God’s Great Invitations
Revelation 3:19-22
* From 1955-1960 there was a series on TV called “The Millionaire.” The theme of the show was that, each week, a generous multimillionaire would dispatch a messenger to give away a million dollars to some unsuspecting, yet needy person of his choosing. It was amazing how difficult it was for this messenger to give away a million dollars. (BTW, a million dollars back then has been purported to equal seven million in modern day dollars). The messenger was laughed at, lied to, treated rudely, and even had doors slammed in his face. To think that someone with whom you had no connection or affiliation would invite them to receive such a great gift was beyond the imagination of that day. After all, they did have to sign the receipt, they did have to respond, or they could not receive the money.
* I submit that we can find many similarities between the story line of that TV show and of our Lord’s offer to us. God dispatched His only Son, Jesus, to a people who had, by the choice of disobedience and sin, severed their ties. God sent Jesus to offer us something more valuable than silver, gold, or money; by and large, this people laughed at, ridiculed, and even killed Him.
* But God was so determined to reach us that He used the death of His own Son as a springboard to offer us an invitation to be restored to Him, to know Him, and even to live with Him forever.
* For the last several months we have been on a journey through the seven churches to which Jesus wrote a personal letter. These seven churches do not present a pretty picture of the local church. Think about it;
Ephesus was the ‘backslidden’ church, Smyrna was the ‘beat up’ church, Pergamum was the ‘bargaining’ church, & Thyatira was the ‘busted’ church. Then Sardis was the “Comfortable” church, while Philadelphia (the only church without a word of condemnation) was the “Consistent” church, and last week we saw Laodicea (the only church without a word of commendation) was the “Complacent” church. In seven snapshots of the church, Jesus found only one which He didn’t have at least a word of condemnation.
* In each one of these churches, Jesus speaks a word of truth and of reality, in hopes that the churches will hear Him, respond to Him, and return to Him. Let’s read our text. (READ) This is God’s Great Invitation through Christ.
1. The invitation to Realize – (V19a) What is it that He invites us to realize. “As many as I love” is a telling message. The word ‘love’ in this instance is not the ‘agape’ as is found in John 3:16. God’s agape love extends to all of mankind. This word is the word phileo which speaks of the love of a friend. God’s love for all the peoples of the world is such that He sent His one and only Son to pay the price for our sin debt.
* Nothing can separate us from that love. But the love spoken here is about the love of one who has received God’s offer.
* Here is an English transliteration; “As many as are dear to me or are mine through salvation, I hold accountable.” One of the ways we know that we are in HIS FAMILY is that HE SPANKS HIS KIDS. In fact, if you wonder why you or someone you know can continually hurt fellow believers or the church and God’s hand never seems to reach to them, just mark it up; God doesn’t discipline those who are not in His family.
* It kind of like disciplining the neighbor’s kids. Most of us would not do that (unless a special relationship existed), we would leave the disciplining to the family. How long has it been since God took you to the woodshed? Do you really think that your life is so perfect that God has no reason to correct you?
* The message is clear. If you belong to Him, He will rebuke and discipline you. If you don’t belong to Him, instead of discipline it will be judgment & instead of in this life, it may not come until the afterlife. Use His words today to realize whose you are and who you are. It is the invitation to realize & every invitation flows from this one, because His next invitation is;
2. The invitation to Repent – (V19b) He says, “As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be committed (zealous, earnest, diligent) and repent.” One Bible says, “So with all your heart have sorrow for your evil ways.” You have heard this many times, ‘repentance is the first message of John the Baptist, Peter at Pentecost, and Jesus after His Temptation & Baptism. Repentance is the Key to salvation and walking with God.
* One of the great women of faith among Southern Baptist was a lady named Bertha Smith. Bertha was a missionary to China and her focus was spiritual renewal, filling, and living in the spirit. She led us to the prayer closet. Presently, I am reading one of her books which speak to repentance. When she was go to a church to lead a week-long “Christian Life Conference”, she would have the people who “write out their list of sins.” Her scriptural text was Isaiah 58:1 (Noah Webster’s Bible -1822). One of the reasons we don’t repent of our sin is because we don’t face our sin. Like Isaiah, Miss Bertha called people to list or face their own sin.
* Can you do that today? Will you do that today? Miss Bertha tells the story of asking one lady if she had listed her sin and the lady responded, “Yes, I have. I have twelve sins.” In her book, Miss Bertha said, “I thought she was letting herself off kind of light.” So Miss Bertha began to quiz the lady about areas of her life and when quizzed the lady feel under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. One of God’s great invitations is for God’s people, who are walking in sin and are not convicted about their sin to turn and face their sin and allow the Spirit of God to do, with in them, His work of conviction.
* Only then, will there be repentance which leads to restoration which leads to renewal which leads to revival. Miss Bertha had them to pray over their sins. When you pray over something, you become diligent, zealous, and earnest about it.
* God’s invitation to realize whose you are and what you need naturally leads to the invitation to repent. Can you make a list of your sins? More to the point, “WILL” you make a list of your sins? Jesus is calling today, will you listen, hear, ignore, or take His next invitation.
3. The invitation to Respond – (V20a) Verse 20 is possibly one of the most quoted verses in the Bible. The KJV begins the verse with “Behold” (other translations use words like, “see,” “Here I am”, and “Look”, but here is the message; “Listen Up”, “Hear this” – it is an attention grabbing phrase like I see Dr. Stanley use when he snaps his fingers and says, “Listen Up!” In other words, “THIS IS IMPORTANT.” How you respond to the invitations of God is vital. It is a matter of life and death, death and hell, and hell and heaven. Your response charts the course of your life here on earth as well as your eternal existence. Listen up, HE (Jesus) is standing (a sign of eagerness) at your door (not only is He the door – He stands at YOUR door) & HE KNOCKS.
* Make note that there are different types of knocking. Sadly, anyone who has visited (in home) for the Lord has experienced those days when you were hoping no one would be home. Many times what makes us not want to catch anyone at home is the hidden sin in our lives (which Miss Bertha addressed). So your knock is very light & you leave a brochure. But the word used here literally means that Jesus is USING HIS KNUCKLES, RAPS HEAVILY, & calls out because He wants you to open the door. Just as surely as you cannot open the door of your house to let someone in, if they are not knocking you cannot let Jesus in if HE is not knocking. When He knocks, you must respond.
* You remember the old picture of Jesus knocking at the door. It was drawn by a man named Holman Hunt. Story is told that when he unveiled the picture that he asked as friend, “What do you think?” Friend said, “It’s beautiful, but something is missing. There is no knob, handle, or latch.” Holman’s response, “Ah, my friend you have missed the point of the picture. The man at the door is Jesus & unless the door is opened from the inside, Jesus will never come in.” Years ago Anne Graham Lotz made the statement that “Our Lord is a perfect gentleman, He never elbows His way in. He comes in when invited.”
* If He is at your heart’s door knocking, He is knocking loud enough that you know it. He invites you to open the door. Have you? Will you? If you do;
4. The invitation to Receive – (V20b) Jesus says, ‘I will come in to him, have dinner with Him and he with me.’ To open the door of your heart is to receive all that He has.
* He has forgiveness from those sins which separates you from God, He sends the Holy Spirit to be your companion in this life and serve as your down-payment for eternity, and He gives you the fellowship to call on Him in every situation for divine help.
* When you receive His power you receive His power and you have a renewed mind. This means your life is made new. With Him as your Savior & Friend, you now have God in You!
* Colossians tells us that it is “Christ in us which is the hope of Glory.” To receive abundant life here and the promise of eternity life on the other side of the grave is only the first step. To accept these 4 invitation is to accept;
5. The invitation to Reign – (V21) Jesus calls those who accept His invitations, VICTOR!! We love being VICTORS! Put in our lingo, “We love to win!” To respond to God’s Great invitations is to WIN for ALL ETERNITY. It will give you abundant life NOW and ETERNAL life then. It will take you from a place of punishment to a place of peace. It will take you from a life of sin to a life of service. It will take you from selfishness to selflessness. And in heaven, you’ll be able to gather around the throne to sing praises to the Lamb who made it all possible. And you will reign with Him forever and ever.
* Consider this message on a very practical level. Personal invitations are important to both the sender and the receiver. In fact, many invitations contain “R.S.V.P.” These initials come from the French expression “repondez s’il vous plait”. This expression simply means, “Please respond.” This means, we need to hear from you. The invitations from God are RSVP which means a ‘response is required.’ Today, He knocks are your heart’s door, what will your response be?
