The Overcomers in Philadelphia: Brotherly Love, Little Power, and Keep the Lord’s Word

The God-ordained pathway for the church is the way of Philaldephia, this God-ordained pathway is the constricted way that leads to life, for we have a little power but keep the Lord’s word and not deny His name, thus having the riches of His life and His light shining on us, with an open door that no one can shut.

Lord Jesus, we want to be those who take the way of Philadelphia today. May we take the God-ordained pathway for the church, the constricted way that leads to life! Oh Lord, we have a little power, but we want to do our best for You with what we have. We love Your name and we love to call on Your name, not denominating ourselves by any other name! We love Your word and we pray-read Your word, keeping Your word! Amen, Lord, we love You! Amen!

In Revelation chapters two and three, we see the seven churches in Asia; there were more than seven churches in that area, but the Lord chose these seven to write something specific to each one of them.

From Ephesus to Laodicea, the Lord spoke to seven churches to present the pathway of the church for the next two thousand years of the New Testament age.

The Spirit used these seven churches to lay out for us the pathway of the church, the way we as the church should take on the earth today.

The first three churches – the church in Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamos – have already passed. They signify each the initial church (Ephesus), the suffering church under the Roman persecution (Smyrna), and the worldly church (Pergamos).

After the persecution of the initial church, Satan changed his strategy, for he realised that the church is prevailing; he used Constantine to welcome the church, thus bringing the church into a marriage with the world.

After Pergamos, after the marriage of the church with the world, what followed is the papal system, which was formed in the sixth century; what came out was the Roman Church or the Catholic church, signifed by Thyatira.

All Bible scholars agree that Thyatira signifies the Roman Catholic church, full of idols, full of fornication, leading God’s people astray.

And there was the woman Jezebel teaching things; this woman will later be the great harlot, mentioned at the end of Revelation, speaking things that are the word of God mixed with idols and fornication to bring in idolatry and fornication, thus leading God’s people astray.

Following Thyatira, we see Sardis, signifying the Reformed church, the Protestant churches as a result of Luther’s movement of the Reformation.

Then, there’s the church in Philadelphia, the church of brotherly love, which is the only church that was praised by the Lord.

Finally, there is the church in Laodicea, which is the degraded recovered church.

These last four churches are still here today, remaining and continuing until the Lord returns. By the Lord’s mercy and grace, we want to be part of the church in Philadelphia in reality today, taking the God-ordained pathway for the church, the way of Philadelphia.

The Characteristic of the Overcomers in Philadelphia is their Brotherly Love: Love Prevails Among Them!

The characteristic of the overcomers in Philadelphia is their brotherly love (Rev. 3:7-8).

Love prevails among them so that they shepherd people according to God (1 Pet. 5:2) by cherishing them with the cheering presence of God and nourishing them with the healthy teaching of the economy of God (Eph. 4:11; 5:29; Acts 20:28).

Phil means “love” and adelphia means “brotherly”; Philadelphia means brotherly love. As a reaction to the Catholic church, God raised up Luther and the Reformation; sadly, however, this became a movement and fell into deadness.

Yes, they have the truth of justification by faith, but the church fell into deadness. So the Lord had a way to raise some brothers in England, the Brethren, who became Philadelphia, the church of brotherly love.

Many of them were highly learned and educated; some were pastors, teachers, and leaders, but they realised that the Protestant system was dying, so they came out and met simply as brothers.

They put aside all their titles and badges and called themselves brothers; they were not elder so-and-so or pastor so-and-so but just brothers.

During that period, it was the move of the Holy Spirit to raise up many powerful and knowledgeable, gifted men like John Nelson Darby, George Müller, John Newton, and many others.

What prevailed among them for a time was just brotherly love. They were brothers who loved one another and loved the Lord’s word.

Sadly, however, even they degraded, and the brotherly love was lost; the sad history of the Brethren is the many divisions that came in.

We today need to be recovered to being the church of brotherly love, those who love one another. We are not “co-workers” or “elders” or “serving ones” even though we may function as such ones; we are just brothers.

Every one of the brothers who minister to the saints is just a brother; the fact that someone ministers to others doesn’t make them higher than us.

Christianity today is full of ranks, for there’s a system of hierarchy, which the Lord hates so much. May we return to just loving one another and being the overcomers who have brotherly love!

The Lord’s recovery with Philadelphia is a recovery in quality, a recovery of the original substance of the church, the inner substance of God, which is love (1 John 4:8).

We today in the church life are being recovered to the inner substance of God, which is love.

We stand on the ground of oneness, the ground of the church, by choosing to love all the brothers (Rev. 3:7a; cf. 2:4, 7).

If we look at church history, we see that the Reformation movement was quite prevailing and was well-known, even publicised, for there were also some politics behind that.

The German government was involved behind Luther. But not many heard about the Brethren and what the Lord did among them.

To those who were in this movement, however, they can testify that the move among the Brethren was more powerful and impactful than the Reformation movement.

We could say that the Reformation movement was a recovery in quantity, and now many can be brought to the Lord to enjoy justification by faith.

But the Lord’s move in Philadelphia, the way of Philadelphia, is a recovery in quality, for we are brought back to the inner substance of God, which is love. God opens to us the treasures in His word, the riches in His divine revelation.

The divine economy of God was unfurled and opened up to us, and the Lord’s speaking is very prevailing in the church in Philadelphia, even as never before.

We could even say that among the Brethren, the Lord’s speaking was like a waterfall pouring out.

The Bible was locked up and not understood but kept in darkness by the Catholic church, and then it was misinterpreted and misapplied by many of the Protestant churches; now this was for the first time, freshly opened up to God’s people.

We today can know what is genuine salvation, what is the kingdom, what is the discipline and the reward, what is the second coming of the Lord, and what is God’s economy.

May we remain in the church life in the Lord’s recovery, learning to live one spirit with the Lord and exercising to have brotherly love, being brought back to the inner substance of God, which is love.

May we realise that, in His mercy, the Lord brought us back to the genuine ground of oneness, the ground of the church, and now we love all the brothers, for the Lord is our Head and our Lord!

Lord Jesus, make us the overcomers in Philadelphia today. We want to take the God-ordained pathway for the church, the way of Philadelphia! Amen, Lord, may we take the constricted way that leads to life! Thank You for bringing us into the church life in the Lord’s recovery, where we can have brotherly love, loving one another! Amen, Lord, may love prevail among us so that we may shepherd one another according to God! May we cherish one another with the cheering presence of God and nourish one another with the healthy teaching of the economy of God! We love You, Lord, and we love the brothers. We love You, dear Lord Jesus, and we love all the saints! Thank You for doing a recovery in quality, a recovery of the original substance of the church, love! Amen, bring us back to the inner substance of God, which is love. We stand one with You, Lord, on the genuine ground of oneness, and we choose to love all the brothers. Hallelujah for the church of brotherly love, the church in Philadelphia!

We have Little Power but do our Best for the Lord, keeping His Word and Not Denying His Name

The church in Philadelphia, as described by the Lord Jesus in Revelation 3:7-8, is that they have little power but have kept the Lord’s word and have not denied His name.

The overcomers in Philadelphia pay more attention to life than to work, for they care more about quality than quantity (1 Cor. 3:12).

They have a little power, but they realise that it pleases the Lord not to do much for Him but to do their best with what they have, so they keep His word and do not deny His name (Rev. 3:8; Mark 14:8).

The Lord praised the church in Ephesus for their zeal, their gift, and their ability to discern false prophets.

But with Philadelphia, the Lord said that they have little strength; they are not that strong, even a little bit weak, but they do their best to love the Lord, keep the Lord’s word, and hold His name.

We may estimate the church in Philadelphia too highly, thinking that they were strong and prevailing, even mighty in works and power.

But actually, we as those in the church in Philadelphia have a little power. We cannot deny that we have some power, but it is not a lot; each one of us has a little power from the Lord.

What the Lord is looking for today is not those who are powerful workers or some powerful churches; rather, He is looking for churches that have a little power but do their best to love the Lord and keep His word, not denying His name.

May we not think that the standard for being the overcomers in Philadelphia is too high and unattainable; may we realise that this standard is that we have little power yet we do our best in love for the Lord.

We should not try to be strong and mighty, and we should not usurp the Lord’s grace.

Each one of us in the church life has received a certain amount of grace from the Lord; we must spend that grace and use it to do our best for the Lord. If we do this, the Lord is pleased.

He is not looking for spiritual giants but for the little ones who have an amount of grace, and even though this grace is limited in its capacity, as long as we use it to spend it as much as we can to keep the Lord’s word, He is pleased.

May we be those who keep the Lord’s word; may we remain in His word day by day, enjoying the Lord in His word, reading and praying over His word, and treasuring His word.

May we not keep the Word of God in a traditional way but in the way of the pure word of God.

We take God at His word, we read the Bible and the whole Bible, and we do not keep any traditions but rather, we pray the word back to God.

The overcomers in Philadelphia keep the Lord’s word in His unique New Testament economy, which brings them into the genuine appreciation, love, and enjoyment of the precious person of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself as their life and everything (2 Cor. 11:2-3).

We forsake any tradition and old things and come to the pure word of God. As we read and pray His word, we love the Lord, we are infused with His precious person, and we take Him as our life and our everything.

Because we keep the Lord’s word, we are rich toward God (Luke 12:21) by pray-reading and musing upon His word to treasure up His word in our heart (Eph. 6:17-18; Psa. 119:11, 15)!

We can lift up our hands unto the word of God, indicating that we receive it warmly and gladly and that we say Amen to it (v. 48; Neh. 8:5-6).

We say amen to God’s word, we receive it warmly and gladly, and we treasure His word in our heart.

Another characteristic of the overcomers in Philadelphia is that they do not deny the Lord’s name. We abandon any name other than that of the Lord Jesus Christ. We call on the name of the Lord, for He is rich to all who call upon Him (Rom. 10:9-10, 12-13).

How we love the name of the Lord Jesus! We openly confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:11).

We do not denominate ourselves to call ourselves any other name but the name of Christ; we are simply Christ’s, we are Christians, and to call ourselves something like Presbyterians, Lutherans, Baptists, Pentecostals, Anglicans, etc is to commit spiritual fornication. Oh Lord!

Furthermore, we do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and we are the slaves of the believers for Jesus’ sake (2 Cor. 4:5).

We just love the Lord and we love one another, and we love to call on the name of the Lord.

The return to the pure word of God from all heresies and traditions and the exalting of the Lord’s name by abandoning any other name constitute the most inspiring testimony in the recovered church, and the Lord delights in this.

If we do this, if we have a little power and keep the Lord’s word and not deny His name, we have the revelation and presence of the Lord, and we express Him in a living way, full of light and with the riches of life. May this be our testimony today in the church life.

Lord Jesus, we have a little power, but we do our best out of love for You to keep Your word and not deny Your name! Amen, Lord, we realise that it pleases You not that we do much for You but doing our best for You with what we have. We love You, Lord. We love Your word. We return to the pure revelation in Your word today. We keep Your word. We read, pray, and prayerfully muse on Your word, for Your word is our food. We abandon any traditions and religion and just abide in Your pure word. We treasure up Your word in our heart. We lift our hands to Your word, receiving Your word warmly and gladly, for we say Amen to Your Word! Yes, Lord, we say Amen to Your pure word in the Bible! We love You, Lord, and we do not deny Your name. We do not want to denominate ourselves by any other name but by Your name! Hallelujah, we are the Lord’s, and we love to call on His name! Praise the Lord, He is rich to all those who call upon Him! Amen, Lord, we openly confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father! You are the Lord, and we are the believers’ slaves for Jesus’ sake! Amen, Lord Jesus!

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 the brothers on this topic, and portions from, Life-study of Revelation, pp. 180-182, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crucial Aspects of Matthew 5 through 7 (2025 September ITERO), week 7, Entering through the Narrow Gate and Walking on the Constricted Way That Leads to Life, the Ever-blessed Condition of the Kingdom – 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)
  – Now Philadelphia comes at last; / That which she has she should hold fast / The brothers’ love, the name, the word; / This church has satisfied the Lord. / We as the brothers all are one; / We’re one by life, and life alone. / If we His word and name do keep / A glorious building God will reap. (Hymns #1274 stanzas 13-14)
  – Now in all the churches flowing, / Brotherly love. / Light and life and love bestowing, / Brotherly love. / In the oneness all believing, / Fellowship with all receiving, / Nevermore the Spirit grieving, / Brotherly love. (Hymns #1277 stanza 1)