“I come quickly; hold fast what you have that no one take your crown” (3:11). The Lord says, “I come quickly”; therefore, this church is to continue until the Lord comes back. Thyatira is not gone, Sardis is not gone, and Philadelphia is not gone. “Hold fast what you have,” which is “My word” and “My name.” We should not forget the word of the Lord, and we should not put the Lord’s name to shame. “That no one take your crown.” All of Philadelphia have the crown already. In the other churches it is a problem of gaining the crown; here it is a problem of losing it. The Lord says that they already have the crown. In the whole Bible only one person knew he had the crown—Paul (2 Tim. 4:8). So also among the churches, only Philadelphia knows that she has the crown. Do not let any man take your crown; do not come out from Philadelphia and leave your position. Here it says to hold fast what you have that no man take it.

This tells us clearly that Philadelphia also has her own particular danger; otherwise, the Lord would not have given her such a warning. Moreover, this danger is quite real, which is why the Lord commands her in such a serious manner. What is her danger? Her danger lies in losing what she already has. So the Lord asks her to hold fast what she has. Her danger is not in failing to progress; rather, it is in retrogression. Those in Philadelphia are pleasing to the Lord because they love one another and are faithful to the Lord’s word and the Lord’s name. Their danger lies in losing this love and faithfulness. How dreadful! But in fact this is what has actually happened. After twenty years the brothers were divided. They were divided into two divisions: “Exclusive” and “Open,” and within the two divisions there are many sects. Therefore, in Philadelphia there is also the call to the overcomers.

What is the reason for this problem? We must be very careful and humble or else we will become involved in the same failure. I think any kind of division is due to the lack of love for one another; when love does not exist or is lacking, people pay attention to laws, stress procedures, and split hairs to find faults. Once love is in distress, people will also be proud of themselves and envious of others, which produces controversy and strife. The Holy Spirit is the strength of oneness, while the flesh is the strength of division. Unless the flesh is dealt with, division will occur sooner or later.

Furthermore, I believe the lack at that time was that the brothers did not see the “local” ground and boundary of the church. They clearly saw the sins of the church on the negative side, but on the positive side, they did not adequately see how the church should love one another and be of one accord on the ground and boundary of locality. The Roman Catholic Church pays attention to the oneness of a united church on this earth, while the Brethren paid attention to an idealistic oneness of a spiritual church in heaven. They did not see or did not see clearly enough that the love for one another in the epistles is the love for one another in the church in one locality; the oneness is the oneness of the church in one locality; the joining together is the joining together of the church in one locality; the edification is the edification of the church in a locality; and even the excommunication is the excommunication of the church in one locality. In any case, only these two kinds of people talk about the oneness of the church: The Roman Catholic Church speaks of the unity of all the churches on this earth, while the Brethren speak of the spiritual oneness in heaven. As a result, the former is but a oneness in outward appearance, while the latter is an idealistic oneness that is, in fact, divisive. Both have not noticed the oneness of each and every local church in each and every locality as recorded in the Bible.