When Jesus Comes Knocking (Rightly Handling Truth - Part 1)

We begin a 6 part series today called Rightly Handling the Truth.

2 Timothy 2:15 says this in the ESV

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

Here it is in the CSB

Be diligent to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.

But that is the phrase that is inspiring our study and preaching over the next 6 weeks. You will hear from me a few times, as well as pastor Michael Britt, pastor Eric and pastor John in this series.

We have two main goals with this series.

The first is to show how dangerous it can be to mishandle the Word of God, whether by flippantly quoting a bible verse out of context, or from lazy study, whatever the case is, this all lead to negative outcomes.

1. Heresies

2. Bad personal doctrine

3. Deception and leading others astray

Paul’s words to Timothy speak of accuracy and precision. And if we know there is a way to read and study Scripture with correctness, then we must also take that as a warning to not handle it carelessly.

We hope to show you that in this series.

The second goal is to show the beauty and truth of the doctrine or theology found in a particular chosen text that is commonly mishandled, and how rightly handling the truth gives us a clearer view of God, His word, good doctrine, right thinking, right theology and therefore, right living.

So, the elders got together to brainstorm several possibilities, and out of about a dozen in total, (and there are so many more), 6 have been chosen.

As always, sermons are not just preached, they are also heard. And hearing well takes intentionality and purpose. Purpose it in your heart that you will be diligent in listening, applying, and then studying the Scriptures yourself…SO THAT, as Paul told timothy, you will have no need to be ashamed because you have sought to handle the word with accuracy.

So, you’ve heard the text read aloud already, but what part of Revelation 3:14-22 could possibly be taken out of context, or mishandled. You may have guessed it.

Revelation 3:20 “See! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him, and he with me.”

So, the question is…what would it mean to rightly handle this word of truth, and what are the dangers of mishandling it?

The most common way this text has been handled is to picture Jesus standing outside of the door of an unbelievers heart, gently knocking and waiting until that person lets him in.

This verse has been used for countless altar calls, where a preacher might get someone to imagine this scene, and that individual is led to believe that the God of Heaven is not going to save a person without their permission, and all the weight of salvation is placed on the unbeliever…Are you going to let him in?

When we handle the scriptures we want to exegete the text.

Exegesis is the critical interpretation of the biblical text to discover its intended meaning.

This means that even if we think it could work to use this text in evangelism, or to sway someone’s decision to follow Christ, or to teach how the Lord deals with a heart that is shut up to him like a closed door…none of those feelings actually matters if the text was intended for another purpose altogether.

And one way we can help to determine an authors intended meaning, is that the biblical author will not say something that would contradict another Scriptural teaching.

So, IS salvation like this? Is it like Jesus standing at a door of someone’s unbelieving heart just waiting for them to let him in?

Yes, there is a responsibility given to the human being to respond in faith to the Gospel, to receive the gift of God’s grace, to take up their cross and follow Jesus…but is this what Christ was saying in Revelation 3? Consider Paul’s words in Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.

This is Paul’s description of a sinner before salvation. Basically, nobodies home. Why, because the sinner who is outside of Christ is busy in their disobedience TO Christ. The sinner outside of salvation, is following the course of this world, and the spirit of Satan. That person is not asleep on the couch hearing the Lord’s knock, and not answering, but is dead in the coffin of their sinful nature.

Answering the door for Jesus is no more like our moment of regeneration, than Lazarus’s stepping out of the grave at the call of Jesus was his moment of resurrection. When Jesus said, Lazarus, come forth, he could hear him because he had already been made alive.

Another problem with using this text this way, is if you’re not careful, you can settle in your hearts a certain attitude about Jesus, and about the preaching of the Gospel.

That preaching should never be forceful, and always be polite. That we should never speak as though God demands anything, but only asks permission of us.

We here things like...

“Are you going to allow God to move in your life?”

And this does fit very nicely with our overly feelings-driven culture. It’s almost a form of Christian humanism, where God does’t just save us, but we allow him to save us.

Look with me at 2 Corinthians 4 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

In this passage we don’t have a door, but a veil. The veil describes the blindness and unbelief of a sinner separated from the knowledge of Christ. Similar to the veil that blinded Israel every time the law of Moses was read, and they did not see Christ. Knowing this blindness, Paul refused to tamper with God’s word, or practice cunning, or craftiness in order to remove the veil, but - BY THE OPEN STATEMENT OF THE TRUTH.

And that veil being the blindness that is caused by the god of this world, has but one way of being removed - and it is by God who created the world and called light into existence with a word, looking upon those hearts and shining HIS light there.

And when He does that…Oh, it gives light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Salvation is more than an invitation to open the door for Jesus. Salvation is Christ shining HIS light and life into the darkness and completely removing the veil so that sinners see their sin, and their need, and repent, putting all their life in His hands.

THE TURN

SO, you can see the dangers of such a mishandling of the word. But even having examined the doctrine, the context alone tells us that Revelation 3 is not Jesus speaking to the lost sinner, but to the professing believer in the local church. The letters to the churches in Revelation 3 are warnings and commendations to real, actual, local churches of ancient day Asia Minor, with pastors, leaders, and ministries. They have the same commission that we have. The same Scriptures, the same commands and ordinances. What is expected of us as God’s people, was expected of them. But what did Jesus find there?

v15 of Revelation 3 I know your works: you are neither hot nor cold.

What is he talking about? He’s saying, I see your deeds, and based on your deeds I can see that you neither reject me completely, or embrace me fully. You are neither hot, nor cold. So, what are they? They are in the comfortable stream of apathy, which is where many churches and individuals are today.

Why don’y people hear this. If you’re within the sound of my voice this morning, Jesus is speaking to you, through His word, there’s no place for apathy. There’s no place for the person who says they love God but their just not interested in the word. I love God, but I don’t love His church. I believe in Jesus, but there are a dozen other things, that based on my deeds, I love just as much as Jesus, if not more.

Jesus says to this luke-warm attitude found in Laodicea, “I will spit you out of my mouth.” But not just to THEM…to any of us today in this room, or in our culture, or in our local churches who live in the comfort of their apathy saying “I’m rich, I’ve prospered, I need nothing”, and do not realize that they are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

What is Jesus doing to the church in Laodicea? He’s rebuking them. He’s warning them and chastening them with the truth.

They are wretched and poor, but they think they’re rich and prospering.

And this is the foundation for seeing the beauty of our chosen text in v20.

The audience is the apathetic lukewarm person who professes the name of Jesus.

The problem is that they idolize their comfortable lives, and it has created a wall and a door between them and the Amen, the faithful and true, Jesus Christ.

The solution is v18 and 19. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent

That’s the knocking. The truth of Christ spoken as a chastising rebuke over those whom he desperately loves, and whom he desires to come to repentance.

"I want to spue you out of my mouth because of your apathy. I hate what you’re doing. Your deeds are wretched, but I love you.

Buy my gold with your nothing

Buy these white garments with your nothing

Take your nothing, and buy this salve for your eyes so that you might see.

because we have nothing, and we need his grace.

We look at all of this as a message of Jesus to the church and we start to realize how important it is to preach the Gospel, not only to the lost, but to the church… to ourselves. We need the gospel. We need to come constantly to the end of self-reliance, and idolizing our good works, and return to being the poor in Spirit who come to Jesus with nothing at all but repentance, and FAITH IN HIM!

This is what Jesus is saying…this is the content of the message - not come to me and be saved, who who have never believed, but repent of your lukewarm christian lives to find all your riches and treasures in me.

And with this we read the text...Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Jesus was pounding on the door of a church whose trust in an idol put them in grave spiritual danger. Their prosperous tepidness made him want to gag. But because he loved these lukewarm Christians, he lovingly disciplined them with hard words and called them to zealous repentance and reformation. - Jon Bloom

This was no polite knock waiting on the will of the sinner, though Jesus is certainly the most polite person there could ever be - but this is the persistent, patient, loving, truth of God calling his people out of lukewarmness, and unto desiring Jesus Christ in the midst of them.

The knock from Christ can come in many forms. It could be this sermon today, and in your hearing it, you’re hearing Christ calling you to true fellowship with Him.

The knock could be a brother or sister in Christ who encourages you toward the truth, and challenges you to zealous repentance.

And what happens in a church that repents of idolatry and lukewarmness? There’s peace. There’s fellowship. It’s like a meal shared with Jesus where Jesus comes in and brings all the food, because you didn’t have much anyway, and all that you lacked, he made up for.

So this is not a text about a quiet savior waiting for permission to save someone. That would be a mishandling of the truth. But when we accurately handle the word, and look at Scripture, we see that this is a loving and sovereign savior who desires fellowship with His blood-bought people, hates their apathy, but stands at the door with loving rebukes. Those who repent will enjoy true fellowship, and will conquer in this life, Just as Christ conquered. To hear the knocking, and ignore it, is to stay in your apathy and tepidness, only proves that you love the god of your own making.

So, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the church.

God loves you, New City…so much so that he will always call us to repentance from sin, and to true fellowship with Christ. Turn from sin and look to the richness of Christ, and all that no amount of Money could buy. Only by His free grace can we come.