See on ch. 2:3.

God’s word expresses His will. God has revealed His will through nature, also through His prophets and apostles, by the direct witness of the Holy Spirit to the human heart, through the experiences of life, through the course of human history, and pre-eminently through Christ.

Or, simply, “little strength.” It is not clear whether Christ is here reproving the Philadelphia church for having so little strength or commending them for having some strength. Except for a “few” in Sardis, that church was all but “dead,” and it may be that the “little strength” of Philadelphia represents a more encouraging situation than that in Sardis. The fact that the “little strength” is so closely connected with the commendation for heeding Christ’s Word and not denying His name tends to confirm this conclusion. Also, the “open door” may be thought of as an invitation to enter into an experience of even greater strength. The church at ancient Philadelphia was apparently neither large nor influential, but it was pure and faithful. The Philadelphia period of church history, with its increased attention to God’s Word, particularly the prophecies of Daniel and of the Revelation, and to personal godliness, represented a much more encouraging picture than the preceding period.

 Christ will carry forward the work of redemption until it is complete. Man can do nothing to hinder either His ministry in the courts of heaven or His jurisdiction and control over the affairs of earth (see on Dan. 4:17).

 In the preceding verse Christ is said to have the “key of David.” Verse 8 may imply that with the “key” He now opens before the Philadelphia church a “door” of unlimited opportunity for personal victory in the struggle with sin, and for bearing witness to the saving truth of the gospel. For similar uses of a “door” as a symbol of opportunity see Acts 14:27; 1 Cor. 16:9; 2 Cor. 2:12; Col. 4:3.

 Seventh-day Adventists hold that the close of the Philadelphia period (1844) marks the beginning of the investigative judgment described in Dan. 7:10; Rev. 14:6, 7 (see comment there). Christ is our great high priest (Heb. 4:14, 15; 8:1), ministering in the sanctuary above, “the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man” (Heb. 8:2, 6; cf. Ex. 25:8, 9). Now, the ritual of the earthly sanctuary consisted essentially of two parts, the daily service of ministration for sin, in the holy place, and the yearly service, on the Day of Atonement, which was considered a day of judgment, in the most holy place (see Heb. 9:1, 6, 7; see on Dan. 8:11, 14). In view of the fact that the earthly sanctuary served as an “example and shadow of heavenly things” (Heb. 8:5) it is proper to conclude that the daily and yearly services of the earthly sanctuary have their counterpart in the ministry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary. To speak in terms of the symbolism of the earthly sanctuary, which was “a copy of the true one” (Heb. 9:24, RSV): On the antitypical day of atonement, beginning in 1844, our great High Priest may be thought of as leaving the holy place of the heavenly sanctuary and entering the most holy place. Accordingly, the “shut door” would be that of the holy place of the heavenly sanctuary and the “open door” that of the most holy place, where Christ has been engaged in the work of the great antitypical day of atonement since that time (see GC 430, 431, 435; EW 42). In other words, the “shut door” indicates the closing of the first phase of Christ’s heavenly ministry, and the “open door,” the beginning of the second phase. For a discussion of the “shut door” in early Adventist teaching see L. E. Froom. The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, Vol. 4, pp. 829-842; also “Open and Shut Door,” in SDA Encyclopedia, pp. 1034-1037. For a summary of the sanctuary doctrine see Additional Note on Heb. 10.

 See on ch. 2:2.

 For the force of the singular see on ch. 2:2.