word of My endurance” is the word of the Lord’s suffering. The Lord today is still suffering rejection and persecution with His endurance. We are the joint partakers, not only of His kingdom, but also of His endurance (Rev. 1:9). Hence, His word to us today is the word of endurance. To keep the word of His endurance we must suffer His rejection and persecution.
“Trial” in this verse undoubtedly denotes the great tribulation (Matt. 24:21) “which is about to come on the whole inhabited earth,” as indicated by the fifth, sixth, and seventh trumpets with the seven bowls (Rev. 8:1-13; 9:1-21; 11:14-15; 15:1; 16:1-21). The Lord promises the recovered church that He will keep her “out of the hour of trial” (not just out of the trial, but out of the hour of trial) because she has kept the word of His endurance. This promise of the Lord, like His promise in Luke 21:36, indicates that the saints who have kept the word of the Lord’s endurance will be raptured before the great tribulation, implying that those who have not kept the word of His endurance will be left in the great tribulation.
In verse 11 the Lord tells the recovered church that He will come quickly. In this epistle the Lord brings the church in His recovery into the sensation of His coming because she loves Him. All the churches in the Lord’s recovery should love the Lord under the inspiration of His coming back. The Lord’s coming back quickly should be precious to us while we are testifying of Him in His recovery.
A crown has been given by the Lord to the recovered church. Being a reward from the Lord, this must be kept until He comes back.
In verse 12 the Lord says, “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall by no means go out anymore.” In 2:17 the overcomer becomes a transformed stone for God’s building, but here the overcomer will be made a pillar built into the temple of God. Because he is built into God’s building, “he shall by no means go out anymore.” This promise will be fulfilled in the millennial kingdom as a prize to the overcomer. To overcome in the church in Philadelphia is not to get anything or to overcome other things; it is to keep what we have received in the Lord’s recovery to the end. If you do this, the Lord will make you a pillar in God’s temple. This reminds us of Jacob’s dream in Genesis 28. After Jacob had that dream, he set up the stone which he had used for a pillow to be a pillar. That pillar was for God’s building. The overcomers in Philadelphia will be pillars in God’s temple. The principle is exactly the same today. The Lord has set up a good number of stones to be pillars in His recovery. Praise the Lord that there are many pillars among us. Once a stone has been set as a pillar into the building, it can never be removed, for it has been built in. Some stay in the church for a short while or for several months and then go away. However, if you have been built into the temple as a pillar, you could not leave even if you wanted to. If you can still go out of the church, it means that you have never been built in.
In verse 12 the Lord also promises the overcomer, saying, “I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name.” Firstly, the Lord says that He will write on the overcomer the name of God. A name is a designation. Your name designates who you are. For the overcomer to bear the name of God means that God has been wrought into him. Only when God has been wrought into us are we worthy to bear His name. This does not mean that we become God; it means that God has been wrought into us and that we are one with Him. Therefore, the Lord gives us a designation — God. “God” is upon the overcomer, indicating that he has been saturated with God. When you see him, you see God.
Secondly, the Lord promises to write upon the overcomer the name of the city of God, the New Jerusalem. For the overcomer to bear the name of the New Jerusalem means that he is a part of the New Jerusalem. This indicates that the coming New Jerusalem has been wrought into his being. Thus, the overcomer also bears the designation of the New Jerusalem. The Lord’s writing always corresponds to the facts. It would be ridiculous to write the word lion upon a monkey, or to write the word lamb upon a cat. When the Lord writes the names of God and the New Jerusalem upon us, it reveals that we are one with God and are a part of the New Jerusalem.
Finally, the Lord promises to write upon the overcomer His new name. This new name will be according to our experiences. I cannot tell you what the Lord’s new name will be because it is according to our personal experiences of Him. In other words, what we experience of the Lord will become us. We experience God, and God becomes us. We experience the New Jerusalem, and that also becomes us. We experience the Lord in an intimate, personal way, and that becomes us. Therefore, the Lord will rightly designate us, writing upon us the name of God, the name of the New Jerusalem, and His new name. This will indicate that we have become a person who is one with God, who is a part of the New Jerusalem, and who has experienced the Lord Himself as the One who makes Himself us.
The name of God, the name of New Jerusalem, and the Lord’s new name written upon the overcomer indicate that the overcomer is possessed by God, by the New Jerusalem, and by the Lord; that God Himself, His city, the New Jerusalem, and the Lord Himself all belong to him; and that he is one with God, with the New Jerusalem, and with the Lord. The name of God means God Himself, the name of the New Jerusalem means the city itself, and the name of the Lord means the Lord Himself. To write the name of God, the name of the New Jerusalem, and the name of the Lord upon the overcomer indicate that what God is, the nature of the New Jerusalem, and the Person of the Lord have all been wrought into the overcomer. The mentioning of the New Jerusalem as a prize to the overcomer indicates that this promise will be fulfilled in the millennial kingdom. The New Jerusalem in the millennial kingdom will be a prize only to the overcoming saints, whereas the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth will be the common portion of all the redeemed for eternity.
The recovered church also needs to take heed of the Spirit’s speaking. The more we love the Lord and the more we are in His recovery, the more we need the rich speaking of the intensified Spirit.
