Revelation 3:20-21 “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne.”
The idea of Jesus standing at a door and knocking is often used as an illustration of Jesus’ offer of salvation to individuals: if you would only “open your heart’s door” and let Jesus into your life, all will be well. But in Revelation 3:20, Jesus is not pleading with an individual to be saved; He’s seeking admittance to a church! It’s alarming to think of Jesus standing outside of the church and knocking, but that’s the position He was in. The Laodicean church had shut the door on the Head of the church; they were smug in their prosperity, but Jesus was left standing in the cold. He was an outsider to the hearts of the entire congregation.
Three quotes to start this week.
William Booth - “The chief danger of the 20th century will be religion without the Holy Spirit, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer - “Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.”
John Dyer - “Someone may go to heaven without health, without riches, without honours, without learning, without friends; but he can never go there without Christ.”
It is Jesus I need, it is Jesus indeed
Who can make it all possible in me;
Without Jesus I find I am so often blind
To the truth He is wanting me to see.
O Jesus, Jesus,
You are the One who can make my life complete.
O Jesus, my peace restore.
It’s Jesus I need, Jesus indeed,
Jesus in me, more and more.
It is Jesus I need, it is Jesus indeed
Who will make my faith beautiful and bold;
And with Jesus in me I need no longer be
So afraid of what future days may hold.
Joy Webb
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