Humble Ourselves & take the Way of Philadelphia: Hold His Word and Not Deny His Name

In Revelation 2 and 3 we see the Spirit’s speaking regarding the seven kinds of churches in church history, from the initial church to the degraded recovered church; may the Lord save us from any spiritual pride, and may we continue in the way of Philadelphia by humbling ourselves before God, keeping His word, not denying His name, and having brotherly love.

Lord Jesus, we give ourselves to You today to remain in the way of Philadelphia. May we know the pathway of the church and allow the Spirit to speak to us, even to infuse us with Christ, so that we may be the Lord’s overcomers today. Thank You for speaking to us. Grant us to be the church in Philadelphia in reality today! Amen, Lord, we give ourselves to You! Amen!

Thank the Lord for His speaking in His word and through the ministry. May we be those who have an ear to hear what the Spirit is speaking to the churches. May we learn to listen to the Lord’s speaking.

These days, when so many voices speak so many things, when many speak powerful things and we can attune our ears to listen to specific things that match our taste and preference, may we learn to come to the Lord in His word and allow Him to speak to us as the Spirit.

The Spirit is always speaking, for the Spirit has been intensified sevenfold to not only save us from the degradation of the church but even more, produce us as the Lord’s overcomers in the Lord’s intensification.

As we turn to the Lord again and again, especially throughout the day, the Lord has a way to speak to us. We need to come to the Lord and deal with our hearing and also with our heart.

Our ears need to be open to the Lord to receive His speaking. If we do not receive the Lord’s speaking, we cannot go on.

If we can’t hear the Spirit’s speaking, if the Spirit does not have a way to apply to us what the Lord is speaking to us in His word, we have no way to be produced as the Lord’s overcomers.

Every morning we need to come to the Lord in His word and seek to have the Lord’s fresh speaking. Throughout the day, we need to open to the Lord and receive His word, allowing the Spirit to speak to us inwardly and apply the Lord’s speaking to us.

May we be the overcomers in this age, those who have an ear to hear what the Spirit is speaking to the churches.

As we come to the meetings of the church, may we learn to open to the Lord and allow Him to speak to us as the Spirit so that we may go on with Him, be up-to-date with Him, and be saved from any lukewarmness and pride. Oh, may we be the Lord’s overcoming saints today!

The Spirit’s Speaking to the Seven Churches in Revelation 2 and 3 Shows the Pathway the Church Takes on Earth

In Revelation 2 and 3 we see Christ, the Son of Man, as the High Priest, walking in the midst of the local churches, and He speaks to seven particular churches in Asia Minor.

Of course, there were more than seven local churches, but God chose these seven for prophetic representation (Rev. 1:3).

The Spirit’s speaking is regarding the seven kinds of churches in church history.

First of all, each of the seven churches existed, and these were their situations with their problems, and the Lord spoke to each one of them directly and specifically so that the overcomers may have an ear to hear and cooperate with the Lord.

Second, these seven churches show us seven kinds of churches in church history: the initial church (Ephesus), the suffering church (Smyrna), the worldly church (Pergamos), the apostate church (Thyatira), the reformed church (Sardis), the recovered church (Philadelphia), and the degraded recovered church (Laodicea).

We can say that these seven churches can be divided into two groups: some that are no longer and some that continue to be, for they represent a particular aspect of church or church history.

The first three churches – Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamos – are no longer, and the Lord did not promise them anything concerning His coming.

The last four churches – Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea – still exist, and each of them received a promise of the Lord’s coming.

These last four will remain until the Lord Jesus comes back again.

The church in Ephesus, the first church addressed in these chapters, refers to the period of church history at the end of the first century, when the book of Revelation was written.

The apostle John wrote the book of Revelation, and in his days, the condition of the church was like that of the first church – Ephesus. The problem in Ephesus was that they left their first love for the Lord.

The second church, the church in Smyrna, is a picture of the condition of the church under ten periods of persecution in the Roman Empire from the second century after John’s death to the early part of the fourth century.

During this time, the church suffered a great deal of persecution, and many saints experienced martyrdom. This is the stage of the suffering church.

The third church, the church in Pergamos, began with Constantine’s acceptance of Christianity as the state religion at the beginning of the fourth century in AD 313.

Constantine the Great no longer persecuted the church but rather embraced it and made it the state religion, mixing the church with the world; this is the church married to the world. This is a serious situation.

The fourth church, the church in Thyatira, which still exists today, is worldly and apostate. After the Caesar of Rome accepted Christianity as the state religion, he promoted it and propped it up with his political power.

As a result, Christianity was not only married to the world but even more, it was exalted above the world. This church refers to the Roman Catholic church.

The fifth church, the reformed church, began with the Reformation, when the Lord raised some who discovered many truths in God’s word and brought them to light for God’s people to understand and enjoy His salvation according to His word.

The Reformation began in the early part of the 16th century and continues until the Lord’s coming back.

The sixth church is the church in Philadelphia, the church of brotherly love; this church did not receive any criticism from the Lord but only praise.

This signifies the recovered church, beginning with the Lord’s raising of the Brethren in England to practice the church outside of any denominational system.

They met in the Lord’s name and kept the Lord’s word. The Lord had a way to open many of the truths in His word through the Brethren, and the entire Body of Christ was and is blessed by their writings.

It was such a glorious time when they met in oneness, broke the bread, and had no hierarchy but rather, they were just brothers under Christ, the Head.

However, the seventh church, Laodicea, signifies the degraded recovered church, which signifies that the Brethren entered into degradation, for they were divided (losing the brotherly love) and considered that they were rich and in need of nothing. Oh Lord!

We live today in this age and we can be part of either Philadelphia or Laodicea. We need to be before the Lord concerning this and allow Him to shine on us and make us His overcomers, even be in the reality of the church in Philadelphia today.

Lord Jesus, unveil us to see the situation in the church today even as You see it. May we hear the Spirit’s speaking today. May we be saved from losing the first love; we love You, Lord, and we give You our first love today! We give ourselves to You to hold what we have until You come. Thank You for giving us Your word, Your name, and the love for the brothers. May we remain in Your word, enjoying You in the word in a pure way according to Your revelation. May we not deny Your name but hold Your name and call on Your name! Amen, Lord, may we love You and love the brothers fervently, having brotherly love among us! Save us from drifting into the world or being married to the world. Save us from any apostasy. Save us from lukewarmness and spiritual pride. Grant us to be pure in heart, loving You and seeking after You in Your word. Amen, Lord, we love You! Save us from any degradation. Overcome in us. Make us Your overcoming saints in this age. Gain the reality of Philadelphia among us today!

Take the Way of Philadelphia with No Spiritual Pride or Lukewarmness but Humbling ourselves before the Lord, Holding His Word, Not Denying His Name, and Having Brotherly Love

If we look at church history, we will see that the last four churches mentioned in Revelation 2-3 – the church in Pergamos, the church in Thyatira, the church in Philadelphia, and the church in Laodicea – will remain until the Lord comes back.

Undoubtedly, only the recovered church – the church in Philadelphia – can fulfil God’s eternal purpose, and only she is what the Lord is after; may we take the Lord’s choice.

May we take the way of Philadelphia today. Laodicea, the last church mentioned in Revelation 3, is a distorted Philadelphia, having lukewarmness and spiritual pride (Rev. 3:14-17).

This is something that should be enlightening to us and be a concern to us that we would not presume to say that we’re Philadelphia.

The Lord may be doing many things among us, He may be speaking to us, He may build us up, and our aspiration is to be in the way of Philadelphia, even to be Philadelphia in reality.

However, we ned to be careful even to say that the Lord is blessing us, for this may be a subtle way for spiritual pride to come in.

It is easy for spiritual pride and lukewarmness to come in when we look at the riches the Lord gave us, what He is doing among us, and the wonderful church life; however, we need to be saved from spiritual pride and lukewarmness.

Laodicea means to know everything but in reality to be fervent about nothing. In name, Laodicea has everything, but it doesn’t burn for anything, and it cannot sacrifice its life for anything. Laodicea remembers its former glory, but she forgets its present condition before God.

We need to be warned concerning this and humble ourselves before the Lord. We truly need to humble ourselves before God.

If we have received the Lord’s mercy to have brotherly love among us, not deny the Lord’s name and keep His word, we must remember to humble ourselves before God (vv. 7-22; Isa. 57:15; 66:1-2).

If we have attained anything, it is not because of us. We haven’t attained anything; we haven’t accomplished anything; it is the Lord’s mercy, and we have not yet arrived.

May we protect ourselves again and again by humbling ourselves before God.

The Lord is the One who carries out His recovery; He is recovering the truth, the practice of the church life, the living of a God-man life, and the shepherding according to God so that we may live according to the highest peak of the divine revelation.

Those around us may be full of death, but we do not need to be conscious that we’re full of life.

Those around us may be poor, but we do not need to be conscious of the fact that we are rich. If we live before the Lord and continue in the way of Philadelphia, we will not be conscious of our own riches; rather, we will constantly depend on the Lord.

We are not better than anyone; we have only received the Lord’s mercy (Rev. 2:25; 3:11). We do not trust in our history. We do not rely on our past experiences (Phil. 3:7-8).

We do not consider that we’re rich but rather, we freshly empty ourselves and come to the Lord, being willing to pay the price to buy the oil, be anointed to see our situation and the Lord’s desire, and let Christ live in us as our righteousness.

May we all see and choose the pathway we should take with regard to the church. May we stand on the ground of Philadelphia and take the way of Philadelphia.

May we daily call on the Lord’s name and keep His word. Oh, how we love the Lord’s word!

How we love to read and pray over His word! How we love to call on the name of the Lord! We do not denominate ourselves by any other name; we only keep His name.

May the Lord bless us, His children, and may we take the upright path with regard to the church.

Lord Jesus, we humble ourselves before You today. We have not arrived; we want to go on with You. Grant us the mercy and grace to continue to keep Your word and not deny Your name. Amen, Lord, we love Your name. Oh Lord Jesus! We love to call on Your name. We love to be in Your name. Keep us one with You, calling on Your name. We love to read and pray over Your word. We come back to Your word, we prayerfully consider Your word, and we muse on Your word with much prayerful consideration. Oh Lord, may we take the way of Philadelphia today. Save us from any spiritual pride or lukewarmness. May we love You fervently. May we love the church. May we be those who love the brothers. Oh Lord Jesus, we choose to take the upright path with regard to the church. Gain the reality of the church in Philadelphia among us today. We humble ourselves before You. We are nothing, but You are everything. We depend on You in everything. Oh Lord, we have little power, but we love Your name, we remain in Your word, and we love the brothers! Go on among us today!

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, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 50, “Messages for Building Up New Believers (3),” ch. 45, 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 3.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Hallelujah, Philadelphia, / Thine are works that please the Lord. / Strength thou hast, though just a little / And hast kept His living Word. / Thou His holy name denied not, / But confessed it here below— / Lo, a door is set before thee, / Through which none but thee can go. (Hymns #1275 stanza 2)
  – Laodicea warns us all: / From Philadelphia some will fall. / By saying, “I am rich,” it’s then / The Lord is outside wanting in. / Lukewarmness we must ever spurn / And in the spirit always burn, / The inward life experience gain, / And pay the price with Him to reign. (Hymns #1274 stanzas 15-16)
  – Like “Philadelphia” she must be / To keep Christ’s word, confess His Name; / All “lukewarm” pride she must o’ercome / To feast with Him who overcame. / Thus will the Church be purified / To be the lampstand of pure gold, / To match the testimony pure, / The life of Jesus fit to hold. (Hymns #822 stanzas 7-8)