Jesus stands at our door
Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.”
(What great mercy and condensation that Christ Jesus the Lord should stand at my heart’s door and knock! That He should wait and speak to me….not with the thunder of judgment, but with the Voice of HIs Word….calling me on.
Song of Solomon 5:2 “I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my Beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to Me, My sister, My love, My dove, My undefiled: for My head is filled with dew, and My locks with the drops of the night.”)
What a mercy that He should speak again to this church….and to the people inside to come and open to Him!
The Lord has shown Himself to John, to prepare him to go and preach again to the churches….
….and in each letter, the Lord speaks to the church….His supply for their need.
In Laodicea, they need to be boiling hot….to be zealous for Christ.
And frankly, I have found in my experience….that zealousness only comes when we give up everything for Christ…in our everyday lives.
We might think that we have “surrendered” to the Lord….but has it given you a hunger for His Word….or a thirst for His fellowship?
If you have “surrendered”…..and not gotten repentant…..not sought with new diligence to grow in grace….
…then you have only “surrendered” to or for something….not to Christ Jesus, personally. It may be….”God wants me to do this….or give up this.” And you “surrender” to that.
Good in itself….but that is not the personal zeal….which goes beyond seeking Christ for something….to seeking Christ, only. For in Christ, we “find” everything,…all else falling into place.
(We often talk about the disciples leaving all and following Him….Matthew 4:19-20. But many women ministered to Him “of their substance”,…following Him, wherever He went….some right to the foot of the cross! Luke 8:1-3, John 19:25 And to the upper room to be filled with the Holy Ghost. Acts 1:14 Theirs was a zeal for Christ, too.)
Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.”
I can not tell you exactly what is barring the door of your heart or life to Him….
….but it is His Voice which awakens! His sweet Voice which drew us at the first….which called us and which speaks again and again to us.
He stands! That means He is ready to do for us. How gracious that He knocks….by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit….to show us that we have a closed door to HIm.
But it is His Voice, that calls us.
John 10:3-4, 27 “To Him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear His Voice: and He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
And when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice.
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”
We are all called to follow Him….and we are all called to “sup” or “fellowship, as at a table” with Him.
(Now I want to stress here, that “fellowship” is partnership….is a sharer with all things in common.
Our fellowship is with the Father,….for we are joint-heirs with Christ. And as He is His Father, so He becomes our Father. (John 20:17)
Our fellowship is with the Creator; acknowledging His Purpose and His Determination (or Pleasure Revelation 4:11)…joining in with Him to fulfill His Purpose in us.
Amos 3:3 “Can two walk together except they be agreed?”
Our fellowship is with our Lord and Savior, grateful for His salvation and His guiding hand upon us in praise and Thanksgiving.
1 Cor 1:8-9 “Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful, by Whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.”
There is the fellowship of His sufferings….that we may learn…”in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”(Phil.4:11)
Philippians 3:10 “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death;”
We have fellowship of the Spirit…as we speak and gather together….that we may share with others the goodness of God, the exhortations of God….and they with us.
Philippians 2:1-2 “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”
The Lord stands at our door….and knocks….and we can hear HIs Voice:
“I created you….for My determination and Purpose. I have many things to share with you…and you with Me. Will you open your door to Me?”
(Now I wish to speak of “doors”.
The first “door” that was spoken of, was to Cain. He had let pride rule his heart and actions and had brought a offering to God of his own works. But God spoke of his “door”….
….”Listen to Me, and bring the right offering so we may fellowship together….or sin lieth at your door, and it will come in and rule in you.” (Genesis 4:7)
It is so important to know what we let in our “door”….thankfully the Lord will tell us, as He did Cain….though His Voice was refused, there.
The next “door” was the door set in the ark, which saved Noah and his family. There was only one door (Genesis 6:16)….and the Lord shut him in. (Genesis 7:15-16)
And we know that Christ Jesus is the one door….John 10:9 “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
The next “door” was at Abraham’s tent (Genesis 18:1)….when the Lord appeared to him….giving him a promise of a son to Sarah….and speaking to him of Sodom and Gomorrah. There was the great intercessory prayer for any righteous in these cities…and Lot! (Gen. 18:20-33)
There was the “door” where the blood of the Passover lamb was placed. (Exodus 12:7, 11-12)…and Israel was saved from the destroying angel.
There was the “door” where the servant, unwilling to leave his wife and children….even though he could go free on the seventh year….where his ear-lobe would be bored (Ex. 21:2-6)…which is a picture of Christ’s devotion to us….to serve for us…though He could have gone free. (Psalm 40:6-8 this is a prophesy of Christ!)
There is the “door” of our lips.
Psalm 141:3 “Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.
And there is the “door” at which Christ stands today…..the Laodicean church door….and our “door”,….for it is to the individual He speaks.
Shortly….the opportunity to answer and open that door will pass….
…..for He will open a “door” in heaven!
Revelation 4:1 “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither,…”
Christ Jesus will come in the sky….and we will be raptured.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
The door we open to Christ Jesus our Lord, now is the door of our lives….every big and little bit of them….and He will come in and fellowship….sharing all things…everything we go through, He is ready to see to….
…Will we open our door to Him?)
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 