As a sign,
the church in Philadelphia
prefigures the church of brotherly love,
the recovery of the proper church life,
from the early part of the nineteenth century
to the second appearing of the Lord:
Just as the reformed church,
prefigured by the church in Sardis,
was a reaction to
the apostate Catholic Church,
prefigured by the church in Thyatira,
so the church of brotherly love
is a reaction to
the dead reformed church.
This reaction
will continue as an anti-testimony
to both apostate Catholicism
and degraded Protestantism
until the Lord comes back.
In Greek
Philadelphia means
“brotherly love”:
The components of the Greek word Philadelphia
mean “to have affection for”
and “a brother,”
hence, a brotherly affection,
a love characterized by
delight and pleasure.
In godliness,
which is the expression of God,
this love
needs to be supplied
for the brotherhood,
for our testimony to the world,
and for the bearing of fruit.
The church in Philadelphia
prophetically depicts
the church of brotherly love,
that is,
the proper church life:
The church of brotherly love
was a reaction to
the dead reformed church.
The church of brotherly love
started in the early part of the nineteenth century,
when the brothers
were raised up in England
to practice the church life
outside the system of sects and divisions,
and it will continue
until the Lord comes back.
“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 3:14):
To pass out of death into life
is to pass out of
the source, the essence,
the element, and the sphere
of death
into the source, the essence,
the element, and the sphere
of life;
this took place in us
at our regeneration.
Love (the love of God)
toward the brothers
is strong evidence
that we have passed
out of death
into life:
Faith in the Lord
is the way
for us
to pass
out of death
into life;
love toward the brothers
is the evidence
that we have passed
out of death
into life.
To have faith
is to receive the eternal life;
to love
is to live by the eternal life
that we have received.
Such unspeakable love
can issue
only from genuine faith:
(1) A person loves
for no other reason
than the fact
that the other person
is a brother.
(2) There is
an unspeakable feeling and taste
toward each other;
this feeling and taste
are a proof
that we have passed
out of death
into life.
Not loving the brothers
is evidence
that one is not living
by the essence and element
of the divine love
and is not remaining
in the sphere of that love.
“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”
(v. 16):
A love for the brothers
is a willingness
to lay ourselves aside
to serve them.
To love the brothers
is to be willing
to deny oneself
for the perfection of others
and to have a heart
that is willing
to lay down one’s own life
for his brothers.
“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. 3:7):
To the church of brotherly love,
the Lord is
the Holy One,
the true One,
by whom and with whom
the recovered church
can be holy,
separated from the world,
and true, faithful,
to God.
To the church of brotherly love,
the Lord is also the One
who has
the key of David,
the key of the kingdom,
with authority
to open and shut:
This is
the key of the treasury
of the house of God,
which is typified by
the house of David,
for the building up
of the kingdom of God:
The church is
both God’s house
and God’s kingdom.
The key of David
is for the keeping of
all the treasures of
the house of God,
which are
all the riches of Christ
for our enjoyment.
The key of David
opens the whole universe
for God:
As the greater David,
Christ has built up
the house of God,
the real temple,
and He has set up
the kingdom of God,
the dominion
in which He
exercises full authority
to represent God;
therefore,
He holds the key of David.
The fact
that Christ has
the key of David
signifies that He
is the center
of God’s economy;
He is
the One
who expresses God
and represents Him,
the One
who holds the key
to open everything
in God’s dominion.
“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. 3:8):
As the One
who has the key of David
and who opens
and no one can shut,
the Lord has given the recovered church
“an opened door
which no one can shut”:
Through the years
the Lord’s recovery
has experienced the Lord
as such a One.
Since the recovery of the proper church life
began in the early part of the nineteenth century,
a door
has always been opened wide
to the Lord’s recovery.
Although many opposers
have risen up against the Lord’s recovery
and have tried to shut the door,
Christ is the One
who has the key of David,
and what He opens,
no one can shut.
One outstanding feature
of the church in Philadelphia
is that she
keeps the Lord’s word:
According to history,
no other Christians
have kept the Lord’s word
as strictly
as the church in Philadelphia.
The church in Philadelphia,
the recovered church,
does not care for tradition;
she cares for the word of God.
The church in Philadelphia
keeps the Lord’s word
with the little power
that she has:
We should not regard
the church in Philadelphia
as being strong, powerful, and prevailing;
the Lord said
that she had “a little power.”
What pleases the Lord
is not that we
are strong
but that we
use our little power
to do
the best we can.
Although the amount of grace
we have received
may be limited
in its capacity,
as long as we use it,
spending it
to do as much as we can
to keep the Lord’s word,
He will be pleased.
In Revelation 3:8
the Lord says
that the church in Philadelphia
has not denied His name:
The Lord’s word
is His expression,
and the Lord’s name
is the Lord Himself.
The recovered church
not only has returned
in a full way
to the Lord’s word
but also has abandoned all names
other than that of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The recovered church
belongs to the Lord absolutely,
having nothing to do with
any denominations (any names).
The deviation
from the word to heresies
and the exaltation
of so many names
other than that of Christ
are the most striking signs
of degraded Christianity.
The return to the pure word
from all heresies and traditions
and the exaltation of the Lord’s name
by abandoning every other name
are the most inspiring testimony
in the recovered church.
Hits: 5
7 replies on “The Church in Philadelphia”
Prophecy note, 8 January 2017
As a sign,
the church in Philadelphia
prefigures the church of brotherly love,
the recovery of the proper church life,
from the early part of the nineteenth century
to the second appearing of the Lord:
Just as the reformed church,
prefigured by the church in Sardis,
was a reaction to
the apostate Catholic Church,
prefigured by the church in Thyatira,
so the church of brotherly love
is a reaction to
the dead reformed church.
This reaction
will continue as an anti-testimony
to both apostate Catholicism
and degraded Protestantism
until the Lord comes back.
In Greek
Philadelphia means
“brotherly love”:
The components of
the Greek word Philadelphia
mean “to have affection for”
and “a brother,”
hence, a brotherly affection,
a love characterized by
delight and pleasure.
In godliness,
which is the expression of God,
this love
needs to be supplied
for the brotherhood,
for our testimony to the world,
and for the bearing of fruit.
The church in Philadelphia
prophetically depicts
the church of brotherly love,
that is,
the proper church life:
The church of brotherly love
was a reaction to
the dead reformed church.
The church of brotherly love
started in the early part of
the nineteenth century,
when the brothers
were raised up in England
to practice the church life
outside the system of
sects and divisions,
and it will continue
until the Lord comes back.
“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 3:14):
To pass
out of death
into life
is to pass
out of
the source, the essence,
the element, and the sphere
of death
into the source, the essence,
the element, and the sphere
of life;
this took place
in us
at our regeneration.
Love (the love of God)
toward the brothers
is strong evidence
that we have passed
out of death
into life:
Faith in the Lord
is the way
for us
to pass
out of death
into life;
love toward the brothers
is the evidence
that we have passed
out of death
into life.
To have faith
is to receive the eternal life;
to love
is to live by the eternal life
that we have received.
Such unspeakable love
can issue
only from genuine faith:
(1) A person loves
for no other reason
than the fact
that the other person
is a brother.
(2) There is
an unspeakable feeling and taste
toward each other;
this feeling and taste
are a proof
that we have passed
out of death
into life.
Not loving the brothers
is evidence
that one is not living
by the essence and element
of the divine love
and is not remaining
in the sphere of that love.
“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”
(v. 16):
A love for the brothers
is a willingness
to lay ourselves aside
to serve them.
To love the brothers
is to be willing
to deny oneself
for the perfection of others
and to have a heart
that is willing
to lay down one’s own life
for his brothers.
“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. 3:7):
To the church of brotherly love,
the Lord is
the Holy One,
the true One,
by whom and with whom
the recovered church
can be holy,
separated from the world,
and true, faithful,
to God.
To the church of brotherly love,
the Lord is also the One
who has
the key of David,
the key of the kingdom,
with authority
to open and shut:
This is
the key of the treasury
of the house of God,
which is typified by
the house of David,
for the building up
of the kingdom of God:
The church is
both God’s house
and God’s kingdom.
The key of David
is for the keeping of
all the treasures of
the house of God,
which are
all the riches of Christ
for our enjoyment.
The key of David
opens the whole universe
for God:
As the greater David,
Christ has built up
the house of God,
the real temple,
and He has set up
the kingdom of God,
the dominion
in which He
exercises full authority
to represent God;
therefore,
He holds the key of David.
The fact
that Christ has
the key of David
signifies that He
is the center
of God’s economy;
He is
the One
who expresses God
and represents Him,
the One
who holds the key
to open everything
in God’s dominion.
“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. 3:8):
As the One
who has the key of David
and who opens
and no one can shut,
the Lord has given the recovered church
“an opened door
which no one can shut”:
Through the years
the Lord’s recovery
has experienced the Lord
as such a One.
Since the recovery of
the proper church life
began in the early part of
the nineteenth century,
a door
has always been opened wide
to the Lord’s recovery.
Although many opposers
have risen up
against the Lord’s recovery
and have tried to shut the door,
Christ is the One
who has the key of David,
and what He opens,
no one can shut.
One outstanding feature
of the church in Philadelphia
is that she
keeps the Lord’s word:
According to history,
no other Christians
have kept the Lord’s word
as strictly
as the church in Philadelphia.
The church in Philadelphia,
the recovered church,
does not care for tradition;
she cares for the word of God.
The church in Philadelphia
keeps the Lord’s word
with the little power
that she has:
We should not regard
the church in Philadelphia
as being strong, powerful, and prevailing;
the Lord said
that she
had “a little power.”
What pleases the Lord
is not that we
are strong
but that we
use our little power
to do
the best
we can.
Although the amount of grace
we have received
may be limited
in its capacity,
as long as we use it,
spending it
to do as much as we can
to keep the Lord’s word,
He will be pleased.
In Revelation 3:8
the Lord says
that the church in Philadelphia
has not denied His name:
The Lord’s word
is His expression,
and the Lord’s name
is the Lord Himself.
The recovered church
not only has returned
in a full way
to the Lord’s word
but also has abandoned all names
other than that of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The recovered church
belongs to the Lord absolutely,
having nothing to do with
any denominations (any names).
The deviation
from the word to heresies
and the exaltation of
so many names
other than that of Christ
are the most striking signs
of degraded Christianity.
The return to the pure word
from all heresies and traditions
and the exaltation of
the Lord’s name
by abandoning every other name
are the most inspiring testimony
in the recovered church.
Day 6
Eph. 4:7
But to each one of us
grace was given
according to the measure
of the gift of Christ.
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.
Do not try to be strong.
The strong ones
may not please the Lord
as much as those
who do their best
with the little power they have.
You can never surpass
what the Lord gives you.
Simply spend
what you
have received from Him.
Do not usurp
the Lord’s grace.
None among us
can say
that he has received nothing
from the Lord.
Even the least among us
has received
a certain amount of grace
from Him.
You must spend that grace,
using it to do your best.
If you do this,
the Lord will appreciate you
and say,
“Good.
You have a little power,
yet you have kept My word
with the power you have.”
Do not seek
to be a giant.
The Lord
is not happy with giants;
He is happy with
the little ones
who have an amount of grace.
Although that grace
may be limited
in its capacity,
as long as we use it,
spending it
to do
as much as we can
to keep the Lord’s word,
He will be pleased.
In Revelation 3:8
the Lord…said
that the church in Philadelphia
did not deny His name.
Since the brothers
were raised up in England
in the early part of the nineteenth century,
they have not taken
any name other than the name of the Lord.
The word
is the Lord’s expression,
and the name
is the Lord Himself.
The apostate church
has deviated from the Lord’s word
and become heretical.
The reformed church,
though recovered to the Lord’s word
to some extent,
has denied the Lord’s name
by denominating herself
with many other names,
such as Lutheran, Wesleyan, Anglican,
Presbyterian, and Baptist.
The recovered church
has not only returned to the Lord’s word
in a full way
but has also abandoned all names
other than that of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The recovered church
belongs to the Lord absolutely,
having nothing to do with
any denominations (any names).
To deviate from the Lord’s Word
is apostasy,
and to denominate the church
with any name
other than the Lord’s
is spiritual fornication.
The church
as the chaste virgin
espoused to Christ
should not have any name
other than her husband’s.
All other names
are an abomination
in the eyes of God.
In the recovered church life
we have
no teachings of Balaam,
no teachings of the Nicolaitans,
no teachings of Jezebel,
and no mysterious doctrines of Satan;
we have
only the pure Word of the Lord.
Amen!
The recovered church
has no denominations (names)
but the unique name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The deviation
from the Word to heresies
and the exaltation of so many names
other than that of Christ
are the most striking signs
of degraded Christianity.
The return to the pure Word
from all heresies and traditions
and the exaltation of the Lord’s name
by abandoning every other name
are the most inspiring testimony
in the recovered church.
This is
why the church in the Lord’s recovery
has the revelation
and presence of the Lord
and expresses the Lord
in a living way,
full of light
and with the riches of life.
Because we
have an all-sufficient name,
the name above every name,
we do not need
the names
Lutheran, Methodist,
Baptist, Episcopalian,
Presbyterian, or any other names.
We have only one name
—the name of our Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God.
It is a serious matter
to take a name.
Suppose you
are Mrs. Smith.
If you take
the name of Mrs. Jones,
it indicates
that you
have committed fornication.
The church
should have
only one husband,
only one name,
the name of Jesus Christ.
George Whitefield,
a contemporary of John Wesley,
once declared
that besides the name of Jesus Christ
he would have
no other name.
Although Whitefield
was an Englishman,
he renounced
the name of the Church of England,
not belonging to that name anymore.
The church in Philadelphia
does not deny the Lord’s name;
she has
no name other than His.
Day 5
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. 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.
In Revelation 3:8
the Lord said,
“Behold,
I have put before you
an opened door
which no one can shut.”
As the One
who has the key of David
and who opens
and no one can shut,
the Lord
has given the recovered church
“an opened door
which no one can shut.”
Since the recovery of the proper church life
began in the early part of the nineteenth century,
a door
has always been opened wide
to the Lord’s recovery.
From the beginning
of the recovery of the proper church life,
Satan, the enemy of God,
tried his best
to shut the door.
The more organized Christianity
tries to shut the door,
the wider it is opened.
In spite of much opposition,
today
the door is open worldwide.
The key is
in the hand of the Head of the church;
it is
not in the hand of the opposers.
No matter
how much opposition
there is to His recovery,
the doors
are increasingly open
to the recovery,
and the key
is in His hand.
As long as we
are in His recovery,
the door
will always be open to us.
Although many opposers
rose up against His recovery
and tried their best
to shut the door,
Christ
nevertheless is the One
who has the key of David.
What He opens
no one will shut,
and what He shuts
no one will open.
Today
we should praise the Lord
for the door open worldwide.
Philadelphia
means “brotherly love.”
In the local churches
we need the Philadelphia;
we need
the love for one another.
We love one another
because we love the Lord.
We need the brotherly love,
for in this love
we have the open door.
In a prevailing local church
the door is always wide open,
because the brothers
love one another.
As long as the brothers and sisters
love one another,
the door
can never be shut.
The more we love one another,
the more the door will be open.
If we invite others
to come to the church meetings,
we simply need to let them see
the love
with oneness and harmony
that we have.
This alone
will convince them.
The way to open the door
is to love one another.
The open door
is set before Philadelphia.
If we would have an open door,
we must love one another.
This will convince the world.
The Lord Jesus says,
“You have a little power
and have kept My word”
[Rev. 3:8b].
One outstanding feature
of the church in Philadelphia
is that she
kept the Lord’s word.
According to history,
no other Christians
have kept the Lord’s word
as strictly
as those in the church in Philadelphia.
The church in Philadelphia,
the recovered church,
does not care for tradition;
she cares for
the word of God.
There has never been an age
in church history
in which there were men
who knew the Word of God
as much as the brothers.
The light
was like the downpour
of a great torrential flood.
When I was in Shanghai
one night,
I met a certain brother
who said
he was a cook on a boat.
I spoke with him at length.
I am afraid
that very few missionaries
know the Word of God
as well as he.
Indeed,
this is
one of their outstanding characteristics
—they know
the Word of God.
Even if you
meet the simplest one among them,
he will be clearer
than many missionaries.
The church in Philadelphia
keeps the Lord’s word
with the little power
she has.
We should not regard
the church in Philadelphia
as being strong, powerful, and prevailing.
Whereas we
may estimate
the church in Philadelphia
very highly,
the Lord says
that she
had “a little power.”
What pleases the Lord
is not that we are strong
but that we use our little power
to do the best we can.
The strong ones
may not please the Lord
as much as those
who do their best
with the little power
they have.
Day 4
Col. 1:16
Because in Him all things
were created,
in the heavens and on the earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or lordships
or rulers or authorities;
all things
have been created
through Him and unto Him.
Col. 1:18
And He is
the Head of
the Body, the church;
He is
the beginning, the Firstborn
from the dead,
that He Himself
might have the first place in all things.
We need to consider
the meaning of
the term the key of David [Rev. 3:7].
According to Genesis 1,
when God created man,
He gave him
dominion over all creatures.
This indicates
that in God’s intention
man is to be the power
representing God on earth.
Due to the fall, however,
man lost this power
and has never fully recovered it.
Man has not regained
dominion on earth
to represent God.
In the lives of
Adam, Abel, Enosh, Enoch, and Noah
we do not see this power.
Neither do we see it
in the lives of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
We do not see this power
until God’s chosen people,
the children of Israel,
entered into the good land
and built the temple.
Apparently,
the temple was built
by Solomon;
actually,
it was built
by David,
for he was
behind the building of the temple.
The temple
was built in the city.
The temple
signifies God’s expression,
and the city
signifies God’s dominion.
The image and dominion
revealed in Genesis 1
are, at least to some extent, fulfilled
in the temple and the city.
In the temple
we have God’s presence
for His expression,
and in the city
we have God’s dominion.
God’s king
is in the city
representing Him
as he rules on earth.
This is
a necessary background
for understanding
what the key of David is.
The key
held by David
is the key of
God’s entire dominion.
God’s dominion
includes the whole universe,
particularly mankind.
This dominion
has a key
which is possessed
by the person
who fought the battle
for the kingdom
and who made preparations
for the temple.
The name of this person
is David.
David represents God
in establishing
God’s kingdom on earth.
Hence,
he has
the key of
God’s dominion in the universe.
David, however,
is just a type,
not the reality.
The real David
is Christ, the greater David.
He is the One
who built
God’s temple, the church,
and established
God’s kingdom.
Therefore,
in the church today,
which is
both a house and a kingdom,
we have
God’s expression and representation.
As the greater David,
Christ has built up
the house of God, the real temple,
and He has set up
the kingdom of God, the dominion
in which He
exercises full authority
to represent God.
Thus,
He holds
the key of David,
that which represents God
and opens the whole universe for God.
It signifies
that Christ is
the center of God’s economy.
He is the One
who expresses and represents God,
holding the key
to open everything
in God’s dominion.
The epistle to
the church in Philadelphia
goes on
to speak of
the New Jerusalem.
The overcomers in Philadelphia
will be pillars
in the temple of God,
and the temple of God
will ultimately be enlarged
into the New Jerusalem.
According to Revelation 21:22,
there is
no temple
in the New Jerusalem,
for in eternity
the temple
will be enlarged
into a city,
which, having three equal dimensions ,
will be the enlargement
of the Holy of Holies.
This is
the ultimate consummation
of God’s house.
Christ’s holding the key of David,
fighting the battle for God,
building the temple,
and establishing the kingdom of God
are all for God’s building.
Christ,
holding the key of David,
opens and shuts,
not that we
might be holy or spiritual
but that we
might be built up.
Both holiness and spirituality
are to enable us
to be pillars
in the temple of God.
Eventually,
we will bear
the name of the New Jerusalem.
In 3:12
the Lord said,
“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.”
God’s purpose
is to make us
part of the New Jerusalem.
Day 3
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.
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.
The Gospel of John
and the Epistles of John
show us
God’s ordained order:
First,
faith brings us
out of death
into life,
and then
those who have passed
out of death
into life
have this love.
By loving the brothers,
we know
that we have passed
out of death
into life.
This is
a very reliable way
to ascertain
the number of God’s children
on earth.
Only those
who love one another
are brothers;
those
who do not love one another
are not brothers.
Brothers and sisters!
We must realize
that in the eyes of God
our love for the brothers
is a test of
the genuineness of our faith.
The love of the brothers
is the love of God.
The love of God
does not abide in a person
who shuts up his love
for his brother.
He cannot deceive himself
by saying,
“Although I
do not love my brother,
I love God.”
Our relationship with the brothers
comes from
our relationship with God.
If we
are not related to the brothers,
it means
that we
are not related to God.
If we
reject our brothers,
the love of God
is not in us.
First John 3:16 says,
“In this
we know love,
that He
laid down His life
on our behalf.”
What does it mean
to love the brothers?
John goes on
to explain it.
We do not know
what love is
until we see
how the Lord
laid down His life
for us.
John continues
by saying,
“And we
ought to lay down our lives
on behalf of the brothers.”
A love for the brothers
is a willingness
to lay ourselves aside
to serve them.
It is
a willingness
to deny oneself
for the perfection of others,
and a heart
that will even lay down
one’s very own life
for his brothers.
Revelation 3:7 says,
“These things says
the Holy One,
the true One.”
To the church of brotherly love,
the Lord is
“the Holy One,
the true One”
by whom and with whom
the recovered church
can be holy,
separated from the world,
and true, faithful,
to God.
To the recovered church,
the Lord is
also the One
who has
“the key of David” (v. 7),
the key of the kingdom,
with authority
to open and to shut.
Isaiah 22:22-24 records
Jehovah’s words
regarding Eliakim,
who typifies Christ:
“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.
/ 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.
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.”
The all-inclusive Christ,
as typified by Eliakim,
is the One
upon whose shoulder
the key of
(the treasury of)
the house of God
(typified by the house of David
for the building up
of the kingdom of God)
is set.
The church is
both God’s house
and God’s kingdom.
The key
set on Christ’s shoulder
is the key
for the keeping of
all the treasures of
the house of God,
which are
all the riches of Christ
for our enjoyment.
Christ is the One
who can open and shut
the door to the treasury of
God’s riches,
which are embodied in Him.
Christ
has been driven by God
as a peg, or nail,
into a sure place,
which typifies
the third heaven,
where Christ
was exalted by God
after His resurrection.
Because the Father
is in the third heaven,
to be exalted to the third heaven
is to be exalted to God the Father.
Christ today
is in the heavens
as a peg
driven into God.
Day 2
1 John 5:1
Everyone who believes
that Jesus is the Christ
has been begotten of God,
and everyone who loves Him
who has begotten
loves him also
who has been begotten of Him.
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.
Faith in the Lord
is the way
for us
to pass
out of death
into life;
love [agape—the love of God]
toward the brothers
is the evidence
that we have passed
out of death
into life.
To have faith
is to receive the eternal life;
to love
is to live by the eternal life
aand express it.
If you consider
your salvation experience,
you will realize
that when you
were saved and regenerated,
you passed
out of death
into life.
Because we all
passed
out of death
into life
when we
believed in the Lord Jesus
and received Him as our Savior,
a great change in life
followed.
We began to live
another life,
a life of righteousness and love.
It became our desire
to be righteous
and to love the children of God.
This is
not merely an outward change;
it is the passing
out of death
into life.
Therefore,
when we love
the brothers in the Lord,
this love
is an evidence
that we have passed
out of death
into life.
As saved and regenerated ones,
we can also testify
that we
desire to love others.
As those
born of God,
we want to help people
and love them.
When we love others,
we feel happy.
But we may feel sad
when we miss the opportunity
to help someone
or to show love to him.
Love is
the nature of the divine life
we have received.
Because the essence of God
is love,
the life of God
has the nature of love.
Love is
the essence of God’s nature.
When we have Him
as our divine life,
we have
the nature of this life,
which is love.
We Christians,
the children of God,
have a life
that aspires to live rightly
with everyone and everything
and also aspires to love others.
We have
such an aspiration
because of the divine nature within us.
…If someone
does not live in a way
that is right with
everyone, everything, and every matter
and does not live
a life of loving others,
there is
a serious question
whether this one
has received the divine life.
First John 5:1 says,
“Everyone who believes
that Jesus is the Christ
has been begotten of God,
and everyone
who loves Him
who has begotten
loves him also
who has been begotten of Him.”
This is a very precious word.
If you love God
who has begotten you,
it is only natural
that you will love those
who are begotten of God.
It is impossible
to say
that you love God
and yet have no feeling
toward your brothers.
This love
is proof
that the faith
we have acquired
is a genuine faith.
Such unspeakable love
can only issue
from genuine faith.
This love for the brothers
is something very special.
A person loves
for no other reason
than the fact
that the other person
is a brother.
He does not love
because there is
a common bond of interest.
He loves
simply because the other person
is his brother.
It is possible
for two persons
with different educational backgrounds,
temperaments, family backgrounds,
opinions, and views
to love each other
simply because both
are believers.
Both are brothers,
and spontaneously they
have fellowship
one with another.
There is
an unspeakable feeling and taste
toward each other.
This feeling and taste
is the proof
that they have passed
out of death
into life.
We know
that we have passed
out of death
into life
if we love the brothers.
Once we have this life,
we will have a feeling
for the many people
throughout the world
who also have this life.
Spontaneously,
this life
will draw us
toward those who have the same life.
This life
takes pleasure
in their presence;
it delights
in communicating with them
and has a spontaneous love
for them.
Day 1
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.
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.
As a sign,
the church in Philadelphia
prefigures the proper church life.
…Just as the reformed church,
prefigured by the church in Sardis,
was a reaction to
the apostate Catholic Church,
prefigured by the church in Thyatira,
so the church of brotherly love
is a reaction to
the dead reformed church.
This reaction
will continue
as an anti-testimony
to both apostate Catholicism
and degraded Protestantism
until the Lord comes back.
The Greek word
rendered “brotherly love”
is philadelphia,
composed of phileo,
to have affection for,
and adelphos,
a brother;
hence,
brotherly affection,
a love of delight and pleasure.
In godliness,
the expression of God,
this love
needs to be supplied
for the brotherhood,
for our testimony to the world
and for the bearing of fruit.
In the nineteenth century
there was a great revival
which abolished the mediatorial class.
A great recovery
transpired after Sardis:
The brothers
loved one another,
and the mediatorial class
was abolished in the church.
This is Philadelphia.
In 1825 in Dublin,
the capital of Ireland,
there were several believers
whose hearts
were moved by God
to love all the children of the Lord,
regardless of their denomination.
This kind of love
was not to be frustrated
by the walls of denomination.
They began to see
that in the Scriptures
God says
there is
but one Body of Christ,
regardless of how many sects
men may divide her into.
They further read the Scriptures
and saw
that the system of
one man administering the church
and one man preaching
was not scriptural.
So they
began to meet every Lord’s Day
to break bread and pray.
In 1825
—after more than
a thousand years of
the Roman Catholic Church
and several hundred years of
the Protestant churches
—there was
the first return to
the simple, free, and spiritual worship
in the Scriptures.
At the beginning
there were
but two persons;
later,
there were
four or five.
In the world’s eyes
these believers
were lowly and unknown.
But they had the Lord
in their midst
and the consolation
of the Holy Spirit.
Not long afterwards,
in almost every place
in the entire world,
all those
who loved the Lord
were meeting in this way.
Although there
was no outward union,
yet all
were raised up
by the Lord.
One feature
that marked
the rising up of these brothers
was that those
who were titled and lorded
gave up their titles and lordship,
those with position
gave up their position,
those with degrees
forsook their degrees,
and everyone abandoned
any worldly class or rank
in the church
and became
simply the disciples of Christ
and brothers one to another.
Just as the word father
is widely used
in the Roman Catholic Church
and reverend
in the Protestant churches,
so the word brother
is commonly used
in their midst.
They were attracted
by the Lord
and thus met together;
because of their love
toward the Lord,
they spontaneously loved
one another.
First John 3:14a says,
“We know
that we have passed
out of death
into life
because we
love the brothers.”
…Death
is of the devil,
the source of death,
and…life
is of God,
the source of life.
Not only are
death and life
of these two sources,
Satan and God;
they are also
two essences,
two elements,
and two spheres.
To pass out of death into life
is to pass out of
the source, essence,
element, and sphere
of death
into the source, essence,
element, and sphere
of life.
This took place
when we were regenerated,
born of God.