Paul says that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female (Gal. 3:28). The church does not stand on distinction but on brotherly love.

In Revelation 3:7, as in the beginning of the other epistles, the Lord refers to Himself: “These things says 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.” Holiness is His life; He Himself is holiness. He is the truth before God; He is God’s reality, and God’s reality is Christ. His hand holds the key. Here I would ask you to note one thing: When Sardis stood to witness for the Lord, there were the rulers of this world who helped her fight the battle. The fighting went on in the continent of Europe for scores of years and then in Great Britain for scores of years. But what about the movement of the brothers? There was no power at their back for support. What could they do? The Lord said that He holds the key of David, which means the authority. (The Bible calls David a king.) It is not a matter of force of arms, it is not a matter of advertising, but it is a matter of opening the door. There was a certain newspaper editor in Great Britain who said, “I never thought there were so many brothers, and I never knew these people could grow so fast.” By traveling around the world, you will discover that in every place there are many brothers. Although some know the teachings in a deeper way and some shallowly, the position of the brothers is still the same. Seeing this, we should thank the Lord. The Lord says that He is the One who “opens and no one will shut, and shuts and no one opens.”

“I know your works…because you have a little power” (v. 8). When we reach this point, our thoughts spontaneously return to the time of Zerubbabel’s return, of which a certain prophet said, “For who has despised the day of small things?” (Zech. 4:10). Do not despise the day of small things, that is, the day of building the temple. In the Scriptures there is a very great type of the church—the temple. When David reigned as king, the people of God were united. Later, they were divided into the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel. The children of God began to be divided, and at the same time idolatry and fornication commenced. As a result they were captured and taken to Babylon. Everyone acknowledges that the captivity in Babylon is a type of Thyatira—the Roman Catholic Church. Since the Bible makes Babylon a type of Rome, the church also has a Babylonian captivity. What did the people of God do when they returned from their captivity? They returned rather weakly, group by group, and built the temple. It seems that they were a type of the movement of the brothers. There were many elderly Jews who had seen the old temple. When they saw with their own eyes the laying of the foundation of the temple, they wept with a loud voice, for the temple was far inferior in glory compared to the temple in Solomon’s time. Yet God spoke through the minor prophet, saying that they should not despise the day of small things, for it was the day of recovery. The Lord says similar words to Philadelphia: “You have a little power.” When compared with the days of Pentecost, the testimony of the church in the world today is that this is the day of small things.

“You…have kept My word and have not denied My name” (Rev. 3:8). The Lord acknowledges them for two things: not denying the name of the Lord and not denying the word of the Lord. There has never been an age in church history in which there were men who knew the Word of God as much as the brothers. The light was like the downpour of a great torrential flood. When I was in Shanghai one night, I met a certain brother who said he was a cook on a boat. I spoke with him at length. I am afraid that very few missionaries know the Word of God as well as He. Indeed, this is one of their outstanding characteristics—they know the Word of God. Even if you meet the simplest one among them, he will be clearer than many missionaries.

The Lord also said, “You…have not denied My name.” Since 1825 the brothers said that they could only be called Christians. If you ask them who they are, they will say, “I am a Christian.” But if you ask someone of the Methodist Church, he will say, “I am a Methodist.” If you meet one from the Friends Church, he will say, “I belong to the Friends Church.” Someone from the Lutheran Church will reply, “I am a Lutheran.” Someone from the Baptist Church will say, “I am a Baptist.” Besides Christ, men still call themselves by many other names. But the children of God have only one name with which to call themselves. The Lord Jesus said, “Ask in My name,” and “Gathered into My name” (John 16:26; Matt. 18:20). We can only have the Lord’s name. Whitefield said, “Let all other names be abandoned; let only the name of Christ be exalted.” These brothers rose up to do just that. The Lord’s prophecy says the same thing, that is, that they honored the name of the Lord. The name of Christ is their center. They hear this word in their midst quite often: “Is the name of Christ not enough to separate us from the world? Is it not sufficient simply to bear the name of the Lord?”