In the recovered church, Christ is the One upon whose shoulder the key of David is set, for He has the key of the treasury of the house of God to open and shut the door to the riches of Christ; we need to stay in contact with the Lord according to the sense of life and exercise the keys of denying the self, taking up the cross, and losing the soul-life to enjoy His riches as the treasure.
Lord Jesus, thank You for being the One who has the key of David! Hallelujah, You open the door and no one shuts it, and You close a door and no one can open it! We open to You today. We want to enjoy You as the One who opens the door to our enjoyment of the riches of Christ! Hallelujah, the door to the treasury of the house of God is open and we can come in to enjoy Christ as God’s riches! Praise the Lord!
Today we want to be in the reality of the church in Philadelphia, those who give the Lord the full ground in our being.
He has spoken so much to us, He has opened up the word to us, and we love Him and we love the brothers. We come to Him concerning any lukewarmness and spiritual pride, and we want to pay the price to enjoy His riches in spirit.
We love Him to the uttermost, we hold to His word, and we do not deny His name but rather, we call on His name to enjoy Him and partake of all His riches.
We want to receive the Lord’s mercy today to remain in the way of Philadelphia.
For this, we need to humble ourselves before God, realising that we want to gain Him afresh every day. We forget the things which are behind. We do not hold on to past experiences or glories; we put aside all things and we want to gain Christ in a fresh way today.
We really want to go on with Him, taking Him as our life and our everything.
We have little power, but we exercise our little power to hold to His word and not deny His name, and we have brotherly love toward the brothers. May the Lord gain such a reality among us.
May we learn to humble ourselves again and again before God, realising that we depend on Him, we need Him, and our going on is because of Him.
And may we beware of the danger of falling into Laodicea, that is, the danger of being proud of what we have, thinking we’re rich and in need of nothing, and being lukewarm.
May we take the Lord’s mercy and grace today to go on with Him both personally and corporately, taking the way of Philadelphia and being the church that He desires in this age.
Christ has the Key of David, the Key of the Kingdom, the Key of the Treasury of the House of God
In Revelation 3:7 we see that Christ is 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.
In the recovered church, the church in Philadelphia, Christ is seen as the One upon whose shoulder the key of the treasury of the house of God is set (Isa. 22:22).
This key is typified by the house of David for the building up of the kingdom of God. What is the key of David?
From Genesis 1 we see that God created man in His image and according to His likeness, and He gave man dominion over all things so that man would represent God on earth. This is God’s original intention.
However, due to the fall of man, he lost this power and has never fully recovered it; man has not regained dominion on earth to represent God.
The image and dominion God wants to gain are 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.
The kingdom is typified by David; the key held by David is the key to God’s entire dominion, which includes the universe, particularly mankind.
David was a king who represented God in establishing God’s kingdom on earth.
Of course, the real David, even the greater David, is Christ (Matt. 12:1-8); He’s the One who built God’s temple, the church, and established God’s kingdom (16:18-19).
Christ has the key of David, and He opens and no one will shut, and shuts and no one opens. He has the universal key, the key of God’s economy, in His hand.
This is the One who is in the recovered church today, and He has given the church an opened door which no one can shut!
Hallelujah, Christ has the key of David and He has given us an opened door, and no one can shut this door! We can testify that, throughout the years, the Lord’s recovery has experienced the Lord as such a One.
Ever 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.
Satan, God’s enemy, tried his best to shut this door, and much opposition has been raised by him.
However, in spite of all the opposition, today the door is opened worldwide, for the key of David, the key to God’s kingdom, the key to the treasures in God’s house, is in the hand of Christ, and not of the enemy!
To the recovered church, Christ is the One who has the key of David, the key of the kingdom, with authority to open and to shut.
The Lord has given the recovered church in one accord an opened door that no one can shut (Psa. 133).
We thank the Lord for this; we are not proud of this, we only acknowledge what the Lord is doing, and we thank Him for being such a One to us.
We have a way not only to enjoy the riches of Christ but also to spread them, for the door is open. The opposition does not control the situation; Christ is the One who has the key of David.
May we not be discouraged. May we not be worn down by opposition. May we realise that Christ has the key of David, and He opens and shuts according to His own will and intention. The key is in His hand.
Sometimes we may look at the opposition and we may feel discouraged; we may hear the opposition speaking things against us and we may lose heart.
But we need to realise that Christ is the One in control: He has the key of David. So we keep ourselves humble before the Lord, we keep ourselves one with Him, and He will give us a way to go on!
Lord Jesus, we praise You for being the One who has the key of David! Hallelujah, Christ has the key of the kingdom with authority to open and to shut! Praise the Lord for such a Christ who is today in the recovered church. We look to You, dear Lord, and we trust in You. We do not trust in our ability to take care of things or to handle situations. We are one with You as the One who has the key of David. Thank You for giving us an opened door which no one can shut! Hallelujah, there’s an opened door to the recovered church, and Christ has the key of David to open and no one can shut! Amen, Lord, the key is in the hand of the Head of the church and not in the hand of the opposers. We trust in You. We are one with You. We join ourselves to You. May You have a way to establish Your kingdom in the church and through the church. Have a way to gain Your kingdom in the church life and through the church life. We praise You, Lord, for having the universal key, the key of God’s economy, in Your hand!
The Key of David Opens the Door for us to enjoy His Riches and be Transformed and Built into God’s House
On the one hand, the key of David in the hand of Christ who is in the recovered church is the key of the kingdom for the spreading of Christ and the increase of the kingdom of God.
On the other hand, as seen in the Lord’s speaking to the church in Philadelphia, the key of David opens the door for us to be transformed and built into the house of God (Rev. 2:17; 3:12).
The key of David opens the door for us to be transformed into a white stone 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.
The key opens the door of God’s house to all the riches of who Christ is.
We can be brought into the enjoyment of the riches of Christ; this constitutes us with Christ to transform us and build us up into God’s house.
We are being transformed into a white stone; this indicates that we now participate in the building of God and we are approved and pure.
Furthermore, we are built as a pillar with the name of God written on us; we are one with Him and we identify with Him.
The way this process is released or enabled is by Christ having the key of David, the key to all of God’s riches.
God’s work of building the church depends on our transformation, and our transformation issues from enjoying Christ as our life supply.
If we think about it, 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 praise the Lord, the law of the Spirit of life within us contains an element that deals with impossibility (Rom. 8:2; Rev. 3:7-13; cf. Gen. 28:12-19; John 1:51).
Regardless how much natural ability and zeal we have, it is humanly impossible to be God’s building apart from Christ as the law of the Spirit of life opening the door to God’s riches so that God can be transmitted into us and enjoyed by us to transform and build us up.
Thank the Lord that Christ has the key to control the door of God’s treasury, in which are the riches of God in Christ for our enjoyment (Eph. 4:30; 1 Thes. 5:17; 1 John 1:7, 9). He has the key.
We all have experienced both His opening and His shutting of these riches to us.
As we meet with the Lord personally and meet with the saints corporately, we enjoy the riches of Christ, and we are transformed and built.
In order for us to enjoy His riches as the treasure, we need to remain in the touch with the Lord, staying in contact with Him according to the sense of life, 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).
Christ has the key of David; He can open the door to our enjoyment of God’s riches in Christ, but on our side, we need to remain in the touch with the Lord.
He wants to be enjoyed by us as life and life supply, and on our side, we need to cooperate. We need to remain in contact with the Lord according to the sense of life. We need to be poor in spirit and pure in heart.
We can tell the Lord, Lord, keep me poor in spirit and pure in heart! I turn my heart to You! Make me poor in spirit and pure in heart to enjoy all the riches of God in Christ!
In order for us to enjoy His riches as the treasure, we need to learn to exercise the keys of denying the self, taking up the cross, and losing the soul-life (Matt. 16:24-25).
On the positive side, we need to remain in contact with the Lord by exercising our spirit and fellowshipping with Him concerning all things.
On the negative side, we need to be “fired” by the Lord, even as Shebna was fired and replaced with Eliakim in Isaiah 22:15-19.
We are not qualified to be part of God’s building in our natural man. We cannot build God’s house when we remain natural, when we’re not transformed.
So we need to allow the Lord to fire us, replace us with Christ, and live Himself in us. We have all been fired and replaced by Christ.
We should not replace Christ; it is not us who should live but Christ who should live in us (Gal. 2:20).
God wants us to be stewards in His household, those who bring in God’s kingdom and minister the riches of Christ to those in His household.
But in our natural man, in the self, and in the flesh, we are not qualified. So we need to be fired by Christ and replaced by Him!
In Isaiah 22 there is this question: What are you doing here? Many times we need to ask ourselves, Lord, what am I doing here? What am I still doing here? I deny myself, and I take You as my life and person!
We can enjoy the riches of Christ to be transformed and built up by denying the self, taking up the cross, and losing the soul-life. What we need is not the law of letters but the Christ of life.
We don’t need more doctrines but Christ Himself, who alone releases us from our sinful self.
We don’t need religion, not even Christianity, but Christ within us who satisfies God’s wishes and His plan withal.
Not even the gifts should replace Christ, but He must be our all in all. May we take Christ as everything to us in things great or small.
May we open to the Lord as the One who has the key of David and cooperate with Him today!
Hallelujah, the key of David opens the door for us to be transformed and built into the house of God! Amen, Lord, thank You for having the key of David for us to be transformed into a white stone and built into God’s house as a pillar with the name of God, the name of the New Jerusalem, and the new name of the Lord! Hallelujah! We open to You, Lord! Though it may seem impossible with man for us to be built into God and be part of the New Jerusalem, we praise You for the law of the Spirit of life within us, which contains an element that deals with impossibility! Amen, Lord, we want to remain in contact with You today so that we may enjoy Your riches as the treasure! May we be poor in spirit and pure in heart. May we do all things according to the inner sense of life. Lord Jesus, we want to learn to exercise the keys of denying the self, taking up the cross, and losing the soul-life today so that we may be fired and replaced with Christ! Amen, Lord, may Christ be everything in us and to us! May Christ do everything through us and for us for God’s building!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ray Mulligan on this topic, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 412, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (4) (2025 December Training), week 43 (msg. 7), The Spirit Speaking to the Churches, the One Who Has the Key of David, and the One Who Will Dine with the Overcomers – day 4.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Not the law of letters, / But the Christ of life / God desires to give us, / Saving us from strife; / It is not some doctrine, / But ’tis Christ Himself / Who alone releases / From our sinful self. (Hymns #541 stanza 1)
– Glorious things to thee are spoken, / Philadelphia, church of love. / These things saith the One who’s holy, / He who’s real speaks from above; / He that has the key of David, / Who the kingdom’s entrance won, / “I will open, no man shutteth”— / He has spoken; it is done. (Hymns #1275 stanza 1)
– Philadelphia, Philadelphia, / Church so full of brotherly love, / You’re the church to bring the Bridegroom / Back to earth from heav’n above. / He that hath the key of David, / He that shuts and opens too, / Knows thy works, O Philadelphia; / That’s why you’re His Bride so true. (Hymns #1276 stanzas 3-4)
