VI. THE CHURCH IN PHILADELPHIA
[In Greek, Philadelphia means “brotherly love.” As a sign, the church in Philadelphia prefigures the proper church life recovered by the brothers who were raised up by the Lord in England in the early part of the nineteenth century. 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.]
A. The Condition of the Church at This Stage
The church is keeping the Lord’s word. [In Revelation 3:8b the Lord Jesus says, “You have a little power and have kept My word.’’ 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.]
[In 3:8 the Lord also says that the church in Philadelphia has not denied His name. The brothers who were raised up by the Lord in England in the early part of the nineteenth century did not take 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 has 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. 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 betrothed to Christ (2 Cor. 11:2) should not have any name other than her Husband’s. All other names are an abomination in the eyes of God.]
[In 3:8a the Lord says, “I know your works; behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut.’’ As the One who has the key of David and who opens and no one shall shut (v. 7), the Lord has given the recovered church “an open door which no one can shut.’’ Since the recovery of the proper church life began, in the early part of the nineteenth century, until now, a door has always been wide open to the Lord’s recovery.]
[“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’’ (3:10). This promise actually refers to the rapture of the overcomers before the great tribulation. “Trial’’ in 3:10 undoubtedly denotes the great tribulation (Matt. 24:21) “which is about to come on the whole inhabited earth,’’ as indicated by the fifth, sixth, and seventh trumpets with the seven bowls (Rev. 8:13-9:21; 11:14-15; 15:1; 16:1-2). The “trial’’ may also include the supernatural calamities of the sixth seal and the first four trumpets. The Lord promises the recovered church that He will keep her “out of the hour of trial’’ (not only out of the trial but out of the hour of trial) because she has kept the word of His endurance. This promise of the Lord, like that in Luke 21:36, indicates that the saints who have kept the word of the Lord’s endurance will be raptured before the great trial.]
(Lesson Book, Level 5: The Church—The Vision and Building Up of the Church, Chapter 11, by Witness Lee)
