Christ Is Knocking……will You Answer?

SERMON OUTLINE:

(1). THEPLACE: Laodicea (vs 14a).

(2). THE PERSON: One who is holy, faithful, true witness & ruler (vs 14).

(3). THE PROBLEM: self-sufficient & short-sighted (vs 15-17)

(4). THE PROMISE: I will come in (vs 18-21)

SERMON BODY:

Ill:

• Doors Quiz illustration.

• (Photos available in the PowerPoint).

• Door #1: 10 Downing Street

• Trivia: The London home of the British Prime Minister.

• The Georgian-style black door features a lion’s-head knocker.

• This secure entrance has been made from steel,

• Since the IRA’s Downing Street attack in 1991.

• The door can only be unlocked from the inside!

• Door #2: 221B Baker Street

• This door belongs to,

• One of the most well-known detectives in fiction history,

• Sherlock Holmes created by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

• When the series was originally written,

• Baker Street only went up to number 85,

• But in the 1930s the road was extended,

• And 221b was added.

• Door #3: Kennedy Space Centre

• The largest door in the world,

• Is at the Kennedy Space Centre.

• It is 465 feet tall, and it takes 45 minutes to fully open it.

• Door #4: Tom’s Mouse hole door (of Tom & Jerry Fame)

• Since 1940, this is one of the most best-known doors,

• On TV.

• Is the entrance into the home of Tom,

• The mouse from Tom & Jerry.

• Door #5: The oldest preserved door

• In 2010, during some construction work on a parking lot,

• In Zurich, Switzerland,

• Builders uncovered this door.

• According to those in the know,

• The door was probably built as far back as 3063 BC.

• About the same time,

• That the construction of Stonehenge began.

• TRANSITION:

• Jesus writes a letter to this Church at Laodicea,

• And it contains one of the best-known verses from the Bible.

• (verse 20).

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”

• The thing we often overlook about this verse,

• It was written to a bunch of Christian’s,

• And not to a bunch of unbelievers!

• An application of the verse can be made to unbelievers,

• Open the door of your heart and welcome him in.

• But that is an application.

• The true meaning of the verse is to believers,

• To shake off their complacency and repent.

Let me remind you of the key truth in these seven letters to seven Churches.

• The seven churches described in Revelation chapters 2-3,

• Are seven literal churches at the time that John the apostle.

• Though they were literal churches in Asia Minor at that time,

• There is also spiritual significance for churches & believers today.

• Ephesus (Revelation chapter 2 verses 1-7),

• The church that had forsaken its first love.

• (chapter 2 verse 4).

• Smyrna (Revelation chapter 2 verses 8-11),

• The church that had material poverty but spiritual power.

• (chapter 2 verse 10).

• Pergamum (Revelation chapter 2 verses 12-17),

• The church that needed to repent.

• (chapter 2 verse 16).

• Thyatira (Revelation 2 verses 18-29),

• The church that had a false prophetess.

• Faced the issue of compromise.

• (chapter 2 verse 20).

• Sardis (Revelation chapter 3 verses 1-6),

• The church that had fallen asleep, was spiritually dead!

• (chapter 3 verse 2).

• Philadelphia (Revelation chapter 3 verses 7-13),

• The church that persevered through persecution.

• (chapter 3 verse 10).

• Laodicea (Revelation chapter 3 verses 14-22),

• The church that is described as lukewarm.,

• Well, we will find out what that means in a few minutes.

• (chapter 3 verses 16).

(1). The Place - Laodicea (vs 14a).

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write.”

We have noted in previous weeks.

• The word, angel also means messenger,

• So, this probably refers to the messenger,

• The person who would read this letter out to the gathered Church.

It was Antiochus II who founded the city in the middle of the 3rd Century BC.

• He was a Greek king.

• This empire was a large kingdom (the Seleucid Empire ),

• Which was formed after the death of Alexander the Great.

• He named this city after his wife Laodice.

• Sounds romantic but…

• He later ended his first marriage to Laodice to marry Berenice,

• Who was an Egyptian princess.

• Today,

• Laodicea is located near the modern city of Denizli in Turkey.

LAODICEA WAS ACTUALLY KNOWN FOR 4 THINGS:

FIRST: WEALTH.

• Laodicea was situated on the most important road in Asia.