2022-5丨General Subject：Loving the Lord and Loving One Another for the Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ

General Subject：Loving the Lord and Loving One Another for the Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ

Message Eight Taking the God-ordained Pathway for the Church— the Way of Philadelphia—according to the Lord’s Up-to-date and Ultimate Recovery to Bring Us into a New Revival to Turn the Age

III. The characteristic of the overcomers in Philadelphia is their endeavoring to enter into the God-man living by enjoying the riches of Christ as their indwelling treasure—Eph. 3:8; 2 Cor. 4:7:

Eph. 3:8 To me, less than the least of all saints, was this grace given to announce to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel

2 Cor. 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us.

A. In Isaiah 22 God fired Shebna, a steward in the house of the king (vv. 15-19), and replaced him with Eliakim, a type of the all-inclusive Christ as the Steward in God's house, the One upon whose shoulder the key of the house of God is set (vv. 20-25; Rev. 3:7-8); Christ has the key to control the door of God's treasury, in which are the riches of God in Christ for our enjoyment (1 Thes. 5:16-19; 1 John 1:7, 9; cf. Ezek. 1:22, 26):

Isa. 22:1 The burden concerning the valley of vision: What then troubles you / That all have gone up to the housetops?

Isa. 22:2 You who are full of noise, you tumultuous city, / You exultant town, / Your slain were not slain with the sword, / Nor are they dead because of battle.

Isa. 22:3 All your rulers have fled together; / Apart from the bow they have been captured. / All of you who were found have been captured together, / Though they had fled far away.

Isa. 22:4 Therefore I said, Look away from me! / Let me weep bitterly. / Do not hasten to comfort me / About the destruction of the daughter of my people.

Isa. 22:5 For there is a day of turmoil and trampling down and confusion / With the Lord Jehovah of hosts / In the valley of vision, a breaking down of walls / And crying to the mountains.

Isa. 22:6 And Elam took up the quiver, / With chariots of men and horsemen; / And Kir uncovered the shield.

Isa. 22:7 Then your choicest valleys / Were full of chariots, / And the horsemen firmly fixed themselves at the gate;

Isa. 22:8 And he removed the covering of Judah. / And you looked in that day / To the weapons of the Forest House,

Isa. 22:9 While the breaches of the city of David / You saw to be many. / So you gathered the water of the lower pool;

Isa. 22:10 And the houses of Jerusalem you counted, / And tore down the houses to fortify the wall.

Isa. 22:11 Then you made a reservoir between the walls / For the water of the old pool. / But you did not look to its very Maker, / And Him who formed it long ago you did not regard.

Isa. 22:12 Therefore the Lord Jehovah of hosts / Called you in that day / To weeping and to mourning, / To head shaving and to wearing sackcloth.

Isa. 22:13 But now there is gladness and joy, / The slaying of cattle and the slaughtering of sheep, / The eating of meat and the drinking of wine; / Eating and drinking, for tomorrow we die!

Isa. 22:14 But in my ears Jehovah of hosts revealed this: / This iniquity shall by no means be covered for you until you die, / Says the Lord Jehovah of hosts.

Isa. 22:15 Thus says the Lord Jehovah of hosts: / Get up, go to this steward, / To Shebna, who is over the king's house, saying,

Isa. 22:16 What are you doing here, and whom do you have here / That you have hewn a tomb for yourself here, / As he who has hewn a tomb on the heights, / As he who has cut out a resting place for himself in the rock?

Isa. 22:17 Jehovah soon throws you far away, O mighty one, / And He grasps you firmly;

Isa. 22:18 He will wind you up tightly; / Like a ball He will toss you into a wide land. / There you will die; and there the chariots of your glory / Will become the disgrace of the house of your master.

Isa. 22:19 And I will drive you from your position, / And from your standing He will pull you down.

Isa. 22:20 And in that day / I will call to My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,

Isa. 22:21 And I will clothe him with your tunic, / And I will strengthen him with your girding sash, / And I will put your dominion into his hand; / And he will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem / And to the house of Judah.

Isa. 22:22 And I will set the key of the house of David upon his shoulder—/ When he opens, no one will shut; / When he shuts, no one will open.

Isa. 22:23 And I will drive him as a peg into a sure place, / And he will become a throne of glory for his father's house.

Isa. 22:24 And they will hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all the smallest vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.

Isa. 22:25 In that day, declares Jehovah of hosts, the peg driven into the sure place will be removed, even cut away, and it will fall; and the burden that was upon it will be cut down; for Jehovah has spoken.

Isa. 22:15 Thus says the Lord Jehovah of hosts: / Get up, go to this steward, / To Shebna, who is over the king's house, saying,

Isa. 22:17 Jehovah soon throws you far away, O mighty one, / And He grasps you firmly;

Isa. 22:19 And I will drive you from your position, / And from your standing He will pull you down.

Isa. 22:20 And in that day / I will call to My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,

Isa. 22:22 And I will set the key of the house of David upon his shoulder—/ When he opens, no one will shut; / When he shuts, no one will open.

Isa. 22:23 And I will drive him as a peg into a sure place, / And he will become a throne of glory for his father's house.

Isa. 22:24 And they will hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all the smallest vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.

Rev. 3:7 And to the messenger of the church in Philadelphia write: 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. 3:8 I know your works; behold, 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.

1 Thes. 5:16 Always rejoice,

1 Thes. 5:17 Unceasingly pray,

1 Thes. 5:18 In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thes. 5:19 Do not quench the Spirit;

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from every sin.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Ezek. 1:22 And over the heads of the living creature there was the likeness of an expanse, like the sight of awesome crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.

Ezek. 1:26 And above the expanse that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, like the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne was One in appearance like a man, above it.

1. When God created us, He hired us, and when He put us on the cross, crucifying us with Christ, He fired us—Gal. 2:20.

Gal. 2:20 I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

2. Whatever or whoever is not Christ, God fires; God has replaced everything in His Old Testament economy with Christ—Mark 1:1-8; Matt. 17:3-5; Col. 2:16-17; Heb. 10:5-10; 11:5-6.

Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,

Mark 1:2 Even as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way,

Mark 1:3 A voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight His paths."

Mark 1:4 John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins.

Mark 1:5 And all the region of Judea went out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

Mark 1:6 And John was clothed in camel's hair and had a leather girdle around his loins, and he ate locusts and wild honey.

Mark 1:7 And he preached, saying, He who is stronger than I comes after me, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.

Mark 1:8 I have baptized you in water, but He Himself will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.

Matt. 17:3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with Him.

Matt. 17:4 And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You are willing, I will make three tents here, one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah.

Matt. 17:5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is My Son, the Beloved, in whom I have found My delight. Hear Him!

Col. 2:16 Let no one therefore judge you in eating and in drinking or in respect of a feast or of a new moon or of the Sabbath,

Col. 2:17 Which are a shadow of the things to come, but the body is of Christ.

Heb. 10:5 Therefore, coming into the world, He says, "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me.

Heb. 10:6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You did not delight.

Heb. 10:7 Then I said, Behold, I have come (in the roll of the book it is written concerning Me) to do Your will, O God."

Heb. 10:8 Saying above, "Sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You did not desire nor delight in" (which are offered according to the law),

Heb. 10:9 He then has said, "Behold, I have come to do Your will." He takes away the first that He may establish the second,

Heb. 10:10 By which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Heb. 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated so that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God had translated him. For before his translation he obtained the testimony that he had been well pleasing to God.

Heb. 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to Him, for he who comes forward to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

3. The real church life is a life in which all the saints are fired and replaced with Christ, making Christ everything in the church; all of us are Shebnas, who should be removed and replaced by Christ as the real Eliakim to make us His duplication as stewards of the mysteries of God and the varied grace of God—Col. 3:10-11; 1 Cor. 4:1; 1 Pet. 4:10.

Col. 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,

Col. 3:11 Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all.

1 Cor. 4:1 A man should account us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

1 Pet. 4:10 Each one, as he has received a gift, ministering it among yourselves as good stewards of the varied grace of God.

4. In the New Testament Christ's replacing of us is altogether a matter of a grafted life; as wild olive branches, we have been grafted into Christ as the cultivated olive tree (Rom. 11:17, 24); thus, we are united with Christ, and in this union Christ replaces us.

Rom. 11:17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them and became a fellow partaker of the root of fatness of the olive tree,

Rom. 11:24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree and were grafted contrary to nature into the cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree!

5. Because we have been joined to Christ, and Christ joined Himself to us, uniting Himself with us, when He died on the cross, we died with Him and were terminated; now in our organic union with Christ, He replaces us by living in us, with us, by us, and through us—6:6; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:19-21a; Rom. 8:16; 1 Cor. 6:17.

Rom. 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man has been crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be annulled, that we should no longer serve sin as slaves;

Phil. 1:19 For I know that for me this will turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

Phil. 1:20 According to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I will be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death.

Phil. 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Rom. 8:16 The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God.

1 Cor. 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.

6. We live, yet not we, but Christ lives in us, and we live by the faith of the Son of God; this indicates a union with Christ; on the one hand, we are fired, and on the other hand, we are not expelled, for Christ comes to live in us, with us, by us, and through us (Gal. 2:20); thus, the all-inclusive Christ as Immanuel (Isa. 7:14) replaces everything and becomes everything in God's economy (Col. 3:10-11).

Isa. 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and will bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel.

Col. 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,

Col. 3:11 Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all.

B. In order to enjoy the riches of God in Christ as the treasure, we need to remain in the touch with the Lord, staying in contact with the Lord according to the sense of life and exercising ourselves to be poor in spirit and pure in heart—2 Cor. 2:10; Rom. 8:6; 10:12-13; Col. 3:16; Matt. 5:3, 8.

2 Cor. 2:10 But whom you forgive anything, I also forgive; for also what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, it is for your sake in the person of Christ;

Rom. 8:6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.

Rom. 10:12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all and rich to all who call upon Him;

Rom. 10:13 For "whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Col. 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.

Matt. 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.

Matt. 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

C. In order to enjoy the riches of God in Christ as the treasure, we need to use the “keys” of denying the self, taking up the cross, and losing the soul-life—Rev. 3:7; Isa. 22:15-24; Matt. 16:18-19, 24-25; 17:5, 8.

Isa. 22:15 Thus says the Lord Jehovah of hosts: / Get up, go to this steward, / To Shebna, who is over the king's house, saying,

Isa. 22:17 Jehovah soon throws you far away, O mighty one, / And He grasps you firmly;

Isa. 22:19 And I will drive you from your position, / And from your standing He will pull you down.

Isa. 22:20 And in that day / I will call to My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,

Isa. 22:22 And I will set the key of the house of David upon his shoulder—/ When he opens, no one will shut; / When he shuts, no one will open.

Isa. 22:23 And I will drive him as a peg into a sure place, / And he will become a throne of glory for his father's house.

Isa. 22:24 And they will hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all the smallest vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.

Matt. 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

Matt. 16:19 I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatever you bind on the earth shall have been bound in the heavens, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have been loosed in the heavens.

Matt. 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.

Matt. 16:25 For whoever wants to save his soul-life shall lose it; but whoever loses his soul-life for My sake shall find it.

Matt. 17:5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is My Son, the Beloved, in whom I have found My delight. Hear Him!

Matt. 17:8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.

Christ today holds the key of this house, this kingdom. Isaiah 22:22 says that Jehovah would set the key of the house of David upon Eliakim’s shoulder...The key that God has put on the shoulder of Christ is a great one. Such a big key indicates that the door which it opens is big and thick. Such a door would be a stronghold to protect and keep the treasures of the house of God...The treasures today in the house of God are all the riches of Christ.

According to Isaiah 22, Shebna was “fired” and replaced by Eliakim as the steward over the king’s house. Darby said that Shebna typifies a false Christ. He should be removed and replaced by Christ. Christ should not be replaced by us. Instead, we should be replaced by Christ. All of us are “Shebnas” who should be removed and replaced by the real Eliakim...We should not allow anything or anyone, including ourselves, to replace Christ. We need to be replaced by Christ. He Himself must be everything in us and to us.

Christ has a big key to open the treasury of all His riches. When He opens the treasury, no one will shut. When He shuts the treasury, no one will open. Christ is the One who can open up to us all the riches of God embodied in Him. He can also shut the door to these riches. Sometimes we experience the door of the divine treasures being open to us to flood into us. But at other times we may do something to offend the Lord. Then we have the sensation that the door is shut and that the riches coming to us are stopped. His opening and His shutting are all for one thing—the enjoyment of His riches as the treasure.

I believe the direct application of Isaiah 22:22 is this—Christ has the key to control the door of God’s treasury, in which are the riches of God in Christ for our enjoyment. We have experienced both His opening of these riches to us and His shutting up of these riches. When He shuts up these riches, we have the feeling of being dried up or inwardly deprived. Our experience indicates that Christ is the One who has the key to all of His riches. (Life-study of Isaiah, pp. 292-295)

We all have to contact the Lord, to fellowship with Him, to touch Him. The most spiritual person is the one who remains in the touch with the Lord the most. We need to pray, “Lord, I just come to touch You. I have nothing to ask of You. I do not even like to ask You to do anything for me. I just like to remain in the touch with You. I do have some burden to pray for Your recovery, for Your interest, yet I do not like to do it. I just like to remain in this touch.” (CWWL, 1980, vol. 1, “Perfecting Training,” pp. 338-340)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1980, vol. 1, “Perfecting Training,” ch. 33; The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 238; Life-study of Revelation, msgs. 15-16