The vision and experience of christ in his resurrection and ascension
Message Seven
The Church in Philadelphia
Scripture Reading: Rev. 3:7-13; 1 John 3:14
I. As a sign, the church in Philadelphia prefigures the church of brotherly love, the recovery of the proper church life, from the early part of the nineteenth century to the second appearing of the Lord—Rev. 3:7:
A. 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—v. 1; 2:18.
B. This reaction will continue as an anti-testimony to both apostate Catholicism and degraded Protestantism until the Lord comes back—3:11.
II. In Greek Philadelphia means "brotherly love"—v. 7:
A. The components of the Greek word Philadelphia mean "to have affection for" and "a brother," hence, a brotherly affection, a love characterized by delight and pleasure—2 Pet. 1:7.
B. In godliness, which is the expression of God, this love needs to be supplied for the brotherhood (1 Pet. 2:17; 3:8; Gal. 6:10), for our testimony to the world (John 13:34-35), and for the bearing of fruit (15:16-17).
C. The church in Philadelphia prophetically depicts the church of brotherly love, that is, the proper church life—Rev. 3:7:
1. The church of brotherly love was a reaction to the dead reformed church.
2. The church of brotherly love started in the early part of the nineteenth century, when the brothers were raised up in England to practice the church life outside the system of sects and divisions, and it will continue until the Lord comes back—v. 11.
D. "We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers. He who does not love abides in death"—1 John 3:14:
1. To pass out of death into life is to pass out of the source, the essence, the element, and the sphere of death into the source, the essence, the element, and the sphere of life; this took place in us at our regeneration—John 3:3, 5-6; 5:24.
2. Love (the love of God) toward the brothers is strong evidence that we have passed out of death into life—1 John 3:14:
a. Faith in the Lord is the way for us to pass out of death into life; love toward the brothers is the evidence that we have passed out of death into life.
b. To have faith is to receive the eternal life (John 3:15); to love is to live by the eternal life that we have received—1 John 5:13; 4:7.
c. Such unspeakable love can issue only from genuine faith:
1. A person loves for no other reason than the fact that the other person is a brother.
2. There is an unspeakable feeling and taste toward each other; this feeling and taste are a proof that we have passed out of death into life.
3. Not loving the brothers is evidence that one is not living by the essence and element of the divine love and is not remaining in the sphere of that love—3:14b.
4. "In this we know love, that He laid down His life on our behalf, and we ought to lay down our lives on behalf of the brothers"—v. 16:
a. A love for the brothers is a willingness to lay ourselves aside to serve them—Gal. 5:13.
b. To love the brothers is to be willing to deny oneself for the perfection of others and to have a heart that is willing to lay down one's own life for his brothers.
III. "These things says the Holy One, the true One, the One who has the key of David, the One who opens and no one will shut, and shuts and no one opens"—Rev. 3:7:
A. 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.
B. To the church of brotherly love, the Lord is also the One who has the key of David, the key of the kingdom, with authority to open and shut—v. 7; Isa. 22:22:
1. This is the key of the treasury of the house of God, which is typified by the house of David, for the building up of the kingdom of God—39:2; 2 Sam. 7:16:
a. The church is both God's house and God's kingdom—1 Tim. 3:15; Matt. 16:18-19; Rom. 14:17.
b. The key of David is for the keeping of all the treasures of the house of God, which are all the riches of Christ for our enjoyment—Eph. 3:8.
2. The key of David opens the whole universe for God—Isa. 22:22; Rev. 3:7:
a. 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; therefore, He holds the key of David—Matt. 1:1; 12:3-8; 16:18-19.
b. The fact that Christ has the key of David signifies that He is the center of God's economy; He is the One who expresses God and represents Him, the One who holds the key to open everything in God's dominion—Col. 1:15-18.
IV. "I have put before you an opened door which no one can shut, because you have a little power and have kept My word and have not denied My name"—Rev. 3:8:
A. 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 opened door which no one can shut":
1. Through the years the Lord's recovery has experienced the Lord as such a One.
2. Since the recovery of the proper church life began in the early part of the nineteenth century, a door has always been opened wide to the Lord's recovery.
3. Although many opposers have risen up against the Lord's recovery and have tried to shut the door, Christ is the One who has the key of David, and what He opens, no one can shut.
B. One outstanding feature of the church in Philadelphia is that she keeps the Lord's word—v. 8:
1. According to history, no other Christians have kept the Lord's word as strictly as the church in Philadelphia.
2. The church in Philadelphia, the recovered church, does not care for tradition; she cares for the word of God—cf. Matt. 15:6b.
C. The church in Philadelphia keeps the Lord's word with the little power that she has—Rev. 3:8:
1. We should not regard the church in Philadelphia as being strong, powerful, and prevailing; the Lord said that she had "a little power."
2. What pleases the Lord is not that we are strong but that we use our little power to do the best we can.
3. Although the amount of grace we have received 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—Rom. 12:6; Eph. 4:7; 1 Pet. 4:10.
D. In Revelation 3:8 the Lord says that the church in Philadelphia has not denied His name:
1. The Lord's word is His expression, and the Lord's name is the Lord Himself.
2. The recovered church not only has returned in a full way to the Lord's word but also has abandoned all names other than that of the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. The recovered church belongs to the Lord absolutely, having nothing to do with any denominations (any names).
E. 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—2:14-15, 20.
F. 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—3:8.