Will you please turn to the book of Revelation?
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and none shall shut, and that shutteth, and none openeth:
I know thy works (behold, I have set before thee a door opened, which none can shut), that thou hast a little power, and didst keep My word, and didst not deny My name.
Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of them that say they are Jews, and they are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
Because thou didst keep the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, that hour which is to come upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown.
He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out thence no more: and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My God, and Mine own new name.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
Dear Lord, as we continue together in Your presence, our hearts are low before You. Lord, what hast Thou to say to us? Speak; Thy servants hear.
We commit this time into Your hand, trusting Thy Holy Spirit to open Thy Word to us. Open our hearts, speak to us, and do Thy marvelous work of transformation in our lives, to the praise of Your glory. We ask in Thy name. Amen.
Yes, we all know that during the past weeks we have been considering this matter of the house of God. That is the reason I feel led to fellowship with you, dear brothers and sisters, concerning the church in Philadelphia.
I wonder if any one of you has ever read that book by Watchman Nee called The Orthodoxy of the Church. He gave these messages in 1943 in Chongqing, the war capital. It was in the winter, and I can vividly remember.
We met in a small place at the home of a brother. That downstairs room could only hold forty people, who were packed together, sitting on stools.
Some sisters lived in North Hill, which was on the other side of Chongqing. They had to start walking down from that hill, cross the river, climb up to Chongqing, and walk through the whole city to the highest point of the city. That was where we met.
About one hundred people gathered together. Forty people were in the room; some sat on the stairways at the back, and others sat on benches placed in the lane. Think of that—it was wintertime.
But there was such a hunger and thirst after the Lord. People did not mind coming from far away and walking all the way. Night after night, people came. If I remember correctly, I think we met for eight evenings.
During that time, our brother gave us these messages on The Orthodoxy of the Church, which concerns the seven churches in Asia found in Revelation 2 and 3.
Now, brothers and sisters, we know there are a few different ways to look at these seven churches.
Number one, you can look at them from the local standpoint. That is to say, at the end of the first century, there were these seven churches in Asia Minor.
Actually, we know that in Asia Minor at that time there were more than seven churches. You remember the church in Hierapolis and the church in Colossae, but they were not mentioned here.
God purposely picked out these seven churches. But remember, they were actual local churches in Asia Minor at the end of the first century.
Number two, because the book of Revelation is a book of prophecy, you can look at these seven churches from the prophetic standpoint. That is, they show the condition of the churches from the first century until now, until the coming of the Lord.
You can really see how marvelously these seven churches picture the church throughout the centuries.
Number three, you can look at these seven churches from a spiritual standpoint—that is, to learn from these churches the spiritual lessons that God wants us to learn.
If you notice, you will find that the first three churches, from the prophetic standpoint, seem to succeed one after another. But when you come to Thyatira, you will find that the last four have the reference to the coming of the Lord.
In other words, toward the end and at the coming of the Lord, there are on earth four different kinds of churches. There is the Catholic Church, as represented by Thyatira; there is the church in Sardis, representing the Protestant Church; and then, outside of the Catholic and Protestant churches, you find churches such as Philadelphia and Laodicea.
So I believe that the last two churches have a special relationship to us today. But this morning we would like to center our attention on the church in Philadelphia.
First of all, I think we all know what Philadelphia means, because Philadelphia means brotherly love.
So my question is: Do we have brotherly love? What do you mean by brotherly love?
Let us use the twelve disciples at the time of our Lord Jesus as an example. Do you think that among the twelve disciples there was brotherly love?
Do you think Peter had brotherly love? You may say, “Well, maybe Peter had brotherly love.” Why? Because you remember he once came to the Lord and said, “My brother sins against me seven times, and I forgive him. Is that enough?”
So far as Peter was concerned, that was quite a success, because we know that Peter was an impulsive, talkative, outgoing person. For such a person to be able to forgive his own brother seven times—that is quite a feat.
Peter was very proud of himself, so he came to the Lord and said, “Would that be enough?” And the Lord said, “I do not say unto thee, Until seven times; but, Until seventy times seven.” You really forgive. Continue to forgive.
Natural love can never fulfill brotherly love. It is beyond human nature. It has to be a love that has been disciplined, dealt with, and purified.
Then you remember that among the twelve disciples, they were always arguing and quarrelling among themselves. It is evident that everyone wanted to be the greatest among them. How they argued among themselves all the time!
Even at the Lord’s Supper, they were still arguing about who was the greatest. Was that brotherly love? Certainly not.
But thank God, through Peter we learn what brotherly love really is. After he had been dealt with by the Lord, he came to understand what brotherly love really was.
Now, will you please turn to 2 Peter?
But for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply virtue; and in your virtue knowledge;
and in your knowledge self-control; and in your self-control patience; and in your patience godliness;
and in your godliness brotherly kindness; and in your brotherly kindness love.
From here you see that brotherly love is something developed in our spiritual life. It is not something natural to us. It is not with us naturally.
How often we consider ourselves as having brotherly love. But do we really have it, if we understand what brotherly love really means?
You remember when our Lord Jesus, at the time of the Last Supper, in John 13, gave us a new commandment:
A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Now, this is brotherly love. Brotherly love is supernatural. It is from the Lord; it is His life. As He has loved us, so we love one another.
In other words, it is not that we love one another through our natural love, but that we love one another after our natural love has been disciplined and purified.
It is truly the love of Christ Himself that has been built within us, and out of that we can have brotherly love.
Here you find: use all diligence. In your faith, supply virtue. In other words, it begins with faith. Without believing in the Lord Jesus, there is nothing.
But faith has to be developed and added to with virtue—that is to say, with our conduct, with our life, with the way that we really live.
Then, with virtue, knowledge. We come to a clearer knowledge, spiritual knowledge, knowledge of God. And out of knowledge comes temperance—self-control. That is, the Spirit’s control.
Then comes endurance, patience; and after endurance, godliness—like God, because it is out of God. Only after godliness do you find brotherly love, and then from brotherly love, love.
So here you find that the church in Philadelphia has brotherly love. That is something which really comes from God. It is not what they have naturally.
But because they are willing to put themselves under the discipline of the Holy Spirit, and are led by the Lord, seeking the Lord earnestly and not being self-content as if they have enough, they are patient and humble. They allow the Holy Spirit to work in their lives until brotherly love begins to appear.
Just as David said in Psalm 133:
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity!
There you find the Holy Spirit, and there you find life coming to them.
So, as we think of the church in Philadelphia, I think first of all we need to consider this matter of brotherly love. How we need to humble ourselves before the Lord, not taking pride as if we have brotherly love.
No, naturally we do not have it. We need to be led by the Holy Spirit, learn to take up the cross and follow the Lord. If we earnestly and diligently seek the Lord, this brotherly love will be given to us. Now, that is Philadelphia.
As we know, in every letter the Lord begins with a revelation of Himself. To the church in Philadelphia, He says, “These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and none shall shut, and that shutteth, and none openeth.”
That is the description of our Lord. When the Lord gives a description, revealing what He is to a certain church, that revelation, that vision of the Lord, becomes the testimony of the church.
No one church can testify to the whole thing concerning our Lord Jesus—only to some facets of our Lord Jesus. Here you find that the church in Philadelphia is given the revelation that our Lord is the Holy One.
Holy means separated, different, altogether different. This is our God. Our God is the holy God. He is different from anybody else.
You remember Hebrews 12:14: without holiness no one can see the Lord. In other words, the Bible tells us, “Be ye holy; for I am holy.” The standard of holiness is God Himself: separated, altogether different, unique, alone.
That is what God wants us to be. Humanly speaking, we like to be what other people are. We like to go with the current. We like to be accepted by the world.
But here you find that our God is the holy God. He wants us to be different. He wants us to be like He is. That is holiness.
Secondly, you find that He says, “the true.” God is the truth. His Word is true.
You remember in 2 Corinthians the Apostle Paul said that all the promises of God are “Yea and Amen” in Christ Jesus. Our God and His Word are true.
So here it pertains to how we need to keep the Word of God. Whatever He says, that is Yea and Amen. It is all true, and it is all fulfilled and realized in Christ Jesus.
Thirdly, He has the key of David: “He that openeth, and none shall shut; and that shutteth, and none openeth.”
Now we know David is king, so it shows that this is the kingdom of the heavens. Our Lord Jesus has the key to the kingdom.
The kingdom of the heavens is what our Lord preached while He was on earth. The kingdom of the heavens is the gospel that He wants us to enter, because He has the key to it. He has opened it for us and beckons us to come and enter into the kingdom of the heavens.
As we have been reading the book of Matthew, we know: how can we enter the kingdom of the heavens? When our Lord Jesus came into this earth, He came to bring that kingdom of the heavens to the earth.
But when He first came, He proclaimed, “Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Even though He had already come, the kingdom had not become a reality yet. Why? Because He had no people.
The reason He came into this world was not just to save the lost. It was for a purpose: that He would bring us into His kingdom and make us sons and daughters of the kingdom.
But how can we enter into that kingdom? Positionally, we are there, because Colossians 1 tells us that He has transferred us from the power of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of His love.
But experientially, are we there? Are we in the kingdom of heaven? Are we really sons and daughters of the kingdom? How can we enter into the kingdom of the heavens?
In Matthew 11, it tells us that the violent take it by force. This does not refer to being violent toward other people. Unfortunately, we are violent toward other people and gentle and kind to ourselves.
But what we need to do is deny ourselves, take up the cross, and follow the Lord. That is being violent, and the violent take it by force.
In other words, to enter into the kingdom of heaven is not something that we naturally enter into. It is something upon which we have to lay hold, and only the violent take hold of it.
So here you find that this is the message to the church in Philadelphia. The Lord wants His church to be violent toward themselves in order to follow the Lord.
After the Lord has revealed Himself to the church, then you find that the Lord examines the church. We all remember that vision of the seven churches, and there is One walking in the midst of the seven churches.
Our Lord Jesus in heaven is the High Priest. He is ministering not only to us individually, but He is ministering to the church as a group. He is looking into the church to see if the church really represents Himself and really carries on the testimony of Jesus.
Thank God, to the church in Philadelphia He said, “I know thy works.” The Lord knows everything, brothers and sisters.
We really do not know ourselves. Our judgment is not accurate. What we think of ourselves may not be the right judgment. The only right judgment comes from the Lord.
How blessed it is when our Lord Jesus says, “I know thy works. Thou hast a little power.”
Now, brothers and sisters, we are all seeking for power. But what is power? What is real power?
You remember Zechariah 4:6:
Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
In other words, the power is not in ourselves. The might is not in ourselves. It is in the Holy Spirit.
Here you find that these people have a little power. Today we are looking for great power, but how much of great power is real power? These are days of small things, as the Bible says.
In other words, they have a little power, but that power is real. It is not humanly manufactured; it is of the Holy Spirit. How they really depend upon the Holy Spirit, without depending in any way upon themselves. That is what the Lord desires.
He also said, “Thou didst keep My word.”
You know, brothers and sisters, our problem is that when the Word of God suits us, we accept it. When it does not seem to suit our taste, we try to ignore it, or we try to interpret it in a way that will deliver us out of its demands.
But when we come to the Word of God, we know that it is God-breathed. Every word in the Scripture is God-breathed.
So we need to approach the Word of God in a straightforward way. That is to say, whatever it says, that it is. Not because we like it, not because we think we have it.
Even if it is contrary to us, even if it seems to accuse us, we need to have that attitude: it is the Word of God. If it is the Word of God, even if it does not give us a good taste, yet we will bow to it.
Here you find these brothers and sisters in Philadelphia: they keep the Word of God, whatever it may be.
They may have to suffer for it. They may have to be dealt with by it. But they do not escape it. They accept it as it is and allow the Word of God to work in their lives, to deliver them out of themselves.
He also said, “Thou didst not deny My name.”
You remember Matthew 18:20: “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” Two or three gathered together in His name.
In other words, what is the meaning of the church? The meaning of the church is when people gather together unto the name of our Lord—not in the sense of merely using an outward name, but in the sense of putting ourselves under the name of our Lord.
The reality of the church is that every brother and sister puts himself or herself under the authority of Christ. That is the headship of Christ. In the church, man is not the head; Christ is the Head.
We all try to hold fast the Head. If we do that, then all the members of the Body will be united together and minister one to another.
Otherwise, if we gather together unto any other name, such as we find today—churches called after the name of a wonderful spiritual person, such as Luther or Wesley, and so forth—or if we gather around a kind of system or teaching, that is not really holding fast the Head and not denying the name of our Lord Jesus.
The only One unto Whom the church gathers is Christ. We all respect Him and honor Him as the Head of the church.
If we do that, then the result will be that we are united together and really able to minister one to another. I think this is something that really speaks to our hearts.
Furthermore, you find in Revelation 3:10: “Because thou didst keep the word of My patience.” Here you find especially the word of His patience. Now, what does that mean?
When our Lord Jesus was on earth, one thing that really marked Him out was His patience—how He was patient with us, even with His disciples.
When our Lord Jesus talked to His disciples, many times they could not understand. Not only that, they misunderstood; they interpreted things in a different way. Our Lord Jesus had to be patient with them. He never gave them up.
He continued with them. He continued trying to lead them upward. He was patient with them.
Our Lord was patient with this world. How the world has rejected Him, and yet He has been so patient, even patient to the twenty-first century.
Tribulation produces endurance—patience. So, dear brothers and sisters, we need to learn the word of His patience.
How often we try to give up. We give up our brothers and sisters, and even give up on ourselves. But thank God, He never gives up. He is patient with us.
These brothers and sisters kept the word of His patience. In other words, not merely because they did not agree or were not satisfied did they separate. They continued on with one another, learned from one another, and were patient with one another, knowing that this is the way our Lord teaches us.
Now, to the church in Philadelphia, we find that our Lord Jesus promises two things.
One is found in Revelation 3:10:
Because thou didst keep the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, that hour which is to come upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
Now, do you notice what our Lord Jesus is saying here? There will be an hour of trial coming upon the whole habitable world to try those who dwell upon the earth.
Without doubt, that is the great tribulation—the three and a half years of great tribulation.
We all know that the great tribulation is coming. Even the world senses it. Even the world says that the end of this world is coming.
But here is a precious promise. The Lord promised the church in Philadelphia—those who follow Him so faithfully—that when the hour of that great tribulation comes upon the whole habitable world, the Lord will keep them out of that hour.
What does it mean? It does not mean that the Lord will keep them through the hour of tribulation. It means that when the hour of the great tribulation comes, He has already taken them to Himself.
So this is the first rapture. This is what you find in Revelation 12: the man child was caught up to the throne before the great tribulation came.
The great tribulation will not come until the trinity of evil is upon this earth. Satan will be thrown upon this earth, the Antichrist will appear, and the false prophet will appear.
So when the trinity of evil is upon this earth, what can you expect but the great tribulation? But thank God, there is a precious promise that He will deliver them out of the hour of that great tribulation.
Brothers and sisters, is this not our hope, our expectation? Is this not what we are waiting for? We are not waiting for death. We are not waiting for the great tribulation. We are waiting to be taken up to the throne.
It is a welcoming party for the second coming of our Lord Jesus. So this is the first promise.
After that first promise, you find another promise:
He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out thence no more: and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My God, and Mine own new name.
In other words, there is a promise concerning the thousand-year millennial kingdom—the kingdom of the heavens when it comes upon this earth.
They will reign with Christ. There will be a pillar there. It is not only during the kingdom age, but even into eternity.
So you find, especially in the promise to the church in Philadelphia, there is not only the promise of the millennial kingdom, but even unto eternity. The New Jerusalem will not appear on earth until eternity.
Dear brothers and sisters, this is what we read about the church in Philadelphia.
Now there is one question. One day, a brother asked me, “Do you think the church in Philadelphia is an ideal church?”
When you talk about the church in Philadelphia, and when you begin to realize what a church in Philadelphia really is, what is your reaction? Do you think it is possible? Can it be real? Or is it just an ideal church?
In other words, in our mind we all have our ideals, but they are something that cannot be reached. We make them a goal, but we never reach them. Brothers and sisters, is that your impression?
I think not. Why? Because at the end of the first century, the Lord had already gained on earth this church in Philadelphia.
In other words, it is a reality. It is not an ideal.
I hope, brothers and sisters, that we will not take it as an ideal, but look to it as a reality—that by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, this will be real even among us. That should be our prayer.
So I hope, as we review this church in Philadelphia, may we all have that prayer: “Lord, may Thy grace come upon us in such a way that we may be before Thee as a church in Philadelphia, to the praise and glory of God.”
Dear Lord, we do humble ourselves before Thee, acknowledging, Lord, that we are far from being what the church in Philadelphia is—what Thou art expecting of us.
Oh, dear Lord, we do pray that Thou wilt give us such a spirit of humility that we may bow lower and lower before Thee, and allow Thee to work in our lives until Thou wilt raise us up to Thy own standard.
It is Thy working. It is Thee, not we. Lord, we look unto Thee. Have mercy upon us. We ask in Thy precious name.