Part 1...

The enemies of Christ were foolish enough to think that they could silence John the Revelator. He was imprisoned on the isle of Patmos, but this exile did not become a handicap to him. The island became for him an observatory. It was there that he saw what no other human eye has ever beheld. Through his telescope of faith and prayer, God revealed to him the wonderful words of the text quoted here. This promise was directed to the church in Laodicea; there is, however, one phrase that gives us all a claim to it: "If any man." Thank God, that includes us all.

The importance of Christ's message is revealed in the first three words of the text: "Behold, I stand." In the past, when God desired to send a message to mankind, He had usually spoken through a servant. When He wanted to rebuke David for his sin He did not speak to him personally, but sent Nathan with the message. Elijah was a very important prophet and one of the most prominent, yet God never appeared to him personally. Angels were sent with the messages and ravens brought him food, but Elijah never personally, except through prayer, spoke to God.

It was a red-letter day in Mary's life when she learned that she was to become the mother of the Son of God. The results of that event were to reach to the far corners of the earth; yet God, knowing its significance, did not speak to her Himself but sent the archangel Gabriel. But our text tells us that Christ personally stands at the door of our hearts and knocks. "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" His standing at the door demonstrates His wonderful love. When we comprehend that He is standing at the door of our hearts, taking upon Himself the form of a servant, we are made to realize that God means business.

It is hard for us to think of Almighty God knocking at the door of a man's heart; things like that are not common to us. Kings do not go to the homes of their servants. But Jesus Christ, the King of kings, does just that. It is a fact, for it is so recorded in God's Word. That which is written is written, and God will fulfill His Word.

Then, too, we have the testimony of personal experience. Christ has knocked at the door of my heart. I was there when it happened. Have you had this experience? It is for everyone: "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."

The pleadings and wooings of God come in many different ways. I once overheard an argument between an arrogant youth and an elderly Dutchman. Said the youth, "I do not believe in this fable about God. Where is He? I cannot see Him." The Dutchman replied by pointing upward to the stars, "Do you see those stars in the heavens? Do you know that they are multiplied millions of miles away? Do you know that they are rushing around at tremendous speed and yet never collide? Who put them there?" The youth walked away silently. God knocked at that young man's heart that night.

When a certain man first became a scientist he was an avowed atheist. Today he is a Christian. Why? Because he saw so much in the test tube! He saw, in his search for truth, that there is a Wisdom much higher than man's wisdom. It is He who has told us that there are as many atoms in a drop of water as there are drops of water in the Mediterranean Sea. That is a fact too great for our minds to comprehend, but we acknowledge the skill of the scientist who discovered it. How much more should we think of God who made the atoms in the beginning! When we think of these marvels of nature we can feel something knocking at the door of our hearts. It is God knocking through the medium of science.

An old hunter had just returned from a long hunt, when someone said to him, "Bill, have you been to church since we saw you last?" Listen to his amazing reply: "I have attended preaching every day, Sundays and all, for the past six years. Sometimes an old grizzly gave me the sermon, sometimes it was a panther; often it was the thunder and lightning, the tempest or a hurricane on the peaks of the Sierra Nevadas or in the gorges of the Rocky Mountains." The old hunter could feel God speaking to him wherever he chanced to be. He could hear God knocking at his heart through the medium of nature. I think that is what Austin Miles meant when he wrote: I come to the garden alone, While the dew is still on the roses; And the voice I hear, falling on my ear, The Son of God discloses.

Has a voice ever spoken to you softly and seriously, while you were traveling on the highway? Have you watched the glowing embers of a fire become white ashes, while someone seemed to take the brush of memory and paint pictures before you? Have you ever stopped suddenly in your morning walk when a voice said, "John, I want you in My work?" Oh, how God pleads with the souls of men!

Almost everyone who refuses to let Christ come into his life does so because he believes that Christ is a hard master, "Gathering where He has not sown."

One time a great Scotch preacher was given some money to take to one of the poorer members of his congregation. He put the money into his pocket and started out to the widow's home. Reaching the door he knocked eagerly, anticipating the woman's reactions. But no one answered the door. He tried another door and another, only to find that every door and window had been securely bolted. The next day he called again. This time the lady came out and invited him inside. No sooner was he seated than she began to cry bitterly. "You see," she explained, "my landlord came yesterday for the rent and I didn't have a cent." The minister asked her what time the landlord had come and she told him it had been about eleven o'clock. "Well, what did you do?" asked the minister. "Oh," she replied, "I bolted all the doors and windows." It was at that hour that the minister had called. She had mistaken her friend for the landlord. And so have many done to Christ. They have bolted Him out, thinking that He has come for the rent. We should remember that "God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."

Let's go a little farther. "If any man hear my voice, and open the door,..." The first implication here is that there are those who cannot hear the voice of God. That sounds like a paradox, but it is true. When Hannibal knocked on the gates of Rome, the Romans heard him and begged him to depart. Hannibal was mortal like the rest of us, yet the citizens heard him. How is it that some can hear men and not God? I think there are two reasons for that. One of them is that there is too much noise and confusion on the inside. The "jazz" of the world drowns the Savior's voice. The other reason is that they have ignored Him too long. When I first went to Africa I was awakened at four o'clock every morning by the sound of heathen funeral horns, but after a few months I did not hear them any longer. It was not that they had ceased blowing; I had merely become accustomed to them. In getting used to them, I got to the place where they no longer annoyed me. Oh, the mistake of ignoring God until His voice cannot be heard. "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near."

Again, the Scriptures reveal that there are those who hear, but do not open. "If any man hear my voice, and open the door,..."I think I can hear someone saying, "But why should I open my heart to God? Is He not the infinite? Does He not have all power? Why does He not open it Himself?" He does not open it for the simple reason that He will not. There are some things that even God will not do, and that is one of them. God has given man the power of choice.

When Holman Hunt had completed his famous picture of Jesus standing at the door with a lighted lantern, he showed it to a friend. The friend told him that he had made a serious mistake: he had forgotten to put a latch on the door. "No," the artist replied, "that is the way it should be. You see, the latch is on the inside." If you would have Christ come into your heart you must open the door yourself. You have your hand on the latch. It is you---not the minister, not the lay member, not the Lord---but you, that must open the door. Every time you push the door shut you are "crucifying" the Lord again.

The story is told that Henry Ward Beecher was in his study preparing a sermon when someone knocked on the door. Mrs. Beecher had been instructed not to open the door regardless of who called, so she politely ignored the knock. But the knocking did not stop; it continued for a half hour. Finally Mrs. Beecher became impatient and opened the door. Standing there in the rain was Abraham Lincoln, the President of the United States. If the President were to call at your home you would feel flattered, but now someone far greater than the President is knocking. Will you let Him in, or force Him to stay out in the rain?

There are people who would like to give their hearts to the Lord, but they are afraid they could not keep an experience. Listen to the last words of the text: "I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." I was standing at the source of the Nile in Uganda when a native tapped me on the shoulder and said, "I want to show you something." He took me to a little hill just outside the thriving city of Campalla, and this was his story. "Thirty years ago the king of Uganda had all the missionaries in his camp killed, but before they died they managed to lead six page boys to Christ. After the execution the king went through the village to his home, but on the way he found six boys kneeling by the roadside praying. They were the boys who had found the Lord. The king asked them what they were doing and they replied, "We are praying to God, our heavenly Father." The king then ordered them to stop, but they did not stop; they prayed all the more. The king, now very angry, had them taken to the public square and there, before a great concourse of people, their hands and feet were cut off and he commanded them to be thrown into the flames. While the boys were burning and suffering untold agony, they sang praises to the Lord."

Where did the boys receive strength to do that? God was there helping them. Remember the words of John: "I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." If you will come to Him, He will give strength to sustain you. You will be able to sup with Him. Oh, what a privilege! It is yours if you will open the door. [ The End ]