Scripture Reading: Rev. 1:1-3; 3:7-13
Ⅰ
We need to see, live, and practice "the present truth," the "up-to-date" truth, the truth of the pathway of God for the building of God, in order to change the age and bring Christ back; we need to hear what the Spirit is speaking to the churches, the voice of God in the present hour—2 Pet. 1:12; Matt. 16:18; Gen. 2:22; Eph. 5:25-27; cf. John 1:23; S. S. 8:13-14:
A
All the truths are in the Bible, but through man's foolishness, unfaithfulness, negligence, disobedience, and degradation, many truths were lost and hidden from man—cf. 2 Kings 22:8-11; 23:24-25.
B
These freshly revealed truths are not God's new inventions; rather, they are man's new discoveries; every worker of the Lord should inquire before God as to what the present truth is—Eph. 1:17; Ezek. 1:1-3; Rev. 1:10; 21:10.
C
God's truths are cumulative; later truths do not negate the former ones; what we see today are the cumulative revelations of God; today we are living in the tide of God's will, which is a continuation of all the past works of God in the previous ages; may God be gracious to us so that we do not become castaways of "the present truth"—1 Cor. 9:27; cf. 2 Cor. 3:3, 6, 8-9; 5:18-21.
Ⅱ
The present truth of the Lord's up-to-date and ultimate recovery is to bring us into a new revival to turn the age by taking the pathway of God for the building of God, the way of Philadelphia; only the recovered church, signified by the church in Philadelphia, can fulfill God's eternal purpose and satisfy His heart's desire—Rev. 1:1-3; 3:7-13:
A
The Lord's recovery with Philadelphia is a recovery in quality, a recovery of the original substance of the church, the inner substance of God, which is love (1 John 4:8); to stand on the genuine ground of oneness, the ground of the church, is to choose to love all the brothers (Rev. 3:7a; cf. 2:4, 7).
B
The Lord's word of admonition to the church in Philadelphia is, "I come quickly; hold fast what you have that no one take your crown"; the overcomers in Philadelphia are filled with Christ as grace so that grace reigns in them for them to reign in life with the crown of life—3:11; 2:10; cf. Rom. 5:17, 21.
Ⅲ
The characteristic of the overcomers in Philadelphia is their arriving at the highest peak of the divine revelation of God's economy:
A
They keep the Lord's word, which means that they do not turn away from the word of the apostles' teaching, the healthy teaching of God's economy, the highest peak of the divine revelation—Rev. 3:8; cf. 2 Tim. 1:15; Rev. 2:14-15, 20.
B
For the overcomers to be pillars in the temple means that they will be pillars in the Triune God, for the temple is "the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb"; God is built into them to make them living and precious stones, and they are built into God to make them pillars of stone in God for their incorporation with God as the mutual abode of God and man—3:12a; 21:22, 3; Psa. 90:1; John 14:23; cf. 1 Kings 7:17.
C
That the name of God, the name of the New Jerusalem, and the Lord's new name are written upon the overcomers indicates that what God is, the nature of the New Jerusalem, and the person of the Lord have all been wrought into them, labeling them with the Triune God as their "name badge" and making them God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead—Rev. 3:12b; 22:4b.
Ⅳ
The characteristic of the overcomers in Philadelphia is their God-man living by enjoying the riches of Christ as their indwelling treasure:
A
Christ has the key of David, the key of the treasury of the house of God; in order to enjoy Him as the treasury of God's riches, we need to remain in constant contact with Him in our spirit, keeping ourselves absolutely open to Him and using the "keys" of denying the self, taking up the cross, and losing the soul-life—3:7; Isa. 22:15-24; Matt. 5:3; 16:18-19, 24-25; 17:5, 8.
B
The overcomers in Philadelphia have a little power; to have a little power is to be weak in Christ, to be reduced to nothing but taking Christ as everything in our spirit, trusting in Him helplessly and depending on the supply of the Body continually—Rev. 3:8; 2 Cor. 1:8-9; 12:7-10; 13:4; cf. Jer. 17:7-8; Isa. 30:15a.
C
The overcomers in Philadelphia keep the Lord's word; they say Amen to God's word and are constituted with His word by pray-reading His word to treasure up His word in their heart—Rev. 3:8; Eph. 6:17-18; Psa. 119:11.
D
The overcomers in Philadelphia do not deny the Lord's name; they have abandoned all names other than that of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they call upon the name of the Lord (Rom. 10:9-10, 12-13), openly confessing "that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:11).
Ⅴ
The characteristic of the overcomers in Philadelphia is their brotherly love; love prevails among them so that they shepherd people by cherishing them with the cheering presence of God and nourishing them with the healthy teaching of the economy of God—Eph. 4:11; 5:29:
A
The Lord's recovery is a recovery of loving the Lord Jesus; the overcomers in Philadelphia stand on the genuine ground of oneness and keep themselves in the love of God to love the Lord and love all the brothers—Jude 20-21; 2 Cor. 5:14; John 12:3; Luke 7:47; 1 John 3:14-16; cf. Psa. 133.
B
In order to minister life to others and maintain our victory for the building up of the church, we must have a revived living and a labor in shepherding that flow out from our love for the Lord and for the brothers—John 21:15-17.
Ⅵ
In order to continue in the way of Philadelphia, we must be saved from the way of Laodicea, which is a degraded and distorted Philadelphia; if we want to continue in the way of Philadelphia, we need to humble ourselves before God and pay the price to gain more of God day by day for the building of God—Rev. 3:14-22; Matt. 5:3; Isa. 66:1-2; Psa. 68:19, 13.