The letter to the church at Philadelphia--3:7-13. 1. “ He that hath the key of David” --3:7. The word key conveys the meaning of authority, control and possession. In Isaiah’ s prophecy of the One who should possess the house of David, in Isaiah 22:22, the prophet said: “ And the key of the house of David I will lay upon his shoulders; so he shall open, and none shall shut, and he shall shut, and none shall open.” The Lord’ s statement to the church at Philadelphia was a direct reference to this prophecy, which was fulfilled in him. The key of David was “ laid upon his shoulder,” which means the burden of government, and in Isaiah 9:6-7, the prophet said: “ Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice even for ever.” This prophecy gives the reason why Jesus Christ said to the Philadelphians that he had the key of David, for he possessed the throne of David, and its government was upon his shoulder, with the authority to order it and establish it. Furthering this point reference should be made to the word of the angel to Mary in Luke 1:31-33 - “ And behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” There is no difference in the terms, the house of Jacob, the house of David, and the throne of David, and they were all spiritually possessed by Jesus Christ. The words of the apostles of Christ add testimony to the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ now possesses the house of David and occupies the throne of David. Quoting from second psalm, in Acts 13:33-34, Paul declared that God had fulfilled the promise in giving to them “ the sure mercies of David.” The quotation reads: “ God hath fulfilled the same unto their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that he raised him from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.” At the gathering of the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, the apostle James, in Acts 15:13-17, quoted the prophecy of Amos 9:1-15 :1 l-15, that the Christ would come to “ build again the tabernacle of David . . . and set it up . . . that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called.” If the remnant of the Jewish world and all the Gentiles could then seek after God, it follows that Christ had set up the spiritual tabernacle of David. Added to these prophecies, and their declared fulfillment, is the declaration of the apostle Peter on Pentecost, in Acts 2:29-33, that the prophecies of David, that God would raise up one to sit on his throne, were fulfilled in the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. Peter declared that the prophecies meant that “ he (God) would raise up Christ to sit on his (David’ s) throne,” and that “ he seeing this before (foreseeing the fulfillment) spake of the resurrection of Christ.” Peter then concluded, “ This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses. Therefore being by the right of God exalted, he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear.” Summing it up, Jesus Christ has the throne of David, the tabernacle of David, the house of David, the sure mercies (or blessings) of David, and the key of David, in every spiritual sense of these terms, and there are no other prophecies or promises concerning David and Christ to be fulfilled. These passages teach that the house of David was perpetuated in the kingdom of Christ--his Church. It follows that the theory of the future return of Christ to occupy David’ s throne in an earthly millennium is the figment of theological fancy, imagination and error. 2. “ He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth” --3:7-8. Again, this is a reference to Isaiah 22:22, and to the Philadelphians Jesus Chrfst applied the words no man shutteth to the promise that all the persecutors put together, persecutions combined, could not shut their door-a door which the Lord had opened. When the door of any institution is closed, it is out of business; but the persecutors could not close the door of the Philadelphian church. “ I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it." Like “ the great door” which had been opened to Paul, which he mentioned in three epistles-- 1 Corinthians 16:9; 2 Corinthians 2:12 and Colossians 4:3 --which opposition to him could not close; so in the midst the eventful period of persecution God had set before them an open door which Nero could not shut. Persecution could not destroy that to which Christ had the key, and not having committed this key to any man, no man could open or shut this door.