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
Morningside | 中文 |
Transcription - Menu
Scripture Reading: Rev. 3:7-22
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.
Rev. 3:9 Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, those who call themselves Jews
and are not, but lie-behold, I will cause them to come and fall prostrate before your feet and to know that
I have loved you.
Rev. 3:10 Because you have kept the word of My endurance, I also will keep you out of the hour
of trial, which is about to come on the whole inhabited earth, to try them who dwell on the earth.
Rev. 3:11 I come quickly; hold fast what you have that no one take your crown.
Rev. 3:12 He who overcomes, him I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall by
no means go out anymore, and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God,
the New Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
Rev. 3:13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Rev. 3:14 And to the messenger of the church in Laodicea write: These things says the Amen, the
faithful and true Witness, the beginning of the creation of God:
Rev. 3:15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or
hot.
Rev. 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I am about to spew you out of
My mouth.
Rev. 3:17 Because you say, I am wealthy and have become rich and have need of nothing, and do
not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,
Rev. 3:18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire that you may be rich, and white
garments that you may be clothed and that the shame of your nakedness may not be manifested, and eyesalve to
anoint your eyes that you may see.
Rev. 3:19 As many as I love I rebuke and discipline; be zealous therefore and repent.
Rev. 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door,
then I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me.
Rev. 3:21 He who overcomes, to him I will give to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame
and sat with My Father on His throne.
Rev. 3:22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Hymns:1275
Outline [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Morningside [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Day 1
I. We need to see, live, and practice “the present truth,” the “up-to-date”
truth, 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; Rev. 2:7; Matt. 16:18; Gen. 2:22; Eph. 5:25-27; cf.
John 1:23; S. S. 8:13-14:
2 Pet. 1:12 Therefore I will be ready always to remind you concerning these things, even though
you know them and have been established in the present truth.
Rev. 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who
overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.
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.
Gen. 2:22 And Jehovah God built the rib, which He had taken from the man, into a woman and
brought her to the man.
Eph. 5:25 Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up
for her
Eph. 5:26 That He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word,
Eph. 5:27 That He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or
any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish.
John 1:23 He said, I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, "Make straight the way of the
Lord!" as Isaiah the prophet said.
S.S. 8:13 O you who dwell in the gardens, / My companions listen for your voice; / Let me hear
it.
S.S. 8:14 Make haste, my beloved, / And be like a gazelle or a young hart / Upon the mountains
of spices.
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.
2 Kings 22:8 Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of
the law in the house of Jehovah. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
2 Kings 22:9 And Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought back word to the king and
said, Your servants have emptied out the money which was found in the house and have delivered it into the
hand of those who do the work, who have the oversight of the house of Jehovah.
2 Kings 22:10 And Shaphan the scribe reported to the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest has given
me a book. And Shaphan read it aloud before the king.
2 Kings 22:11 And when the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes.
2 Kings 23:24 And moreover Josiah utterly removed the mediums and the soothsayers and the
teraphim and the idols and all the detestable things that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem,
that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in
the house of Jehovah.
2 Kings 23:25 And before him there was no king like him who turned to Jehovah with all his
heart and with all his soul and with all his might according to all the law of Moses, and after him no one
has risen up like him.
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.
Eph. 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit
of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him,
Ezek. 1:1 Now in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth of the month, while I
was among the captives by the river Chebar, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.
Ezek. 1:2 On the fifth of the month (it was the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity)
Ezek. 1:3 The word of Jehovah came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the
land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of Jehovah was upon him there.
Rev. 1:10 I was in spirit on the Lord's Day and heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,
Rev. 21:10 And he carried me away in spirit onto a great and high mountain and showed me the
holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
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.
1 Cor. 9:27 But I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest perhaps having preached to others,
I myself may become disapproved.
2 Cor. 3:3 Since you are being manifested that you are a letter of Christ ministered by us,
inscribed not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tablets of stone but in tablets of
hearts of flesh.
2 Cor. 3:6 Who has also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, ministers not of the
letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
2 Cor. 3:8 How shall the ministry of the Spirit not be more in glory?
2 Cor. 3:9 For if there is glory with the ministry of condemnation, much more the ministry of
righteousness abounds with glory.
2 Cor. 5:18 But all things are out from God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ
and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
2 Cor. 5:19 Namely, that God in Christ was reconciling the world to Himself, not accounting
their offenses to them, and has put in us the word of reconciliation.
2 Cor. 5:20 On behalf of Christ then we are ambassadors, as God entreats you through us; we
beseech you on behalf of Christ, Be reconciled to God.
2 Cor. 5:21 Him who did not know sin He made sin on our behalf that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him.
D. 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 our choosing to take the way of Philadelphia; only the recovered
church, the church of brotherly love, 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; Hymns, #880.
Rev. 1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to Him to show to His slaves the things
that must quickly take place; and He made it known by signs, sending it by His angel to His slave John,
Rev. 1:2 Who testified the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, even all that he saw.
Rev. 1:3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and keep the
things written in it, for the time is near.
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.
Rev. 3:9 Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, those who call themselves Jews
and are not, but lie-behold, I will cause them to come and fall prostrate before your feet and to know that
I have loved you.
Rev. 3:10 Because you have kept the word of My endurance, I also will keep you out of the hour
of trial, which is about to come on the whole inhabited earth, to try them who dwell on the earth.
Rev. 3:11 I come quickly; hold fast what you have that no one take your crown.
Rev. 3:12 He who overcomes, him I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall by
no means go out anymore, and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God,
the New Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
Rev. 3:13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Hymns, #880—To the foe my word is always, No
1 To the foe my word is always, “No,” To the Father it is “Yes,”
That His plan and all His counsel Be accomplished with success;
When Thine orders I'm obeying, Grant me, Lord, authority
To fulfill Thy plan eternal Thru the Spirit's power in me.
2 To the foe my word is always, “No,” To the Father it is, “Yes”;
'Tis my attitude eternal; May the Lord protect and bless,
Lest while walking in obedience Satan undermine the way;
When I'm list'ning to Thine orders, Grant me mercy, Lord, I pray.
3 To the foe my word is always, “No,” To the Father it is, “Yes”;
I completely would obey Him, Though deep suff'ring may oppress.
If the Lord will save and keep me, As I forward press with Him,
Then no trials shall prevent me, Nor will opposition grim.
Day 1
Day 2
II. The characteristic of the overcomers in Philadelphia (vv. 7-13) is their
aspiration to arrive at the highest peak of the divine revelation of God's economy—this highest peak is God
becoming man to make man God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead so that the Body of Christ can be
produced, the bride can be prepared, and the New Jerusalem can be consummated:
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.
Rev. 3:9 Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, those who call themselves Jews
and are not, but lie-behold, I will cause them to come and fall prostrate before your feet and to know that
I have loved you.
Rev. 3:10 Because you have kept the word of My endurance, I also will keep you out of the hour
of trial, which is about to come on the whole inhabited earth, to try them who dwell on the earth.
Rev. 3:11 I come quickly; hold fast what you have that no one take your crown.
Rev. 3:12 He who overcomes, him I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall by
no means go out anymore, and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God,
the New Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
Rev. 3:13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
A. Even though the churches in Asia, in a general sense, had turned away from
the apostle Paul's ministry (2 Tim. 1:15), one church was unique and was highly appraised by the Lord—the church
in Philadelphia; the Lord highly appraised them and even appreciated them because they kept His word, which
means that they did not turn away from the word of the apostle Paul's healthy teaching of God's economy, the
highest peak of the divine revelation—Rev. 3:8; 1 Tim. 1:3-4; 6:3:
2 Tim. 1:15 This you know, that all who are in Asia turned away from me, of whom are Phygelus
and Hermogenes.
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 Tim. 1:3 Even as I exhorted you, when I was going into Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus in
order that you might charge certain ones not to teach different things
1 Tim. 1:4 Nor to give heed to myths and unending genealogies, which produce questionings
rather than God's economy, which is in faith.
1 Tim. 6:3 If anyone teaches different things and does not consent to healthy words, those of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and the teaching which is according to godliness,
1. God's eternal economy is to make man the same as He is in life and nature but
not in the Godhead and to make Himself one with man and man one with Him, thus to be enlarged and expanded in
His expression, that all His divine attributes may be expressed in human virtues.
2. God's eternal economy is His plan to dispense Himself into His chosen,
predestinated, and redeemed people as their life, their life supply, and their everything to produce,
constitute, and build up the organic Body of Christ—1:3-6; 6:3-4; 2 Cor. 11:2-3; Titus 1:9; Col. 2:19.
1 Tim. 1:3 Even as I exhorted you, when I was going into Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus in
order that you might charge certain ones not to teach different things
1 Tim. 1:4 Nor to give heed to myths and unending genealogies, which produce questionings
rather than God's economy, which is in faith.
1 Tim. 1:5 But the end of the charge is love out of a pure heart and out of a good conscience
and out of unfeigned faith;
1 Tim. 1:6 From which things some, having misaimed, have turned aside to vain talking,
1 Tim. 6:3 If anyone teaches different things and does not consent to healthy words, those of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and the teaching which is according to godliness,
1 Tim. 6:4 He is blinded with pride, understanding nothing, but is diseased with questionings
and contentions of words, out of which come envy, strife, slanders, evil suspicions,
2 Cor. 11:2 For I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God; for I betrothed you to one
husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
2 Cor. 11:3 But I fear lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your
thoughts would be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity toward Christ.
Titus 1:9 Holding to the faithful word, which is according to the teaching of the apostles,
that he may be able both to exhort by the healthy teaching and to convict those who oppose.
Col. 2:19 And not holding the Head, out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit
together by means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God.
B. Those in Philadelphia are “rich toward God” (Luke 12:21) by pray-reading and
musing upon His word to treasure up His word in their heart (Eph. 6:17-18; Psa. 119:11, 15); they lift up their
hands unto the word of God, indicating that they receive it warmly and gladly and that they say Amen to it (v.
48; Neh. 8:5-6).
Luke 12:21 So is he who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.
Eph. 6:17 And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the
word of God,
Eph. 6:18 By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching
unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints,
Psa. 119:11 In my heart I have treasured up Your word / That I might not sin against You.
Psa. 119:15 I will muse upon Your precepts / And regard Your ways.
Psa. 119:48 And I will lift up my hand to Your commandments, which I love; / And I will muse
upon Your statutes.
Neh. 8:5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people (for he was above all the
people); and when he opened it, all the people stood up.
Neh. 8:6 And Ezra blessed Jehovah the great God; and all the people answered, Amen, Amen,
lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshipped Jehovah with their faces to the ground.
C. 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—Rev. 3:12a; 21:22, 3; Psa. 90:1; John 14:23; cf. 1
Kings 7:17.
Rev. 3:12 He who overcomes, him I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall by
no means go out anymore, and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God,
the New Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
Rev. 21:22 And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its
temple.
Rev. 21:3 And I heard a loud voice out of the throne, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is
with men, and He will tabernacle with them, and they will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them
and be their God.
Psa. 90:1 O Lord, You have been our dwelling place / In all generations.
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My
Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him.
1 Kings 7:17 There were nets of checker work with wreaths of chain work for the capitals that
were at the top of the pillars, seven for the one capital, and seven for the second capital.
D. That the name of God, the name of the New Jerusalem, and the Lord's new name
are written upon the overcomer indicates that the overcomer is possessed by God, by the New Jerusalem, and by
the Lord and that God Himself, His city (the New Jerusalem), and the Lord Himself all belong to him.
E. 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.
Rev. 3:12 He who overcomes, him I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall by
no means go out anymore, and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God,
the New Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
Rev. 22:4 And they will see His face, and His name will be on their forehead.
Day 2
Day 3 & Day 4
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. 22:16 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.
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;
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.
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).
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
Day 3 & Day 4
Day 5
D. The Lord's using the key of David to open the door for the spread of His
recovery is objective to us, but Christ is also using the key of David to subjectively open the door in our
inner being for us to be transformed and built into the house of God as a pillar with the name of God, the name
of the New Jerusalem, and the new name of the Lord—Rev. 2:17; 3:12; cf. 21:22:
Rev. 2:17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who
overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and to him I will give a white stone, and upon the stone
a new name written, which no one knows except he who receives it.
Rev. 3:12 He who overcomes, him I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall by
no means go out anymore, and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God,
the New Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
Rev. 21:22 And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its
temple.
1. The name of My God indicates that the pillar is God; the name of the city of
My God indicates that the pillar is the New Jerusalem; and My new name indicates that the pillar is Christ in a
new significance; the overcomer as a pillar becomes God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead, he becomes
a constituent of the New Jerusalem, and he becomes Christ in a new experiential sense—3:12.
Rev. 3:12 He who overcomes, him I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall by
no means go out anymore, and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God,
the New Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
2. The New Jerusalem is the new Christ; as God's enlargement and expansion, we
are Christ in a new sense as the New Jerusalem; the new Christ is not the same as He was in the four Gospels;
the bride, who is the increase of the Bridegroom, is the New Jerusalem, including all of God's regenerated
ones—John 3:29-30; Rev. 21:9-10.
John 3:29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands
and hears him, rejoices with joy because of the bridegroom's voice. This joy of mine therefore is made full.
John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
Rev. 21:9 And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues
came and spoke with me, saying, Come here; I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.
Rev. 21:10 And he carried me away in spirit onto a great and high mountain and showed me the
holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
3. For us to be built into God, become a constituent of the New Jerusalem, and
become a part of the new Christ is humanly impossible, but the law of the Spirit of life within us contains an
element that deals with impossibility—Rom. 8:2; Luke 18:27; cf. Gen. 28:12-19; John 1:51.
Rom. 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and
of death.
Luke 18:27 But He said, The things that are impossible with men are possible with God.
Gen. 28:12 And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and its top reached to
heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
Gen. 28:13 And there was Jehovah, standing above it; and He said, I am Jehovah, the God of
Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie, I will give to you and to your seed.
Gen. 28:14 And your seed will be as the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the
west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and in your seed will all the families of
the earth be blessed.
Gen. 28:15 And, behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will cause you to
return to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.
Gen. 28:16 And Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, Surely Jehovah is in this place, and I did
not know it.
Gen. 28:17 And he was afraid and said, How awesome is this place! This is none other than the
house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.
Gen. 28:18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put under his
head, and he set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it.
Gen. 28:19 And he called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz
previously.
John 1:51 And He said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, You shall see heaven opened and the
angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.
Day 5
Day 6
E. The overcomers in Philadelphia pay more attention to life than to work,
caring more about quality than quantity (cf. 1 Cor. 3:12); they have “a little power” with the realization that
what pleases the Lord is not their doing much for Him but their doing their best for Him with what they have
(Rev. 3:8; Mark 14:8).
1 Cor. 3:12 But if anyone builds upon the foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood,
grass, stubble,
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.
Mark 14:8 She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial.
F. 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, who is
rich to all who call upon Him (Rom. 10:9-10, 12-13); they openly confess that “Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory
of God the Father” (Phil. 2:11), and they do not preach themselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and themselves as
the believers' slaves for Jesus' sake (2 Cor. 4:5).
Rom. 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God
has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
Rom. 10:10 For with the heart there is believing unto righteousness, and with the mouth there
is confession unto salvation.
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."
Phil. 2:11 And every tongue should openly confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God
the Father.
2 Cor. 4:5 For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your
slaves for Jesus' sake.
IV. The characteristic of the overcomers in Philadelphia is their brotherly
love; love prevails among them so that they shepherd people according to God (1 Pet. 5:2) by cherishing them
with the cheering presence of God and nour-ishing them with the healthy teaching of the economy of God (Eph.
4:11; 5:29; Acts 20:28):
1 Pet. 5:2 Shepherd the flock of God among you, overseeing not under compulsion but willingly,
according to God; not by seeking gain through base means but eagerly;
Eph. 4:11 And He Himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and
some as shepherds and teachers,
Eph. 5:29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ
also the church,
Acts 20:28 Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among whom the Holy Spirit has placed
you as overseers to shepherd the church of God, which He obtained through His own blood.
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).
1 John 4:8 He who does not love has not known God, because God is love.
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. 2:4 But I have one thing against you, that you have left your first love.
Rev. 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who
overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.
B. 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.
Jude 20 But you, beloved, building up yourselves upon your most holy faith, praying in the Holy
Spirit,
Jude 21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, awaiting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto
eternal life.
2 Cor. 5:14 For the love of Christ constrains us because we have judged this, that One died for
all, therefore all died;
John 12:3 Then Mary took a pound of ointment, of very valuable pure nard, and anointed the feet
of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment.
Luke 7:47 For this reason I say to you, Her sins which are many are forgiven, because she loved
much; but to whom little is forgiven, he loves little.
1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers. He
who does not love abides in death.
1 John 3:15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has
eternal life abiding in him.
1 John 3:16 In this we know love, that He laid down His life on our behalf, and we ought to lay
down our lives on behalf of the brothers.
Psa. 133 A Song of Ascents. Of David
Psa. 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is / For brothers to dwell in unity!
Psa. 133:2 It is like the fine oil upon the head / That ran down upon the beard, / Upon Aaron's
beard, / That ran down upon the hem of his garments;
Psa. 133:3 Like the dew of Hermon / That came down upon the mountains of Zion. / For there
Jehovah commanded the blessing: / Life forever.
C. The overcomers in Philadelphia keep the Lord's word in His unique New
Testament ministry (Rev. 3:8), which brings them into the genuine appreciation, love, and enjoyment of the
precious person of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself as their life and everything (2 Cor. 11:2-3).
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.
2 Cor. 11:2 For I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God; for I betrothed you to one
husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
2 Cor. 11:3 But I fear lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your
thoughts would be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity toward Christ.
D. 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.
John 21:15 Then when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John,
do you love Me more than these? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You. He said to him, Feed My
lambs.
John 21:16 He said to him again a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me? He said to
Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You. He said to him, Shepherd My sheep.
John 21:17 He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me? Peter was grieved
that He said to him the third time, Do you love Me? And he said to Him, Lord, You know all things; You know
that I love You. Jesus said to him, Feed My sheep.
E. “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God, and everyone who
loves has been begotten of God and knows God. He who does not love has not known God, because God is love”—1
John 4:7-8.
1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God, and everyone who loves has
been begotten of God and knows God.
1 John 4:8 He who does not love has not known God, because God is love.
F. “We know and have believed the love which God has in us. God is love, and he
who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him”—v. 16.
1 John 4:16 And we know and have believed the love which God has in us. God is love, and he who
abides in love abides in God and God abides in him.
G. God first loved us in that He infused us with His love and generated within
us the love with which we love Him and the brothers—vv. 19-21.
1 John 4:19 We love because He first loved us.
1 John 4:20 If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does
not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
1 John 4:21 And this commandment we have from Him, that he who loves God love his brother also.
H. Brother Lee's intention for the international elders' conference in April
1997:
1. Do not lord it over the flock of God that has been allotted to you; the
churches are God's possession, allotted to the elders as their allotment, their portion, entrusted to them by
God for their care—1 Pet. 5:2-3.
1 Pet. 5:2 Shepherd the flock of God among you, overseeing not under compulsion but willingly,
according to God; not by seeking gain through base means but eagerly;
1 Pet. 5:3 Nor as lording it over your allotments but by becoming patterns of the flock.
2. Be willing to be a slave to the saints—Matt. 20:26-27; Mark 10:42-45.
Matt. 20:26 It shall not be so among you; but whoever wants to become great among you shall be
your servant,
Matt. 20:27 And whoever wants to be first among you shall be your slave;
Mark 10:42 And Jesus called them to Him and said to them, You know that those who are esteemed
as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
Mark 10:43 But it is not so among you; but whoever wants to become great among you shall be
your servant,
Mark 10:44 And whoever wants to be first among you shall be the slave of all.
Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life
as a ransom for many.
3. The elders should shepherd one another and love one another to be a model of
the Body life.
4. The elders should take care of the saints in everything and in every way for
the dispensing of Christ into them.
5. The elders should contact and visit the saints and invite them to their homes
for meals.
I. Brother Lee's final word to the elders in Anaheim: “The elders need to love
one another, their wives need to love one another, and they need to love one another's children.”
V. 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—Rev. 3:14-22:
Rev. 3:14 And to the messenger of the church in Laodicea write: These things says the Amen, the
faithful and true Witness, the beginning of the creation of God:
Rev. 3:15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or
hot.
Rev. 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I am about to spew you out of
My mouth.
Rev. 3:17 Because you say, I am wealthy and have become rich and have need of nothing, and do
not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,
Rev. 3:18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire that you may be rich, and white
garments that you may be clothed and that the shame of your nakedness may not be manifested, and eyesalve to
anoint your eyes that you may see.
Rev. 3:19 As many as I love I rebuke and discipline; be zealous therefore and repent.
Rev. 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door,
then I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me.
Rev. 3:21 He who overcomes, to him I will give to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame
and sat with My Father on His throne.
Rev. 3:22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
A. Laodicea still remembers its history but has lost its former life; we must
always remember that all that matters is God's present presence—Exo. 33:14; 2 Cor. 2:10.
Exo. 33:14 And He said, My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.
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;
B. Laodicea means to know everything but in reality to be fervent about nothing;
in name it has everything, but it cannot sacrifice its life for anything; it remembers its former glory but
forgets its present condition before God; formerly, it was Philadelphia, but today it is Laodicea, full of
lukewarmness and spiritual pride—Rev. 3:15-17.
Rev. 3:15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or
hot.
Rev. 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I am about to spew you out of
My mouth.
Rev. 3:17 Because you say, I am wealthy and have become rich and have need of nothing, and do
not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,
C. 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 the Triune God as gold, white garments, and eyesalve;
then we can be one with the Lord as the leading Overcomer within us in order to sit with Him on His throne in
the millennial kingdom—vv. 18, 21.
Rev. 3:18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire that you may be rich, and white
garments that you may be clothed and that the shame of your nakedness may not be manifested, and eyesalve to
anoint your eyes that you may see.
Rev. 3:21 He who overcomes, to him I will give to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame
and sat with My Father on His throne.
Day 6
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爱 灵 慕 圣