Disclaimer:
Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copied and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
WHO IS THAT KNOCKING AT YOUR DOOR?
Several years ago I was involved in a business that required visiting a large number of homes of people that I did not know. This type of visitation is often uncomfortable and sometimes can be very challenging. While many people are involved in “Door-to-Door Sales” and show up unexpectedly, I rarely went to the door of a home without calling or making arrangements ahead of time. Even though I had set an appointment, there were a number of times when those who I went to see just would not answer the door. There was no doubt that they were home and that they knew I had arrived as scheduled because I could hear the TV or radio, I could see lights through the window and sometimes, I could even hear people talking or see shadows pass by the windows, but they just wouldn’t open the door because they didn’t want to hear what I had to say. One such incident that I will never forget is when I had pre-arranged a contact in Houston, Texas then drove 5 hours to go to their home and when I arrived, they had just left to keep from meeting with me. That was a long 5-hour trip home but it wasn’t the last time it happened. I remember one instance when I traveled from Louisiana to Indiana and the people I went to help wouldn’t drive 1 mile to meet with me.
All of us have had those who would walk through our neighborhoods and stop to knock on every door trying to ply their trade or spread their message. Everything from door-to-door salespeople to religious cults have come to my door, and I must confess, there are times when I didn’t want to open my door either. In today’s society, you never know who or what awaits you when you open your door to strangers.
Perhaps it is that feeling of self-preservation and fear of what stands on the other side of the door that places within each of us a dread of those who knock at our door unexpectedly.
I believe that Jesus knows the disappointment and frustration on a much greater scale because He also stands before a door unannounced and seeks to come in.
Revelation 3:20-22, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."
When I stood before the door of those homes as I have mentioned before, I would knock several times and wait several minutes to see if someone would answer the door. Each time I knocked on the door, I would knock harder and harder to make sure that those inside could hear. If someone doesn’t want to answer, you can knock until your knuckles bruise but it just won’t matter for they have control of the doorknob and the lock.
Jesus is standing before the door of your heart this morning! He stands there knocking, so very gently and softly knocking, as He hopes to be invited into your heart and life.
Some of us have heard His knock and have opened the door wide and invited Him to come into our hearts and Jesus has moved in with us to live forever.
Have you ever had anyone to come to your home and then announce that they had come to stay for a while? It upsets the entire household for a while until we get used to them being around or they decide to move on.
When Jesus comes in, He brings peace and joy. There is no greater life than having the Lord Jesus Christ living within your heart.
Some of us are not so sure that we want Jesus in our heart! We hear Him knocking. We sense the presence of the Holy Spirit. We feel the tug of the Love of God as He reaches out to us and tries to gently persuade us to come to Him. So, we slowly open the door to allow us to see who is there but we keep the chain on the latch just in case. It’s as though there are some things in our lives that we are afraid of giving up, or we are not sure that we want the life that Jesus offers. We dislike the thought of surrendering our will to the will of God so we just peek at what Jesus is offering and we never open the door wide enough to allow Him into our heart.
Jesus is not like some salesman whose livelihood depends upon his success at your door. Jesus already has everything. He has already overcome the world and all of its temptation and desires. He defeated sin, defeated death and grave and is alive forevermore. He already owns all the cattle on a thousand hills and He already has all power in Heaven and in earth. He already commands the hosts of angels and is seated in the throne of Heaven. His work is finished and there is nothing that you have that he wants to take from you except the sin and pain in your life.
Why does Jesus continually knock at the door of your heart? What motivates the Holy Spirit to continue to reach out to every man on the earth and never give up? What do we, as sinful, mortal, weak, and destitute people, possibly have that Jesus could want?
Perhaps it’s your money! Maybe Heaven’s treasury is running short of cash and the Lord is reaching out to you in an attempt to get your wealth to keep building the streets of gold or furnish the mansions beside those golden avenues.
Psalms 50:10-12 speaks of God’s wealth and riches this way: "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof."
Maybe the environmentalist groups are right after all and we have depleted the resources of God’s creation to the point where all the cattle are sick or dead, and the birds are becoming extinct and the wild beasts are gone and God is looking for your bank account to bail out Heaven and buy new wealth for God’s creation.
Perhaps it’s your car! Ezekiel 1:4-16 describes God’s mode of transportation like this, "And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the color of burnished brass. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings. Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straightforward. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle. Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies. And they went every one straightforward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the color of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel."
Do you think that God’s “wheels” are broken and He needs your car?
Maybe Jesus is knocking because He needs your food! Has the “Bread of Life” run out of bread? Was his body and his sacrifice not enough and now He needs your food to complete the job of saving the souls of men and satisfying the hungry hearts of men?
I know that these answers are absurd but I wonder how many of us use such lame-brained excuses to refuse to allow Jesus to come into our heart! Why do people not open the door when Jesus knocks? Is it because Satan has blinded them to their own need of a Savior? Is it because they don’t want to have eternal life? Is it because they rather live in the pigsty of sin and evil? Is it because they are afraid? Or is it because they just don’t want to surrender their life to Jesus?
Jesus stands before the heart of man and continues to knock, knock and knock without ceasing. He knocks on your door with every gospel message you hear. He knocks on your door when every moment of depression, worry, fear, anxiety or sickness strikes your life. He knocks on your door every time you receive a blessing that you don’t deserve. He knocks on your door every time judgment comes and you face the rod of correction. He knocks and knocks and knocks and knocks and will never quit until you draw your last breath and your final decision has been made whether to serve him or not.
Why do you think that Jesus continues to knock? It’s not because He wants something you have, but because He wants to give you something that He has! Jesus wants to give you eternal life! He wants to give you an equal inheritance in the wealth of Heaven! He wants to give you a more abundant life! He wants to give you His love, mercy, and grace! He wants to give you peace, joy, happiness, and fulfillment in life and hope for your future! He wants to give you Salvation from your sentence of eternal death!
There are those who believe that our Loving God will never condemn a soul to eternal punishment but let me tell you this: The God of Love is also a God of Holiness, Righteousness and Judgment! We will either open the door when He knocks and allow Him to come into our life and dwell in our heart as our Lord and Savior, or we will face Him in Judgment and be condemned for keeping Him out of our lives because we would not allow His Blood to wash our sin away.
If you will open the door to your heart and let Jesus come in to the be Lord of your life, then you will gain all that Heaven has to offer, but you must open the door wide and willingly allow Him to come in for He will never force His entrance. Jesus will not put His foot in your door to keep you from closing it! He will not persuade you against your will to follow Him! He will not manipulate your mind or play on your emotions or use and other trick! He is ever so gentle, so loving and so respectful of your freedom to choose.
He will trade your opened door to your heart for an open door into the glories of Heaven for all eternity!
John 10:7-10, "Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
Jesus is standing at your heart’s door right now and gently knocking? If you will but stop, be still, close your eyes and listen with your heart and your spirit, you can hear that knock.
Don’t allow the noise of the world, the voice of the devil or the voices of those around you to keep you from hearing the call of God to open your heart to Him!
I believe that Jesus is standing at another door this morning! He is standing at the very door of time and it won’t be long until He swings the door open and steps out of the Throne Room of Heaven onto the portals of time to bring His faithful children home! It is as though the knob has already turned and He has begun to step forth to bring an end to reign of sin upon creation. It won’t be long until all that we know and see in this world will be gone forever and the new Heavens and new Earth will be brought into completion and we will step through the door into eternity!
Are you ready for that day? Have you opened the door for Jesus to come into your heart? Are you ready to meet Him when He comes again?
Listen! Listen closely! Can you feel the tug of the Holy Spirit? Can you sense the closeness of the Lord Jesus Christ? Can you see Him in your mind’s eye as He stands before you, gently knocking, and then reaching out to you with those nail-scarred hands of love?
Will you open your heart’s door right now and let Him come in? Don’t make Him wait any longer. Don’t keep the door shut!
The only things that Jesus wants from you are your sin, your worry, your hopelessness, your disappointments, your failed dreams, your wasted years, your sickness, your weakness and your pain! Why not give Him those things this morning and then let Him fill those empty and clean places in your heart with His love and His blessings?
This the time and this is the day to decide whether you will hear and open your heart to Him! Jesus is knocking right now! What will your answer be?
