The Revelation of Jesus Christ - The Herald

"'If Christ was the universal Shepherd of souls, was not he, the Pope, the same? If Christ
was the door of the sheep, was not he the door? If Christ was the truth, was not he the
depositary, source, and oracular expounder of the truth, authoritative, infallible,
independent of Scripture, and even against it? If Christ was the Holy One, was not he the
same, and did not the title, His Holiness, distinctively and alone belong to him? If Christ
was the husband of the Church, was not he the same? With the marriage ring in the
ceremonial of his inauguration, he signified it; and with his great voice in his Canon law
and Papal bulls he proclaimed it to the world. The power of the keys of Christ's Church
and Kingdom, given him, extended into the invisible world. He opened with them, and
who might shut? He shut, and who might open? . . . The souls in purgatory and the angels
in heaven were subject to him; and it was even his prerogative to add to the celestial choir;
by his canonizing edicts he elevated whom he pleased of the dead to form part of heaven's
hierarchy, and become objects of adoration to men.'"
Considering the blasphemous character of the Papacy's claims to these titles and powers,
and the wide extent to which they were received in Christendom, it can hardly seem
otherwise than that the reference to and application of them by Christ to Himself in this
epistle can be but for the one purpose of severely rebuking those who made these
preposterous claims, as well as calling the attention of His own people to the same.
"Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it; for thou hast a little
strength, and hast kept My Word, and hast not denied My name."--Rev. 3:8.
We do well to bear in mind the fact that this language is addressed primarily to both the
faithful minister (star) and the Church of Philadelphia. Applying the words to the period
of the great Reformation and up to very recent times, we would understand that the
Reformers of that period, Luther, and the many associated with him (indeed, in a sense, all
who since their day have possessed the Philadelphian spirit, and have engaged in the
divinely predicted work of cleansing the antitypical Sanctuary, the Church), are the ones
addressed and represented in the Church of Philadelphia and its messenger.
The open door
The expression, "I have set before thee an open door," is evidently employed to denote that
an opportunity to bear witness to the Truth, with an assurance of special Divine
protection, would at this time be given by Christ to His faithful ministers. Keeping before
our mind the fact that in the preceding centuries (those before the Reformation),
faithfulness in bearing witness to the Truth meant the exposing of Rome's false claims, and
that doing this brought persecution, torture by the Inquisition, imprisonment, or death,
will enable us to better appreciate the deep significance of this expression, "Behold, I have
set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it."
The history of the Church reveals that the time had now come when, in the Divine
providence, the Truth, which seemed to have been crushed to earth, should be proclaimed;
when a clear testimony should be given, not to the Lord's people only, but to the ruling
powers also; indeed, to the whole world, which had been deceived, blinded and enslaved