Good morning. I would like to read from Revelation 3.
This morning, we are looking into the testimony of the church in Philadelphia. The letter to the messenger of the church in Philadelphia begins in Revelation 3:7.
And to the angel of the assembly 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 assemblies.
Let us pray together.
Lord, with joyful hearts and love united, we come this morning and worship You together. Lord, we come as Your people, and we come to Your Word as Your people, as one people looking to the Head to speak to us.
Lord, we open our hearts to hear You. Our ears are willing. Lord, we want to step into the things that You show us. We want to experience the truth. So we pray that You would meet us in this time as we look into Your Word.
We pray that You would bless this time, bless Your Word, that it would be truly fruitful in our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.
This church of Philadelphia is one of seven churches mentioned in the first few chapters of Revelation. I know I say this every time, but every time we have some new people here. Also, I think it is helpful to remember the whole viewpoint—the whole package of what is going on.
But this time, of all the times, is the most joyful letter. It is the most joyful experience. Some people have come up to me after other messages on the different churches and said, “I can’t wait until Philadelphia, because this one is all encouragement.” We actually do not hear any rebuke. So we all breathe a sigh of relief this morning. We are like, “Wow, this is so encouraging. We are not in trouble.”
This church is very unique among the seven. What is happening with these seven churches, as we have mentioned before, is that the Lord is looking at them. He is ministering and walking among them, but He is looking to see whether they shine or testify of Himself.
Every time, He is looking for Himself. Finally, He has found Himself in this church in Philadelphia. They have the crown. They are expressing Christ. They are shining as they ought to shine.
As we share on the testimony of the church in Philadelphia this morning, it is really encouraging to consider. If we step aside from ourselves and step onto the Lord’s side, we can see that He is smiling as He writes His letter to them. There is a type of joy in His pen as He writes, “Hold fast what you have, so that no one takes your crown. I have set before you an open door, that you can walk in this.”
There is joy behind the Lord’s voice. If we set aside the consideration of where we are and consider what the Lord cares about, we should also be joyful to see that there are some testifying of Christ, and that the Lord can say, “Have you seen My church, Philadelphia? Have you seen this testimony right here that does what they ought to be doing?”
In this church, a reward is mentioned. One of them is the pillar: “I will make you a pillar in the temple of My God.” Even to this day, in the ruins of the area of the city of Philadelphia, there are pillars standing.
Among the churches, it almost feels as though this church is a pillar among them. There are actually two churches that did not receive rebuke. One is the church in Smyrna, the second of the seven; this is the sixth of the seven. These two churches are really parallel.
The church in Smyrna is a little different because they were suffering. They were under persecution. The Lord said, “If you are faithful unto death, I will give you the crown of life.” In Philadelphia, in a similar way, He says, “You have the crown; hold on to it.”
With the church in Smyrna, He is preparing them for what they are about to go through. There is nothing wrong with them. They are about to gain their testimony through suffering. It mentions that they had already suffered a little, but that ten days of much suffering were coming, and the call was to be faithful.
So, as we read that, we can say that they also have a testimony in suffering. There is no rebuke, really. Sometimes, in talking among ourselves, if we look at Christianity or consider how we are in the church, there can be an odd wish—a strange desire: “I wish we were under persecution.”
I think this is unfortunate. I am not saying that I wish this, but I have talked with some people and understand what they mean. They say, “I wish we were under persecution. Then we would all be right. Then we would have to make our choice. Then it is either follow Jesus or do not follow Jesus.”
It is true that the Lord uses suffering and persecution to make the church right. In the end times, if we are left behind, if the Lord comes as a thief—as He mentions to the church in Sardis—and we miss out and go through tribulation, it is actually to prepare us for the Lord.
But how much better, without suffering and without needing to be forced to testify of Christ, to willingly choose to be a living martyr without having to die as a martyr.
I think many of us, by God’s grace, would receive special grace if it came to the point of being faithful unto death. The Lord would give us grace if we held on to Him. By His grace, we would be able to be faithful unto death. The grace is there.
But the grace is also here upon us this morning to testify of Christ and be living witnesses without persecution. The church does not need persecution in order to be right. We do not need suffering in order to express Christ.
The prayer of the saints, as you find in 1 Timothy 2, when praying for the government situation or for rulers in your country, is for peace. You are not praying for persecution. You are praying for peace so that we would have the ability to freely preach the good news, because God desires that all men would be saved.
It is more difficult with persecution. Thank God that there is a testimony found in suffering. But how much better, and how much more joyful to the Lord, when we willingly choose, like this church in Philadelphia, to testify of Christ without suffering. That was their experience.
I said that Smyrna and Philadelphia are parallel. Actually, among the seven churches, all of them except the church in Thyatira are parallel with one another. If you study this on your own, you can see that three and three match up.
The church in Ephesus matches with the church in Sardis, which we shared on last time. You can find many similar phrases and experiences. The seventh church, Laodicea, matches with what happened in the church in Pergamos. It is a neat study, but there are too many details to get into.
As a side note, every time we miss out on all kinds of details on purpose, because we are trying to focus more carefully on one aspect of these churches. There is so much content and so many helpful things that we should fellowship about.
One particular thing is the expression of the churches. That is why we spend perhaps too much time on their expression—their testimony. It is on purpose, though. So if I get in trouble with you afterward, I already know I am in trouble. When I prepare, I feel like I am in trouble.
But the one thing we need to get across is this: What should this church in Philadelphia really express? What is the light of this golden lampstand? What does it shine when it reflects Christ?
The clue is at the beginning of each letter that the Lord writes. The clue is His description of Himself. All the testimony that the Lord desires is the testimony of Christ. With each local church mentioned here, He gives a unique aspect of Himself.
In the church in Philadelphia, He describes Himself in a way that is rather striking. With the other churches, His descriptions seem to be found in Revelation 1. In this one, it is more difficult to find the description in Revelation 1. It is almost as though there is a further revelation of Christ, or of the testimony of Christ.
Last time, with the church in Sardis, part of the testimony was the seven stars that the Lord has. I did not get to mention much about that, but I want to bring out one aspect as it especially relates to this church.
The seven stars are interpreted in Revelation 1 as the seven angels of the seven churches. These messengers, or angels, would take a whole message to explain. There is a book coming out at the conference, The Key to Revelation, which has a whole chapter on the seven stars, and it is amazing.
But for what we are considering, I want to bring out one point. The letters are written to the angels, or messengers, of the churches rather than directly to the churches. This should seem odd to us.
At the same time, the Lord says, “Whoever has an ear to hear, let him hear.” He is speaking, but He does not write to all the saints in Philadelphia as other New Testament letters do: all the saints in Rome, all the saints in Philippi. In this case, it is as though something is wrong.
Instead, He is writing to whoever is listening. It is almost as though there is a messenger—an overcomer—who is listening, willing, and bearing the testimony. He writes to them because no one else is listening.
Whoever has the ear to hear receives the letter. But if you do not have the ear to hear, even though you are part of the church, you may not be listening. The letter is not for you.
It is just like the book of Revelation itself. It says that it was written to the Lord’s bondservants. If you are not one of His bondservants, the book of Revelation is very difficult to read. It is a closed book unless you are willing to obey and respond.
This has something to do with the testimony of the church in Philadelphia today. The wonderful thing is that He writes to the messenger of this assembly, but He could have written to the whole assembly. They all had the ear to hear.
The whole church was bearing the testimony. They all were priests in the house of God. It was not just a few who were serving. They all were functioning as members of the body of Christ.
It is almost like a joyful surprise to the Lord. He writes, “Whoever is listening,” and the response comes back, “We are all listening.” What an amazing and joyful surprise to the Lord as He writes the letter.
Of course, He is never surprised—He knows all things. But in the condition of the church, which is not in its perfect original state, He has to write to those who are listening. Yet they all had the ability to listen. We all have the ability to receive this letter.
With that said, this testimony begins, “These things saith He that is holy, He that is true.” I am going to divide the testimony into a couple of parts: the holy and the true.
This phrase is also found in Revelation 6, where the martyrs say, “O Sovereign Lord, the holy and true.” The ones who say this are martyrs. They are under the altar, crying, “How long? How long until You take vengeance?”
Their description of Christ is the same as this testimony, and I think that is interesting. For them to call Him that means that this is how they know Him. They know Him as the Holy and the True.
We have said that the church in Smyrna, the suffering church, also has the testimony. If you compare that church with these martyrs, almost by default, if you come under this kind of persecution, you will discover the testimony of the Lord as holy and true.
In a sense, you almost have to. If you are faithful unto death, that will be your experience. But this church can testify of Him as holy and true without being forced into it.
When we consider Him as holy and true, the subject is very broad. If we consider everything in Scripture, we could get lost. Many of us could meditate on how the Lord is holy, how He says, “Be holy, for I am holy,” how the Lord Jesus came full of truth, and how He is the way, the life, and the truth.
We know these concepts. We may know something about holiness, reality, truth, walking in truth, and having truth abide in us. So how do we narrow this down for the church in Philadelphia?
An initial place to consider is to compare it with the other churches. We should also see a reflection in the letter as it continues. There should be aspects of the holy and the true as the Lord describes their situation. I think there are, and this gives us a narrower focus.
With the seven churches, we have mentioned each time that these were originally local churches, but they also represent the whole church spiritually. We are all hearing something from the Lord when He says, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.”
At the same time, there are church periods in history. In this age of grace, there are seven periods in which the Lord works with the church in a unique way.
It is similar to the age of the law, which had different periods. There was a time with Moses and Joshua; then it changed, and there were judges; then it changed, and there were kings. These were periods within the larger age of the law.
Before that, in the age of promise, there were also different periods. In our great age of grace, where generally everything is the same concerning God’s grace and the way He works with mankind, there are sections of time called out and described in Scripture.
With each of these sections, something unique happens. There was a section of time represented by the church in Philadelphia. Because of our focus and the amount of time we have, we cannot get deeply into the historical part, but I want to use it to consider the testimony.
Throughout these periods, things eventually got worse. It began with the church in Ephesus, in the time of the apostles as they were dying out. Remember that the church in Ephesus lost its first love.
They were still holy in their practice. Holiness, as far as God is holy and calls us to be holy, means that He is different from common things. He is completely unique and different. God is holy. He is other than this world. He is not of this world.
Sometimes holiness is not even primarily about sin. God is different. He is unique and set apart. As we experience holiness, we are different from the world.
In the original times of the church, believers were different from the world. People discovered them and said, “This is the Way. These are people of a way, and their way is different from the world’s way.” They were uniquely different. They were walking in another way.
As they continued to express the church, they were called Christians because they were not Jews, not merely a section of Judaism, and not followers of some new Greek god. This was something totally different. These were followers of Christ, and there was something holy about them.
Jesus said that we are not of this world. We are in the world, but we are not of it. There is this holiness. In the church in Ephesus, they were different in their practices. They outwardly maintained the way of the church.
But the church in Ephesus also had truth. They had the correctness of truth. Yet truth that is only correctness falls into mere teaching.
When Jesus speaks about truth, He says that He will give the Spirit of truth, that we will know the truth, and that the truth will set us free. When we truly touch truth as God understands it, there is an experience involved.
When you touch truth, there should be a response of reality or life. There should be obedience to truth. Our first touch of truth is the truth of the good news. When you hear the good news, you have the choice to obey it by believing on the Lord and confessing Him as Lord, or to reject it.
But merely agreeing with the teachings of the good news is different. Many of us grew up agreeing with the teaching of Christianity’s good news, yet we were not set free by truth. All we had was teaching.
You can be a Christian in your mind and agree with the teaching of Christ, but the truth has not set you free. You do not have the Spirit of truth; all you have is teachings.
With the Lord Jesus, truth is always connected with willingness to do God’s will. If you are willing to do God’s will, then you can know the truth.
This is what happened in John 6. The people wondered how Jesus understood these things. He had no formal theological education. They asked, “How do we know that what You say is true?”
Jesus told them that whoever desires to practice God’s will will know whether His teaching is truth. If we desire to do God’s will, we can discover truth.
That is what happened when Jesus walked on the earth. As He taught, people said, “This man teaches with authority. He does not teach as our learned scribes and Pharisees teach.” There was a difference because His teaching was truth, not merely teaching, and it set them free.
I remember my theology and Bible classes in college. With every teaching, we had to learn many different sides of the issue and all the various arguments. One thing I noticed about all my professors was that they would not tell me which view was right.
When I caught them by themselves, they usually told me that they did not know. So I learned many teachings, and it was very confusing.
I remember a bookstore in the Old City of Jerusalem. They had a weekly rabbi discussion. Jewish men with free time would gather together, bring their Old Testament Scriptures, and bring books of rabbinic teachings.
When they argued, they mainly argued from the rabbis’ teachings. They would say, “Rabbi so-and-so said this,” and then they would argue with one another. They loved this kind of arguing, but they never actually came to know what was true or right. You can win an argument for a day.
But it is different when someone shares something that is really true and we are willing to follow the Lord. There is an “Amen” in your heart. You say, “Ah, that is right.”
It is not only an amen in your heart. There is also an inward response: “Oh, I need to do that. I need to walk that way now.” That is truth. That is the testimony of truth. That is the experience.
The church in Ephesus had this experience in the past, but because they lost their first love, it was changing. Their holiness became an outward structure of holiness without the presence of the holy God. Their truth became the correctness of teaching, but they were losing the liberating reality of truth.
They could identify Nicolaitanism and reject it. When the Nicolaitans came saying, “You need leaders to take over; there must be clergy and a difference among Christians,” the Ephesians said, “Of course that is not true. Look at these Scriptures.”
They could quickly reject those who said that they were apostles but were not. They discerned quickly because they understood the teaching. But something had begun to change.
By the time of the church in Pergamos, the church had been delivered from persecution. Then, in the time when Constantine merged everything together in an effort to help the church, everything became confusing.
As the church in Pergamos became joined with the world, doing many good things that the world did, holiness was lost. The separation was lost.
Celebrations and practices became common with what was happening in the Roman Empire. Things on the pagan side were baptized into Christian terminology, and even Christian things were twisted to become more pagan, so that everybody would feel common with one another.
There was no more holiness in the church. This became extreme by the sixth century with the rise of the Roman Catholic Church, represented by the church in Thyatira.
When the Reformation came, there was a realization that much truth had been lost. There was a reaction against concepts such as buying one’s way into heaven. Gradually, much holiness and much truth were regained.
Over years and years, different ones recovered more holiness and more truth. The truth became their experience. They suffered for these things and even paid the price with their lives for the truths they pursued. The truth was setting them free.
Something was still wrong, though. Every time this recovery happened, there was a hindrance. Maybe they went beyond the age of Pergamos and were no longer merged with the world, but every time there was something stuck.
The Lord said to the church in Sardis, “I have not found thy works perfected.” You go so far with holiness, but not all the way. You go so far with truth, but there is a place where you stop. You are not willing to go further.
There is a willingness to obey the Lord except when it touches a particular area. Many of us can identify with that.
Consider the truth of the priesthood of all believers. It was recovered in teaching, known, and understood, but it did not immediately set people free because they were unwilling to practice it.
To practice it would have required further holiness. It would mean that the whole country of Germany could not simply be accepted into the church of Germany. It would mean setting apart those who were born again.
If the priesthood of all believers was truly practiced, what would happen to all the unbelievers who were considered part of the church? It was too much. It was too much to lose the power of government and kings behind the Reformation. It was too much to be only a small church.
When the age of the church in Philadelphia came in, they were willing to go all the way. They were willing to be despised, to receive shame, and to be called other things. This was shocking to the world.
These men were willing to be holy and completely set apart from the world. These brothers and sisters were willing to obey the truth, even when it was different from what they saw around them.
For them, things were unlocked. There was an open door, and truth was discovered as never before. This is commonly called the Brethren movement. In the beginning, they were simply called brethren because they said, “We do not have a name. We are just brothers and sisters.”
In the nineteenth century, they discovered this open door because they were set apart unto the Lord. Unlike those in the past, they were willing to give themselves completely to the Lord.
This was not merely a personal matter. Even in church practice, they began to examine the Scriptures and ask, “Is this pleasing to the Lord? Is this structure that we are following from the Lord?”
In light of this, they discovered many things. The whole church has benefited, and today we have benefited much from the teaching, the fire of the gospel, and the desire for the Lord’s return that came from this period.
The way was opened up. The door was widely opened through them. Their testimony was that He is holy and true. Because they had that testimony, the Lord was able to do something special with them.
The next aspect of the testimony is that the Lord Jesus says, “These things saith He that hath the key of David.” They have the testimony of the Holy and the True, and then the Lord says, “I have the key of David. I open what no one can shut, and I shut what no one can open.”
This key of David is nearly a direct quotation from Isaiah 22:22. It mentions the key of David, opening so that no one can shut, and shutting so that no one can open.
If you can open a door with your key, you have access, authority, and rights. If you can open a door and no one else can shut it, you have absolute authority. If you can close a door and you alone can open it again, you are the one with all authority.
This is like the Lord Jesus saying in Matthew 28 that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. Then He says, “Go therefore and make disciples.” He stands as the One who has the key of David.
David reminds us that Christ is King. David was the king after God’s own heart. The Lord Jesus is the One prophesied to come from David. He is the ultimate One with all authority—not merely the King of Israel, but the King of all things. His kingship is absolute.
This key is for a purpose. When He says, “I have opened a door for you,” there is a purpose in that. It helps to consider the keys mentioned in Scripture and see how the key of David encompasses them.
In Revelation 1, Jesus testifies of Himself, “I have the keys of death and Hades.” This may seem like a negative thought—death and Hades are not pleasant things—but He has the key to them.
What does He do with the keys of death and Hades? If He has the key of death, imagine Jesus walking on the earth with the glimmer of that key. When He came to Lazarus, who had died, He said, “I am the resurrection.”
Resurrection is life out of death. The life of the Lord Jesus cannot be touched by death. Death’s sting, as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15, is sin. Because the Lord Jesus was sinless, death could not sting Him at all.
Even when He confronted Lazarus, He wept and was sorrowful, but He had said, “I am the resurrection.” Lazarus had been dead four days, and the Lord said, “Come out.” Lazarus was raised from the dead.
This happened at other times as well, including the raising of a young girl. The Lord Jesus fully took hold of the key of death when He died on the cross.
When He died on the cross, it was as though He stole the key from whoever had held it. When He rose from the dead three days later, He gave resurrection life to all the saints.
There is no need for us to remain under the fear of death that has been upon mankind ever since death came. Hebrews 2 speaks of this fear of death that has always been before us: “I am going to die.”
But those who have believed on the Lord Jesus have received eternal life and resurrection life. They will not perish, but have passed out of death into life.
When believers pass away, it is called falling asleep because He has the key of death. They will not remain dead. He opens, and no one can shut.
Death cannot hold down those who have received His life. There is resurrection. That is why we say that they have fallen asleep.
In the future, before eternity comes, the Lord will stop all possibility of death. Scripture says there will be no more death. The sting of death was conquered at the cross, and there He gained the key to all death’s power and ability.
Going one step beyond death, the next layer is Hades—the place of the dead. After someone dies, the place to which they go is generally called Hades. But He has the key of this place also.
When Peter preached the good news, he spoke of Hades and cited David’s prophecy concerning the Lord Jesus: “Thou wilt not leave My soul unto Hades.” The Lord Jesus was not left in Hades.
He went to Hades after He died, to the place of the dead, but He rose from the dead and did not remain there. As He came out of Hades, He had the key of Hades.
The key is not in the hands of Hades, the Greek god. It is not in the hand of Satan. Everything is under the Lord’s authority.
Luke 16 tells the story of those in Hades. A man calls to Abraham and asks for Lazarus to give him even a drop of water because he is in torment.
There is a realm of protection within the place of the dead. It is called Abraham’s bosom, and the Lord Himself calls it Paradise. Paul also calls it Paradise in 2 Corinthians 12.
At the end of Luke’s Gospel, the Lord says to the thief on the cross, “Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise.” As they passed away, they both went to the place of the dead, but not to the general realm. They went to a unique place.
Abraham says that Lazarus cannot cross over to help the man because there is a great chasm between them. It is impossible.
Even in the realm of the dead, the Lord has all authority. Satan does not have control over this place. Everything is controlled by the Lord. He has the key and all authority.
There is an end in view for Hades. In Revelation 20, Hades is emptied of all the dead, judgment occurs, and Hades is thrown into the lake of fire.
The One who has the key of Hades will eventually close it completely. After the coming age and before eternity begins, He will have no more use for Hades because no one will be dying. Hades will be thrown into the lake of fire and destroyed.
Something is happening right now with His key of death and Hades. There is a fight going on from Hades. In Matthew 16, the Lord says, “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
There is warfare coming out from Hades—a type of wickedness and death attempting to pull down everything God is building. But God is building. The Lord Jesus is building His church by resurrection life.
All the wickedness and all the forces of evil that come against His building work have no hope because He has the key of Hades. Whatever the gates may open and whatever they may bring against the building work of the church, it is impossible for them to prevail because the Lord has said, “I will build My church.”
This is specifically important for the church in Philadelphia. Philadelphia is experiencing that the gates of Hades are not prevailing against the building of the church.
Unfortunately, in many of the other church experiences, the gates of Hades are prevailing because they are not allowing the Lord to build His church. They need to repent and walk with what the Lord is doing.
But because these saints are allowing the Lord to build His church, the gates of Hades are not prevailing. When He says, “I will build My church,” He will do it no matter what.
Even if most churches draw back, even if most saints do not allow the Lord to build His church, and even if most of us back down and say, “I do not see it happening,” He will build His church through the way of Philadelphia. This is the way in which He is building His church.
On the positive side, there are the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, mentioned in Matthew 16. Like the keys of death and Hades, the keys of the kingdom seem to involve a progression—an unlocking and a deeper unlocking.
Jesus originally said this to Peter. If we consider Peter’s experience in preaching the good news, the door was first opened through Peter to the Jews. He unlocked it in Acts 2.
He opened the way of the good news of the kingdom for people to be transferred out of the kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love.
At Pentecost, Peter preached the good news and the door was opened. Many among the Jews were saved. Later, as he continued preaching to them, many more were saved.
Then Peter preached the good news to Gentiles, to non-Jews, in Cornelius’s house. Many were saved and brought in. Peter uniquely had an entrustment of keys of the kingdom.
The Lord may uniquely tell an individual something that He has commissioned that person to do, saying, “I have set an open door before you.” But thankfully, in Matthew 18, He speaks in a similar way concerning the local church.
To Peter He said, “Whatever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.” But regarding the local church, He says, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Whatever is bound on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever is loosed on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. These are the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, given to the church in its experience when it gathers together.
There is a prerequisite: “When two or three are gathered together in My name.” The church has this key to the kingdom. The good news of the kingdom is opened, the Lord uses the church to proclaim the good news, and many are brought into the kingdom of Christ.
But there is something further. As you enter into the kingdom of Christ and receive His salvation, there is a deeper experience in which Jesus is your Lord and truly your King.
Peter wrote letters urging the salvation of the soul—not merely the salvation of the spirit. His burden was that kingdom life would go deeper, that Christ would truly be King in all our experiences.
Do not merely be in His kingdom; let His kingship be in you.
This is the further experience. When the apostle Paul traveled preaching the good news and many were saved, he also used the expression “open door.” He would say, “I have an open door in this place.”
There is an open door, and many are saved. Then Paul travels back through those places to establish them. His concern is that second key of the kingdom—the deeper experience in which Jesus becomes Lord and King in their actual living.
It is not merely that they are barely in the kingdom. They are living in the good of His kingship.
Both the negative side—the keys of death and Hades—and the positive side—the keys of the kingdom of the heavens—are summed up in this key of David.
In all these realms, the Lord is building His church. He has opened the door for the building of the church. The gates of Hades cannot prevail when He is building His church.
With the kingdom experience, when believers experience binding and loosing on earth, what is happening? Two or three are coming together in His name. There is the church. He is building the church in their experience.
This is how the door is opened with the key of David. It is similar to the passage in Isaiah 22 from which this expression comes.
In Isaiah 22, there is a steward named Shebna who has his responsibility taken from him because he was not faithful. The responsibility is given to Eliakim.
Eliakim is not the king. He is a steward, but he is given the responsibility of putting into practice in the kingdom what the king desires. The passage mentions the key of David. Whatever is opened or shut carries authority.
That is the experience of Philadelphia. There is a stewardship. It is not that they themselves possess the key. But as stewards of the testimony of Christ, as those holding the life of Christ, they experience binding on earth according to what has been bound in heaven, and loosing on earth according to what has been loosed in heaven.
It is not that they are powerful in themselves. By the Holy Spirit, they are led as two or three gather unto His name. The Head shows them what to pray, and as they put it into practice, He—the One with the keys—opens and accomplishes something on earth.
That is why there is an open door with the church in Philadelphia.
As the whole church fails, what is entrusted to Philadelphia is to stand and bear the testimony on earth. We have mentioned that the last four periods—Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea—continue until the Lord’s return.
These are current ways of church practice and church reality. There are overcomers scattered everywhere, and the bride is making herself ready individually everywhere. But there is something unique that cannot be done alone.
There is something in which you must have two or three gathered unto His name. If the testimony is not that, then you cannot experience church building. You cannot be built together.
You may be an overcomer amid darkness or within a compromised group. But unless there is a gathering unto the Lord’s name, He cannot point on earth and say, “Those there are expressing the body of Christ.”
He can say, “That person is shining in My life,” but He cannot say, “See the members functioning together.” That is why Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Individually, it is true that He is always with us and never leaves us. But there is something unique when we gather in His name.
You set aside your opinions and your unwillingness to experience truth. You set aside other names by which you call yourself, your past, and other things. You come together and say, “I want to follow the Lord together with them.”
You come together and call upon the Lord’s name together. This is the only way we can experience the body. There is a uniqueness in the promise, “There am I in the midst of them.”
There is a Head-and-body experience in the midst. It cannot happen by yourself, even if you are a great overcomer.
Probably many great overcomers are scattered around, but some are seeking to pursue the Lord and gather unto His name. Even though they have little power, they are unto His name, He is in their midst, and there is something unique in that gathering.
With this key of David, the main way the door is opened is for the building of the church. Think about how this works out in a prayer meeting.
I have experienced prayer meetings that were called prayer meetings, but none of us knew what to do. Someone preached for most of the time, and then perhaps we prayed a little, or perhaps he prayed and we all said amen.
What is called a prayer meeting among Christians is sometimes not two or three coming together unto His name, praying kingdom prayers, and building the church.
Or you may come together, and even though there is not teaching the whole time, everybody is praying wildly—like a cowboy shooting from the hip. We are everywhere, each praying whatever is on our own mind.
There is not the experience of coming unto His name and recognizing Him as the Leader of that time. But when you come together and He is the Leader of a prayer time, He leads.
You may have ten things to pray about, but you quiet your mouth, and He leads you to pray about one thing. You are sensitive to what the others are praying because you are together.
It is not merely you as a powerful, overcoming prayer warrior. It is not that. He is leading. You hear a prayer through another saint, and then the Lord moves you to pray as well.
When this happens, the door is open. In a prayer meeting like that, you can unlock things and lock things that are impossible to accomplish in your own prayer closet, however strong you may be in intercession.
The door is closed to that larger realm when you are alone, especially concerning the building of the church. You can build yourself up in prayer, but you cannot build up the church by yourself.
For the building up of the church and the kingdom work the Lord is doing, there must be this coming together. It is the Philadelphia way. They came together and did not deny His name.
When they fellowshipped, this was their experience. It is also the experience of all who walk in the way of Philadelphia now. When you fellowship together under the Lord’s leading, the door is open for the building of the church.
You can receive much from one another. Revelation can come in a greater way than it otherwise would.
If you come together merely to share all the teachings you understand, you will commonly enter into arguments. You may even separate and seek out others who share the same teaching.
But if you come together, whatever you understand, and fellowship under His name, you can listen to someone and receive something even if half of what they say is wrong. You can say, “I think there is something there because I am hearing the voice of the Lord Jesus.”
Then you are able to discover truth. That is what happened through the brethren. When they first did this, they dropped their names, collars, titles, and established practices. They said, “We are coming together in His name, and He is going to lead us.”
They knew how to do church order and how to have a service, but they said, “We do not know anymore. Lord, how are You going to lead us to meet?”
They discovered how to break bread and be led by the Holy Spirit. It was strange to everyone at first. People asked, “What songs are we going to do?” The response was, “We do not know. Let us ask the Lord.”
“Who is going to pray first?” “We do not know.” So they looked to Him, and He led them. The door opened, they fellowshipped with Him in the breaking of bread, and His presence was there. He said, “I am there in your midst.”
That doorway was widely opened. This is why so many Scriptures were discovered. The way of preaching the good news was also opened because the most valuable lesson in preaching the good news is to be led by the Lord.
The second most valuable thing is to do it with others. When two or three come together, the prayers are more effective. When two or three witness together, even your failures seem to work themselves out, and another can support you.
When the Lord says, “Behold, I have set before thee a door opened,” He gives reasons. In Revelation 3:8, He says, “I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee a door opened.”
This church has an open door to build the church. As I said before, they are like a pillar among the churches. Where the house is falling down in one way, the Lord is holding up the house through this testimony. In one way, He is doing the building work of the church.
I think it should be our desire to walk in this way of Philadelphia. The first reason He gives is, “Thou hast a little power.”
Having a little power clearly means there is not much power. But it is not a fault. Their little power was the right kind of power.
It was not wrong for the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 to say, “I have a thorn in my flesh. I prayed, and the Lord would not take it away.” The Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for thee.”
Paul’s conclusion was, “When I am weak, then am I strong.” When I am weak, I am powerful. How is he powerful? It is the power of resurrection.
Paul prayed in Philippians 3, “I want to know Him, and the power of His resurrection.” I may be weak, but there is resurrection power.
This church had the power of resurrection. What they showed in their testimony was that He has the keys of death and Hades. By resurrection power, whatever death would stop was not stopped. Whatever Hades would attack did not win.
On a personal level, death has its own law. Romans 7 and Romans 8 speak of a law of death, in which you cannot do God’s will: “I do not do what I want to do.”
But they had power—resurrection power. It was small, but it was resurrection power. This kind of power overcomes the greatest power that exists, which is death.
What they had was so small, yet the most powerful thing we know is death. Great structures eventually crumble under death. The most powerful person in the world is overtaken by death. But resurrection power overtakes death.
By resurrection power, they could do God’s will. Therefore, the door was open to them.
How many times have we been commanded by God to do something or encouraged by the Lord to accomplish His will, yet we try and fail? We realize that there is death: “I cannot do God’s will.”
Then we call on the name of the Lord, are delivered from ourselves, have the truth set us free, and realize, “I have eternal life in me. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”
Then, by the little power you have, though you feel weak and failing, you rise up by God’s grace. The door opens, and you accomplish God’s will.
The door was opened to this church because they had a little power. They knew that they had little power and felt weak.
Others looked at them and said, “What do you have? You have nothing.” This is connected with the phrase, “Behold, I make them of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not.”
This happened originally with Christians when they first began. But in the period of the church in Philadelphia, the established churches were like synagogues.
The Lord’s heart is not with synagogues. The Lord’s heart is with His temple. The Lord’s original thought with the temple was that He would have one place for His name.
Three times a year, the Israelites came together to show that the nation of Israel was one people. The Lord said, “There I put My name.”
But synagogues are a man-made concept of convenience. If you have enough people—perhaps ten or so—you can create your own synagogue. Once there is enough disagreement, you simply make another synagogue. It is extremely convenient.
This convenience appeared among Protestants. As they discovered more things and had conflicts, they could simply make another synagogue. More and more names were created.
This does not mean that the people themselves were of Satan. But the way of the synagogue is Satan’s way. It is Satan’s way to divide the church, crumble it into this practice, and gather people unto other names rather than unto the Lord’s name.
Those of the synagogue of Satan looked down upon those who were merely gathering in the Lord’s name. If you seek not to have an extra name, you may be looked down on.
Especially when this movement first began, everybody had a name. Having a name was prestigious. It was shameful not to have one.
People would look at these believers and say, “We cannot call them anything. They do not have history. Who ordained their people? They do not have a succession of ordination. How can anybody preach if they have not been properly taught?”
This was all the way of the synagogue. These ones looked at Philadelphia and said, “You have little power. You have no influence, no power, no ability.”
The other structures and synagogues had much power and greatness. But these ones with a little power had the open door. Though they lacked the power of the others, they had the actual open door for building the church.
What is built by the synagogue system is not the church. It is built with bricks and man-made materials, not with living stones.
The next thing the Lord says is, “Thou didst keep My word.” Remember that the way of discovering truth is to obey truth.
Every time the Lord spoke His word, they kept it. They obeyed it, and that is why the doorway was opened. As they diligently stayed together and kept the unity of the Spirit, they discovered that they had differences and different backgrounds.
Then the Word would be shared. As they kept and obeyed the Word, they matured unto the unity of the faith. That is why they discovered so much.
Those who did not know about baptism could receive truths concerning baptism from others whose background had given them that light. It was not merely because the teaching seemed reasonable. It was because they kept His word.
They were faithful in whatever the Lord showed them. As believers from all these backgrounds and names dropped their names and came together seeking to follow the Lord, they could receive the light that had been given to scattered Christians.
Suddenly the church was being built together. The doorway was opened because they kept the Word. The Word itself was opened, and as it continued to be shared, the church grew, matured, and grew up into the Head.
The Lord was building the church because they had kept His word.
The third thing He says is, “Thou didst not deny My name.” This is a very big deal.
The Lord’s name is tremendously important. Gathering unto His name was costly for them. It was costly not to create another name.
At that time, it was shameful. Today, in comparison, it is not as shameful. When someone asks, “What is the name of your church?” and you say, “We do not have an extra name. We just gather in the Lord’s name,” you may stumble a little in saying it.
Sometimes you say it as if you are ready for a punch. But, refreshingly, many people—even among groups with different names—say, “Oh, that is cool. That is like the early church, right?”
It is not such a big deal now. But it was a very big deal when the Lord first moved through these saints in that period. They paid a tremendous price.
The Lord says that those of the synagogue of Satan will come and worship before their feet and know that He has loved them. This may have to do with a future realization at the judgment seat of Christ.
But even in our time, people look at the way of Philadelphia, the truths recovered through Philadelphia, and the history of it, and they are impressed. They say, “This was amazing. This was a movement of God.”
Some have said that it was in certain ways more effective for God’s purpose than the Reformation—not more powerful in worldly terms or in changing worldly dynamics, but in the things we learned from them.
Among Christianity today, many groups hide their denominational names beneath a surface name. A local gathering might be called a community church or a fellowship, and only later do you discover the larger denominational name behind it.
Names are almost hidden now. Before, the name and heritage were prominent. Now there is an awareness that there is one body, even though there is still a struggle to preserve the name and practice while saying that there is one church.
The oneness of the body and meeting in a house are not considered shameful now, which is interesting. It is almost as though the synagogue of Satan realizes that the Lord has loved that way. But I think the full fulfillment is still future.
The Lord says, “Thou didst not deny My name,” and then listen to the reward for the overcomer. This is, I think, the best thing. Here He lavishes His joy upon them because this one matter was so important to Him.
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.
This is an overflow of names. Remember the church in Sardis: “Thou hast a name that thou livest, and thou art dead.” Their warning and overcoming reward concerned not having their name blotted out.
That was a negative reward because of the experience of all these names. Your own name could be blotted out from the book of life. But in Philadelphia, the Lord says, “You kept My name. You have the name of My God, the name of the New Jerusalem, and My new name upon you.”
It is so much on the Lord’s heart that two or three would simply gather unto His name. This means that He is King, and it means that He can build the church.
This testimony becomes very personal. We can consider holiness, the Lord’s presence with us, truth and obedience to truth, resurrection life, the kingdom way, and the whole purpose of the church.
But when the Lord says, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches,” I believe there is an additional voice in this message.
As He says this to those in the churches, there is an extra call for this period, with these four different ways of church practice that can be walked in now. If you have an ear to hear, the Lord desires that you walk in the way of Philadelphia.
Beyond your personal life, it is worth caring about the Lord’s desire concerning the way of the church. This is the one way in which He can truly build the church.
It is impossible to build the church unless the church gathers unto His name. It is impossible to build the church when people will not set aside the other things and let Him be Head.
If we are not all priests in the house of God, the church is not built. If we are not living stones built together, we are merely scattered stones.
However much you desire to be an overcomer, wherever you are scattered or sent, it is worth paying the price and bearing the shame of finding two or three and gathering unto His name.
I think of those in college who get scattered out and find themselves in a place where they do not know of any gathering unto His name. Can you find two or three? You probably can.
Without even realizing it, you can experience the way of Philadelphia. The same applies to those who move because of their jobs. It is worth the price to see the Lord’s heart, see His joy in this testimony of Philadelphia, and realize that this is a way of the church that we can practice now.
If we have an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches, and you move to a place where you find no one with whom to gather, ask the Lord, “Are there two or three who are willing to drop our names, meet with the Lord, and gather unto His name?”
I think we can always find another person. There are always those who are seeking.
Like Paul says to Timothy in 2 Timothy, when everything is falling apart in the large house, find those who call upon the name of the Lord out of a pure heart. Gather with them and call upon His name.
Then the church will be built. It is worth the price to pay.
If we set aside ourselves and our own personal need to overcome in life, we can hear that word. But I think we should hear the additional word this morning. We should hear the call to give ourselves to the way of Philadelphia.
Give yourselves to this way that has the open door: the open door for building the church and the open door for bringing in the Lord’s return.
Many good things are happening, and they are part of the bride making herself ready. But there is this one assembly and this one way of the church that has an open door currently.
We may not always know which way we are in at any given moment. But if we have the heart for it, the Lord will open the way and lead us in this path.
Let us pray together.
Lord, as we hear the letter to this assembly and to those who have an ear to hear, it is our heart’s desire to call back and say, “We hear, and we are willing to respond.”
Lord, we want to call back and not merely be a few who have an ear to hear. We pray that all of us would have the ear to hear, that You could write this letter on the hearts of this whole assembly.
Lord, write the letter and share Your heart with all of us together. We do not want to lack and have only a few rise up. We pray that all of us would rise up and give ourselves to Your way.
Lord, we look to You, the One who has the key of David. We look to You as our King and the Sovereign One over us. You are the Holy One, and You are the True One.
Lord, we worship You together. In Jesus’ name, amen.