Revelation 3:20: Who’s That Knocking at My Door?

INTRODUCTION

A minister told about going to the house of a poor, old woman because he had heard that she had no money to pay her rent. The minister brought the money to help her out, and he knocked at her door. He knocked and knocked, but she didn’t come to the door. She was inside, but she was hiding.

Afterward, she said, “I heard the knocking but I thought it was the landlord coming for the rent.”

This is a parable for us. Jesus comes to us with a gift, but we think he comes for a payment, so we hide and refuse to come to the door.

You have probably heard sermons about Jesus at the door knocking and I know you have seen pictures of Jesus standing outside a door. Around the door weeds are growing and there is no doorknob on the outside of the door. Jesus is knocking and waiting.

This afternoon I want to talk about where that comes from in the Bible and what the message is for us.

I. In the last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, St. John has a vision.

A. At the beginning of his vision, St. John saw Christ in glory.

Jesus was seated on a throne in the midst of seven golden lampstands.

He was clothed in a long robe and in his hand he was holding seven stars.

His voice was like the sound of many waters and his face was like the sun shining in its full strength.

John fell at his feet as though dead.

But Jesus laid his right hand on John, and said, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died and behold I am alive for evermore.”

In the vision Jesus told John that the stars were the angels of seven churches, and the lampstands were the seven churches. These churches were in what is now the country of Turkey—in history we call it Asia Minor. This was the part of the world that St. Paul first evangelized, and many churches were established in the early days of the church. We read about it in the Book of Acts in the Bible.

In this vision Jesus gave John a message for each of seven churches in seven cities in Asia Minor: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.

To some of the churches, Jesus points to their faults. To Ephesus he say, “This I have against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.” Then he makes this promise: “To everyone who conquers, I will give permission to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God.”

To the church at Smyrna, Jesus says, “I know your affliction and your poverty. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

Jesus praises the church at Pergamum because of their faithfulness even when one of their members was killed by an enemy of Christ, but he also points to some false teaching that they must correct. He says, “To everyone who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give a white stone, and on the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.”

Jesus also praises the church at Thyatira, but here again he warns them about an evil woman in their midst—who he calls Jezebel—who is teaching people to eat food sacrificed to idols. He tells the members of this church to hold fast to their faith when he comes to them he will give them the morning star.

To the fifth church, the church at Sardis, Jesus has a lot to say of blame. They need to repent because he will come to them in judgment. But he promises them that there are some among them who are faithful, and these faithful ones will be clothed in white garments and he will confess them before the Father.

The sixth church is the church at Philadelphia—yes, there was a Philadelphia long ago in the ancient world. Philadelphia means “brotherly love in Greek,” and the church in Philadelphia lived up to the name of their city. They were weak but they had kept Jesus’s word of patient endurance, so Jesus promises the ones who conquer that they will be pillars in the temple of God.

B. Then we come to the last church—number seven—the church in Laodicea, and that is the one we want to talk about this afternoon.

Here is the message Jesus gives John to deliver to the church in Laodicea:

“I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spew you out of my mouth. For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.’ You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Therefore, I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich; and white robes to clothe you and keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen; and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. I reprove and discipline those whom I love. Be earnest, therefore and repent.

“Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.”

C. Laodicea was a prosperous city.

It was famous for its textile industry, which manufactured cloth and fine carpets.

It was a banking center.

It had a famous medical school.

The members of the Laodicean Church were wealthy. They were wealthy and satisfied with themselves.

But they had become indifferent to the faith they had once joyfully received.

Jesus calls them “lukewarm.” At our house we drink tea. We like our tea either hot or cold—cold in the summer and hot in the winter. Lukewarm tea and lukewarm water are not nice to drink.

Believers who are “hot” are those who are fervent in their faith. To them Jesus is their most important Friend. To them their faith is the most important thing about them. They live for Jesus. They love as Jesus taught them to love, and their ambition is to be servants of others as Jesus taught them by his example. These are the “hot” Christians who delight their Savior.

I think that the people Jesus calls “cold” are the people who know they fall short of what they ought to be. People who are cold are never comfortable. They shiver, and they want to get warm. When people know they are “cold” toward God, they are ready to come to Jesus because they know their need. That is why Jesus prefers people who are “cold” to those who are lukewarm, and comfortable in their lukewarmness.

These believers in Laodicea were prosperous. Their wealth had led them to think that they were okay with God.

Often, when people become wealthy, they become self-satisfied. They forget their need for God. Their prosperity leads them to think that they are enjoying God’s blessings.

That is why Jesus so often warned of the danger of riches. Poor people were more likely to come to Jesus because they knew they needed God. That is still true today.

II. So Jesus said to them: “Behold I stand at the door and knock…”

A. Let us imagine the householder in that ancient town.

He hears the knock, but he pretends he doesn’t hear it.

The knocking has been going on so long, he’s gotten used to it.

It doesn’t disturb his digestion. It doesn’t disturb his sleep.

He keeps reading his book. If he had a television, he would keep watching it, even while he hears the knocking.

B. I tell you, Jesus is always knocking at our hearts, asking us to open the door and invite him in.

This is the first scene in the story. Jesus outside the door, knocking and knocking, waiting, and knocking more and more persistently.

That Jesus keeps knocking and doesn’t barge right in tells us that Jesus will never force himself into my life against my will.

Many think that whether or not we choose to welcome Jesus into our lives, he will somehow find a way in, and, in the end, make sure that everyone has a happy eternity. But that’s not what the Bible teaches.

But Jesus waits for us to welcome him.

C. Now for the second scene—inside the house. Notice these words: “…if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you and you with me.”

Our best friends are the friends we invite to dinner.

To have Jesus in our lives is to enjoy a rich feast.

Sometimes we talk about the difficulties along the path that leads to eternal life.

That is true: the road we travel through life as Christian believers isn’t smooth.

It is full of difficulties—but it is also full of joys.

Too many people see only the difficulties of belonging to God.

They never taste the delights because they have never invited Jesus into their lives.

There’s something unusual about the feast we enjoy when Jesus comes into our lives

When we invite someone to dinner, we furnish all the food.

But when Jesus comes into our life, he brings the best part of the feast with him.

Jesus becomes more of a host than a guest.

And what a grand banquet we have when Jesus joins us!

III. I know you have heard sermons on this text, but now I want to show you something you may not have thought about.

A. Many evangelistic sermons based on this text. You have heard some of them.

I hope you have responded by opening the door, so that Jesus could enter your heart.

Some of you have enjoyed the company of your gracious Guest for many years.

B. Jesus didn’t say these words as an appeal to unbelievers.

He said them to church members, to believers—or, at least, to people who considered themselves believers.

These Laodiceans had responded to the gospel sometime in the past, but over the years they had become indifferent to the presence of the Savior.

I see this at Village Place. We have people here who were faithful church members most of their lives. They tell me about their churches and the work they did in them. But they don’t get to church anymore. They don’t come to our meeting. To look at their lives, you wouldn’t see much difference from people who never knew God.

All of us have a tendency to drift away from God. We have to keep coming back. That is why prayer and Bible study are so important. That is why church is so important. That is why we have to keep asking ourselves, “What would Jesus have me do today?”

This appeal—“Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you and you with me”—is addressed to every one of us—over and over.

Sometimes people invite Jesus into the living room, but they keep him out of the rooms where they spend most of their time. They keep parts of their lives for themselves. So they become part-time Christians.

A famous atheist said, “For me to believe in their Savior: his disciples would have to look more redeemed! (Nietzsche). Are you a ½ Christian or a ¾ Christian—or you in it for God 100%?

It is easy to neglect God and become lukewarm, like those Laodicean believers.

Jesus is telling us that we need to listen for that knocking and open the door again and again and invite the Lord back in.

A good way to start each day is to invite Jesus once again into our hearts that we may be sure of his companionship through the day.

Then our life every day will be continually a rich feast of fellowship with the Lord.

CONCLUSION

Do you remember the little story I told you at the beginning of the message? The poor woman hid from her pastor who was bringing her the rent money because she thought he was the landlord?

I believe that Jesus is always knocking at the doors of people everywhere. But they mistake it for the rent collector. They think that if they let Jesus into their lives, he will make life miserable.

That is so many people dread the idea of becoming what they call, “religious.” They avoid church. They avoid prayer. They avoid the Bible and books about faith. They think living for God is dull and unpleasant. They hear the knocking but they don’t realize it is the Savior, coming to bless them with his gift of life—real life—eternal life.

When we invite Jesus into the house of our life, we are really inviting him into his house. Because we belong to him.

That is why when he comes in he provides such a rich feast—a banquet.

That is what Heaven is—a great banquet where we sit down with all the saints and angels and Jesus himself and rejoice together.

And we can begin that banquet right here, right now. Open the door. Invite him in. Keep opening the door. Keep inviting him in. Live every day with Jesus in your life, as your Savior and Lord and Friend.

Do you remember that old song?

“Into my heart, into my heart,

Come into my heart, Lord Jesus.

Come in today, come in to stay.

Come into my heart, Lord Jesus.”