Thursday

Related Verses
Rev. 3:12
12 He who overcomes, him I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall by no means go out anymore, 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.

Rev. 2:17
17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and to him I will give a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, which no one knows except him who receives it.

1 Tim. 3:15
15 But if I delay, I write that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth.

1 Pet. 2:5
5 You yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house into a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Rev. 21:9-11
9 And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, Come here; I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.
10 And he carried me away in spirit onto a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
11 Having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, as clear as crystal.

John 3:29-30
29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices with joy because of the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine therefore is made full.
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

Gal. 2:20
20 I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Related Reading
In Revelation 3:7, the introductory word in the epistle to the church in Philadelphia, the most difficult term for the teachers of the Bible to understand is the key of David. This key is used by the Lord to open the door for His recovered church. Today it is also used by the Lord for us, the seekers and lovers of the Lord in His recovery, to have an opened door not only for the spread of the recovery in an objective way but also for us to become a white stone (2:17) and pillars that are built into the temple of God and bear three names—the name of God, the name of the city of God, and the Lord’s new name (3:12). The temple, the house of God, refers first to the church in the present age (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 1 Tim. 3:15)…The house of God…will consummate in the New Jerusalem as both the tabernacle and temple of God for His dwelling in eternity (Rev. 21:3, 22). (CWWL, 1994–1997, vol. 4, p. 73)

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The name of My God indicates that the pillar is God; the name of the city of My God indicates that the pillar is the New Jerusalem; and My new name indicates that the pillar is Christ in a new significance [Rev. 3:12]. The overcomer as a pillar becomes God (in life and in nature but not in the Godhead), the New Jerusalem, and Christ in a new experiential sense. In ourselves we have no way to carry this out. However, the Lord Jesus has the way,…the key. The Lord’s opening the doors for the spread of His recovery is objective to us, but Christ is also subjective to us. He is the key for us to be transformed into white stones and to be built into the house of God, which is the church today and the New Jerusalem in eternity as the consummation of the book of Revelation and of the entire Bible. 

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. This means that he becomes God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead, and he also becomes the New Jerusalem and Christ in a new sense. By ourselves this is impossible, but the One who has the key of David has the way. 

I am very thankful to the Lord that in recent years He has shown us the high peak of the New Testament truths. If we read the outlines of these truths, we can see that they give us a key that opens the way to make us a part of God, of the New Jerusalem, and of the new Christ. We need to pray-read these outlines, study and investigate them, memorize and recite them, and prophesy with them. As a result, there will be an open door for us to enter into the reality, that is, to become a part of God, of the New Jerusalem, and of Christ. 

The New Jerusalem is the enlarged and expanded God. As His enlargement and expansion, we are God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead, and we are Christ in a new sense. We are the new Christ, who is not the same as He was in the four Gospels (cf. 1 Cor. 15:45). John 3:29 and 30 say, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom…He must increase, but I must decrease.” The bride, who is the increase of the Bridegroom, is the New Jerusalem, including all of God’s regenerated ones (Rev. 21:9-10). 

Jesus said, “Abide in Me and I in you” (John 15:4). The key is to be in Him and not in ourselves. To get out of ourselves and into Him is the key. To this end, we must deny the self and keep it on the cross (Matt. 16:24) so that it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us (Gal. 2:20). When we are in the Son, we are also in the Father. To be one with the Triune God in this way is the secret of being transformed, being built up, and being built in as a pillar. Then we are parts of God, parts of Christ, and parts of the New Jerusalem, which is the enlargement of God and the increase of Christ. (CWWL, 1994–1997, vol. 4, pp. 74-77)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1994–1997, vol. 4, pp. 73-77