Jesus Knocking
Rev 3:20
He knocks. Not forced love.
Classic picture by Holman Hunt of Jesus Knocking, now hanging in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Upon it’s first unveiling, a certain critic said, You have made a real mistake, Mr. Hunt, there is no handle on the door.
"That was intentional," theartist is said to have replied."The door opens only fromthe inside."If this story is true, Holman Hunt was right, for it's up to you and me to let the Lordinto our lives. He won't kick the door down. He won't force His way intoour hearts. Forced love is rape.
Jesus is speaking on the outside.
Yet although we use this verse as a call to individual salvation, it was actually written to a self-satisfied congregation. V. 14 Laodicians, ears to hear, churches
A. A woman living in NYC, cleaning woman. Walked to an uptown, affluent church. Pastor: read this book, denominational history. She enrolled herself in night school. Learned to read. Went back, got the book, devoured it. Went back, Pastor I’ve read it. Classes Tues and Thurs Evening. I work, gort off, went , back to pastor. You have to give min annual donatinon of 80K.
She left, went down the street, sat on a bench and cried. The Lord Jesus came to her. 5 years/50 years.
B. Rev320 - Come in and sup… middle eastern culture eating, becoming one.
Is Jesus talking to people meeting in His Name who are supposed to be Christians?
Yes. And is He saying He's on the outside and wants to come in? Yep.
Well, how does one get tothe point where the Lord is on the outside? How does a church get to the placewhere it thinks it's doingfine but is spiritually bankrupt? If it happened at Laodicea, can it happen to us?
C. How did the church, the Bride of Christ, get into that condition.
a) A King in love with his new Bride. He brings her to the banqueting table, his banner over her was love.
b) And her, looking at her defects, cries. He is on the outside.
Because Scripture is the best interpreter of Scripture, Song of Solomon
Song of Solomon: the King who took in the maiden, then ostricised, blackened
2:8-9
“THE SHULAMITE The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes Leaping upon the mountains, Skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he stands behind our wall; He is looking through the windows, Gazing through the lattice.” Song of Solomon 2:8, 9
“My beloved spoke, and said to me: “Rise up, my love, my fair one, And come away. For lo, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; The time of singing has come, And the voice of the turtledove Is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth her green figs, And the vines with the tender grapes Give a good smell. Rise up, my love, my fair one, And come away! “O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret places of the cliff, Let me see your face, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your face is lovely.”
HER BROTHERS Catch us the foxes, The little foxes that spoil the vines, For our vines have tender grapes.” Song of Solomon 2:10-15
"Come away with me," says the bridegroom. "The rain has stopped. The birds are singing. I want to hear yourvoice. I long to see your countenance. Watch out for the little foxes-the subtlelittle temptations that could hinder our love."
After hearing his invitation and warning, the bride responds
“THE SHULAMITE My beloved is mine, and I am his. He feeds his flock among the lilies. (TO HER BELOVED) Until the day breaks And the shadows flee away, Turn, my beloved, And be like a gazelle Or a young stag upon the mountains of Bether.” Song of Solomon 2:16-17
Here is the bridegroom outside the door, saying,"Honey, come on. It's a glorious morning. I want totake you to new heights, tohear wonderful songs, to beon guard against the littlefoxes that will destroy our relationship."
And what does his bride say? "It's too early. You go play on the hills, and I'll catch upwith you later."
I. Doctrinal Drowsiness
“THE SHULAMITE By night on my bed I sought the one I love; I sought him, but I did not find him. “I will rise now,” I said, “And go about the city; In the streets and in the squares I will seek the one I love.” I sought him, but I did not find him.”
Song of Solomon 3:1-2
What happened here is something that can happento us corporately or to youand me individually. It's thedanger of doctrinal drowsiness that says,"Lord, I know You'are calling me to come away this morning and seek You. But I'm yours and You're mine. I'm robed in Your righteousness, and my name is written in Your book (yawn so I'll meet with you a little later zzz...
The Lord, the lover and leader of our lives calls us, gives us an invitation. And we rest into a way that can lead us into a lousy lethargy. We lay in bed at night: what a wasted day. Where is He? He was calling to you.
Like this bride, how often we say, "I don't feel the Lord anymore. My day is empty. My night is dark. Where is He?" The answer is, when He called to us we chose to
say, "I don't need to go to Bible study. I don't need devotions this morning. I don't need to expend the energy because I'm His and He's mine."
As the story unfolds, we see that as the bride seeks her bridegroom she does
indeed, find him. But it takes energy. So, too, Jeremiah 29 says,
“And you shall seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
There's no room for laziness in our relationship with the Lord.
"But I'm saved," you say.
Yes, you are.
"The Lord is mine and I am His."
That's true, too.
"And I can just be at peace and rest in the finished work of the Cross."
Absolutely.
But watch out for a dangerous doctrinal drowsiness that keeps you from responding when the Lord pulls on the strings ofyour heart during your lunch hour, saying,
"Come away, My beloved.There are some mountains I want to show you, some songs I want to share with you."
You see, the Lord comes to us constantly, saying, "Drop what you're doing and take five minutes and talk to Me," or, "Take 10 minutes and worship Me,"
or, "Take 15 minutes to pour out your heart to Me."
“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” John 3:8
Surfers.When the swells are five feet, they don't say,"Thanks for the invitation. I can't go this week, but next week I'll be there"-because there's no guarantee what they'll find the following week.
The same is true in spiritual life. When the thermal ofthe Spirit, when the wave of the Holy Ghost is rolling in,I must respond immediately. "But that's irresponsible," you say."What about obligations or family responsibilities?"
Let me tell you something: The Holy Spirit knows about those. He's not going to say, "Oh, I forgot. You have that meeting," or, "Forgive me, I didn't know about your business obligation or your family commitment."
It’s not the contradictions. No, the Holy Spirit knows our schedules. Thus, it's not the conflicts that are the problem. It's the times we think we deserve to watch TV for an hour, to watch 76ers game, or to read Time for those are the times the Lord calls us to come away.
Be obedient.
II. Spiritual Self-Centeredness
“THE SHULAMITE I sleep, but my heart is awake; It is the voice of my beloved! He knocks, saying, “Open for me, my sister, my love, My dove, my perfect one; For my head is covered with dew, My locks with the drops of the night.” Song 5:2
“And Jesus said The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head.” Matthew 8:20 The hair of the King of kings was full of dew because He came to enter the dark night of human sin. Yet how does the bride respond to her bridegrm?
Here he is with wetness on his head.
“I opened to my Beloved, but my Beloved had left. He passed on. My soul went out when He spoke; I sought Him, but I could not find Him. I called Him, but He did not answer me.” Song of Solomon 5:6
Spiritual self-centeredness.
"I am perfumed," the bridesays. "My feet are washed. Why should I defile myself opening the door for you?"
Follow the analogy, gang. Jesus came to seek and save those who were lost. Without a home, His locks are full of dew. His hands are soiled from touching humanity. He gaveeverything. He bled. He died. He who knew no sin became sin for us. If we're not careful, however, likethe bride, we can say, "I don't want to soil my hands.I just want to be mystical. I want to stand in the midst of the lamb stands with incense wafting over my head."
"That's not where I'm at,"says our Bridegroom. "My head is wet because I came to impact the world. Forgetyour clean hands and feet. There is practical ministry to do. There are people to touch."
There's a tragic self-centeredness to which the bride is vulnerable-especially after she's beena bride for a while. It's not about how we're doing. It's about how willing we are to dirty our feet, open the door, and give to others.
This account is interesting because I wouldn't have chosen doctrinal drowsiness and spiritual selfcenteredness to characterize those who don't open the door to Jesus. If I were writing the Bible, I would have said,"That which will separate you from intimacy with Jesus is a specific sin, or a particular problem." But Jesus says it is our failureto respond to the promptingof His Spirit and our being enamored with our own holiness that separate us from Him.
I also find it extremely interesting that the bride easy located her bridegroom by giving a detailed description of him to her friends
“THE SHULAMITE My beloved is white and ruddy, Chief among ten thousand. His head is like the finest gold; His locks are wavy, And black as a raven. His eyes are like doves By the rivers of waters, Washed with milk, And fitly set. His cheeks are like a bed of spices, Banks of scented herbs. His lips are lilies, Dripping liquid myrrh. His hands are rods of gold Set with beryl. His body is carved ivory Inlaid with sapphires. His legs are pillars of marble Set on bases of fine gold. His countenance is like Lebanon, Excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet, Yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, And this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem!” Song of Solomon 5:10-16
In other words, she realized where to find him not when she sat in her room with her clean hands and feet, but when she ran out into the city and said,"Let me tell you about this one whom my soul loves."The same thing happens tome. I'll be wondering where the Lord is and why I'm not sensing His presence,when suddenly there's someone for me to tell about Him. And sure enough, as I talk about Him, I experience intimacy with Him.
Dear Christian-the key to intimacy in your Christian walk, thesource of enough spiritualenergy to skip on the mountains of fellowship,and share with your neighbors in Jerusalem is to say, "YES," when the Bridegroom knocks at your door.
