Revelation 3:7, commentary and pictures

He who speaks is the one who is holy and true, holding the key of David with sole and supreme authority to open what no one can shut and to shut what no one can open, which no human, earthly, or satanic power can reverse. His opening and shutting is His change of ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, where at the end of the 2300 days in 1844 He finished mediation in the Holy Place, shut that door, opened the door into the Most Holy Place within the second veil, and passed in to cleanse the sanctuary and make the special atonement. From that opened Most Holy Place containing the ark, light on the Ten Commandments has shone out, showing the perpetuity of the whole law including the fourth commandment and testing His people on the Sabbath. The open door that no one can shut is also free personal access to approach God in living faith, which no one on earth can close and through which the most sinful and needy may come to the Father. He sets that open door before those who with little strength keep His word and do not deny His name, calling them to faithful obedience, to hold fast through trial, and to enter the opportunity for His work while mercy still invites.

Christ's Titles and Authority

The speaker introduces Himself as the one who is holy and the one who is true, the True Witness, holding the key of David. That threefold self-description identifies the heavenly Messenger speaking to Philadelphia at the opening of His message. The key of David signifies His sole and supreme authority to open what no one can shut and to shut what no one can open. What He opens no human power can close, and what He closes no opposing force can open, and no angel, greater earthly being, human power, earthly power, opposing force, or satanic agency can reverse His decision.

He is equal to Divinity, the Prince of life, the Majesty of heaven and King of glory, having all power in heaven and in earth, in whom the hopes of eternal life are centered and in whom there is reason to rejoice. He left the royal throne and high command and clothed divinity with humanity. He became a Man of sorrows acquainted with grief and was tempted in all points as humans are, so that He might know how to help those who are tempted. With His human arm He encircles the race, while with His divine arm He grasps the throne of the Infinite.

He exercises through John to the last days the same infinite power that shut the door in Christ's day. His words come by inspiration of the Spirit of God as certain truth and no soothsaying. They are to be heard with careful attention by the churches as the sure word that enables the winning of salvation.

Message Setting and Audience

The verse opens the message to the angel of the church in Philadelphia, one message after another given to John on Patmos as the last testimony in the same series as Ephesus, Pergamos, Sardis, and Laodicea. It was made known by Christ Himself to John on the Isle of Patmos and given from God by inspiration of the Spirit as certain truth to be heard with careful attention by the churches. The messages of the first, second, and third chapters give the history of Satan's effort to bring dissension into the church, describing difficulties that must be met today, and Satan gains a great victory if he can keep minds confused about them now.

Philadelphia means brotherly love and stands as the sixth state of the Christian church. It covers the whole time from Christ's first advent to His second appearing, and in the fullest sense denotes those who with one united voice proclaimed the coming of Jesus in the autumn of 1844. The messages were given to the churches in Asia as portraying symbolic states of God's professed people, with the wheat developing among the tares and truth standing on its own eternal basis in contrast with error. The seven indicates completeness, showing that the messages extend to the end of time and are in force today, with every individual under Christ's supervision, for He knows works, thoughts and intents of the heart, every word and act, and all about religious experience, calling for close self-examination.

The whole third chapter is sent to the church of the present day, to be read in full by church members, traced through, understood, personally applied, and kept in order to be blessed. It is to be studied diligently, earnestly, and carefully now, for it decides between eternal life and eternal death through union with Christ. Its message to Philadelphia in Revelation 3:6-13 is a special message commanded to be brought before the professed Christian churches living in transgression of the law of God, a message of life or death on which eternal interests hang, addressed in every church to those who have an ear to hear what the Spirit says to the churches, not to the common sinner and not to those making no profession of piety, while holding out precious promises to those who overcome.

The chapter is a most tremendous testimony and solemn warning for these last days, giving evidence that the end of the world is right upon us. It confronts indifference to the signs foretold by Christ and gives earnest warning to prepare to meet the Lord coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, by advancing through receiving the grace of God not in vain so that its effect is saving day by day, with watchfulness and prayer in faith bringing the rich blessing of the Holy Spirit as strength. It calls for remembering, repenting, and doing the first works, and points out the danger of losing hold upon the things heard and learned from the Source of all light. It guards the platform of truth against fables, human interpretations, new-light theories, and the loosening of one pin or removal of one pillar, since such theories if received would destroy faith in truths that have stood the test for half a century, spoil faith, confuse understanding, and make faith in Jesus Christ of none effect. The warnings also show people with excellent qualifications whose good is neutralized by self-love, self-deception, and self-justification for gross neglect to help their brethren by encouraging words and deeds, proving the love of Christ is not an abiding principle in the soul, and Adventists must take heed because the time is at hand and their condition matches the church described in the last part of the chapter.

Sanctuary Change in 1844

The opening and shutting is the open-and-shut-door view of Christ's ministry in the heavenly sanctuary. At the end of the 2300 prophetic days in 1844 He finished His mediation in the Holy Place, shut the door of the first apartment which no one can open, opened the door into the Most Holy Place within the second veil which no one can shut, and passed in to stand by the ark to cleanse the sanctuary and make a special atonement for Israel. That entrance was His coming before the ark of God containing the ten precepts and the mercy-seat to plead His blood, as the high priest on the Day of Atonement offered blood before the ark and mercy-seat. His authority to open and shut access to God is what controls this change of ministration from the holy place to the most holy place.

The change came on the tenth day of the seventh month in 1844 at the passing of the time and the midnight cry, when the prophetic periods ended. The disappointment came from wrongly expecting the sanctuary to be cleansed on earth and the Lord to come then, not from any failure of God's promise. The promised event was the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, not the earth, and those who patiently wait and find Jesus in His work there will understand its meaning. After completing His work in the Most Holy Place, Jesus will return in kingly power and gather those who have patiently awaited Him.

That change did not close mercy, close probation, or stop intercession for sinners. Forgiveness remained available through His blood presented before the Father in the Most Holy Place, and the heavenly sanctuary's door remained open to those seeking this mercy. The door vision did not mean that no more sinners would be converted. Those who held the shut door to represent the closing of probation taught it as warning not to treat life as secure or postpone serious attention to Christ, since people may die unexpectedly before trusting God and afterward opportunity is closed, urging readiness while the door remains open.

God at the same time opened a door of light about the heavenly sanctuary and a great work still to be done in the world for those who had not had the light and rejected it, even while believers expected the Lord soon to come in the clouds of heaven. He shut the door upon those who rejected the light brought by the message of the second angel, and they went into great darkness, and how great was that darkness. Those who received the light found a firm platform of faith on which they stood steadfastly and understood, while those who rejected it lost sight of Him as He began this next phase, became opponents of the truth, and helped hinder the work that should have advanced swiftly and powerfully. The enemies of present truth try to reverse what Jesus has done by reopening the Holy Place door and closing the Most Holy Place door. Near the close of church history men, especially those giving up their Advent experience, war against this truth, laboring to open the door that had been shut and to shut the door that had been opened, with violent, bitter, and wicked opposition and persecution.

Law and Sabbath Light

The inner door that was opened is the door into the Most Holy Place within the second veil, where Christ passed in 1844 to stand by the ark after finishing His mediation in the Holy Place and shutting its door so that no one can open it. That ark contains the Ten Commandments written by God, and the faith of Israel now reaches there where His blood is presented before the Father. Since that opening the importance and light of the commandments have shone out to God's people, and enemies of present truth who try to reopen the Holy Place door and close the Most Holy Place door cannot reverse what He has done.

Light from that open door showed that the fourth commandment belongs to God's law enshrined in heaven, of which the law in the earthly sanctuary was an exact copy. To accept the truth about His ministration in the Most Holy Place is therefore to acknowledge the claims of the whole law including the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, proving its perpetuity. What God established no human opposition can overthrow, and this light joins past Advent work at the passing of the time with present duty to keep the commandments and future glory and reward. On the tenth day of the seventh month in 1844 He came before the ark of God containing the ten precepts and the mercy-seat to plead His blood as the high priest on the Day of Atonement offered blood before the ark and mercy-seat.

The shut door and the commandments cannot be separated, for the time for the commandments to shine out to His people was when that inner door was opening. Since Jesus opened it the commandments have been shining out while God tests His people on the holy Sabbath.

That Sabbath test began only after Jesus passed within the second veil in the seventh month of 1844 at the end of the midnight cry, and it could not come until then. Christians who died in faith before the door opened without keeping the true Sabbath had not received its light or faced that test, are under no condemnation until the true light comes, and rest in hope.

He sets the open door that no one can shut before those who with little strength keep His word and do not deny His name, holding true profession joined to obedience rather than professing belief while working contrary to His teaching and drawing souls away. Keeping the word of His patience means remaining faithful to God's commandments through trial, including refusing to worship the papal institution represented by the false sabbath. Those who so endure will be kept through the worldwide hour of temptation coming to try earth-dwellers, while opponents claiming to belong to God are liars on Satan's side who will be made to acknowledge His love for His faithful people. Because He comes quickly they must hold fast what they have so that no one takes their crown, and the open door also means free access to approach God with petitions in living faith for strength to fight the Lord's battles with confident assurance of victory in the last earthly conflict where no neutrality is possible.

Prayer Access to God

The open door that no one can shut is free, personal access to approach God with petitions in living faith, believing He will hear and answer. By that living faith in His power to help, strength is received to fight the battles of the Lord with confident assurance of victory in the last conflict on earth, where no neutrality is possible and all must openly stand on Christ's side in word and work. No one on earth can shut the door between a person and God, for it is an open entrance for whoever will send petition within it. The devil may try to shut it, but access to the eternal remains open, and those who send up petitions in faith can expect God to give the victory. Once mercy's sweet voice shall no more be heard in invitations the shutting has come, and then all the sympathy of the world and of friends can never open that door, so the door being open today calls for opening the heart to the rich grace of God. The gates are left ajar for prayer to ascend, and simple prayer prompted by the Holy Spirit goes through that open door, mingled with the incense of Christ's perfections to rise as fragrance before the Father. That access brings answers, the descent of the Holy Spirit, souls coming to a knowledge of the truth, conversion of sinners with faces turned from worldly and earthly things toward heaven, and witnesses for Christ inspired with motives for action by the Sun of Righteousness. Through Christ's merit heaven is open to human prayers and people may receive heaven's light, for Christ joins humanity to the throne of God.

The Redeemer has opened the way for the most sinful, the most needy, the most oppressed and despised to find access to the Father, and all may have a home in the mansions He has gone to prepare. His victory opens the door of heaven and closes the door to Satan's devices, and His blessings are not limited to a few. He who is holy and true holds David's key with authority to open what no one can shut and to shut what no one can open.

He Himself is the open door set before His people, with the gates ajar and no man able to shut it, renewing the communication cut off by transgression, so that in weakness none need be discouraged or fight in their own strength. He is holy, true, equal to Divinity, the Prince of life, the Majesty of heaven and King of glory, having all power in heaven and in earth, in whom hopes of eternal life are centered. He left the royal throne and high command, clothed divinity with humanity, became a Man of sorrows acquainted with grief, and was tempted in all points like humans so He might know how to help those tempted, with His human arm encircling the race while with His divine arm He grasps the throne of the Infinite. He gave Himself as sacrifice and Substitute, and through that sacrifice the human race is accepted in the Beloved, with an open door for each person to be brought back to the Eden home through faith in Him and obedience to God's commandments. After the darkness rolled away and He bowed His head and died, the rebellion controversy was answered and the human race has that open door set before them. In His incarnation He had reached the prescribed limit as a sacrifice, but not as a Redeemer, and His finished death paid the redemption price and opened the way of salvation, opening the way for the human race to receive another trial and for all people to come to Him. That opening came by leaving the glory He had with the Father before the world was and becoming obedient to death, even the shameful death of the cross, through fearful conflict with the powers of darkness and being laid in the tomb and raised from the dead to work out the plan of redemption. The door stands open today with the gates ajar for each person, so that death need not be an eternal sleep but all who believe in Him may have eternal life.

The door He opens is the same door that was opened at His baptism. After repentance, faith, and baptism He entered into covenant relation with God, prayed on the bank of the Jordan, and heaven opened, with the Holy Spirit descending and hovering over Him in light and the Father's voice declaring pleasure in His beloved Son. By laying aside His crown and clothing divinity with humanity to stand at the head of humanity, He made a way for followers who walk in His footsteps and come in God's appointed way to be accepted in the Beloved. As His prayers passed through the dark shadow of the powers of darkness, so their prayers cleave through Satan's hellish shadow and enter the sanctuary above. The same glory that flashed from heaven's threshold at His baptism is revealed to every earnest seeker, so that though weak they can be strong in hope, lay hold of power that saves to the uttermost, and claim the richest promise.

He opens the windows of the soul heavenward that the heart may be illuminated by rays from the throne of God and closes them earthward. When He closes the door of the heart against the enemy no power can open that door to Satan, for what He opens no human power can close and what He closes no opposing force can open. If the door of the heart is closed to the Saviour because of refusal to repent, prayers, good works, and all the praise of men are of no avail.

He has opened a way of communication between God and the faithful that no human or satanic power can shut. People may be denied worldly privileges, and enemies may hinder their work, but they cannot close this way. The door He opens is a door of communication with heaven, opened to those who are true to their baptismal vow to break all connection with Satan and to give heart and soul to extending the kingdom of God, with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit pledged to cooperate with them. Once opened to the faithful, that door cannot be closed by any human hand or satanic agency, and the truth of God that He opens to people cannot be shut away by any earthly power. A person can close it by choosing sin or rejecting heaven's light and truth, while faithfulness and willingness to receive Christ's light keep this connection open. Coming to God in prayer as Christ did at the Jordan brings God's blessing to rest on the one praying, and looking beyond Satan's temptations to Christ who is mighty to save keeps that access open. His declaration that He knows works means every effort to bless humanity is recognized in heaven, and receiving through that door requires asking God with an undivided mind, not half on God and half on self.

Because the Saviour has this irresistible power to open and no man shuts and to shut and no man opens, believers should not lean heavily on finite, erring human beings for help and strength and pour troubles into their ears. They should take their minds off people and come to God as little children to learn from Him, humbling their hearts before Him in submission and contrition. They should speak kind, tender, compassionate words, be polite to God and to one another with the best of manners to glorify Him before the world, and live in unity and love with one another here in preparation for living with the redeemed through the ceaseless ages of eternity. God can take far better care of a believer's interests than the believer can, so the believer should have confidence in God that nothing can make him ashamed, behold the love of Jesus, have peace and quiet in God, stop trying to fix things to suit his own ideas, let God work in his case, and let God mold and fashion him. Workers are to place themselves in His hands, make sure their own souls are receiving His refining that tries them as gold and makes a man more precious than fine gold, and stand in their place of working for Him against anything that hinders. He will then give strength and grace and power, they will see the salvation of God, and He will help them impart His grace to those around them in pleasant words and kindly deeds. In difficulty, when human help and visible options fail and workers are hemmed in and disappointed, trust in God, pray, and continue the work, knowing that He sees the need and can provide a way people cannot close, for God is just and does not err. One door is opened always for His workers and no opposition can close it, set before those whose works are known, who have little strength and have not denied His name. Those who keep the word of His patience will be kept from the hour of temptation coming on all the world to try earth-dwellers, and because He comes quickly they must hold fast what they have so no man takes their crown.

Opportunity and Faithful Obedience

The open door is opportunity for work that God sets before His people, instructing them and giving skill and understanding to strengthen it in every place. One door stands always open for His workers that no opposition can close even when hemmed in and disappointed, set before those whose works are known, who have little strength and have not denied His name. The truth He opens to people cannot be shut away by any earthly or human power.

That open door is opportunity to come to Christ and receive the Holy Spirit to cleanse the mind of thoughts hindering God's will and to take possession of the soul. Those who follow Him, keep His word, and do not deny His name draw strength from Him, bringing joy and spiritual health. It is opened to those true to their baptismal vow to break all connection with Satan and to give heart and soul to extending God's kingdom, with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit cooperating and pledged to cooperate with them. Once so opened to the faithful, that door of communication with heaven cannot be closed by any human hand or satanic agency.

Not denying His name means holding true profession joined to obedience. To deny His name is to profess belief while working directly contrary to His teaching and exerting influence that draws souls away. Jesus alone opens and closes the way, so the soul must depend on Him and enter the door He has opened to approach Him. That door was set before Philadelphia because with little strength they kept His word and did not deny His name.

Heaven's gates stand wide open with the glorious prize in full view before those who have a little strength and have kept His word and have not denied His name. It is a call to stop resisting light with pride, stubbornness, excuses, and subterfuges, to open the heart to transforming truth and the Spirit's leading, to come fully into the light and make thorough, clean, decided work for eternity. Receiving through that door requires asking God with undivided mind, not half on God and half on self, looking beyond Satan's temptations to Christ who is mighty to save, with every effort to bless humanity recognized in heaven. No one on earth can shut the door between a person and God, for it is open entrance for whoever will send petition within, open today as a call to open the heart to rich grace. When mercy's sweet invitations cease the shutting comes, and once shut all the sympathy of the world and of friends can never open it, so life is not to be treated as secure nor serious attention to Christ postponed, and readiness is urgent while the door remains open, since people may die unexpectedly before trusting God and Christ and afterward opportunity to choose salvation is closed.

The chapter teaches there is a right side and a wrong side of highest consequence for young men and young women to be on the right side even when, as in Noah's day, the largest number choose the wrong side and the world sustains and gives popularity to sin and transgression of God's law, which loses none of the force of one principle of Jehovah. It leaves no time for idleness and indifference but requires striving to develop Christian character, with spiritual understanding cleansed, purified, sanctified, and ennobled, placing all where sides are taken and blessing or curse must be chosen and the mind purified by obeying truth under a heavenly Watcher marking words, deportment, and motives. Those who dishonor God have no place in His kingdom, the faithful will stand firm under testing, and those refusing to bear witness will lose their place while faithful witnesses take their places. It is directed to believers become like salt without savor, who left first love and neglected God-given work of shining amid moral darkness, joining the call to remember, repent, and do the first works in order to be blessed. The warnings show people with excellent qualifications whose good is neutralized by self-love, self-deception, and self-justification for gross neglect to help brethren by encouraging words and deeds, proving the love of Christ is not an abiding principle in the soul.

The verse calls commandment-keepers into sacred relation with Him who is holy and true through temperance in eating and drinking so mind and body are in most favorable condition for service. That means denying perverted appetite and abstaining from flesh meat, which animalizes nature, robs love and sympathy, and lets lower passions control higher powers, and instead using wholesome fruits, grains, and nuts in abundance, with God cooperating and strengthening with better health those taking their stand in obedience, and calling backsliders in reform to conversion. The Redeemer with the key unlocks the treasure-house of the Old Testament and sends divine rays back to enlighten the entire Jewish economy, revealing Judaism as the veiled gospel with old truths in new settings. He explores hidden things and separates precious truth from superstition, error, and human devisings and imaginings, calling minds accepting men's sayings as God's commandments to look to God as Author of all truth, because human inventions and traditions put men where God should be and men's sayings where Thus saith the Lord should be.

In its larger context the message calls physicians, patients, nursing students, and helpers in every sanitarium department to be missionaries, to treat the sanitarium as a missionary field, and to correctly represent Bible religion by piety, earnest devotion, and strictest fidelity, holding up the few undefiled names in Sardis as example. It is a special life-or-death message commanded to be brought before professed Christian churches living in transgression of God's law, on which eternal interest depends, addressed in every church to those with an ear to hear what the Spirit says, not to the common sinner nor to those making no profession of piety. The chapter portrays the spiritual life of many and holds out precious promises to overcomers.