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
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Rev. 3:8 …you have a little power and have kept My word and have not denied My name.
Rev. 3:12 He who overcomes, him I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, … 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.
Word of Appetizer
What is the present truth of the Lord’s up-to-date and ultimate recovery?
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.
Spiritual Burden
The characteristic of the overcomers in Philadelphia 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.
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.
The characteristic of the overcomers in Philadelphia is their brotherly love; love prevails among them so that they shepherd people according to God by cherishing them with the cheering presence of God and nourishing them with the healthy teaching of the economy of God.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
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.
The characteristic of the overcomers in Philadelphia 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.
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.
The Experience of Life
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.
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; thus, we are united with Christ, and in this union Christ replaces 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.
Practice and Application
The characteristic of the overcomers in Philadelphia is their brotherly love; love prevails among them so that they shepherd people according to God by cherishing them with the cheering presence of God and nour-ishing them with the healthy teaching of the economy of God.
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.
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.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 The “present truth” can also be rendered the “up-to-date truth” (2 Pet. 1:12)
(What the present truth is?)
T2 We know that God’s truths are cumulative; later truths do not negate earlier ones (2 Pet. 1:12)
(Please illustrate with examples that the “present truth” in that age )
Day 2
T1 According to His heart’s desire, God made His eternal economy (1 Tim. 1:4b; Eph. 1:10; 3:9)
(Please illustrate that God carries out His eternal economy through a number of steps.)
T2 Keeping the word of the Lord, is to remain in the teachings of the apostle, to remain in the healthy words, to remain in the unique revelation from the Lord with the proper leadership (Rev. 3:8; 1 Tim. 1:3-4)
(Please illustrate the three kinds of teachings in the seven epistles in Revelation 2 and 3, the striking point of the churches’ degradation.)
Day 3
T1 Christ is the Steward in the house of God, typified by Eliakim (Isa. 22:20-24)
(Please illustrate that how God fires us? What is the result of God firing us? )
T2 Christ is the replacement of all the things in God’s Old Testament economy (Gal. 2:20)
(Please illustrate that in the New Testament, Christ’s replacing of us is altogether a matter of a grafted life.)
Day 4
T1 When the church as the house of God is adequately built up, the church is manifested as the kingdom of God (1 Tim. 3:15; Rom. 14:17)
(Please illustrate that the church is God’s house, and the church is also the kingdom of God.)
T2 Christ is the One who can open up to us all the riches of God embodied in Him (Isa. 22:22; Eph. 3:8)
(Please illustrate that the treasures today in the house of God are all the riches of Christ)
Day 5
T1 A loving seeker of the Lord can become one who bears the name of God, the name of the New Jerusalem, and the new name of Christ (Rev. 3:12)
(Please illustrate that what is the way for us to become a white stone and a pillar that is built into the house of God? )
T2 The Lord has the key to subjectively make us not only white stones but also pillars built into the house of God (Rev. 3:12)
(Please illustrate today Christ is the real David, to whom God has given the key of authority, only He has the unique key to open the door for His recovery that no one can shut. )
Day 6
T1 The Lord says that the church in Philadelphia had “a little power” (Rev. 3:8)
(Please illustrate that what pleases the Lord is not that we are strong, but that we use our little power to do the best we can. )
T2 Once Philadelphia fails, it becomes Laodicea (Rev. 3:18)
(Please illustrate the what the meaning of the word Laodicea is.)
