To the recovered church, the Lord is the One who has the key of David – He has the key of the kingdom with authority to open and shut; He builds up the church as the house of God and establishes the kingdom of God for God’s expression and representation in the church. Hallelujah!
All this is seen in Rev. 3 where the Lord speaks to the church in Philadelphia, the recovered church, the church of brotherly love.
As a sign, the church in Philadelphia prefigures the recovered church, prophetically depicting the church of brotherly love, that is, the proper church life.
At the end of this age, the Lord is gaining the reality of the church in Philadelphia, the only church which the Lord did not point out anything negative to.
May the Lord make us those in the church in Philadelphia – may we be in reality the recovered church, the church of brotherly love!
Some of the outstanding features of this church are that she keeps the Lord’s word and does not deny His name.
As the church, we are betrothed to Christ; we are chaste virgin betrothed to Him, and we shouldn’t have any other name than our Husband’s (2 Cor. 11:2).
Furthermore, in the church life we shouldn’t have the teachings of Balaam (Rev. 2:14), the teaching of the Nicolaitans (2:15), the teachings of Jezebel (2:20), or the mysterious doctrines of Satan (2:24); the only thing we should have is the pure word of God.
On one hand, we do not denominate ourselves except by the name of our Husband, and on the other hand, we remain in the pure word of God.
What we see today in Christianity as a whole is a lot of names, a lot of denominations, a lot of labels; furthermore, there are so many particular teachings that differentiate this group from that group.
Some so-called churches or ministries have millions of followers, while others have only a small number of followers.
May we return to the pure word of God from all heresies and traditions to be the recovered church who keeps the Lord’s word!
May we return to the Lord Himself by abandoning any other name and exalting only His name to be the church of brotherly love today! Amen!
Another outstanding feature of the recovered church is that the One who has the key of David is with her, and He opens – and no one can shut, and shuts – and no one can open (Rev. 3:7).
No matter how much opposition there is, no matter how much persecution and evil speaking there is against the recovered church, the Lord has the key of David, and He opens the door – and no one can shut it!
The more the organized Christianity tries to shut the door, the wider this door is opened all over the world! Praise the Lord!
To the Recovered Church, the Lord is the One who has the Key of David: He Opens and No one can Shut!
To each of the seven churches, the Lord introduced Himself in a particular way to take care of that church’s need and to counteract the degradation in that church.
To the church in Philadelphia, the recovered church, the Lord introduced as being the One who has the key of David, the key of the kingdom, with authority to open and shut (Rev. 3:7).
Such an introduction to Christ is also mentioned in Isa. 22:22, where God promises to set the key of the house of David upon His shoulder, and when He opens, no one will shut, and when He shuts, no one will open.
This is the key of the treasury of the house of God, which is typified by the house of David for the building up of the kingdom of God (Isa. 39:2; 2 Sam. 7:16).
The key to the treasury of the house of God has been given to Christ, and He has the key of David to open and shut, to release the riches of God, and to bind and loose as needed.
The key of David is for the keeping of all the treasures of the house of God, which are all the riches of Christ for our enjoyment (Eph. 3:8).
Christ came to open the door to all the riches of God; He Himself opened a new and living way for us to enter into God, enjoy God, partake of God, and enjoy the riches of God.
The unsearchable riches of Christ are now open to us: we can come in, the door is open, and we can enjoy the Lord with all of His riches.
The apostles were open with the Lord to apply this key both in prayer and by releasing the riches of Christ so that all the believers may enter into the enjoyment and experience of the all-inclusive Christ will all His riches.
Christ uses the key of David to open the door to all the unsearchable riches of Christ; when we come to Him, open to Him, and enjoy Him in His word, partake of these unsearchable riches to become His fullness, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.
Christ uses the key of David to open the whole universe for God; He opens the whole universe for the accomplishing of God’s purpose and the carrying out of His administration.
As the real David, the greater David, Christ has built the house of God (the real temple), and He has set up the kingdom of God as the dominion in which He exercises full authority to represent God; therefore, He holds the key of David (Matt. 1:1; 12:3-8; 16:18-19).
He came to dispense Himself into His believers for them to be made citizens of the kingdom of God and members of the Body of Christ for God’s corporate expression and representation in humanity; He does this as the One who has the key of David.
And as the recovered church, we can exercise to be one with Him in prayer to bind what has been bound in heaven and lose what has been loosed in the heavens, for we are one with the One who holds the key of David.
The Lord exercises His authority through the prayers of the recovered church. May the Lord uplift the prayer ministry of the church in all the prayer meetings of the local churches, the recovered churches.
May there be much exercise of our spirit to be one with the One who holds the key of David to exercise this key for the binding and loosing, opening and closing, and for the furtherance of God’s kingdom! Amen!
The fact that Christ has the key of David signifies that He’s the center of God’s economy; Christ is the One who expresses God and represents Him, the One who holds the key to open everything in God’s dominion (Col. 1:15-18).
What a Christ we have to us in the recovered church!
Lord Jesus, we praise You as the One who holds the key of David, the key of the kingdom, with authority to open and to shut! Amen, Lord, thank You for exercising Your authority to bring in the kingdom of God and make us citizens of God’s kingdom. Thank You for regenerating us with the divine life to be part of the church as the house of God for Your expression and as the kingdom of God for Your representation. Hallelujah, Christ has the key of David for the keeping of all the treasures of the house of God, which are all the riches of Christ for our enjoyment! Amen, Lord, we exercise to be one with You to open and shut, to bind and loose, for the bringing in of the kingdom of God and the building up of the house of God!
Christ holds the Key of David to Open the Universe for God and Build up the Church as the House of God and the Kingdom of God
When God created man, He made man in His image to express Him and gave man dominion over all creatures to represent Him (Gen. 1:26).
His intention was that the man created in His image would express Him and represent Him with His authority; therefore, after man was created, God rested.
However, due to the fall, man lost God’s authority and has never recovered it.
So the Lord came in to call the chosen race, the people of Israel; at least to a certain measure, He gained His expression through the temple built in Jerusalem and His dominion through the kingdom of Israel and the city of Jerusalem.
David, in particular, was a man according to God’s heart who fought the battle and established the kingdom of Israel, and he made preparations for the building of the temple of God.
God’s dominion includes the whole universe, in particular mankind; this dominion has a key, which is possessed by the person who fought the battle for the kingdom and made preparations for the temple for God’s expression.
David was such a person, and he is a type of the real David, Christ, the greater David (Matt. 12:1-8).
Christ is the real David who built God’s temple, the church, and established God’s kingdom (Matt. 16:18-19).
The church today is both the house of God and the kingdom of God to express God and represent Him.
Christ as the greater David built up the house of God (the church as the real temple of God) and has set up the kingdom of God (the church as the kingdom of God for the exercise of God’s full authority to represent God).
Hallelujah for such a Christ who holds the key of David to open the entire universe for God and to build up the church as the house of God and as the kingdom of God!
This One has the authority to open and shut, and no one can stand against Him.
In Isa. 22:22-24, we see the prophecy concerning Christ as the One who holds the key of David; the subject in this chapter is the house of God, so Christ holds the key of David for the house of God.
Christ as the center of the economy of God is the One who expresses God and represents God, and He holds the key to open everything in Gods’ dominion.
He has opened the whole universe for God, and by means of what He is and has done, he has opened the way for man to enjoy God, partake of God, become the temple of God, and be part of the kingdom of God.
He holds the key in His hand – He has the universal key, the key of God’s economy, to deal with the church so that He may gain a group of people to express God with His image and represent Him with His dominion.
Christ is exercising the key of David to produce, gain, and build up the church to be the house of God for His expression and the kingdom of God for His representation.
There may be the gates of Hades, there may be many obstacles and hindrances, and sometimes it may seem that it is impossible to build up the church, but Christ has the key of David and He exercises this key to open up everything in God’s dominion. Hallelujah!
As the One who holds the key of David, Christ opens and shuts; this is not merely so that we may be holy or spiritual but so that we may be built up. He is building up the church as the house of God and as the kingdom of God. Hallelujah!
Praise the Lord Jesus Christ who has the key of David to open the whole universe for God’s dominion! Hallelujah, Christ is fighting the battle for God, is building up the church as the house of God, and is establishing the church as the kingdom of God! Amen, Lord, we stand one with You on earth: release what needs to be released and bind what has to be bound so that the church may be Your house and Your kingdom! Gain the church as the expression and representation of God! Build us up together, Lord, for You to gain the church as the house of God and the kingdom of God. Make us one with You to exercise the universal key of God’s economy for the building up of the church to fulfill Your purpose!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 4200-4201 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Vital Factors for the Lord’s Recovery of the Church Life (2021 ITERO), week 8, The Factor of Living an Overcoming Life in the Recovered Church to Consummate the Divine Economy and Become the New Jerusalem.
- Hymns on this topic:
– 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)
– And to the messenger / Of the church in Philadelphia write: / 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: / I know your works; / Behold, I’ve put before you / An opened door / Which no one can shut, / Because you have a little power / And have kept My word (Scripture song)
– 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)
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