Revelation 3:20

Revelation 3:20 KJV (WS)

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.

Introduction

How’s the open doors thing going for you this year?

Anybody noticed some open doors to share the gospel with someone yet?

That’s what this is about, open doors to expand the kingdom of God.

How many of you could admit to yourself, I still haven’t slowed down enough to notice any open doors?

As much as I love our church, I know we are not perfect.

We’ve got plenty of room to improve.

How prideful would it be for me or anyone to get up and say, “we are exactly where we need to be, we have need of nothing.”

That’s what Laodicea said.

We may not say it out loud, but our lives sometimes say it.

What do we need to do?

Make a punch list of things that need to change?

Should we look at something upstream that could change everything?

Let’s see what God has for us in this passage, maybe something will help.

These words are spoken to the people of the church at Laodicea.

It’s a corporate letter with an individual invitation.

Laodicea was a church in trouble.

They weren’t struggling in the way that you might think.

They weren’t struggling to pay their bills.

They weren’t dwindling in their attendance.

They were rich and increased with goods.

They had need of nothing.

At least that was the way they saw themselves.

God’s estimation of them, however, was quite different.

God says, from his perspective they were actually quite bad off.

They were wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.

Why did God think of them this way?

Back in verse 14-16 we find the answer.

They weren’t actually good for anything.

They were free to be hot or cold.

Either temperature has it’s uses.

Cold water is refreshing to drink.

Hot water is useful for cleaning.

A church needs to be useful for both.

But this church was neither.

They were lukewarm.

This accusation from God was quite serious.

He says to them things like, “I will spue thee out of my mouth”

He threatens them not only with rebuke but also chastening.

He calls them to turn from the path that they are on.

Be zealous and repent, he says in verse 19.

It sounds like God is pretty disappointed in this church.

God addresses the church at Laodicea out of a heart of love for them.

Jesus loves his churches.

That means he loves the people that make up the church.

He gave his life for these people and then gifted them with the institution of the church.

Jesus knows that a healthy church, that is united in working towards fulfilling their mission, is a great blessing to its people.

He also knows that an unhealthy church is not a help to its people not its community.

Jesus loves his church too much to leave it unhealthy.

Verse 19, Jesus reiterates his love as his motivation for correcting the church at Laodicea.

Aren’t you glad that even in our failure and disappointment, God still loves us.

God judges the lost in his wrath.

God corrects his children out of his great love for us.

Righteousness and holy living are better for us than a life of sin or uselessness.

The Bible is packed full of examples and teachings regarding the superiority of living for God.

Psalm 34:8 “8 O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”

Psalm 119:165 “165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.”

Matthew 11:29 “29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

We could go on.

John 13:17 “17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.”

Now, hold on, I feel like I can hear someone at Laodicea protesting.

We are trying.

How can God expect us to maintain the right temperature or whatever???

Doesn’t he know that I have a very busy schedule?

God just expects too much of us.

All these open doors.

I can’t be spending all my time witnessing to people.

Nobody can do what he is asking from us on their own.

God doesn’t expect His people to be what they should be all by themselves.

He has never intended for mankind to make their way on their own.

He met with Adam everyday in the garden.

He gave His word to Moses to share with the people.

He gave his Spirit to men like David.

He stood with the three Hebrew boys in the middle of the furnace.

He sent Jesus to live the perfect life we never could and then die as the perfect sacrifice for sin.

His Spirit indwells every Christian that’s ever lived.

One day He will come back to usher his children home to heaven.

John reminds the people of the church at Laodicea that Jesus is offering to help each of them fulfill his will.

We’ve talked a lot about the doors that Jesus opens for us.

Here, we see an example of a door that Jesus wants us to open for him.

What an interesting turn of events.

Even though John is addressing the church, notice that the invitation of vs 20 is directed towards the individual.

The church as a whole was having problems.

This could only come about if the individual members were having problems.

If the problems came about from the choices of the individual, then the same can be true about the church experiencing revival.

If the individual members would get right with the Lord, then eventually the church will be healthy again.

Jesus knocks on the door of our hearts and waits for someone to hear and to open up to him.

I both love and am saddened by the imagery of this verse.

On one hand I love it.

Jesus doesn’t expect us to open our own doors to serve him.

He doesn’t expect us to blaze the trail to make his kingdom bigger.

He opens the door and simply asks us to walk through them.

The only door that Jesus asks us to open is the door to our own lives.

Just let him in.

Side note: he’s talking to Christians not lost people.

On the other hand, I am saddened by the thought of how many times, Jesus has knocked on the door of my heart and I have ignored the sound of it.

What will happen if we open the door to Jesus?

He will come in.

But what will he see?

What will he think of my life?

For sure, Jesus cares about the cleanliness of our life.

I do believe that he intends to clean things up.

But that’s not what this verse talks about.

Jesus wants to come in sup with us.

What do old timers call the last meal, the main meal of the day?

Supper.

That is the precise meal that Jesus is referring to.

You read about Jesus eating at Matthews house, Zacheus’ house, Lazarus’ house.

You ever think about how incredible that would be to sit and eat and talk and ask questions of Jesus?

I do believe that would be a life-changing experience.

Jesus says, that’s what I want to do with you.

Jesus is offering to change their lives.

He intends to do this by spending time with each of them.

All they have to do is open the door to their heart and let him in.

This is how Jesus intends to address the serious issues in the church.

One on one fellowship with himself.

This is still what he offers us today.’

Application

Jesus is still knocking on the doors of our hearts today.

I don’t know all the ins and outs of your circumstances.

Jesus does.

Jesus knows every detail of your life and even the world that we live in.

Nothing that comes into our life is a surprise.

He has a plan for you to thrive no matter what you might be facing.

You may scoff.

You may protest.

You may think it’s impossible.

As long as you think you can handle things on your own, then that may be true.

The Laodiceans specifically said, “I am rich, I am increased with goods, I have need of nothing.”

All the while Jesus tells them that they are failing to fulfill their purpose.

Are you failing to fulfill your purpose in life because you are trying to do it alone?

Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart.

We you let him in.

He already knows about the messes inside.

He cares about them, sure.

He first wants to spend some time with you.

Can you see this?

Jesus wants to spend time with you.

Don’t look at your neighbor.

Will you open your door to Jesus?

Conclusion

I love our church.

What would happen to our church if every door to every life were opened today to Jesus?

What if you went home from church and spent some time with Jesus this afternoon?????

It would change our church for the better.

We would be more apt to walk through the open doors that Jesus offers us.

Would you commit right now to opening your heart to Jesus this morning?