I Stand at the Door and Knock
Revelation 3:14-20
To the Church in Laodicea
14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
Revelation 3:20 | I Stand At The Door And Knock
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
We often see this picture as Jesus standing outside an unbeliever’s house (heart) asking to come in. In other words, it’s a passage that’s addressed to the unbeliever. The problem is this verse, it isn’t addressed to the unbeliever. It’s addressed to Christians. More specifically it’s addressed to a church.
When we look at what is happening in the rest of Revelation 3, we can see that Revelation 3:20 is not about Jesus wanting to come into the life of an unbeliever. Rather it is about how we as believers, can become lukewarm (another misunderstood verse in this same passage) and feel we are self-sufficient. In doing so we push Jesus out and leave Him standing on the outside of the door. That’s the picture this verse is painting, Jesus standing outside a Christian’s heart asking to come in.
If you look at Revelation 3, it’s all about a letter being introduced to all the Christian churches that this letter was addressing. So, the entire chapter of Revelation 3 is dealing with churches, and therefore, believers, and only believers. Now Jesus does want unbelievers to be saved, yes, however, in context, this verse of Revelation 3:20 is not talking about unbelievers, but about believers Jesus was knocking on their door. And if you look at Revelation 3, of all the 7 churches there, 6 got rebuked by God. So, you can be in Jesus Christ and still need to repent when we are wrong. We need to remember that, be blessed!
FYI, if we look at this church it reminds me of the American Church, especially during the prosperity Gospel days on the early 1990’s and early 2000’s. We talked about how rich and successful we were, while all the while we were actually poor and wretched. Points to ponder for sure!
Closing Prayer:
Lord help us to never forget you. And may we never forget we are here today only because of Your grace. May we never forget You and be self-sufficient and think we have it all together, and therefore, walk in pride. May be always keep our face turned towards You and walk in Humility, in Jesus’ name, Amen!
Comments