Jesus was at the door knocking

JESUS WAS AT THE DOOR KNOCKING
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE

Revelation 3:20
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.

BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The Saviour, The Soul, And Salvation
Revelation 3:20
S. Conway Behold, I stand at the door, etc. These words, so welt known and
much loved, however their primary intention may have had regard to a sinful
community like the Church at Laodicea, nevertheless lend themselves so aptly
to the setting forth of Christ's dealing with individual sinful souls, and have
been so often used in this way, that once more we employ them for the like
purpose. They supply three vivid pictures.
I. OF OUR SAVIOR "Behold, I stand," etc.; and they reveal him to us in all
his grace, he is represented:
1. As in constant nearness to the soul. He stands at the door. He does not come
for once and then depart, but there he continues.
2. And he knocks at the door: not merely stands there. The soul is like a great
palace that has many doors. And Christ knocks sometimes at the one door
and sometimes at another. There is:
(1) The door of the intellect. To this he comes with the evidence of the
reasonableness of his faith and claims.
(2) Of the conscience. To this he shows the goodness and righteousness of that
which he asks; how he ought to be obeyed.

(3) Of love. He wakes up, or seeks to wake up, the spirit of gratitude in
response to all he is and has done for the soul.
(4) Of fear. The alarm of the awakened conscience, the fearful looking for of
judgment, are the means he uses.
(5) Of hope. The blessed prospect of eternal peace and purity and joy.
3. And he knocks in many ways.
(1) Sometimes by his Word. As it is quietly read in the sacred Scriptures, some
text will arrest and arouse the soul. Or, as it is faithfully, lovingly, and
earnestly preached: how often he knocks in this way! And
(2) sometimes by his providence. Sickness; bereavement; loss of wealth, or
friends, or other earthly good; disaster; the approach of pestilence; nearness
of death; trouble of mind, body, or estate; - all are the Lord's knockings. And
(3) sometimes by his Spirit. These more often than any. "The Spirit... says,
Come."
4. And we know that he does this. Have we not been conscious of his appeals
again and again?
5. See what all this reveals of him.
(1) His infinite patience. How long he has waited for some of us, year after
year, and is not wearied yet!
(2) His gracious condescension. That he, our Lord and Saviour, should thus
deal with us.
(3) And, above all, what infinite love! Behold, then, this portrait of our all-
gracious Saviour and Lord, and let it draw your hearts to him as it should.
II. OF THE SOUL - the soul of each one of us. Our text shows the soul:
1. As the object of Christ's anxious concern, He would not else be thus
standing and knocking at the door of our hearts. And the reason is that he
knows:
(1) The soul's infinite value and preciousness. He knows its high capacities -
that it can love and worship, resemble, and rejoice in God.
(2) Its terrible peril. Were it not so, there would not be need for such anxious
concern. It is in peril of losing eternal life and of incurring eternal death. It is
nigh unto perishing - a lost sheep, a lost piece of silver, a lost child.
2. As exercising its fearful Tower. Refusing Christ, keeping him outside the
soul. Many other guests are admitted freely, but not Christ.

(1) The soul has this power of refusal. None other has. Not the stars of heaven,
not the mighty sea, not the raging winds, not the devouring fire. All these
obey. But the soul can refuse.
(2) And here it is exercising this power. That Christ is kept outside the soul is
the testimony of:
(a) Scripture. Texts innumerable tell of the estrangement of the human heart
from God.
(b) Conscience. Does not the ungodly man know that Christ does not dwell
within him, that he has no room for him - however it may be with other guests
- in his soul? And the strange, sad reluctancy to speak for Christ to others
shows how partial is his possession of even Christian souls.
(c) Facts. See what men are and say and do; mark their conduct, their
conversation, their character; examine the maxims, principles, and motives
which regulate them, and see if Christ be in all or any of them. And this, not
only in men brought up in ungodliness, but often in those trained in pious
homes, and from whom you would have expected better things.
(3) And this is the soul's own doing. It voluntarily excludes Christ. When his
appeal is heard, and very often it is, men divert their thoughts, distract them
with other themes; or deaden their convictions, by plunging into pleasure,
business, sin; or delay obedience, procrastinating and putting off that which
they ought promptly to perform. Ah, what guilt! Ah, what folly!
(4) And this is the sin "against the Holy Ghost, which hath never forgiveness."
Not any one definite act, but this persistent exclusion of Christ. The. knocking
of the Lord is heard more and more faintly, until at length, although it goes
on, it is not heard at all. The sin has been committed, and the punishment has
begun. But the text contemplates also the happier alternative.
3. The soul claiming its greatest privilege - opening the door to Christ. He
says, "If any man will open," thereby plainly teaching us that men may and
should, and - blessed be his Name - some will, open that door.
(1) The soul can do this. It is part of its great prerogative. It could not say,
"Yes," if it could not say, "No;" but because it can say, "No," it can also say,
"Yes."
(2) And the opening the door depends upon its saying, "Yes." This is no
contradiction to the truth that the Holy Spirit must open the heart. Both are
essential; neither can be done without. It is a cooperative work, as
consciousness and Scripture alike teach. But the Spirit ever does his part of
the work; it is we only who fail in ours. May we be kept here from!

III. SALVATION. The result of such opening the door is this, and the picture
that is given of it is full of interest.
1. Christ becomes our Guest. "I will sup with him." Now, if we invite any one
to our table, we have to provide the feast. But what have we to set before
Christ that he will care for? Ah, what? "All our righteousnesses" - will they
do? Not at all. In this spiritual banquet that which he will most joyfully accept
is ourselves, coming in contrition and trust to rest upon his love. "The
sacrifices of God," etc. (Psalm 51.). Let us bring them; they, but naught else,
will be well pleasing to him. But the scene changes.
2. Christ becomes our ]lost. "He with me." Ah! now what a difference!
"Blest Jesus, what delicious fare!
How sweet thine entertainments are!" This we shall soon realize.
(1) There is full, free pardon for every sin.
(2) Next, the assurance of his love, that he has accepted us.
(3) Power to become like him - renewing, regenerating grace.
(4) His peace, so that in all trial and sorrow we may "rest in the Lord."
(5) Power to bless others, so that they shall be the better for having to do with
us.
(6) Bright hope, blessed outlook to the eternal inheritance.
(7) And at last, in due time, that inheritance itself.
Such are some of the chief elements of that banquet at which Christ is the
Host; and all the while there is sweet, blessed intercourse, hallowed
communion, with himself. He is "known to us in the breaking of bread."
CONCLUSION. How, then, shall it be? Shall we still keep the door of our
hearts barred against him? May he forbid! We can do this; alas! some will.
But we can open the door. Do that.
"In the silent midnight watches,
List! thy bosom door!
How it knocketh - knocketh knocketh -
Knocketh evermore!
Say not 'tis thy pulse is beating:
Tis thy heart of sin;
Tis thy Saviour knocks and crieth,
'Rise, and let me in.'

"Death comes on with reckless footsteps,
To the hall and hut;
Think you, Death will tarry knocking
Where the door is shut?
Jesus waiteth - waiteth - waiteth
But the door is fast;
Grieved, away thy Saviour goeth:
Death breaks in at last.
"Then 'tis time to stand entreating
Christ to let thee in;
At the gate of heaven beating,
Waiting for thy sin.
Nay - alas! thou guilty creature;
Hast thou then forgot?
Jesus waited long to know thee,
Now he knows thee not." S.C.

Biblical Illustrator
Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
Revelation 3:20
The Guest of the heart
J. A. Kerr Bain, M. A.I. THE STRANGER-GUEST WANTING TO COME
IN. "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock."
1. When a stranger comes to your door, it matters a good deal to your feeling
as a host whether he be a mean man or a great one. An inhospitable act done
to your Queen might never vex you at all if it was only done to an obscure
wanderer. Who, then, is this? Is He mean? or is He great? He does not look
very great in the starlight. But He is. At home He is worshipped, and wields
all command; and beings before whom the mightiest of the earth are as

infants, only venture to bow themselves at His feet when their faces are
shielded from the lustre of His glory.
2. When a stranger comes to your door, it is a consideration for you whether
he has come to a door only, or to your door; whether he has come to your
door by chance, or to yourself on purpose. Has this Stranger, then, just
happened upon this cottage-door as one that serves His turn as well as any
other? or does He mean to seek this very home and this very board, if haply
He may be welcomed as a friend? How deeply does He mean it, and how
tenderly!
3. When a stranger comes to your door, it is of some moment to you whether
he has come but a short distance to see you, or has come from far. This
waiting Stranger — whence comes He? From another country? He has come
from another world. Through peril, through tribulation, He has come hither.
4. When a stranger comes to your door, it is a thing of influence with you
whether your visitor is in earnest to get in, or shows indifference, and soon
gives up the endeavour. A caller who knocks and goes off again before you
have had reasonable time to answer.
5. When a stranger comes to your door, it is of every consequence to you what
may be the character of himself, and the complexion of his errand. Is he good,
and likely come for good? or is he evil, and likely come for evil? What far-
brought tidings, what peace, what hopes, what aids, what influence, he fetches
with him!
II. THE STRANGER-GUEST GETTING IN. "If any man hear My voice, and
open the door."
1. The Stranger did not force an entrance. It is from the inside, after all, that a
man's heart opens to his Saviour-King.
2. At the same time it is of the utmost importance to note, that the transaction,
with this indispensable element of free choice in it, is the veriest simplicity. "If
any man hear," "and open" — lo! it is accomplished, and the Son of God is
within. Very natural it may be — after you have at last acknowledged the
Voice by some beginnings of faith, and have arisen at its call to bustle long
about the apartment in a process of rearranging, cleansing, tidying, adorning.
Not less natural it may be to sit down, after a desponding glance around you,
and endeavour to devise some plan by which you may entertain the Guest
more worthily. All the while, and all the same, your Guest is standing without.
The one luckless fact is the tardiness of your hospitality. The honour is done
Him by nothing but by letting Him in. And more: your heart-home will only
be made fit for His presence by His presence.

3. But there may be some one who is saying with a certain sincerity, "I have
tried to open my heart to Christ, and I could not — cannot!" It will baffle
your own strength. But what of your Guest Himself, and that power of His —
so freely available now?
III. THE STRANGER-GUEST IN. "I will come in to him, and will sup with
him, and he with Me." It is a scene with much light in it, and an atmosphere
of security and deep peace.
(J. A. Kerr Bain, M. A.)
Christ's loving earnestness
H. Bonar, D. D.I. THE LOVE OF CHRIST. It is free love. It is large love. It is
love irrespective of goodness in us.
II. THE PATIENCE OF CHRIST. He stands, and He has stood, as the words
imply — not afar off, but nigh, at the door. He stands. It is the attitude of
waiting, of perseverance in waiting. He does not come and go; He stands. He
does not sit down, or occupy Himself with other concerns. He has one object
in view.
III. THE EARNESTNESS OF CHRIST. If the standing marks His patience,
the knocking marks His earnestness — His unwearied earnestness.
1. How does He knock?
2. When does He knock?
IV. THE APPEAL OF CHRIST TO THE LAODICEANS. "If any man will
hear My voice, and open the door." It is —
1. A loving appeal.
2. A personal appeal.
3. An honest appeal.
4. An earnest appeal.
V. THE PROMISE OF CHRIST.
1. I will come in to Him. His standing on the outside is of no use to us. A mere
outside Christ will profit us nothing. An outside cross will not pacify, nor heal,
nor save.
2. I will sup with him. He comes in as a guest, to take a place at our poor table
and to partake of our homely meal.
3. He shall sup with Me. Christ has a banquet in preparation.
(H. Bonar, D. D.)

The Christ at the door
A. Maclaren, D. D.These wonderful words need no heightening of their
impressiveness, and yet there are two considerations which add pathos and
beauty to them. The one is that they are all but the last words which the seer
in Patmos heard in his vision, from the lips of the exalted Christ. Parting
words are ever impressive words; and this is the attitude in which Jesus
desired to be thought of by all coming time. Another consideration
intensifying the impressive-Hess of the utterance is that it is the speech of that
Christ whose exalted glories are so marvellously portrayed in the first chapter
of this book. The words are marvellous too, not only for that picture, but for
the clear decisiveness with which they recognise the solemn power that men
have of giving or refusing an entrance to Him; and still further, for the
grandeur of their promises to the yielding heart which welcomes Him.
I. THE EXALTED CHRIST ASKING TO BE LET IN to a man's heart. The
latter words of the verse suggest the image of a banqueting hall. The chamber
to which Christ desires entrance is full of feasters. There is room for
everybody else there but Him. Now the plain sad truth which that stands for
about us, is this: That we are more willing to let anybody and anything come
into our thoughts, and find lodgment in our affections, than we are to let Jesus
Christ come in. The next thought here is of the reality of this knocking. Every
conviction, every impression, every half inclination towards Him that has
risen in your hearts, though you fought against it, has been His knocking
there. And think of what a revelation of Him that is! We are mostly too proud
to sue for love, especially if once the petition has been repulsed; but He asks to
be let into your heart because His nature and His name is Love, and being
such, He yearns to be loved by you, and tie yearns to bless you.
II. NOTICE THAT AWFUL POWER WHICH IS RECOGNISED HERE AS
RESIDING IN US, to let Him in or to keep Him out. "It any man will open the
door" — the door has no handle on the outside. It opens from within. Christ
knocks: we open. What we call faith is the opening of the door. And is it not
plain that that simple condition is a condition not imposed by any arbitrary
action on His part, but a condition indispensable from the very nature of the
case?
III. THE ENTRANCE OF THE CHRIST, with His hands full of blessing. It is
the central gift and promise of the gospel "that Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith." He Himself is the greatest of His gifts. He never comes
empty-handed, but when He enters in He endows the soul with untold riches.
We have here also Christ's presence as a Guest. "I will come in and sup with
Him." What great and wonderful things are contained in that assurance! Can

we present anything to Him that He can partake of? Yes! We may give Him
our service and He will take that; we may give Him our love and He will take
that, and regard it as dainty and delightsome food. We have here Christ's
presence not only as a Guest, but also as Host — "I will sup with him and he
with Me." As when some great prince offers to honour a poor subject with his
presence, and let him provide some insignificant portion of the entertainment,
whilst all the substantial and costly parts of it come in the retinue of the
monarch, from the palace.
(A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The heavenly Visitor
Thos. Heath.I. WHAT IS IMPLIED by the expression, "I stand at the door."
1. That Christ is outside man's heart.
2. That He is deliberately excluded.
3. That He is excluded in favour of other guests.
4. That notwithstanding He wishes to enter.
5. That He recognises our liberty to admit Him.
II. BY WHAT MEANS HE MAKES HIS PRESENCE KNOWN.
III. THE BLESSINGS TO BE ENJOYED BY THOSE WHO ADMIT HIM.
1. Reconciliation.
2. Communion.
3. Refreshment.
(Thos. Heath.)
Christ at the door
Homilist.I. THE PERSON. The Greatest at the door of the meanest.
II. THE ATTITUDE.
1. Service.
2. Waiting expectation.
3. Supplication.
III. THE ACTION.
IV. THE OBJECT.
(Homilist.)
The pleading Saviour

Homilist.I. THE SAVIOUR'S HUMILITY AND CONDESCENSION.
1. Patience. Repeated application where rudely repulsed.
2. Desire to enter. Not for His own good or gratification, but for our salvation,
because He delights in mercy.
II. THE SAVIOUR'S PERSISTENT EFFORTS.
III. THE SAVIOUR'S PROFFERED REWARD. The pres ence of Christ is the
highest privilege man can desire. It involves —
1. Familiarity.
2. Reciprocity.
3. Unity.
4. Enjoyment.
(Homilist.)
Christ at the door
A. Maclaren, D. D.I. THE SUPPLIANT FOR ADMISSION. A strange
reversal of the attitudes of the great and of the lowly, of the giver and of the
receiver, of the Divine and of the human! Christ once said, "Knock and it
shall be opened unto you." But He has taken the suppliant's place. So, then,
there is here a revelation, not only of a universal truth, but a most tender and
pathetic disclosure of Christ's yearning love to each of us. What do you call
that emotion which more than anything else desires that a heart should open
and let it enter? We call it love when we find it in one another. Surely it bears
the same name when it is sublimed into all but infinitude, and yet is as
individualising and specific as it is great and universal, as it is found in Jesus
Christ. And then, still further, in that thought of the suppliant waiting for
admission there is the explanation for us all of a great many misunderstood
facts in our experience. That sorrow that darkened your days and made your
heart bleed, what was it but Christ's hand on the door? Those blessings which
pour into your life day by day "beseech you, by the mercies of God, that ye
yield yourselves living sacrifices." That unrest which dogs the steps of every
man who has not found rest in Christ, what is it but the application of His
hand to the obstinately-closed door? The stings of conscience, the movements
of the Spirit, the definite proclamation of His Word, even by such lips as mine,
what are they all except His appeals to us? And this is the deepest meaning of
joys and sorrows, of gifts and losses, of fulfilled and disappointed hopes. If we
understood better that all life was guided by Christ and that Christ's guidance
of life was guided by His desire that He should find a place in our hearts, we

should less frequently wonder at sorrows, and should better understand our
blessings.
II. THE DOOR OPENED. Jesus Christ knocks, but Jesus Christ cannot break
the door open. The door is closed, and unless there be a definite act on your
part it will not be opened, and He will not enter. So we come to this, that to do
nothing is to keep your Saviour outside; and that is the way .in which most
men that miss Him do miss Him. The condition of His entrance is simple trust
in Him, as the Saviour of my soul. That is opening the door, and if you will do
that, then, just as when you open the shutters, in comes the sunshine; just as
when you lift the sluice in flows the crystal stream into the slimy, empty lock;
so He will enter in, wherever He is not shut out by unbelief and aversion of
will.
III. THE ENTRANCE AND THE FEAST. "I will come in to him and sup
with him, and he with Me." Well, that speaks to us in lovely, sympathetic
language, of a close, familiar, happy communication between Christ and my
poor self which shall make all life as a feast in company with Him. John, as he
wrote down the words "I will sup with him, and he with Me," perhaps
remembered that upper room where, amidst all the bitter herbs, there was
such strange joy and tranquility. But whether he did or no, may we not take
the picture as suggesting to us the possibilities of loving fellowship, of quiet
repose, of absolute satisfaction of all desires and needs, which will be ours if
we open the door of our hearts by faith, and let Jesus Christ come in?
(A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Relation to Christ of the human soul
Homilist.I. HIS ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE SOUL. He is constantly in
contact with the soul. He does not come occasionally and then depart; He
stands.
1. His deep concern. In the eye of Christ the soul is no trifling object: He
knows its capabilities, relations, power, influence, interminable history.
2. His infinite condescension.
3. His wonderful patience.
II. HIS ACTION UPON THE SOUL. He does not stand there as a statue
doing nothing. He knocks: He knocks at the door of intellect with His
philosophic truths; at the door of conscience, with His ethical principles; at
the door of love, with His transcendent charms; at the door of hope, with His
heavenly glories; at the door of fear, with the terrors of His law.

1. The moral power of the sinner. The soul has the power to shut out Christ. It
can bolt itself against its Creator. This it does by directing its thoughts to
other subjects, by deadening its convictions, by procrastinations.
2. The consummate folly of the sinner. Who is shut out? Not a foe or thief; but
a friend, a physician, a deliverer.
3. The awful guiltiness of the sinner. It shuts out its proprietor, its rightful
Lord.
III. HIS AIM IN REFERENCE TO THE SOUL. It is not to destroy it; but to
come into it and identify Himself with all its feelings, aspirations, and
interests.
1. Inhabitation. "I will come unto him." We are perpetually letting people into
our hearts. How pleased we are if some illustrious personage will enter our
humble homes and sit down with us, etc.
2. Identification. "Sup with him and he with Me." I will be at home with him,
be one with him. A conventionally great man deems it a condescension to
enter the house of an inferior — he never thinks of identifying himself with
the humble inmate. Christ does this with the soul that lets Him in. He makes
its cares His own.
(Homilist.)
The illustrious Visitor
F. W. Brown.I. THE GREAT KINDNESS OF THE REDEEMER TO MAN.
1. Compassion for man.
2. Condescension to man.
3. Communion with man. The Saviour does not come as a stranger, He comes
as a friend and a guest.
4. The consummation of man. He takes possession of our spirits to make them
perfect and glorious. This will be the perfecting of our humanity, the
consummation of all our best and brightest hopes and capacities.
II. THE GREAT UNKINDNESS OF MAN TO THE REDEEMER.
1. Ignorance is the cause in some cases why the visit of the Saviour is not
welcomed. If the ignorance be involuntary and unavoidable, then it is not
culpable; but if it be the result of a voluntary refusal to know who the Saviour
is, and what His knocking means, then it shows great unkindness to the
Redeemer, and is regarded by Him as a great sin.

2. Another cause is indifference. Some know that it is the Saviour standing at
the door of their hearts; but they are so absorbed with other engagements,
they are so careless about the unseen and eternal, that they let Him stand
outside, and make no effort to let Him in.
3. Another cause is unbelief.
4. Prejudice is another cause of the unkindness of man to the Redeemer. The
Cross is an offence to many. Prejudice blinds the eyes and hardens the heart
and prevents man seeing Jesus as He really is — "the chief among ten
thousand, and the altogether lovely."
5. The last cause of unkindness we will mention is ingratitude.
(F. W. Brown.)
Christ at the door
C. S. Robinson, D. D.I. FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD IS PROPOSED AS THE
GRAND PRIVILEGE OF THE RACE.
1. The friendship which God offers is on entirely a human plane. Christian life
is only a transfiguration of every-day life.
2. The friendship which God proposes is permanent in its continuance.
II. AN UNDOUBTED PROOF OF THE DIVINE SINCERITY.
1. You see this in the fact that the entire proposal comes from Him. The grace
of this transaction is absolutely marvellous.
2. You see this in the successive and persistent endeavours to bring this
friendship within reach of the soul.
III. THE ASSURANCE OF THE ENTIRE FULNESS OF THE
ATONEMENT. There is no restriction in the offers of Divine grace.
1. There is no limit on the human side. If any man will open his heart, the
Saviour will come in.
2. There is positively no limit on the Divine side either. The offer is made in
terms utterly without restriction.
IV. AN EXPLICIT RECOGNITION OF HUMAN FREE AGENCY UNDER
THE PLAN OF SALVATION BY GRACE. It is well to inquire why it is He
thus pauses on the threshold.
1. It is not because He is unable to force His way in. There is no opposition so
violent that He could not crush it beneath His Omnipotent might.

2. The reason for the Divine forbearance is found in the inscrutable counsels
of the Divine wisdom. In the beginning, He drew one line around His own
action. He determined to create a class of beings who should have minds and
hearts of their own. A free chance to choose between serving Him and
resisting Him He now gives to every one of us. And when He had thus
established men in being, He sovereignly decided never to interfere with the
free-will He had bestowed.
V. IF ANY MAN IS FINALLY LOST, THE RESPONSIBILITY RESTS
UPON HIS OWN SOUL. The Saviour has come so far, but it is perfectly clear
He is coming no further.
1. Observe how unbeclouded is the final issue. There can be no mystery, there
is no mistake about it. The Providence of God always clears the way up to the
crisis, removing every side-consideration which can possibly confuse it.
Education that fits for usefulness is a demand for usefulness; the love of our
children is a hint for us to love God as children; social position, wealth, official
station, accomplishments, popular favour; whoever has any of these ought to
hear in them the accents of that quiet voice speaking to his heart: "Behold, I
stand at the door and knock."
2. Observe the ease of the condition required of us. It is only to open the door.
Great things under the gospel are always simple.
3. Observe then, finally, what it is that keeps the Saviour out. Nothing but will.
This is the inspired declaration: "Ye will not come unto Me, that ye might
have life." That is, you set a definite purpose against the purpose of grace.
Christ came and you resisted Him.
(C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
Christ knocking at the door of the soul
J. S. Exell, M. A.I. THAT THERE IS IN THE HUMAN SOUL A DOOR FOR
THE ENTRANCE OF THE TRUTH.
1. The intellect. Is not the theology of the Bible in its broad outlines
reasonable? Christ, in the evidence, enlightenment, and conviction of the
truth, stands knocking at the mind of man, and the greater the knowledge of
the truth, the louder is the appeal for entrance.
2. The heart. Man is endowed with the capability of love and sympathy. He
has warm affections. He is so constituted as to be attracted by the pathetic and
the beautiful. Hence, he looks out upon nature with admiring eye. And it is to
this capability in man that the truth appeals. It presents to him an ideal

beauty in the life of Christ, as recorded by the gospel narrative, which ought
to win his spirit into an imitation of the same.
3. The conscience. Man has the ability to turn his natural judgment to moral
and spiritual questions, and this is what we mean by conscience. To this
faculty the truth presents its requirements; convinces of failure in the
devotion of the inner life to Christ; and spreads out before it the threat of
avenging justice.
4. But, strange to say, the door of the soul is closed to the entrance of the
truth. The door of the mind is closed by error, by ignorance, and by prejudice.
The door of the heart is shut by pride, by unbelief, and by wilful sin. The door
of the conscience is barred by a continued habit of evil.
II. THAT AT THE DOOR OF THE HUMAN SOUL TRUTH MAKES
CONTINUED APPEALS FOR ENTRANCE.
1. This appeal of truth is authoritative. Truth comes to men with authority,
even with the claim of a sinless life, and with the emphasis of a Divine voice.
Its distinguished character should gain for it an immediate and hearty
welcome into the soul, as a king should be welcomed into a cottage. But truth
comes to men not only with the authority of character, but also with the
authority of right. The faculties of the human mind were made to receive it.
2. The appeal of Truth is patient. Other guests have entered — wealth in
splendid apparel, ambition with loud clamour, and pride with haughty mien
— but Christ with gentle spirit has remained without. His patience has been
co-extensive with our neglect of Him. It is Divine.
3. The appeal of truth is benevolent. The truth does not seek to enter the soul
of man merely to spy out its moral defilement, to pass woful sentence on its
evil-doings, but to cleanse it by the Holy Spirit, to save it by grace, to enlighten
it by knowledge, and to cheer it by love.
4. The appeal of truth is heard. "And knock." Knocks at the door are
generally heard. And certainly this is the case in reference to the advent of
Christ to the soul. It is impossible to live in this land of religious light and
agency without being conscious of Divine knockings at the portal of the soul.
III. THAT THE HUMAN SOUL HAS THE ABILITY OF CHOICE AS TO
WHETHER IT WILL OPEN ITS DOOR FOR THE ENTRANCE OF THE
TRUTH OR NOT.
1. The door of the soul will not be opened by any coercive methods. Does it not
seem strange that Christ should have the key of the soul and yet stand
without? This is only explained by the free agency of man. But though He

enter not to dwell, the soul is visited by spiritual influences which are the
universal heritage of man.
2. The door of the soul must be opened by moral methods. Calm reflection,
earnest prayer, and a diligent study of the inspired Word, together with the
gentle influences of the Divine Spirit, will open the soul to the entrance of
Christ (Acts 16:14).
IV. THAT IF THE HUMAN SOUL WILL OPEN ITS DOOR TO THE
RECEPTION OF THE TRUTH, CHRIST WILL ENTER INTO CLOSE
COMMUNION WITH IT.
1. Then Christ will inhabit the soul. "I will come in to him." Thus, if Christ
come into the soul He will dwell in its thoughts, in its affections, in its
aspirations, in its aims, and in all its activities. He will elevate and consecrate
them all. True religion just means this, Christ in the soul, and its language is
(Galatians 2:20).
2. Then Christ will be in sympathy with the soul. "And will sup with him." It
is impossible to have a feast in the soul unless Christ spreads the table; then
the meal is festive. It removes sorrow; it inspires joy. While we are partaking
of it we can relate to Christ all the perplexities of life. The good man carries a
feast within him (John 4:32).
3. Then Christ will strengthen the soul. He will strengthen the moral nature
by the food He will give, by the counsel He will impart, and by the hope He
will inspire. The feast, the supply of holy energy will be resident within.
(J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The self-invited Guest
J. Jowett, M. A.I. THAT, IN THE DISPENSATION OF THE GOSPEL,
CHRIST IS THE UNINVITED GUEST, PLEADING FOR ADMISSION.
Whatever acquaintance any of us may have with Jesus, the acquaintance
began on His side: by Him are the first overtures invariably made.
1. The written gospel is a proof of it.
2. The Christian ministry is another proof.
3. The strivings of His Spirit are another instance of this. In the two former
cases, His approach can more easily be avoided.
II. THAT CONSENT ALONE IS REQUIRED, ON OUR PART, TO GIVE
US A FULL PARTICIPATION IN HIS FRIENDSHIP.
1. The consent which is required.

2. The friendship which is offered.
(J. Jowett, M. A.)
Christ at the door of the heart
W. H. M. H. Aitken, M. A."Behold!" The sight is indeed a most astonishing
one, which ought to fill our hearts with surprise and shame. God outside; He
who ought to be recognised as Lord and Master of the human being, to whom
we owe everything. I question whether there is any revelation made to us in
the whole course of God's Word that more strongly illustrates the persevering
love of God. The love of God is not content with redeeming a guilty world, but
He brings the redemption to the door of every human being. How, it is natural
we should ask, is this extraordinary phenomenon to be explained? If we look
at the context, we discover what the explanation is. "Thou sayest, I am rich
and increased with goods, and have need of nothing." Ah! it is in those words
that the clue is found to the extraordinary spectacle. I cannot understand a
man going on, year after year, realising his own inward want, and yet not
accepting the supply which God has given. How is it that Satan prevents this?
How is it that he brings us to the position which is indicated to us by this
figure? By filling us with all sorts of things which are not God. What are they?
Some make their religion a substitute for God. That is one of the very worst
substitutes that we can possibly fix upon. Again, how many persons there are
who find an excellent substitute for Christ in morality. A man may have kept
all the Ten Commandments, and yet, all the while, be shutting the door of his
heart against Christ, and if a man does that, he keeps the letter of the
Commandments, but not the spirit. Again, how many there are who take
worldly pleasures as a substitute for God. Another thing set up in the place of
God is the love of wealth. What is there that money cannot do? Another man
puts learning in the place of God. What is there that intelligence cannot do?
All these attempts to create substitutes, what are they? They are simply so
many sins against your own soul. It would not have been at all a thing to be
marvelled at, if we had read this passage thus: "The Lord once stood outside
the door and knocked." Had the Lord Jesus Christ given us one offer of
mercy, and given one loud, thundering "knock," and, being refused, left us to
take the consequence, left us to our own miserable doom, you know we should
have deserved it. Oh, deafen not your ears, men and women, against His call:
do not be so blind to your own interest as to keep Him standing there: listen to
what He says, "If any man hear My voice." Notice that. He does not say, "If
any man makes himself moral; if any man will try and make himself better."
That is not it, thank God! "If any man will shed oceans of tears." No, that is
not it. "If any man has deep sorrow." No, that is not it. "If any man has

powerful faith." No, that is not it, What is it He says? "If any man will hear
My voice." As the preacher is speaking now, say, "God is speaking to my soul;
He is speaking in all the infinity of His mercy: I cannot, I won't deafen my ear
against Him." Well, as soon as the man hears the voice, he is on the highway
to salvation. What more is wanted? Just one thing more. "If any man hear My
voice, and will open unto Me." It does not sound very much, does it? "Ah,
but," you say, "faith is so difficult. One man says, faith is this, and another
says it is another thing." Do you think the Lord Jesus Christ will stand back if
you say that? I tell you, you will find those bolts and bars will fly back the
moment you tell Him you are willing. Now, what are you going to do? Nay,
what will He do? He says, "If any man will open to Me, I will come in." Well,
what will He do? Young man! you are thinking to yourself, "I should like to
have Jesus as my Saviour, but if He comes to my heart He will bring a funeral
procession with Him; my countenance will fall, my life will be overshadowed,
my joy will be gone; my youthful pleasures will disappear, and I shall become
mournful and morose." I tell you that is the devil's lie, not God's truth.
Wherever Jesus is, He carries a feast along with Him, and so He says to-night,
"If any man will open unto Me, I will come in to him, and will sup with him,
and he with Me."
(W. H. M. H. Aitken, M. A.)
Christ at the door of the heart
Morgan Dix, D. D.This door, at which the Saviour knocks, is the heart of man.
In the gospel there is more than enough to give full exercise to the most
powerful intellect: yet the final aim is at the heart. What the heart is, that the
man is; he who wins the heart has the whole man. The door is the sinner's
heart. That door is closed against Christ. He stands, and knocks. First,
observe that it is the Lord who comes to us men, not we to Him. He not only
comes to that door; He stands there waiting; nor doth He only stand and wait,
but meekly standing thus and waiting, He knocks. So deeply does He long for
entrance, that it is hard to make Him go. Canst thou not recall an hour, in
which thy Saviour came to thee, and asked for entrance into thy thoughts and
thy life? Many are called while yet children. The mind and heart of children
are readier for the Lord than those of hardened men and women. Christ
knocks at the hearts of children; if they do not open unto Him at that time,
they may not do so until after many years; they may never do so, not even in
the hour of death. "If any man hear My voice!" Can this be imagined, that
any should not hear? or worse, that any would not hear? "The voice of the
Lord is mighty in operation," saith the psalmist: "the voice of the Lord is a
glorious voice." That voice may call; something within the heart may deaden

the sound or shut it out. How dreadful is the state of such a soul! Marvel not,
with this history before you, that the door is shut. The longer the heart is
closed against its God, the harder to open it. The processes of nature have
their due effect; the elements do their work in silence and surely; a work
which every day makes more effectual. The bars, long stationary, rust in the
staples; some time since, a child might have slipped them out and laid them
aside; now, the strength of a man would essay the task in vain. The rains and
snows of many a season have beaten into the lock and choked it up. In former
days, a path led to this door; a path by which the good angels could reach it,
and all honest Christian friends; a pathway, pleasant to the eye, fresh with
flowers, clean of rubbish, and easy to be found. Alas! how great the change I
The pathway now is rough with stones, or seems to be, for so rankly is it
overgrown with weeds, that its outline is all but lost. Breasthigh on either
hand are come up the briar and the thorn; the wall crumbles; it is grey with
mould; an aspect of desolation weighs down the spirit as we gaze. Who would
walk on yonder pathway? Who would try to approach that door? Yet there is
One, who cometh up this way. He looks toward that closed and rusted door;
He turns His holy feet to that forsaken path. His face is grave and sad,
earnest, and full of love. He hath on Him the vesture of the High Priest who
maketh intercession for sin. He is coming up the path. He has reached the
gate. Behold, He standeth at the door. Without, around, all is silence. He
knocks. Oh soul thus called by Jesus Christ, what answer wilt thou make?
Perhaps there shall be no reply. The knock resounds within: the voice is heard
outside; but within there is silence: neither knock nor voice can reach the ear
of the spiritually dead. The door may shake in its rusty hinges; the bars may
creak in the staples; but none comes to open. No wonder. There is nothing
inside, save that worse than nothing, a dead soul; dead in sin, and buried in
forgetfulness.
(Morgan Dix, D. D.)
The Saviour knocking at the door
James Hamilton, D. D.I. WHO KNOCKS? The Son of God, Immanuel, the
Mediator betwixt God and man, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of glory, the
Redeemer of the lost, Almighty to save, and all-sufficient to satisfy your souls.
What hinders that you should not let Him in?
II. DIFFERENT HEARTS ARE BOLTED WITH DIFFERENT BARS. Some
are closed by carelessness, and some by ignorance, and some by indolence,
and some by frivolity, and some by prejudice, and some by pride, and some by
strong besetting sins.

III. WERE YOU TO YIELD TO THE STRIVING SPIRIT — WERE YOU
TO WITHDRAW THESE BOLTS, AND ADMIT INTO YOUR SOUL A
MIGHTY AND MERCIFUL REDEEMER, WHAT WOULD BE THE
CONSEQUENCE? Pardon of sin would come. Peace of conscience would
come. The smile of God would come into your soul.
(James Hamilton, D. D.)
Christ standing at the door
James Hamilton, M. A.I. WHO IS HE?
1. It is clear that He is some one of importance. "Behold," He says, "I stand at
the door; I who could never have been expected to stand there." He speaks,
you observe, as though His coming to us would surprise us; just as we might
suppose a monarch to speak at a beggar's door. And there is a reason for this.
It is the glorious Redeemer who is here, the Monarch of earth and heaven. See
then how this text sets forth at the very outset of it the Divine mercy. We think
it a great thing that God should sit on a throne waiting for sinners to come to
Him, but here He describes Himself as coming to sinners.
II. WHAT IS THE LORD JESUS DOING AT OUR DOOR?
1. On our part, it implies this mournful fact, that our hearts are all naturally
shut against Christ, yea, fastened, bolted, and barred, against Him.
2. On Christ's part, this expression implies a willingness to enter our hearts;
and more than a willingness, an earnest desire to enter them.
III. WHAT DOES THIS GRACIOUS STRANGER AT OUR DOOR WISH
US TO DO?
IV. WHAT WILL THIS EXALTED BEING AT OUR DOOR DO FOR US,
IF WE LET HIM IN?
1. "I will come in to him." There His presence is promised, and with it the
light and comfort and bliss and glory of it.
2. "I will sup with him, and he with Me." This implies a manifestation of
Christ in the heart He dwells in, and intercourse and communion with it.
(James Hamilton, M. A.)
At the door
W. Arnot, D. D.I. WHO STANDS? An ancient patriarch, by keeping open
heart and open house for strangers, was privileged to entertain angels
unawares. This day we may obtain s visit of the Lord of angels, if only we will
let Him in.

II. HOW NEAR HE COMES. "Behold, I stand at the door." We are not much
moved by anything that is far distant. Whether the visitant be coming for
judgment or mercy, we take the matter lightly, as long as he is far away. A
distant enemy does not make us tremble — a distant friend fails to make us
glad. When your protector is distant, you tremble at danger; when he is near,
you breathe freely again. How near the Son of God has come to us! He is our
Brother: He touches us, and we touch Him, at all points.
III. HOW FAR OFF HE IS KEPT. "At the door." He in great kindness comes
to the door; we in great folly keep Him at the door. The sunlight travels far
from its source in the deep of heaven — so far, that though it can be expressed
in figures, the imagination fails to take in the magnitude of the sum; but when
the rays of light have travelled unimpeded so far, and come to the door of my
eye, if I shut that door — a thin film of flesh — the light is kept out, and I
remain in darkness. Alas l the light that travelled so far, and came so near —
the Light that sought entrance into my heart, and that I kept out — was the
Light of life! If I keep out that Light, I abide in the darkness of death: there is
no salvation in any other.
IV. HE KNOCKS FOR ENTRANCE. It is more than the kindness of His
coming and the patience of His waiting. Besides coming near, He calls aloud:
He does not permit us to forget His presence.
V. MANY THINGS HINDER THE HEARING. Other thoughts occupy the
mind; other sounds occupy the car. Either joy or grief may become a
hindrance. The song of mirth and the wail of sorrow may both, by turns,
drown the voice of that blessed Visitant who stands without and pleads for
admission.
VI. HEAR, AND OPEN. Hearing alone is not enough. It is not the wrath of
God, but His mercy in Christ, that melts the iron fastenings and lifts up these
shut gates, that the King of Glory may come in. The guilty refuse to open for
Christ, even when they hear Him knocking. They have hard thoughts of Him.
They think He comes to demand a righteousness which they cannot give, and
to bind them over to the judgment because they cannot pay. God is love, and
Christ is the outcome of His forgiving love to lost men. He comes to redeem
you, and save you. It is when you know Him thus that you will open at His
call.
(W. Arnot, D. D.)
The heavenly Stranger received
B. Beddome, M. A.I. "IF ANY MAN HEAR MY VOICE."

1. That the voice of Christ is either external or internal; or, that which is
addressed to the senses only, and that which reaches the heart.
2. The internal voice of Christ is various, according to the different
circumstances of the persons to whom it is directed. To some it is an
awakening voice: it rouses them from their carnal security. To those who are
bowed down with a sense of sin, and wounded with the fiery darts of Divine
wrath, it is a healing and comforting voice.
3. In order to hear His voice aright, our hearts must be renewed. Dead sinners
cannot hear the voice of Christ; but His is a life-giving voice, and what it
commands it communicates.
II. AND OPEN THE DOOR.
III. "I WILL COME IN TO HIM."
1. Nearness.
2. Possession.
3. Inhabitation.He not only comes near to the soul to converse with it, but into
it to dwell there, and becomes the vital principle of all holy obedience.
IV. "AND I WILL SUP WITH HIM, AND HE WITH ME."
(B. Beddome, M. A.)
The heart a house
T. L. Cuyler, D. D.Your heart is a house with many rooms; one apartment is
decorated for the occupancy of pride; in another one covetousness may keep
its iron safe; on the walls of another, perhaps, sensuality has hung some
pictures that, if Christ enter, must be pulled down. Unbelief has chilled and
darkened the whole house. Satan has a mortgage on the whole of it, and by
and by will foreclose it. An enormous amount of sin has accumulated in every
room and closet, for you have never had a "house-cleaning" since you were
born. To that dwelling-place of sin, which may yet become a dwelling-place of
endless anguish, my loving Saviour has come again. If you will stop the
turmoil of business, or the noise of merriment long enough to listen, you will
hear a marvellously sweet voice outside, "Behold, I stand here and knock; if
thou wilt open this door I will come in." Christ without means guilt; Christ
within means pardon. Christ without means condemnation; Christ within
means salvation. Christ shut out means hell; Christ admitted is the first
instalment of heaven.
(T. L. Cuyler, D. D.)
Christ dwelling in the heart

J. Culross, D. D.A widow woman lives by herself in a little cottage by the
seashore. Of all whom she loved, only one survives — a lad at sea; all the rest
have passed "from sunshine to the sunless land." She has not set her eyes
upon him for years. But her heart is full of him. She thinks of him by day, and
dreams of him by night. His name is never missed out from her prayers. The
winds speak about him; the stars speak about him; the waves speak about
him, both in storm and calm. No one has difficulty in understanding how her
boy dwells in her heart. Let that stand as a parable of what may be for every
believer in the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
(J. Culross, D. D.)
He knocks at our heart
J. R. Miller, D. D.Jesus stands at our gate and knocks, and there are many
who never open to Him at all, and many more who open the door but slightly.
The latter, while they may receive blessing, yet miss the fulness of Divine
revealing which would flood their souls with love; the former miss altogether
the sweetest benediction of life.
(J. R. Miller, D. D.)
Christ standing
J. Trapp.Whilst a man is standing He is going.
(J. Trapp.)
Many fastenings to the sinner's heart
D. L. Moody.When we were in Dublin, I went out one morning to an early
meeting, and I found the servants had not opened the front door. So I pulled
back a bolt, but I could not get the door open. Then I turned s key, but the
door would not open. Then I found there was another bolt at the top, then I
found there was another bolt at the bottom. Still the door would not open.
Then I found there was a bar, and then I found a night-lock. I found there
were five or six different fastenings. I am afraid that door represents every
sinner's heart. The door of his heart is locked, double-bolted, and barred.
(D. L. Moody.)
The King slighted
Isaac Marsden.When your King and Lord comes to claim the homage of your
hearts, and to pay you a royal visit, you receive His message with coldness and
indifference. You treat Him as the people of Alsace and Lorraine treated the
Emperor of Germany and the Crown Prince after the Franco-Prussian war,
when they pulled down their blinds, and locked and bolted their doors, and

sat in gloomy silence as the emperor passed. They had some excuse for
refusing to see him, as they were a conquered people, and his presence
reminded them of their humiliation and defeat. But there is no excuse for you.
(Isaac Marsden.)
God respects man's freedom
G. Warner.It was said by a celebrated orator in the House of Lords a century
ago, that an Englishman's house is his castle, that the winds of heaven might
enter by every window, that the rains might penetrate through every cranny,
but that not even the sovereign of the land dare enter into it, however humble,
without its owner's permission. God treats you in the same way. He says,
"Willingly open your heart to Me, and I will give you every blessing; but I
must be made welcome."
(G. Warner.)
At the door
J. R. Miller, D. D.In Holman Hunt's great picture called "The Light of the
World," we see One with gentle, patient face, standing at a door, which is ivy-
covered, as if long closed. He is girt with the priestly breastplate. He bears in
His hand the lamp of truth. He stands and knocks. There is no answer, and He
still stands and knocks. His eye tells of love; His face beams with yearning.
You look closely and you perceive that there is no knob or latch on the outside
of the door. It can be opened only from within. Do you not see the meaning?
(J. R. Miller, D. D.)

COMMENTARIES

MacLaren's ExpositionsRevelation

CHRIST AT THE DOOR

Revelation 3:20.

Many of us are familiar, I dare say, with the devoutly imaginative rendering of the first
part of these wonderful words, which we owe to the genius of a living painter. In it we see
the fast shut door, with rusted hinges, all overgrown with rank, poisonous weeds, which tell
how long it has been closed. There stands, amid the night dews and the darkness, the
patient Son of man, one hand laid on the door, the other bearing a light, which may
perchance flash through some of its chinks. In His face are love repelled, and pity all but
wasted; in the touch of His hand are gentleness and authority.

But the picture pauses, of course, at the beginning of my text, and its sequel is quite as
wonderful as its first part. ‘I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with Me.’ What
can surpass such words as these? I venture to take this great text, and ask you to look with
me at the three things that lie in it; the suppliant for admission; the door opened; the
entrance, and the feast.

I. Think, then, first of all, of that suppliant for admission.

I suppose that the briefest explanation of my text is sufficient. Who knocks? The exalted
Christ. What is the door? This closed heart of man. What does He desire? Entrance. What
are His knockings and His voice? All providences; all monitions of His Spirit in man’s
spirit and conscience; the direct invitations of His written or spoken word; in brief,
whatsoever sways our hearts to yield to Him and enthrone Him. This is the meaning, in the
fewest possible words, of the great utterance of my text.

Here is a revelation of a universal truth, applying to every man and woman on the face of
the earth; but more especially and manifestly to those of us who live within the sound of
Christ’s gospel and of the written revelations of His grace. True, my text was originally
spoken in reference to the unworthy members of a little church of early believers in Asia
Minor, but it passes far beyond the limits of the lukewarm Laodiceans to whom it was
addressed. And the ‘any man’ which follows is wide enough to warrant us in stretching out
the representation as far as the bounds of humanity extend, and in believing that wherever
there is a closed heart there is a knocking Christ, and that all men are lightened by that
Light which came into the world.

Upon that I do not need to dwell, but I desire to enforce the individual bearing of the
general truth upon our own consciences, and to come to each with this message: The saying
is true about thee, and at the door of thy heart Jesus Christ stands, and there His gentle,
mighty hand is laid, and on it the flashes of His light shine, and through the chinks of the
unopened door of thy heart comes the beseeching voice, Open! Open unto Me.’ A strange
reversal of the attitudes of the great and of the lowly, of the giver and of the receiver, of the
Divine and of the human! Christ once said, Knock and it shall be opened unto you.’ But He
has taken the suppliant’s place, and, standing by the side of each of us. He beseeches us
that we let Him bless us, and enter in for our rest.

So, then, there is here a revelation, not only of a universal truth, but a most tender and
pathetic disclosure of Christ’s yearning love to each of us. What do you call that emotion
which more than anything else desires that a heart should open and let it enter? We call it
love when we find it in one another. Surely it bears the same name when it is sublimed into
all but infinitude, and yet it is as individualizing and specific as it is great and universal, as
it is found in Jesus Christ. If it be true that He wants me, if it be true that in that great
heart of His there are a thought and a wish about His relation to me, and mine to Him,
then, then, each of us is grasped by a love that is like our human love, only perfected and
purified from all its weaknesses.

Now we sometimes feel, I am afraid, as if all that talk about the love which Jesus Christ has
to each of us was scarcely a prose fact. There is a woeful lack of belief among us in the
things that we profess to believe most. You are all ready to admit, when I preach it, that it
is true that Jesus Christ loves us. Have you ever tried to realize it, and lay it upon your
hearts, that the sweetness and astoundingness of it may soak into you, and change your
whole being? Oh! listen, not to my poor, rough notes, but to His infinitely sweet and tender
melody of voice, when He says to you, as if your eyes needed to be opened to perceive it,
‘Behold! I stand at the door and knock.’

There is a revelation in the words, dear friends, of an infinite long-suffering and patience.
The door has long been fastened; you and I have, like some lazy servant, thought that if we
did not answer the knock, the Knocker would go away when He was weary. But we have
miscalculated the elasticity and the unfailingness of that patient Christ’s lore. Rejected, He
abides; spurned, He returns. There are men and women who all their lives long have
known that Jesus Christ coveted their love, and yearned for a place in their hearts, and
have steeled themselves against the knowledge, or frittered it away by worldliness, or
darkened it by sensuality and sin. And they are once more brought into the presence of that
rejected, patient, wooing Lord, who courts them for their souls, as if they were, which
indeed they are, too precious to be lost, as long as there is a ghost of a chance that they may
still listen to His voice. The patient Christ’s wonderfulness of long-suffering may well bow
us all in thankfulness and in penitence. How often has He tapped or thundered at the door
of your heart, dear friends, and how often have you neglected to open? Is it not of the
Lord’s mercies that the rejected or neglected love is offered you once more? and the voice,
so long deadened and deafened to your ears by the rush of passion, and the hurry of
business, and the whispers of self, yet again appeals to you, as it does even through my poor
translation of it.

And then, still further, in that thought of the suppliant waiting for admission there is the
explanation for us all of a great many misunderstood facts in our experience. That sorrow
that darkened your days and made your heart bleed, what was it but Christ’s hand on the
door? Those blessings which pour into your life day by day ‘beseech you, by the mercies of
God, that ye yield yourselves living sacrifices.’ That unrest which dogs the steps of every
man who has not found rest in Christ, what is it but the application of His hand to the
obstinately closed door? The stings of conscience, the movements of the Spirit, the definite
proclamation of His Word, even by such lips as mine, what are they all except His appeals
to us? And this is the deepest meaning of joys and sorrows, of gifts and losses, of fulfilled
and disappointed hopes. This is the meaning of the yearning of Christless hearts, of the
stings of conscience which come to us all. ‘Behold! I stand at the door and knock.’ If we
understood better that all life was guided by Christ, and that Christ’s guidance of life was
guided by His desire that He should find a place in our hearts, we should less frequently
wonder at sorrows, and should better understand our blessings. /^ The boy Samuel, lying
sleeping before the light in the inner sanctuary, heard the voice of God, and thought it was
only the grey-bearded priest that spoke. We often make the same mistake, and confound
the utterances of Christ Himself with the speech of men. Recognize who it is that pleads
with you; and do not fancy that when Christ speaks it is Eli that is calling; but say, ‘Speak,
Lord! for Thy servant heareth.’ ‘Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye

everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in.’

II. And that leads me, secondly, to ask you to look at the door opened.

I need not enlarge upon what I have already suggested, the universality of the wide promise
here - ‘If any man open the door’; but what I want rather to notice is that, according to this
representation, ‘the door’ has no handle outside, and is so hinged that it opens from within,
outwards. Which, being taken out of metaphor and put into fact, means this, you are the
only being that can open the door for Christ to come in. The whole responsibility, brother,
of accepting or rejecting God’s gracious Word, which comes to you all in good faith, lies
with yourself.

I am not going to plunge into theological puzzles, but I appeal to consciousness. You know
as well as I do - better a great deal, for it is yourself that is in question - that at each time
when your heart and conscience have been brought in contact with the offer of salvation
through faith in Jesus Christ, if you had liked you could have opened the door, and
welcomed His entrance. And you know that nobody and nothing kept it fast except only
yourselves. ‘Ye will not come to Me,’ said Christ, ‘that ye might have life.’ Men^ indeed, do
pile up such mountains of rubbish against the door that it cannot be opened, but it was they
that put them there; and they are responsible if the hinges are so rusty that they will not
move, or the doorway is so clogged that there is no room for it to open. Jesus Christ
knocks, but Jesus Christ cannot break the door open. It lies in your hands to decide
whether you will take or whether you will reject that which He brings.

The door is closed, and unless there be a definite act on your parts it will not be opened,
and He will not enter. So we come to this, that to do nothing is to keep your Saviour
outside; and that is the way in which most men that miss Him do miss Him.

I suppose there are very few of us who have ever been conscious of a definite act by which,
if I might adhere to the metaphor, we have laid hold of the door on the Inside, and held it
tight lest it should be opened. But, I fear me, there are many who have sat in the inner
chamber, and heard the gracious hand on the outer panel, and have kept their hands
folded and their feet still, and done nothing. Ah! brethren, to do nothing is to do the most
dreadful of things, for it is to keep the shut door shut in the face of Christ. No passionate
antagonism is needed, no vehement rejection, no intellectual denial of His truth and His
promises. If you want to ruin yourselves, you have simply to do nothing! All the dismal
consequences will necessarily follow.

‘Well,’ you say, ‘but you are talking metaphors; let us come to plain facts. What do you
want me to do? ‘I want you to listen to the message of an infinitely loving Christ who died
on the Cross to bear the sins of the whole world, including you and me; and who now lives,
pleading with each of us from heaven that we will take by simple faith, and keep by holy

obedience, the gift of eternal life which He offers, and He alone can give. The condition of
His entrance is simple \ trust in Him, as the Saviour of my soul. That is opening the door,
and if you will do that, then, just as when you open the shutters, in comes the sunshine; just
as when you lift the sluice in flows the crystal stream into the slimy, empty lock, so - I was
going to say by gravitation, rather by the diffusive impulse that belongs to light, which is
Christ - He will enter in, wherever He is not shut out by unbelief and aversion of will.

III. And so that brings me to my last point, viz., the entrance and the feast.

My text is a metaphor, but the declaration that ‘if any man open the door’ Jesus Christ
‘will come in to him,’ is not a metaphor, but is the very heart and centre of the Gospel, ‘I
will come in to him,’ dwell in him, be really incorporated in his being, or inspirited, if I may
so say, in his spirit. Now you may think that that is far too recondite and lofty a thought to
be easily grasped by ordinary people, but its very loftiness should recommend it to us. I, for
my part, believe that there is no more prose fact in the whole world than the actual
dwelling of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who is in heaven, in the spirits of the people that
love Him and trust Him. And this is one great part of the Gospel that I have to preach to
you, that into our emptiness He will come with His fullness; that into our sinfulness He will
come with His righteousness; that into our death He will come with His triumphant and
immortal life; and He being in us and we in Him, we shall be full and pure and live for
ever, and be blessed with the blessedness of Jesus. So remember that embedded in the
midst of the wonderful metaphor of my text lies the fact, which is the very centre of the
Gospel hope, the dwelling of Jesus Christ in the hearts even of poor sinful creatures like
you and me.

But it comes into view here only as the basis of the subsequent promises, and on these I can
only touch very briefly, ‘I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with Me.’ Well,
that speaks to us in lovely, sympathetic language of a close, familiar, happy communication
between Christ and my poor self, which shall make all life as a feast in company with Him.
We remember who is the mouthpiece of Jesus Christ here. It is the disciple who knew most
of what quietness of blessedness and serenity of adoring communion there were in leaning
on Christ’s breast at supper, casting back his head on that loving bosom; looking into those
deep sad eyes, and asking questions which were sure of answer. And John, as he wrote
down the words ‘I will sup with him, and he with Me,’ perhaps remembered that upper
room where, amidst all the bitter herbs, there was such strange joy and tranquility. But
whether he did or no, may we not take the picture as suggesting to us the possibilities of
loving fellowship, of quiet repose, of absolute satisfaction of all desires and needs, which
will be ours if we open the door of our hearts by faith and let Jesus Christ come in?

But, note, when He does come He comes as guest. ‘I will sup with him.’ ‘He shall have the
honour of providing that of which I partake.’ Just as upon earth He said to the Samaritan
woman, ‘Give Me to drink,’ or sat at the table, at the modest village feast in Bethany, in
honour of the miracle of a man raised from the dead, and smiled approval of Martha
serving, as of Lazarus sitting at table, and of Mary anointing Him, so the humble viands,
the poor man’s fare that our resources enable us to lay upon His table, are never so small
or poor for Him to delight in. This King feasts in the neatherd’s cottage, and He will even

condescend to turn the cakes. ‘I will sup with Him.’ We cannot bring anything so coarse, so
poor, so unworthy, if a drop or two of love has been sprinkled over it, but that it will be
well-pleasing in His sight, and He Himself will partake thereof. ‘He has gone to be a guest
with a man that is a sinner.’

But more than that, where He is welcomed as guest. He assumes the place of host. ‘I will
sup with him, and he with Me.’ You remember how, after the Resurrection, when the two
disciples, moved to hospitality, implored the unknown Stranger to come in and partake of
their humble fare, He yielded to their importunity, and when they were in the guest
chamber, took His place at the head of the table, and blessed the bread and gave it to them.
You remember how, in the beginning of His miracles, He manifested forth His glory in this,
that, invited as a common guest to the rustic wedding, He provided the failing wine. And
so, wherever a poor man opens his heart and says, ‘Come in,’ and I will give Thee my
‘best,’ Jesus Christ comes in, and gives the man His best, that the man may render it back
to Him. He owes nothing to any man. He accepts the poorest from each, and He gives the
richest to each. He is Guest and Host, and what He accepts from us is what He has first
given to us.

The promise of my text is fulfilled immediately when the door of the heart is opened, but it
shadows and prophesies a nobler fulfilment in the heavens. Here and now Christ and we
may sit together, but the feast will be like the Passover, eaten with loins girt and staves in
hand, and the Red Sea and wilderness waiting to be trodden. But there comes a more
perfect form of the communion, which finds its parallel in that wonderful scene when the
weary fishers, all of whose success had depended on their obedience to the Master’s
direction, discerned at last, through the grey of the morning, who it was that stood upon
the shore, and, struggling to His side, saw there a fire of coals, and fish laid thereon, and
bread, to which they were bidden to add their modest contribution in the fish that they had
caught; and the meal being thus prepared partly by His hand and partly by theirs,
ennobled and filled by Him, His voice says, ‘Come and dine.’ So, brethren, Christ at the
last will bring His servants to His table in His kingdom, and there their works shall follow
them; and He and they shall sit together for ever, and for ever ‘rejoice in the fatness of Thy
house, even of Thy holy temple.’

I beseech you, listen not to my poor voice, but to His that speaks through it, and when He
knocks do you open, and Christ Himself shall come in. ‘If any man love Me he will keep
My commandments, and My Father will love him, and We will come and make Our abode
with him.’
Benson CommentaryHYPERLINK "/context/revelation/3-20.htm"Revelation 3:20-21.
Behold, I stand — Or, I have stood, as εστηκα literally signifies, namely, for a long time
and I still stand, even at this instant; at the door — Of men’s hearts; and knock — Waiting
for admittance: if any man hear my voice — With a due regard, namely, the voice of my
providence, word, and Spirit; and open the door — Willingly receive me, or welcome me
with the affection due to such a friend and Saviour; I will come in to him — And dwell in
his heart by faith, (Ephesians 3:17,) how mean soever his circumstances in life may be, and
how faulty soever his character may have been formerly; and will sup with him —
Refreshing him with the gifts and graces of my Spirit, and delighting myself in what I have

given; and he with me — As I will sup with him here, he shall sup with me in life
everlasting hereafter. For to him that overcometh — The various temptations with which
he is assaulted, and patiently bears the trials which he is called to pass through; will I grant
to sit down with me on my throne — In unspeakable happiness and glory in the heavenly
and eternal world; even as I also overcame — The enemies which violently assaulted me in
the days of my flesh; and am set down with my Father in his throne — For all things that
the Father hath are mine.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary3:14-22 Laodicea was the last and worst of the
seven churches of Asia. Here our Lord Jesus styles himself, The Amen; one steady and
unchangeable in all his purposes and promises. If religion is worth anything, it is worth
every thing. Christ expects men should be in earnest. How many professors of gospel
doctrine are neither hot nor cold; except as they are indifferent in needful matters, and hot
and fiery in disputes about things of lesser moment! A severe punishment is threatened.
They would give a false opinion of Christianity, as if it were an unholy religion; while
others would conclude it could afford no real satisfaction, otherwise its professors would
not have been heartless in it, or so ready to seek pleasure or happiness from the world. One
cause of this indifference and inconsistency in religion is, self-conceit and self-delusion;
Because thou sayest. What a difference between their thoughts of themselves, and the
thoughts Christ had of them! How careful should we be not to cheat our owns souls! There
are many in hell, who once thought themselves far in the way to heaven. Let us beg of God
that we may not be left to flatter and deceive ourselves. Professors grow proud, as they
become carnal and formal. Their state was wretched in itself. They were poor; really poor,
when they said and thought they were rich. They could not see their state, nor their way,
nor their danger, yet they thought they saw it. They had not the garment of justification,
nor sanctification: they were exposed to sin and shame; their rags that would defile them.
They were naked, without house or harbour, for they were without God, in whom alone the
soul of man can find rest and safety. Good counsel was given by Christ to this sinful people.
Happy those who take his counsel, for all others must perish in their sins. Christ lets them
know where they might have true riches, and how they might have them. Some things must
be parted with, but nothing valuable; and it is only to make room for receiving true riches.
Part with sin and self-confidence, that you may be filled with his hidden treasure. They
must receive from Christ the white raiment he purchased and provided for them; his own
imputed righteousness for justification, and the garments of holiness and sanctification. Let
them give themselves up to his word and Spirit, and their eyes shall be opened to see their
way and their end. Let us examine ourselves by the rule of his word, and pray earnestly for
the teaching of his Holy Spirit, to take away our pride, prejudices, and worldly lusts.
Sinners ought to take the rebukes of God's word and rod, as tokens of his love to their
souls. Christ stood without; knocking, by the dealings of his providence, the warnings and
teaching of his word, and the influences of his Spirit. Christ still graciously, by his word
and Spirit, comes to the door of the hearts of sinners. Those who open to him shall enjoy
his presence. If what he finds would make but a poor feast, what he brings will supply a
rich one. He will give fresh supplies of graces and comforts. In the conclusion is a promise
to the overcoming believer. Christ himself had temptations and conflicts; he overcame
them all, and was more than a conqueror. Those made like to Christ in his trials, shall be
made like to him in glory. All is closed with the general demand of attention. And these

counsels, while suited to the churches to which they were addressed, are deeply interesting
to all men.
Barnes' Notes on the BibleBehold, I stand at the door, and knock - Intimating that, though
they had erred, the way of repentance and hope was not closed against them. He was still
willing to be gracious, though their conduct had been such as to be loathsome, Revelation
3:16. To see the real force of this language, we must remember how disgusting and
offensive their conduct had been to him. And yet he was willing, notwithstanding this, to
receive them to his favor; nay more, he stood and pled with them that he might be received
with the hospitality that would be shown to a friend or stranger. The language here is so
plain that it scarcely needs explanation. It is taken from an act when we approach a
dwelling, and, by a well-understood sign - knocking - announce our presence, and ask for
admission. The act of knocking implies two things:
(a) that we desire admittance; and,
(b) that we recognize the right of him who dwells in the house to open the door to us or not,
as he shall please.
We would not obtrude upon him; we would not force his door; and if, after we are sure
that we are heard, we are not admitted, we turn quietly away. Both of these things are
implied here by the language used by the Saviour when he approaches man as represented
under the image of knocking at the door: that he desires to be admitted to our friendship;
and that he recognizes our freedom in the matter. He does not obtrude himself upon us, nor
does he employ force to find admission to the heart. If admitted, he comes and dwells with
us; if rejected, he turns quietly away - perhaps to return and knock again, perhaps never to
come back. The language used here, also, may be understood as applicable to all persons,
and to all the methods by which the Saviour seeks to come into the heart of a sinner. It
would properly refer to anything which would announce his presence: his word; his Spirit;
the solemn events of his providence; the invitations of his gospel. In these and in other
methods he comes to man; and the manner in which these invitations ought to be estimated
would be seen by supposing that he came to us personally and solicited our friendship, and
proposed to be our Redeemer. It may be added here, that this expression proves that the
attempt at reconciliation begins with the Saviour. It is not that the sinner goes out to meet
him, or to seek for him; it is that the Saviour presents himself at the door of the heart, as if
he were desirous to enjoy the friendship of man. This is in accordance with the uniform
language of the New Testament, that "God so loved the world as to give his only-begotten
Son"; that "Christ came to seek and to save the lost"; that the Saviour says, "Come unto
me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden," etc. Salvation, in the Scriptures, is never
represented as originated by man.
If any man hear my voice - Perhaps referring to a custom then prevailing, that he who
knocked spake, in order to let it be known who it was. This might be demanded in the night
Luke 11:5, or when there was apprehension of danger, and it may have been the custom
when John wrote. The language here, in accordance with the uniform usage in the
Scriptures (compare Isaiah 55:1; John 7:37; Revelation 22:17), is universal, and proves
that the invitations of the gospel are made, and are to be made, not to a part only, but fully
and freely to all people; for, although this originally had reference to the members of the
church in Laodicea, yet the language chosen seems to have been of design so universal (ἐάν
τις ean tis) as to be applicable to every human being; and anyone, of any age and in any

land, would be authorized to apply this to himself, and, under the protection of this
invitation, to come to the Saviour, and to plead this promise as one that fairly included
himself. It may be observed further, that this also recognizes the freedom of man. It is
submitted to him whether he will hear the voice of the Redeemer or not; and whether he
will open the door and admit him or not. He speaks loud enough, and distinctly enough, to
be heard, but he does not force the door if it is not voluntarily opened.
And open the door - As one would when a stranger or friend stood and knocked. The
meaning here is simply, if anyone will admit me; that is, receive me as a friend. The act of
receiving him is as voluntary on our part as it is when we rise and open the door to one who
knocks. It may be added:
(1) that this is an easy thing. Nothing is more easy than to open the door when one knocks;
and so everywhere in the Scriptures it is represented as an easy thing, if the heart is willing,
to secure the salvation of the soul.
(2) this is a reasonable thing.
We invite him who knocks at the door to come in. We always assume, unless there is reason
to suspect the contrary, that he applies for peaceful and friendly purposes. We deem it the
height of rudeness to let one stand and knock long; or to let him go away with no friendly
invitation to enter our dwelling. Yet how different does the sinner treat the Saviour! How
long does he suffer him to knock at the door of his heart, with no invitation to enter - no act
of common civility such as that with which he would greet even a stranger! And with how
much coolness and indifference does he see him turn away - perhaps to come back no more,
and with no desire that he ever should return!
I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me - This is an image denoting
intimacy and friendship. Supper, with the ancients, was the principal social meal; and the
idea here is, that between the Saviour and those who would receive him there would be the
intimacy which subsists between those who sit down to a friendly meal together. In all
countries and times, to eat together, to break bread together, has been the symbol of
friendship, and this the Saviour promises here. The truths, then, which are taught in this
verse, are:
(1) that the invitation of the gospel is made to all - "if any man hear my voice";
(2) that the movement toward reconciliation and friendship is originated by the Saviour -
"behold, I stand at the door and knock";
(3) that there is a recognition of our own free agency in religion - "if any man will hear my
voice, and open the door";
(4) the ease of the terms of salvation, represented by "hearing his voice," and "opening the
door"; and,
continued...
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary20. stand—waiting in wonderful
condescension and long-suffering.
knock—(So 5:2). This is a further manifestation of His loving desire for the sinner's
salvation. He who is Himself "the Door," and who bids us "knock" that it may be "opened
unto" us, is first Himself to knock at the door of our hearts. If He did not knock first, we

should never come to knock at His door. Compare So 5:4-6, which is plainly alluded to
here; the Spirit thus in Revelation sealing the canonicity of that mystical book. The
spiritual state of the bride there, between waking and sleeping, slow to open the door to her
divine lover, answers to that of the lukewarm Laodicea here. "Love in regard to men
emptied (humbled) God; for He does not remain in His place and call to Himself the
servant whom He loved, but He comes down Himself to seek him, and He who is all-rich
arrives at the lodging of the pauper, and with His own voice intimates His yearning love,
and seeks a similar return, and withdraws not when disowned, and is not impatient at
insult, and when persecuted still waits at the doors" [Nicolaus Cabasilas in Trench].
my voice—He appeals to the sinner not only with His hand (His providences) knocking, but
with His voice (His word read or heard; or rather, His Spirit inwardly applying to man's
spirit the lessons to be drawn from His providence and His word). If we refuse to answer to
His knocking at our door now, He will refuse to hear our knocking at His door hereafter.
In respect to His second coming also, He is even now at the door, and we know not how
soon He may knock: therefore we should always be ready to open to Him immediately.
if any man hear—for man is not compelled by irresistible force: Christ knocks, but does
not break open the door, though the violent take heaven by the force of prayer (Mt 11:12):
whosoever does hear, does so not of himself, but by the drawings of God's grace (Joh 6:44):
repentance is Christ's gift (Ac 5:31). He draws, not drags. The Sun of righteousness, like
the natural sun, the moment that the door is opened, pours in His light, which could not
previously find an entrance. Compare Hilary on Psalm 118:19.
I will come in to him—as I did to Zaccheus.
sup with him, and he with me—Delightful reciprocity! Compare "dwelleth in me, and I in
Him," Joh 6:56. Whereas, ordinarily, the admitted guest sups with the admitter, here the
divine guest becomes Himself the host, for He is the bread of life, and the Giver of the
marriage feast. Here again He alludes to the imagery of So 4:16, where the Bride invites
Him to eat pleasant fruits, even as He had first prepared a feast for her, "His fruit was
sweet to my taste." Compare the same interchange, Joh 21:9-13, the feast being made up of
the viands that Jesus brought, and those which the disciples brought. The consummation of
this blessed intercommunion shall be at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, of which the
Lord's Supper is the earnest and foretaste.
Matthew Poole's Commentary There is a double interpretation of this text, each of them
claiming under very valuable interpreters; some making it a declaration of Christ’s
readiness to come in to souls, and to give them a spiritual fellowship and communion with
himself; others interpreting it of Christ’s readiness to come to the last judgment, and to
take his saints into an eternal joyful fellowship and communion with himself: hence there is
a different interpretation of every sentence in the text.

I stand at the door; either, in my gospel dispensations, I stand at the door of sinners’
hearts; or, I am ready to come to judge the world.

And knock, by the inward monitions and impressions of my Spirit, or my ministers more
externally; or, I am about to knock, that is, I am ready to have the last trump sounded.

If any man hear my voice, and open the door; that is, if any man will hearken to the

counsels and exhortations of my ministers, and to the monitions of my Spirit, and not resist
my Holy Spirit; or, if any man hath heard my voice, and opened his heart to me.

I will come in to him; I will come in by my Spirit, and all the saving influences of my grace;
or, I will come to him as a Judge to acquit him.

And will sup with him, and he with me; and I will have a communion with him in this life,
he shall eat my flesh, and drink my blood; or, I will have an eternal fellowship and
communion with him in my glory. The phrase seems rather to favour the first sense; the so
frequent mention before of Christ’s coming to judgment, and the reward of another life, as
arguments to persuade the angels of the churches to their duty, favours the latter sense.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleBehold, I stand at the door and knock,.... The phrase of
standing at the door may be expressive of the near approach, or sudden coming of Christ to
judgment, see James 5:9; and his knocking may signify the notice that will be given of it, by
some of the immediate forerunners and signs of his coming; which yet will be observed but
by a few, such a general sleepiness will have seized all professors of religion; and
particularly may intend the midnight cry, which will, in its issue, rouse them all:
if any man hear my voice; in the appearances of things and providences in the world:
and open the door; or show a readiness for the coming of Christ, look and wait for it, and
be like such that will receive him with a welcome:
I will come unto him, and sup with him, and he with me; to and among these will Christ
appear when he comes in person; and these being like wise virgins, ready, having his grace
in their hearts, and his righteousness upon them, he will take them at once into the
marriage chamber, and shut the door upon the rest; when they shall enjoy a thousand
years communion with him in person here on earth; when the Lamb on the throne will feed
them with the fruit of the tree of life, and lead them to fountains of living water, and his
tabernacle shall be among them.
Geneva Study BibleBehold, I stand at the door, and knock: {14} 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.
(14) This must be taken after the manner of an allegory; Joh 14:23.
EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT CommentaryHYPERLINK "/revelation/3-20.htm"Revelation 3:20. If the
epistle to the church at Laodicea be regarded as having a design differing in no essential
point from that of the other epistles, neither can Revelation 3:20 be regarded the
epilogue,[1620] which rather comprises only Revelation 3:21-22, nor can the eschatological
sense in Revelation 3:20, which is properly made prominent by Ebrard, be denied, as is
usually done. The ἸΔΟΎ ἝΣΤΗΚΑ ἘΠῚ ΤῊΝ ΘΎΡΑΝ ΚΑῚ ΚΡΟΎΩ, Κ.Τ.Λ., is
essentially nothing else than the ἘΡΧΟΜΑΙ ΤΑΧΎ, or ἭΞΩ with its paracletic
applications.[1621] The door before which the Lord stands, and asks entrance by his knock
(ΚΡΟΎΩ) and call (cf. ἈΚ. Τ. ΦΩΝῆς ΜΟΥ), is ordinarily understood as the door of the
heart,[1622] and, accordingly, the ΚΡΟΎΕΙΝ, as the preaching of the gospel,[1623] the
movements occasioned by the Holy Spirit,[1624] while special providential dispensations,
are also added.[1625] The ἘΙΣΕΛΕΎΣΟΜΑΙ, Κ.Τ.Λ., is not then understood in its full
personal sense,[1626] and the ΔΕΙΠΝΉΣΩ limited either entirely to the blessed

communion of believers with the Lord in this life,[1627] or, as is entirely out of place, to the
communion in the present and the future life.[1628] The latter reference Beng. obtains by
understanding the ΔΕΙΠΝ. ΜΕΤʼ ΑὐΤΟῦ of the earthly, and the Κ. ΑὐΤ. ΜΕΤ ἘΜΟῦ of
the heavenly life. In their peculiar nature the ΚΡΟΎΕΙΝ and the ΦΩΝΉ of the Lord,
whereby he asks entrance, are not distinct from the ἘΛΈΓΧΕΙΝ and ΠΑΙΔΕΎΕΙΝ,
Revelation 3:19, just as it is from the same love that he does both the former and the latter.
His coming is near; he stands already before the door. And he wishes the church at
Laodicea also to be prepared to receive him, in order that he may not come in
judgment,[1629] but to enter therein, and hold with it the feast of blessed
communion.[1630] The sense, especially of the formula ΔΕΙΠΝ. ΜΕΤʼ ΑὐΤΟῦ Κ. ΑὐΤῸς
ΜΕΤʼ ἘΜΟῪ, expressing the complete communion of the one with the other, is that of
John 17:24; Colossians 3:4.[1631]

An immediate connection with Song of Solomon 5:2[1632] is not discernible; although it is
incorrectly asserted[1633] that in the N. T. in general, and in the Apoc. especially, no trace
whatever of the Song of Solomon can be detected. Ebrard, appropriately: “The figure (of
the wedding), or this idea together with the general doctrine of the relation of Christ to his
Church as bridegroom, depends upon the Song of Solomon.” But in our passage the idea,
in general, of Christ as bridegroom is not definitely expressed.[1634] [See Note XLI., p.
184.]

[1620] Vitr.

[1621] Revelation 2:5; Revelation 2:16, Revelation 3:3; Revelation 3:11. Cf. also Revelation
2:10; Revelation 2:22 sq.

[1622] N. de Lyra, C. a Lap., Stern, Aret., Grot., Calov., Vitr., Ew., De Wette, Hengstenb.

[1623] Aret, etc.

[1624] De Wette.

[1625] Hengstenb.

[1626] Grot.: “Jesus Christ, where he sends his Spirit.”

[1627] N. de Lyra, C. a Lap., Grot., Hengstenb., etc.

[1628] Vitr., Calov., Stern, etc.

[1629] Cf. Revelation 3:3; Revelation 2:5.

[1630] Cf. ch. 19; Matthew 25:1 sqq.

[1631] Cf., on both passages, in the preceding verses, the corresponding description of the
earthly fellowship of faith with the Lord.

[1632] Hengstenb.; several ancient expositors.

[1633] Ew., De Wette.

[1634] Especially against Eichh., Heinr.

NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR

XLI. Revelation 3:20. ἰδοὺ ἔστηκα, κ.τ.λ.

Alford, on the contrary: “The reference to Song of Solomon 5:2 is too plain to be for a
moment doubted; and, if so, the interpretation must be grounded in that conjugal relation
between Christ and the Church,

Christ and the soul,—of which that mysterious book is expressive. This being granted, we
may well say that the vivid depiction of Christ standing at the door is introduced to bring
home to the lukewarm and careless church the truth of his constant presence, which she
was so deeply forgetting. His knocking was taking place, partly by the utterance of these
very rebukes, partly by every interference in justice and mercy.” Trench: “The very
language which Christ uses here, the κρούειν ἐπὶ τὴν θύραν, the summons ἀνοίγειν recurs.
Nor is the relation between the one passage and the other merely superficial and verbal.
The spiritual condition of the bride there is, in fact, precisely similar to that of the
Laodicean angel here. Between sleeping and waking, she has been so slow to open the door,
that, when at length she does so, the Bridegroom has withdrawn. This exactly corresponds
to the lukewarmness of the angel here. Another proof of the connection between them is,
that, although there has been no mention of any thing but a knocking here, Christ goes on
to say, ‘If any man hear my voice.’ What can this be but an allusion to the words in the
canticle, which have just gone before: ‘It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh’?”

The reference, by Bengel, of the δειπνήσω to the communion both in this life and the life to
come, may have found, in the distinction between μετʼ αὐτοῦ and μετʼ ἐμοῦ, more than is
intended; nevertheless, we can see, in this passage, only the blessed communion with God
begun here on earth, and consummated in heaven,—not two communions, but one, at two
different stages. Gebhardt (p. 127) finds the thought of the Lord’s Supper suggested.
Luthardt’s brief notes refer to Luke 12:36; interpreting the knocking as the impending
return of the Lord, the opening of the door, by suggesting the familiar hymn of Paul
Gerhardt,—

“Oh, how shall I receive thee?”—

and the supping, by the Lord’s Supper in the kingdom of God (Matthew 26:29; Luke
22:29-30).

In connection with the ἐάν τις ἀκούσῃ τῆς φωνῆς, Trench’s remarks are important as to
the incompatibility of this passage with any doctrine of irresistible grace; as well as his

warning against the Pelagian error, “as though men could open the door of their heart
when they would, as though repentance was not itself a gift of the exalted Saviour (Acts
5:31). They can only open when Christ knocks, and they would have no desire at all to open
unless he knocked.… This is a drawing, not a dragging; a knocking at the door, not a
breaking open the heart.” So Gerhard (L. T., ii. 275): “When God, by his word, knocks at
the door of our heart, especially by the proclamation of his law, the grace of the Holy Spirit
is at the same time present, who wishes to work conversion in our heart; and therefore, in
his knocking, he not only stands without, but also works within.”
Expositor's Greek TestamentHYPERLINK "/revelation/3-20.htm"Revelation 3:20. The
language recalls Song of Solomon 5:2 (φωνὴ ἀδελφιδοῦ μου κρούει ἐπὶ τὴν θύραν· ἄνοιξον
μοι, for contemporary evidence of the allegorical use of Canticles see Gunkel’s note on 4
Esdras. 5:20 f. and Bacher’s Agada d. Tannaiten, i. 109, 285 f. 425, etc.) interpreted in the
eschatological sense (γινώσκετε ὅτι ἐγγύς ἐστιν ἐπὶ θύραις Mark 13:29 = Matthew 24:33) of
the logion in Luke 12:35-38 upon the servants watching for their Lord, ἵνα ἐλθόντος καὶ
κρούσαντος εὐθέως ἀνοίξωσιν αὐτῷ (whereupon, as here, he grants them intimate
fellowship with himself and takes the lead in the matter). To eat with a person meant, for
an Oriental, close confidence and affection. Hence future bliss (cf. En. lxii. 14) was
regularly conceived to be a feast (cf. Dalman i. § 1, [910]. 4 a and Volz 331), or, as in Luke
22:29-30 and here (cf. Revelation 3:21), feasting and authority. This tells against the
otherwise attractive hypothesis that the words merely refer to a present repentance on the
part of the church or of some individuals in it (so e.g. de Wette, Alf., Weiss, Simcox, Scott),
as if Christ sought to be no longer an outsider but a welcome inmate of the heart (cf.
Ruskin’s Sesame and Lilies, § 95). The context (cf. 18 and 21), a comparison of Revelation
16:15 (which may even have originally lain close to Revelation 3:20), and the words of Jam
5:9 (ἰδοὺ ὁ κριτὴς πρὸ τῶν θυρῶν ἕστηκεν) corroborate the eschatological interpretation
(so e.g. Düsterdieck, Pfleid., Bousset, Forbes, Baljon, Swete, Holtzmann), which makes this
the last call of Christ to the church when he arrives on the last day, though here Christ
stands at the door not as a judge but as a friend. Hence no reference is made to the fate of
those who will not attend to him. In Revelation 2:5; Revelation 2:16, ἔρχομαι σοι need not
perhaps be eschatological, since the coming is conditional and special, but ἔρχομαι by itself
(Revelation 3:11) and ἥξω (Revelation 2:25) must be, while Revelation 3:3 probably is also,
in view of the context and the thief-simile. The imminent threat of Revelation 3:16 is thus
balanced by the urgency of Revelation 3:20. For the eschatological ἰδού cf. Revelation 1:7,
Revelation 16:15, Revelation 21:3, Revelation 22:7; Revelation 22:12. φωνῆς, implying that
the voice is well-known. To pay attention to it, in spite of self-engrossment and distraction,
is one proof of the moral alertness (ζήλευε) which means repentance. For the metaphorical
contrast (reflecting the eternal paradox of grace) between the enthroned Christ of 21 and
the appealing Christ of 20, cf. the remarkable passage in Sap. 9:4; 9:6 f., 10 f., where
wisdom shares God’s throne and descends to toil among men; also Seneca’s Epp. lxi.
(quemadmodum radii solis contingunt quidem terram, sed ibi sunt unde mittuntur; sic
animus magnus et sacer conüersatur quidem nobiscum, sed haeret origini suae [Revelation
5:6]: illinc pendet, illuc spectat ac nititur, nostris tanquam melior interest). By self-
restraint, moderation, and patience, with regard to possessions, a man will be some day a
worthy partner of the divine feast, says Epictetus (Enchir. xv.): “but if you touch none of
the dishes set before you and actually scorn them, τότε οὐ μόνον ἔσει συμπότης θεῶν ἀλλὰ
καὶ συνάρχων.

[910] Codex Ephraemi (sæc. v.), the Paris palimpsest, edited by Tischendorf in 1843.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges20. I stand at the door, and knock] The Lord
expresses His affection, from which He has intimated that the Laodiceans are not excluded,
by this figure of intense and condescending tenderness. It is intended to remind the readers
of Song of Solomon 5:2 : but the figure of the lover’s midnight visit is too delicate to bear
being represented, as here, with a mixture of the thing signified with the image, especially
since the visit is not to the Church, personified as a single female, but to any individual, and
of either sex; so it is toned down into a visit from a familiar friend.

hear My voice] It is implied that anyone is sure to hear His knock, and be roused to ask
who is there: but only those who love Him will know His voice (as Rhoda did St Peter’s,
Acts 12:14) when He says “It is I.”

will sup] The blessing promised is a secret one to the individual. There can thus hardly be a
reference to the Holy Eucharist, which is shared publicly by the whole Church.

with him, and he with Me] The sense is, “I will take all he has to give Me, as though I had
need of it, and benefited by it (cf. Matthew 25:37-40): but at the same time, it will really be
I that give the feast, and he that receives it.” There can hardly be a better illustration than
a quaint and touching legend, given in a little book called Patranas, or Spanish Stories,
with the title “Where one can dine, two can dine.”
Bengel's GnomenHYPERLINK "/revelation/3-20.htm"Revelation 3:20. Ἰδοὺ—, behold—)
The observation respecting retrograde order depends almost entirely upon this very
increase of close approach, respecting which see Erkl. Off.
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 20. - Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; behold, I have stood
(ἕστηκα) at the door, and am knocking (κρούω). "These gracious words declare the long-
suffering of Christ, as he waits for the conversion of sinners (1 Peter 3:20); and not alone
the long-suffering which waits, but the love which seeks to bring that conversion about,
which 'knocks.' He at whose door we ought to stand, for he is the Door (John 10:7), who, as
such, has bidden us to knock (Matthew 7:7; Luke 11:9), is content that the whole relation
between him and us should be reversed, and instead of our standing at his door,
condescends himself to stand at ours" (Trench). The view, that stand at the door signifies
"to come quickly" (Dusterdieck), as in Revelation 2:5, 16; Revelation 3:3, 11, is scarcely in
accordance with the context, since the whole passage has changed from rebuke and menace
to patient beseeching and loving exhortation. These words recall the frequent use by our
Lord of this figure of knocking, and especially Luke 12:35, 36, "Let your loins be girded
about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord,
when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open
unto him immediately." 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 (see the parallel passage in Song of Solomon
5.). Christ knocks and speaks. A distinction has been drawn in the work of conversion,
corresponding to these two actions. The knocking is likened to the more outward calls of
sickness, trouble, etc., by which he makes his presence known; while the voice, which
interprets the knock and informs us of the Personality of him who knocks, is the voice of

the Holy Spirit, speaking to us, and explaining the meaning of our trials. Man's free will is
here well and plainly set forth. Though the opening, to be effective, needs the help and
presence of Christ, yet he does not forcibly effect an entrance; it is still within the power of
man to disregard the knock, to refuse to hear the voice, to keep the door fast shut. To take
food with any one is an outward sign of brotherly love and reconciliation. Christ will sup
with those who do not drive him away, and they will sup with him. The whole figure is an
image of the perfect nature of the sinner's reconciliation with God, and of the wonderful
goodness and condescension of Christ. But we may well see an allusion to the Holy
Communion, by which we are reconciled to God through Christ, and by which we may
even now have a foretaste of the final supper of the Lamb, which shall eventually last for
ever.
Vincent's Word StudiesI stand at the door and knock
Compare Sol 5:2, Κρούω I knock was regarded as a less classical word than κόπτω. Κρούω
is to knock with the knuckles, to rap; κόπτω, with a heavy blow; ψοφεῖν of the knocking of
some one within the door, warning one without to withdraw when the door is opened.
Compare James 5:9. "He at whose door we ought to stand (for He is the Door, who, as
such, has bidden us to knock), is content that the whole relation between Him and us
should be reversed, and, instead of our standing at His door, condescends Himself to stand
at ours" (Trench). The Greeks had a word θυραυλεῖν for a lover waiting at the door of his
beloved. Trench cites a passage from Nicolaus Cabasilas, a Greek divine of the fourteenth
century: "Love for men emptied God (Philippians 2:7). For He doth not abide in His place
and summon to Himself the servant whom He loved; but goes Himself and seeks him; and
He who is rich comes to the dwelling of the poor, and discloses His love, and seeks an equal
return; nor does He withdraw from him who repels Him, nor is He disgusted at his
insolence; but, pursuing him, remains sitting at his doors, and that He may show him the
one who loves him, He does all things, and sorrowing, bears and dies."
My voice
Christ not only knocks but speaks. "The voice very often will interpret and make
intelligible the purpose of the knock" (Trench).
Hear - open the door
No irresistible grace.
Will sup (δειπνήσω)
See on Luke 14:12. For the image, compare Sol 5:2-6; Sol 4:16; Sol 2:3. Christ is the Bread
of Life, and invites to the great feast. See Matthew 8:11; Matthew 25:1 sqq. The
consummation will be at the marriage-supper of the Lamb (Mark 14:25; Revelation 19:7-
9).
He with me
It is characteristic of John to note the sayings of Christ which express the reciprocal
relations of Himself and His followers. See John 6:56; John 10:38; John 14:20; John 15:4,
John 15:5; John 17:21, John 17:26. Compare John 14:23.

STUDYLIGHT RESOURCES

Adam Clarke Commentary
Behold, I stand at the door and knock - There are many sayings of this kind among the ancient
rabbins; thus in Shir Hashirim Rabba, fol. 25, 1: "God said to the Israelites, My children, open to
me one door of repentance, even so wide as the eye of a needle, and I will open to you doors
through which calves and horned cattle may pass."
In Sohar Levit, fol. 8, col. 32, it is said: "If a man conceal his sin, and do not open it before the
holy King, although he ask mercy, yet the door of repentance shall not be opened to him. But if
he open it before the holy blessed God, God spares him, and mercy prevails over wrath; and
when he laments, although all the doors were shut, yet they shall be opened to him, and his
prayer shall be heard."
Christ stands - waits long, at the door of the sinner's heart; he knocks - uses judgments, mercies,
reproofs, exhortations, etc., to induce sinners to repent and turn to him; he lifts up his voice -
calls loudly by his word, ministers, and Spirit.
If any man hear - If the sinner will seriously consider his state, and attend to the voice of his
Lord.
And open the door - This must be his own act, receiving power for this purpose from his
offended Lord, who will not break open the door; he will make no forcible entry.
I will come in to him - I will manifest myself to him, heal all his backslidings, pardon all his
iniquities, and love him freely.
Will sup with him - Hold communion with him, feed him with the bread of life.
And he with me - I will bring him at last to dwell with me in everlasting glory.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Bibliography
Clarke, Adam. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". "The Adam Clarke Commentary".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/revelation-3.html. 1832.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock - Intimating that, though they had erred, the way of
repentance and hope was not closed against them. He was still willing to be gracious, though
their conduct had been such as to be loathsome, Revelation 3:16. To see the real force of this
language, we must remember how disgusting and offensive their conduct had been to him. And
yet he was willing, notwithstanding this, to receive them to his favor; nay more, he stood and
pled with them that he might be received with the hospitality that would be shown to a friend or
stranger. The language here is so plain that it scarcely needs explanation. It is taken from an act
when we approach a dwelling, and, by a well-understood sign - knocking - announce our
presence, and ask for admission. The act of knocking implies two things:

(a)that we desire admittance; and,
(b)that we recognize the right of him who dwells in the house to open the door to us or not, as he
shall please.
We would not obtrude upon him; we would not force his door; and if, after we are sure that we
are heard, we are not admitted, we turn quietly away. Both of these things are implied here by
the language used by the Saviour when he approaches man as represented under the image of
knocking at the door: that he desires to be admitted to our friendship; and that he recognizes our
freedom in the matter. He does not obtrude himself upon us, nor does he employ force to find
admission to the heart. If admitted, he comes and dwells with us; if rejected, he turns quietly
away - perhaps to return and knock again, perhaps never to come back. The language used here,
also, may be understood as applicable to all persons, and to all the methods by which the Saviour
seeks to come into the heart of a sinner. It would properly refer to anything which would
announce his presence: his word; his Spirit; the solemn events of his providence; the invitations
of his gospel. In these and in other methods he comes to man; and the manner in which these
invitations ought to be estimated would be seen by supposing that he came to us personally and
solicited our friendship, and proposed to be our Redeemer. It may be added here, that this
expression proves that the attempt at reconciliation begins with the Saviour. It is not that the
sinner goes out to meet him, or to seek for him; it is that the Saviour presents himself at the door
of the heart, as if he were desirous to enjoy the friendship of man. This is in accordance with the
uniform language of the New Testament, that “God so loved the world as to give his only-
begotten Son”; that “Christ came to seek and to save the lost”; that the Saviour says, “Come unto
me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,” etc. Salvation, in the Scriptures, is never represented
as originated by man.
If any man hear my voice - Perhaps referring to a custom then prevailing, that he who knocked
spake, in order to let it be known who it was. This might be demanded in the night Luke 11:5, or
when there was apprehension of danger, and it may have been the custom when John wrote. The
language here, in accordance with the uniform usage in the Scriptures (compare Isaiah 55:1;
John 7:37; Revelation 22:17), is universal, and proves that the invitations of the gospel are made,
and are to be made, not to a part only, but fully and freely to all people; for, although this
originally had reference to the members of the church in Laodicea, yet the language chosen
seems to have been of design so universal ( ἐάν τις ean tis) as to be applicable to every human
being; and anyone, of any age and in any land, would be authorized to apply this to himself, and,
under the protection of this invitation, to come to the Saviour, and to plead this promise as one
that fairly included himself. It may be observed further, that this also recognizes the freedom of
man. It is submitted to him whether he will hear the voice of the Redeemer or not; and whether
he will open the door and admit him or not. He speaks loud enough, and distinctly enough, to be
heard, but he does not force the door if it is not voluntarily opened.
And open the door - As one would when a stranger or friend stood and knocked. The meaning
here is simply, if anyone will admit me; that is, receive me as a friend. The act of receiving him
is as voluntary on our part as it is when we rise and open the door to one who knocks. It may be
added:
(1)that this is an easy thing. Nothing is more easy than to open the door when one knocks; and so
everywhere in the Scriptures it is represented as an easy thing, if the heart is willing, to secure
the salvation of the soul.

(2)this is a reasonable thing.
We invite him who knocks at the door to come in. We always assume, unless there is reason to
suspect the contrary, that he applies for peaceful and friendly purposes. We deem it the height of
rudeness to let one stand and knock long; or to let him go away with no friendly invitation to
enter our dwelling. Yet how different does the sinner treat the Saviour! How long does he suffer
him to knock at the door of his heart, with no invitation to enter - no act of common civility such
as that with which he would greet even a stranger! And with how much coolness and
indifference does he see him turn away - perhaps to come back no more, and with no desire that
he ever should return!
I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me - This is an image denoting
intimacy and friendship. Supper, with the ancients, was the principal social meal; and the idea
here is, that between the Saviour and those who would receive him there would be the intimacy
which subsists between those who sit down to a friendly meal together. In all countries and
times, to eat together, to break bread together, has been the symbol of friendship, and this the
Saviour promises here. The truths, then, which are taught in this verse, are:
(1)that the invitation of the gospel is made to all - “if any man hear my voice”;
(2)that the movement toward reconciliation and friendship is originated by the Saviour - “behold,
I stand at the door and knock”;
(3)that there is a recognition of our own free agency in religion - “if any man will hear my voice,
and open the door”;
(4)the ease of the terms of salvation, represented by “hearing his voice,” and “opening the door”;
and,
(5)the blessedness of thus admitting him, arising from his friendship - “I will sup with him, and
he with me.” What friend can man have who would confer so many benefits on him as the Lord
Jesus Christ? Who is there that he should so gladly welcome to his bosom?

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Bibliography
Barnes, Albert. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". "Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/revelation-3.html. 1870.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
The Biblical Illustrator
Revelation 3:20
Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
The Guest of the heart
I. The stranger-guest wanting to come in. “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock.”
1. When a stranger comes to your door, it matters a good deal to your feeling as a host whether
he be a mean man or a great one. An inhospitable act done to your Queen might never vex you at
all if it was only done to an obscure wanderer. Who, then, is this? Is He mean? or is He great? He

does not look very great in the starlight. But He is. At home He is worshipped, and wields all
command; and beings before whom the mightiest of the earth are as infants, only venture to bow
themselves at His feet when their faces are shielded from the lustre of His glory.
2. When a stranger comes to your door, it is a consideration for you whether he has come to a
door only, or to your door; whether he has come to your door by chance, or to yourself on
purpose. Has this Stranger, then, just happened upon this cottage-door as one that serves His turn
as well as any other? or does He mean to seek this very home and this very board, if haply He
may be welcomed as a friend? How deeply does He mean it, and how tenderly!
3. When a stranger comes to your door, it is of some moment to you whether he has come but a
short distance to see you, or has come from far. This waiting Stranger--whence comes He? From
another country? He has come from another world. Through peril, through tribulation, He has
come hither.
4. When a stranger comes to your door, it is a thing of influence with you whether your visitor is
in earnest to get in, or shows indifference, and soon gives up the endeavour. A caller who knocks
and goes off again before you have had reasonable time to answer.
5. When a stranger comes to your door, it is of every consequence to you what may be the
character of himself, and the complexion of his errand. Is he good, and likely come for good? or
is he evil, and likely come for evil? What far-brought tidings, what peace, what hopes, what aids,
what influence, he fetches with him!
II. The stranger-guest getting in. “If any man hear My voice, and open the door.”
1. The Stranger did not force an entrance. It is from the inside, after all, that a man’s heart opens
to his Saviour-King.
2. At the same time it is of the utmost importance to note, that the transaction, with this
indispensable element of free choice in it, is the veriest simplicity. “If any man hear,” “and
open”--lo! it is accomplished, and the Son of God is within. Very natural it may be--after you
have at last acknowledged the Voice by some beginnings of faith, and have arisen at its call to
bustle long about the apartment in a process of rearranging, cleansing, tidying, adorning. Not less
natural it may be to sit down, after a desponding glance around you, and endeavour to devise
some plan by which you may entertain the Guest more worthily. All the while, and all the same,
your Guest is standing without. The one luckless fact is the tardiness of your hospitality. The
honour is done Him by nothing but by letting Him in. And more: your heart-home will only be
made fit for His presence by His presence.
3. But there may be some one who is saying with a certain sincerity, “I have tried to open my
heart to Christ, and I could not--cannot!” It will baffle your own strength. But what of your
Guest Himself, and that power of His--so freely available now?
III. The stranger-guest in. “I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” It is a
scene with much light in it, and an atmosphere of security and deep peace. (J. A. Kerr Bain, M.
A.)
Christ’s loving earnestness
I. The love of Christ. It is free love. It is large love. It is love irrespective of goodness in us.
II. The patience of Christ. He stands, and He has stood, as the words imply--not afar off, but
nigh, at the door. He stands. It is the attitude of waiting, of perseverance in waiting. He does not

come and go; He stands. He does not sit down, or occupy Himself with other concerns. He has
one object in view.
III. The earnestness of Christ. If the standing marks His patience, the knocking marks His
earnestness--His unwearied earnestness.
1. How does He knock?
2. When does He knock?
IV. The appeal of Christ to the Laodiceans. “If any man will hear My voice, and open the door.”
It is--
1. A loving appeal.
2. A personal appeal.
3. An honest appeal.
4. An earnest appeal.
V. The promise of Christ.
1. I will come in to Him. His standing on the outside is of no use to us. A mere outside Christ
will profit us nothing. An outside cross will not pacify, nor heal, nor save.
2. I will sup with him. He comes in as a guest, to take a place at our poor table and to partake of
our homely meal.
3. He shall sup with Me. Christ has a banquet in preparation. (H. Bonar, D. D.)
The Christ at the door
These wonderful words need no heightening of their impressiveness, and yet there are two
considerations which add pathos and beauty to them. The one is that they are all but the last
words which the seer in Patmos heard in his vision, from the lips of the exalted Christ. Parting
words are ever impressive words; and this is the attitude in which Jesus desired to be thought of
by all coming time. Another consideration intensifying the impressive-Hess of the utterance is
that it is the speech of that Christ whose exalted glories are so marvellously portrayed in the first
chapter of this book. The words are marvellous too, not only for that picture, but for the clear
decisiveness with which they recognise the solemn power that men have of giving or refusing an
entrance to Him; and still further, for the grandeur of their promises to the yielding heart which
welcomes Him.
I. The exalted Christ asking to be let in to a man’s heart. The latter words of the verse suggest the
image of a banqueting hall. The chamber to which Christ desires entrance is full of feasters.
There is room for everybody else there but Him. Now the plain sad truth which that stands for
about us, is this: That we are more willing to let anybody and anything come into our thoughts,
and find lodgment in our affections, than we are to let Jesus Christ come in. The next thought
here is of the reality of this knocking. Every conviction, every impression, every half inclination
towards Him that has risen in your hearts, though you fought against it, has been His knocking
there. And think of what a revelation of Him that is! We are mostly too proud to sue for love,
especially if once the petition has been repulsed; but He asks to be let into your heart because His
nature and His name is Love, and being such, He yearns to be loved by you, and tie yearns to
bless you.

II. Notice that awful power which is recognised here as residing in us, to let Him in or to keep
Him out. “It any man will open the door”--the door has no handle on the outside. It opens from
within. Christ knocks: we open. What we call faith is the opening of the door. And is it not plain
that that simple condition is a condition not imposed by any arbitrary action on His part, but a
condition indispensable from the very nature of the case?
III. The entrance of the Christ, with His hands full of blessing. It is the central gift and promise
of the gospel “that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.” He Himself is the greatest of His
gifts. He never comes empty-handed, but when He enters in He endows the soul with untold
riches. We have here also Christ’s presence as a Guest. “I will come in and sup with Him.” What
great and wonderful things are contained in that assurance! Can we present anything to Him that
He can partake of? Yes! We may give Him our service and He will take that; we may give Him
our love and He will take that, and regard it as dainty and delightsome food. We have here
Christ’s presence not only as a Guest, but also as Host--“I will sup with him and he with Me.” As
when some great prince offers to honour a poor subject with his presence, and let him provide
some insignificant portion of the entertainment, whilst all the substantial and costly parts of it
come in the retinue of the monarch, from the palace. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The heavenly Visitor
I. What is implied by the expression, “I stand at the door.”
1. That Christ is outside man’s heart.
2. That He is deliberately excluded.
3. That He is excluded in favour of other guests.
4. That notwithstanding He wishes to enter.
5. That He recognises our liberty to admit Him.
II. By what means He makes His presence known.
III. The blessings to be enjoyed by those who admit Him.
1. Reconciliation.
2. Communion.
3. Refreshment. (Thos. Heath.)
Christ at the door
I. The person. The Greatest at the door of the meanest.
II. The attitude.
1. Service.
2. Waiting expectation.
3. Supplication.
III. The action.
IV. The object. (Homilist.)
The pleading Saviour
I. The Saviour’s humility and condescension.

1. Patience. Repeated application where rudely repulsed.
2. Desire to enter. Not for His own good or gratification, but for our salvation, because He
delights in mercy.
II. The Saviour’s persistent efforts.
III. The Saviour’s proffered reward. The presence of Christ is the highest privilege man can
desire. It involves--
1. Familiarity.
2. Reciprocity.
3. Unity.
4. Enjoyment. (Homilist.)
Christ at the door
I. The suppliant for admission. A strange reversal of the attitudes of the great and of the lowly, of
the giver and of the receiver, of the Divine and of the human! Christ once said, “Knock and it
shall be opened unto you.” But He has taken the suppliant’s place. So, then, there is here a
revelation, not only of a universal truth, but a most tender and pathetic disclosure of Christ’s
yearning love to each of us. What do you call that emotion which more than anything else desires
that a heart should open and let it enter? We call it love when we find it in one another. Surely it
bears the same name when it is sublimed into all but infinitude, and yet is as individualising and
specific as it is great and universal, as it is found in Jesus Christ. And then, still further, in that
thought of the suppliant waiting for admission there is the explanation for us all of a great many
misunderstood facts in our experience. That sorrow that darkened your days and made your heart
bleed, what was it but Christ’s hand on the door? Those blessings which pour into your life day
by day “beseech you, by the mercies of God, that ye yield yourselves living sacrifices.” That
unrest which dogs the steps of every man who has not found rest in Christ, what is it but the
application of His hand to the obstinately-closed door? The stings of conscience, the movements
of the Spirit, the definite proclamation of His Word, even by such lips as mine, what are they all
except His appeals to us? And this is the deepest meaning of joys and sorrows, of gifts and
losses, of fulfilled and disappointed hopes. If we understood better that all life was guided by
Christ and that Christ’s guidance of life was guided by His desire that He should find a place in
our hearts, we should less frequently wonder at sorrows, and should better understand our
blessings.
II. The door opened. Jesus Christ knocks, but Jesus Christ cannot break the door open. The door
is closed, and unless there be a definite act on your part it will not be opened, and He will not
enter. So we come to this, that to do nothing is to keep your Saviour outside; and that is the way
in which most men that miss Him do miss Him. The condition of His entrance is simple trust in
Him, as the Saviour of my soul. That is opening the door, and if you will do that, then, just as
when you open the shutters, in comes the sunshine; just as when you lift the sluice in flows the
crystal stream into the slimy, empty lock; so He will enter in, wherever He is not shut out by
unbelief and aversion of will.
III. The entrance and the feast. “I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with Me.” Well,
that speaks to us in lovely, sympathetic language, of a close, familiar, happy communication
between Christ and my poor self which shall make all life as a feast in company with Him. John,

as he wrote down the words “I will sup with him, and he with Me,” perhaps remembered that
upper room where, amidst all the bitter herbs, there was such strange joy and tranquility. But
whether he did or no, may we not take the picture as suggesting to us the possibilities of loving
fellowship, of quiet repose, of absolute satisfaction of all desires and needs, which will be ours if
we open the door of our hearts by faith, and let Jesus Christ come in? (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Relation to Christ of the human soul
I. His attitude towards the soul. He is constantly in contact with the soul. He does not come
occasionally and then depart; He stands.
1. His deep concern. In the eye of Christ the soul is no trifling object: He knows its capabilities,
relations, power, influence, interminable history.
2. His infinite condescension.
3. His wonderful patience.
II. His action upon the soul. He does not stand there as a statue doing nothing. He knocks: He
knocks at the door of intellect with His philosophic truths; at the door of conscience, with His
ethical principles; at the door of love, with His transcendent charms; at the door of hope, with
His heavenly glories; at the door of fear, with the terrors of His law.
1. The moral power of the sinner. The soul has the power to shut out Christ. It can bolt itself
against its Creator. This it does by directing its thoughts to other subjects, by deadening its
convictions, by procrastinations.
2. The consummate folly of the sinner. Who is shut out? Not a foe or thief; but a friend, a
physician, a deliverer.
3. The awful guiltiness of the sinner. It shuts out its proprietor, its rightful Lord.
III. His aim in reference to the soul. It is not to destroy it; but to come into it and identify
Himself with all its feelings, aspirations, and interests.
1. Inhabitation. “I will come unto him.” We are perpetually letting people into our hearts. How
pleased we are if some illustrious personage will enter our humble homes and sit down with us,
etc.
2. Identification. “Sup with him and he with Me.” I will be at home with him, be one with him. A
conventionally great man deems it a condescension to enter the house of an inferior--he never
thinks of identifying himself with the humble inmate. Christ does this with the soul that lets Him
in. He makes its cares His own. (Homilist.)
The illustrious Visitor
I. The great kindness of the Redeemer to man.
1. Compassion for man.
2. Condescension to man.
3. Communion with man. The Saviour does not come as a stranger, He comes as a friend and a
guest.
4. The consummation of man. He takes possession of our spirits to make them perfect and
glorious. This will be the perfecting of our humanity, the consummation of all our best and
brightest hopes and capacities.

II. The great unkindness of man to the Redeemer.
1. Ignorance is the cause in some cases why the visit of the Saviour is not welcomed. If the
ignorance be involuntary and unavoidable, then it is not culpable; but if it be the result of a
voluntary refusal to know who the Saviour is, and what His knocking means, then it shows great
unkindness to the Redeemer, and is regarded by Him as a great sin.
2. Another cause is indifference. Some know that it is the Saviour standing at the door of their
hearts; but they are so absorbed with other engagements, they are so careless about the unseen
and eternal, that they let Him stand outside, and make no effort to let Him in.
3. Another cause is unbelief.
4. Prejudice is another cause of the unkindness of man to the Redeemer. The Cross is an offence
to many. Prejudice blinds the eyes and hardens the heart and prevents man seeing Jesus as He
really is--“the chief among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely.”
5. The last cause of unkindness we will mention is ingratitude. (F. W. Brown.)
Christ at the door
I. Friendship with God is proposed as the grand privilege of the race.
1. The friendship which God offers is on entirely a human plane. Christian life is only a
transfiguration of every-day life.
2. The friendship which God proposes is permanent in its continuance.
II. An undoubted proof of the Divine sincerity.
1. You see this in the fact that the entire proposal comes from Him. The grace of this transaction
is absolutely marvellous.
2. You see this in the successive and persistent endeavours to bring this friendship within reach
of the soul.
III. The assurance of the entire fulness of the atonement. There is no restriction in the offers of
Divine grace.
1. There is no limit on the human side. If any man will open his heart, the Saviour will come in.
2. There is positively no limit on the Divine side either. The offer is made in terms utterly
without restriction.
IV. An explicit recognition of human free agency under the plan of salvation by grace. It is well
to inquire why it is He thus pauses on the threshold.
1. It is not because He is unable to force His way in. There is no opposition so violent that He
could not crush it beneath His Omnipotent might.
2. The reason for the Divine forbearance is found in the inscrutable counsels of the Divine
wisdom. In the beginning, He drew one line around His own action. He determined to create a
class of beings who should have minds and hearts of their own. A free chance to choose between
serving Him and resisting Him He now gives to every one of us. And when He had thus
established men in being, He sovereignly decided never to interfere with the free-will He had
bestowed.
V. If any man is finally lost, the responsibility rests upon his own soul. The Saviour has come so
far, but it is perfectly clear He is coming no further.

1. Observe how unbeclouded is the final issue. There can be no mystery, there is no mistake
about it. The Providence of God always clears the way up to the crisis, removing every side-
consideration which can possibly confuse it. Education that fits for usefulness is a demand for
usefulness; the love of our children is a hint for us to love God as children; social position,
wealth, official station, accomplishments, popular favour; whoever has any of these ought to hear
in them the accents of that quiet voice speaking to his heart: “Behold, I stand at the door and
knock.”
2. Observe the ease of the condition required of us. It is only to open the door. Great things under
the gospel are always simple.
3. Observe then, finally, what it is that keeps the Saviour out. Nothing but will. This is the
inspired declaration: “Ye will not come unto Me, that ye might have life.” That is, you set a
definite purpose against the purpose of grace. Christ came and you resisted Him. (C. S.
Robinson, D. D.)
Christ knocking at the door of the soul
I. That there is in the human soul a door for the entrance of the truth.
1. The intellect. Is not the theology of the Bible in its broad outlines reasonable? Christ, in the
evidence, enlightenment, and conviction of the truth, stands knocking at the mind of man, and
the greater the knowledge of the truth, the louder is the appeal for entrance.
2. The heart. Man is endowed with the capability of love and sympathy. He has warm affections.
He is so constituted as to be attracted by the pathetic and the beautiful. Hence, he looks out upon
nature with admiring eye. And it is to this capability in man that the truth appeals. It presents to
him an ideal beauty in the life of Christ, as recorded by the gospel narrative, which ought to win
his spirit into an imitation of the same.
3. The conscience. Man has the ability to turn his natural judgment to moral and spiritual
questions, and this is what we mean by conscience. To this faculty the truth presents its
requirements; convinces of failure in the devotion of the inner life to Christ; and spreads out
before it the threat of avenging justice.
4. But, strange to say, the door of the soul is closed to the entrance of the truth. The door of the
mind is closed by error, by ignorance, and by prejudice. The door of the heart is shut by pride, by
unbelief, and by wilful sin. The door of the conscience is barred by a continued habit of evil.
II. That at the door of the human soul truth makes continued appeals for entrance.
1. This appeal of truth is authoritative. Truth comes to men with authority, even with the claim of
a sinless life, and with the emphasis of a Divine voice. Its distinguished character should gain for
it an immediate and hearty welcome into the soul, as a king should be welcomed into a cottage.
But truth comes to men not only with the authority of character, but also with the authority of
right. The faculties of the human mind were made to receive it.
2. The appeal of Truth is patient. Other guests have entered--wealth in splendid apparel, ambition
with loud clamour, and pride with haughty mien--but Christ with gentle spirit has remained
without. His patience has been co-extensive with our neglect of Him. It is Divine.
3. The appeal of truth is benevolent. The truth does not seek to enter the soul of man merely to
spy out its moral defilement, to pass woful sentence on its evil-doings, but to cleanse it by the
Holy Spirit, to save it by grace, to enlighten it by knowledge, and to cheer it by love.

4. The appeal of truth is heard. “And knock.” Knocks at the door are generally heard. And
certainly this is the case in reference to the advent of Christ to the soul. It is impossible to live in
this land of religious light and agency without being conscious of Divine knockings at the portal
of the soul.
III. That the human soul has the ability of choice as to whether it will open its door for the
entrance of the truth or not.
1. The door of the soul will not be opened by any coercive methods. Does it not seem strange
that Christ should have the key of the soul and yet stand without? This is only explained by the
free agency of man. But though He enter not to dwell, the soul is visited by spiritual influences
which are the universal heritage of man.
2. The door of the soul must be opened by moral methods. Calm reflection, earnest prayer, and a
diligent study of the inspired Word, together with the gentle influences of the Divine Spirit, will
open the soul to the entrance of Christ (Acts 16:14).
IV. That if the human soul will open its door to the reception of the truth, Christ will enter into
close communion with it.
1. Then Christ will inhabit the soul. “I will come in to him.” Thus, if Christ come into the soul
He will dwell in its thoughts, in its affections, in its aspirations, in its aims, and in all its
activities. He will elevate and consecrate them all. True religion just means this, Christ in the
soul, and its language is (Galatians 2:20).
2. Then Christ will be in sympathy with the soul. “And will sup with him.” It is impossible to
have a feast in the soul unless Christ spreads the table; then the meal is festive. It removes
sorrow; it inspires joy. While we are partaking of it we can relate to Christ all the perplexities of
life. The good man carries a feast within him (John 4:32).
3. Then Christ will strengthen the soul. He will strengthen the moral nature by the food He will
give, by the counsel He will impart, and by the hope He will inspire. The feast, the supply of
holy energy will be resident within. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The self-invited Guest
I. That, in the dispensation of the Gospel, Christ is the uninvited guest, pleading for admission.
Whatever acquaintance any of us may have with Jesus, the acquaintance began on His side: by
Him are the first overtures invariably made.
1. The written gospel is a proof of it.
2. The Christian ministry is another proof.
3. The strivings of His Spirit are another instance of this. In the two former cases, His approach
can more easily be avoided.
II. That consent alone is required, on our part, to give us a full participation in His friendship.
1. The consent which is required.
2. The friendship which is offered. (J. Jowett, M. A.)
Christ at the door of the heart
“Behold!” The sight is indeed a most astonishing one, which ought to fill our hearts with surprise
and shame. God outside; He who ought to be recognised as Lord and Master of the human being,

to whom we owe everything. I question whether there is any revelation made to us in the whole
course of God’s Word that more strongly illustrates the persevering love of God. The love of
God is not content with redeeming a guilty world, but He brings the redemption to the door of
every human being. How, it is natural we should ask, is this extraordinary phenomenon to be
explained? If we look at the context, we discover what the explanation is. “Thou sayest, I am rich
and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.” Ah! it is in those words that the clue is
found to the extraordinary spectacle. I cannot understand a man going on, year after year,
realising his own inward want, and yet not accepting the supply which God has given. How is it
that Satan prevents this? How is it that he brings us to the position which is indicated to us by
this figure? By filling us with all sorts of things which are not God. What are they? Some make
their religion a substitute for God. That is one of the very worst substitutes that we can possibly
fix upon. Again, how many persons there are who find an excellent substitute for Christ in
morality. A man may have kept all the Ten Commandments, and yet, all the while, be shutting
the door of his heart against Christ, and if a man does that, he keeps the letter of the
Commandments, but not the spirit. Again, how many there are who take worldly pleasures as a
substitute for God. Another thing set up in the place of God is the love of wealth. What is there
that money cannot do? Another man puts learning in the place of God. What is there that
intelligence cannot do? All these attempts to create substitutes, what are they? They are simply
so many sins against your own soul. It would not have been at all a thing to be marvelled at, if
we had read this passage thus: “The Lord once stood outside the door and knocked.” Had the
Lord Jesus Christ given us one offer of mercy, and given one loud, thundering “knock,” and,
being refused, left us to take the consequence, left us to our own miserable doom, you know we
should have deserved it. Oh, deafen not your ears, men and women, against His call: do not be so
blind to your own interest as to keep Him standing there: listen to what He says, “If any man
hear My voice.” Notice that. He does not say, “If any man makes himself moral; if any man will
try and make himself better.” That is not it, thank God! “If any man will shed oceans of tears.”
No, that is not it. “If any man has deep sorrow.” No, that is not it. “If any man has powerful
faith.” No, that is not it, What is it He says? “If any man will hear My voice.” As the preacher is
speaking now, say, “God is speaking to my soul; He is speaking in all the infinity of His mercy: I
cannot, I won’t deafen my ear against Him.” Well, as soon as the man hears the voice, he is on
the highway to salvation. What more is wanted? Just one thing more. “If any man hear My voice,
and will open unto Me.” It does not sound very much, does it? “Ah, but,” you say, “faith is so
difficult. One man says, faith is this, and another says it is another thing.” Do you think the Lord
Jesus Christ will stand back if you say that? I tell you, you will find those bolts and bars will fly
back the moment you tell Him you are willing. Now, what are you going to do? Nay, what will
He do? He says, “If any man will open to Me, I will come in.” Well, what will He do? Young
man! you are thinking to yourself, “I should like to have Jesus as my Saviour, but if He comes to
my heart He will bring a funeral procession with Him; my countenance will fall, my life will be
overshadowed, my joy will be gone; my youthful pleasures will disappear, and I shall become
mournful and morose.” I tell you that is the devil’s lie, not God’s truth. Wherever Jesus is, He
carries a feast along with Him, and so He says to-night, “If any man will open unto Me, I will
come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” (W. H. M. H. Aitken, M. A.)
Christ at the door of the heart
This door, at which the Saviour knocks, is the heart of man. In the gospel there is more than
enough to give full exercise to the most powerful intellect: yet the final aim is at the heart. What
the heart is, that the man is; he who wins the heart has the whole man. The door is the sinner’s

heart. That door is closed against Christ. He stands, and knocks. First, observe that it is the Lord
who comes to us men, not we to Him. He not only comes to that door; He stands there waiting;
nor doth He only stand and wait, but meekly standing thus and waiting, He knocks. So deeply
does He long for entrance, that it is hard to make Him go. Canst thou not recall an hour, in which
thy Saviour came to thee, and asked for entrance into thy thoughts and thy life? Many are called
while yet children. The mind and heart of children are readier for the Lord than those of
hardened men and women. Christ knocks at the hearts of children; if they do not open unto Him
at that time, they may not do so until after many years; they may never do so, not even in the
hour of death. “If any man hear My voice!” Can this be imagined, that any should not hear? or
worse, that any would not hear? “The voice of the Lord is mighty in operation,” saith the
psalmist: “the voice of the Lord is a glorious voice.” That voice may call; something within the
heart may deaden the sound or shut it out. How dreadful is the state of such a soul! Marvel not,
with this history before you, that the door is shut. The longer the heart is closed against its God,
the harder to open it. The processes of nature have their due effect; the elements do their work in
silence and surely; a work which every day makes more effectual. The bars, long stationary, rust
in the staples; some time since, a child might have slipped them out and laid them aside; now, the
strength of a man would essay the task in vain. The rains and snows of many a season have
beaten into the lock and choked it up. In former days, a path led to this door; a path by which the
good angels could reach it, and all honest Christian friends; a pathway, pleasant to the eye, fresh
with flowers, clean of rubbish, and easy to be found. Alas! how great the change I The pathway
now is rough with stones, or seems to be, for so rankly is it overgrown with weeds, that its
outline is all but lost. Breasthigh on either hand are come up the briar and the thorn; the wall
crumbles; it is grey with mould; an aspect of desolation weighs down the spirit as we gaze. Who
would walk on yonder pathway? Who would try to approach that door? Yet there is One, who
cometh up this way. He looks toward that closed and rusted door; He turns His holy feet to that
forsaken path. His face is grave and sad, earnest, and full of love. He hath on Him the vesture of
the High Priest who maketh intercession for sin. He is coming up the path. He has reached the
gate. Behold, He standeth at the door. Without, around, all is silence. He knocks. Oh soul thus
called by Jesus Christ, what answer wilt thou make? Perhaps there shall be no reply. The knock
resounds within: the voice is heard outside; but within there is silence: neither knock nor voice
can reach the ear of the spiritually dead. The door may shake in its rusty hinges; the bars may
creak in the staples; but none comes to open. No wonder. There is nothing inside, save that worse
than nothing, a dead soul; dead in sin, and buried in forgetfulness. (Morgan Dix, D. D.)
The Saviour knocking at the door
I. Who knocks? The Son of God, Immanuel, the Mediator betwixt God and man, the Prince of
Peace, the Lord of glory, the Redeemer of the lost, Almighty to save, and all-sufficient to satisfy
your souls. What hinders that you should not let Him in?
II. Different hearts are bolted with different bars. Some are closed by carelessness, and some by
ignorance, and some by indolence, and some by frivolity, and some by prejudice, and some by
pride, and some by strong besetting sins.
III. Were you to yield to the striving spirit--were you to withdraw these bolts, and admit into
your soul a mighty and merciful Redeemer, what would be the consequence? Pardon of sin
would come. Peace of conscience would come. The smile of God would come into your soul.
(James Hamilton, D. D.)
Christ standing at the door

I. Who is he?
1. It is clear that He is some one of importance. “Behold,” He says, “I stand at the door; I who
could never have been expected to stand there.” He speaks, you observe, as though His coming
to us would surprise us; just as we might suppose a monarch to speak at a beggar’s door. And
there is a reason for this. It is the glorious Redeemer who is here, the Monarch of earth and
heaven. See then how this text sets forth at the very outset of it the Divine mercy. We think it a
great thing that God should sit on a throne waiting for sinners to come to Him, but here He
describes Himself as coming to sinners.
II. What is the Lord Jesus doing at our door?
1. On our part, it implies this mournful fact, that our hearts are all naturally shut against Christ,
yea, fastened, bolted, and barred, against Him.
2. On Christ’s part, this expression implies a willingness to enter our hearts; and more than a
willingness, an earnest desire to enter them.
III. What does this gracious stranger at our door wish us to do?
IV. What will this exalted being at our door do for us, if we let him in?
1. “I will come in to him.” There His presence is promised, and with it the light and comfort and
bliss and glory of it.
2. “I will sup with him, and he with Me.” This implies a manifestation of Christ in the heart He
dwells in, and intercourse and communion with it. (James Hamilton, M. A.)
At the door
I. Who stands? An ancient patriarch, by keeping open heart and open house for strangers, was
privileged to entertain angels unawares. This day we may obtain s visit of the Lord of angels, if
only we will let Him in.
II. How near he comes. “Behold, I stand at the door.” We are not much moved by anything that
is far distant. Whether the visitant be coming for judgment or mercy, we take the matter lightly,
as long as he is far away. A distant enemy does not make us tremble--a distant friend fails to
make us glad. When your protector is distant, you tremble at danger; when he is near, you
breathe freely again. How near the Son of God has come to us! He is our Brother: He touches us,
and we touch Him, at all points.
III. How far off he is kept. “At the door.” He in great kindness comes to the door; we in great
folly keep Him at the door. The sunlight travels far from its source in the deep of heaven--so far,
that though it can be expressed in figures, the imagination fails to take in the magnitude of the
sum; but when the rays of light have travelled unimpeded so far, and come to the door of my eye,
if I shut that door--a thin film of flesh--the light is kept out, and I remain in darkness. Alas l the
light that travelled so far, and came so near--the Light that sought entrance into my heart, and
that I kept out--was the Light of life! If I keep out that Light, I abide in the darkness of death:
there is no salvation in any other.
IV. He knocks for entrance. It is more than the kindness of His coming and the patience of His
waiting. Besides coming near, He calls aloud: He does not permit us to forget His presence.
V. Many things hinder the hearing. Other thoughts occupy the mind; other sounds occupy the
car. Either joy or grief may become a hindrance. The song of mirth and the wail of sorrow may

both, by turns, drown the voice of that blessed Visitant who stands without and pleads for
admission.
VI. Hear, and open. Hearing alone is not enough. It is not the wrath of God, but His mercy in
Christ, that melts the iron fastenings and lifts up these shut gates, that the King of Glory may
come in. The guilty refuse to open for Christ, even when they hear Him knocking. They have
hard thoughts of Him. They think He comes to demand a righteousness which they cannot give,
and to bind them over to the judgment because they cannot pay. God is love, and Christ is the
outcome of His forgiving love to lost men. He comes to redeem you, and save you. It is when
you know Him thus that you will open at His call. (W. Arnot, D. D.)
The heavenly Stranger received
I. “If any man hear my voice.”
1. That the voice of Christ is either external or internal; or, that which is addressed to the senses
only, and that which reaches the heart.
2. The internal voice of Christ is various, according to the different circumstances of the persons
to whom it is directed. To some it is an awakening voice: it rouses them from their carnal
security. To those who are bowed down with a sense of sin, and wounded with the fiery darts of
Divine wrath, it is a healing and comforting voice.
3. In order to hear His voice aright, our hearts must be renewed. Dead sinners cannot hear the
voice of Christ; but His is a life-giving voice, and what it commands it communicates.
II. And open the door.
III. “I will come in to him.”
1. Nearness.
2. Possession.
3. Inhabitation.
He not only comes near to the soul to converse with it, but into it to dwell there, and becomes the
vital principle of all holy obedience.
IV. “And I will sup with him, and he with Me.” (B. Beddome, M. A.)
The heart a house
Your heart is a house with many rooms; one apartment is decorated for the occupancy of pride;
in another one covetousness may keep its iron safe; on the walls of another, perhaps, sensuality
has hung some pictures that, if Christ enter, must be pulled down. Unbelief has chilled and
darkened the whole house. Satan has a mortgage on the whole of it, and by and by will foreclose
it. An enormous amount of sin has accumulated in every room and closet, for you have never had
a “house-cleaning” since you were born. To that dwelling-place of sin, which may yet become a
dwelling-place of endless anguish, my loving Saviour has come again. If you will stop the
turmoil of business, or the noise of merriment long enough to listen, you will hear a marvellously
sweet voice outside, “Behold, I stand here and knock; if thou wilt open this door I will come in.”
Christ without means guilt; Christ within means pardon. Christ without means condemnation;
Christ within means salvation. Christ shut out means hell; Christ admitted is the first instalment
of heaven. (T. L. Cuyler, D. D.)
Christ dwelling in the heart

A widow woman lives by herself in a little cottage by the seashore. Of all whom she loved, only
one survives--a lad at sea; all the rest have passed “from sunshine to the sunless land.” She has
not set her eyes upon him for years. But her heart is full of him. She thinks of him by day, and
dreams of him by night. His name is never missed out from her prayers. The winds speak about
him; the stars speak about him; the waves speak about him, both in storm and calm. No one has
difficulty in understanding how her boy dwells in her heart. Let that stand as a parable of what
may be for every believer in the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (J. Culross, D. D.)
He knocks at our heart
Jesus stands at our gate and knocks, and there are many who never open to Him at all, and many
more who open the door but slightly. The latter, while they may receive blessing, yet miss the
fulness of Divine revealing which would flood their souls with love; the former miss altogether
the sweetest benediction of life. (J. R. Miller, D. D.)
Christ standing
Whilst a man is standing He is going. (J. Trapp.)
Many fastenings to the sinner’s heart
When we were in Dublin, I went out one morning to an early meeting, and I found the servants
had not opened the front door. So I pulled back a bolt, but I could not get the door open. Then I
turned s key, but the door would not open. Then I found there was another bolt at the top, then I
found there was another bolt at the bottom. Still the door would not open. Then I found there was
a bar, and then I found a night-lock. I found there were five or six different fastenings. I am
afraid that door represents every sinner’s heart. The door of his heart is locked, double-bolted,
and barred. (D. L. Moody.)
The King slighted
When your King and Lord comes to claim the homage of your hearts, and to pay you a royal
visit, you receive His message with coldness and indifference. You treat Him as the people of
Alsace and Lorraine treated the Emperor of Germany and the Crown Prince after the Franco-
Prussian war, when they pulled down their blinds, and locked and bolted their doors, and sat in
gloomy silence as the emperor passed. They had some excuse for refusing to see him, as they
were a conquered people, and his presence reminded them of their humiliation and defeat. But
there is no excuse for you. (Isaac Marsden.)
God respects man’s freedom
It was said by a celebrated orator in the House of Lords a century ago, that an Englishman’s
house is his castle, that the winds of heaven might enter by every window, that the rains might
penetrate through every cranny, but that not even the sovereign of the land dare enter into it,
however humble, without its owner’s permission. God treats you in the same way. He says,
“Willingly open your heart to Me, and I will give you every blessing; but I must be made
welcome.” (G. Warner.)
At the door
In Holman Hunt’s great picture called “The Light of the World,” we see One with gentle, patient
face, standing at a door, which is ivy-covered, as if long closed. He is girt with the priestly
breastplate. He bears in His hand the lamp of truth. He stands and knocks. There is no answer,
and He still stands and knocks. His eye tells of love; His face beams with yearning. You look

closely and you perceive that there is no knob or latch on the outside of the door. It can be
opened only from within. Do you not see the meaning? (J. R. Miller, D. D.)

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Exell, Joseph S. "Commentary on "Revelation 3:20". The Biblical Illustrator.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tbi/revelation-3.html. 1905-1909. New York.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible
Behold, I stand at the door and knock,.... The phrase of standing at the door may be expressive of
the near approach, or sudden coming of Christ to judgment, see James 5:9; and his knocking may
signify the notice that will be given of it, by some of the immediate forerunners and signs of his
coming; which yet will be observed but by a few, such a general sleepiness will have seized all
professors of religion; and particularly may intend the midnight cry, which will, in its issue,
rouse them all:
if any man hear my voice; in the appearances of things and providences in the world:
and open the door; or show a readiness for the coming of Christ, look and wait for it, and be like
such that will receive him with a welcome:
I will come unto him, and sup with him, and he with me; to and among these will Christ appear
when he comes in person; and these being like wise virgins, ready, having his grace in their
hearts, and his righteousness upon them, he will take them at once into the marriage chamber,
and shut the door upon the rest; when they shall enjoy a thousand years communion with him in
person here on earth; when the Lamb on the throne will feed them with the fruit of the tree of
life, and lead them to fountains of living water, and his tabernacle shall be among them.

Copyright Statement
The New John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible Modernised and adapted for the computer by
Larry Pierce of Online Bible. All Rightes Reserved, Larry Pierce, Winterbourne, Ontario.
A printed copy of this work can be ordered from: The Baptist Standard Bearer, 1 Iron Oaks Dr,
Paris, AR, 72855
Bibliography
Gill, John. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". "The New John Gill Exposition of the Entire
Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/revelation-3.html. 1999.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Geneva Study Bible
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock:
14
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.
(14) This must be taken after the manner of an allegory; (John 14:23).

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Beza, Theodore. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". "The 1599 Geneva Study Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/gsb/revelation-3.html. 1599-1645.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
stand — waiting in wonderful condescension and long-suffering.
knock — (Song of Solomon 5:2). This is a further manifestation of His loving desire for the
sinner‘s salvation. He who is Himself “the Door,” and who bids us “knock” that it may be
“opened unto” us, is first Himself to knock at the door of our hearts. If He did not knock first, we
should never come to knock at His door. Compare Song of Solomon 5:4-6, which is plainly
alluded to here; the Spirit thus in Revelation sealing the canonicity of that mystical book. The
spiritual state of the bride there, between waking and sleeping, slow to open the door to her
divine lover, answers to that of the lukewarm Laodicea here. “Love in regard to men emptied
(humbled) God; for He does not remain in His place and call to Himself the servant whom He
loved, but He comes down Himself to seek him, and He who is all-rich arrives at the lodging of
the pauper, and with His own voice intimates His yearning love, and seeks a similar return, and
withdraws not when disowned, and is not impatient at insult, and when persecuted still waits at
the doors” [Nicolaus Cabasilas in Trench].
my voice — He appeals to the sinner not only with His hand (His providences) knocking, but
with His voice (His word read or heard; or rather, His Spirit inwardly applying to man‘s spirit the
lessons to be drawn from His providence and His word). If we refuse to answer to His knocking
at our door now, He will refuse to hear our knocking at His door hereafter. In respect to His
second coming also, He is even now at the door, and we know not how soon He may knock:
therefore we should always be ready to open to Him immediately.
if any man hear — for man is not compelled by irresistible force: Christ knocks, but does not
break open the door, though the violent take heaven by the force of prayer (Matthew 11:12):
whosoever does hear, does so not of himself, but by the drawings of God‘s grace (John 6:44):
repentance is Christ‘s gift (Acts 5:31). He draws, not drags. The Sun of righteousness, like the
natural sun, the moment that the door is opened, pours in His light, which could not previously
find an entrance. Compare Hilary on Psalm 118:19.
I will come in to him — as I did to Zacchaeus.
sup with him, and he with me — Delightful reciprocity! Compare “dwelleth in me, and I in
Him,” John 6:56. Whereas, ordinarily, the admitted guest sups with the admitter, here the divine
guest becomes Himself the host, for He is the bread of life, and the Giver of the marriage feast.
Here again He alludes to the imagery of Song of Solomon 4:16, where the Bride invites Him to
eat pleasant fruits, even as He had first prepared a feast for her, “His fruit was sweet to my
taste.” Compare the same interchange, John 21:9-13, the feast being made up of the viands that
Jesus brought, and those which the disciples brought. The consummation of this blessed

intercommunion shall be at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, of which the Lord‘s Supper is the
earnest and foretaste.

Copyright Statement
These files are a derivative of an electronic edition prepared from text scanned by Woodside
Bible Fellowship.
This expanded edition of the Jameison-Faussett-Brown Commentary is in the public domain and
may be freely used and distributed.
Bibliography
Jamieson, Robert, D.D.; Fausset, A. R.; Brown, David. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20".
"Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jfb/revelation-3.html. 1871-8.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament
I stand at the door (εστηκα επι την τυραν — hestēka epi tēn thuran). Perfect active of ιστημι —
histēmi (intransitive). Picture of the Lord‘s advent as in Matthew 24:33; James 5:9, but true also
of the individual response to Christ‘s call (Luke 12:36) as shown in Holman Hunt‘s great picture.
Some see a use also of So James 5:2.
If any man hear - and open (εαν τις ακουσηι και ανοιχηι — ean tis akousēi kai anoixēi).
Condition of third class with εαν — ean and first aorist (ingressive) active subjunctive of ακουω
— akouō and ανοιγω — anoigō See John 10:3; John 18:37. See the picture reversed (Swete) in
Luke 13:25; Matthew 25:10.
I will come in to him (εισελευσομαι — eiseleusomai). Future middle of εισερχομαι —
eiserchomai See Mark 15:43; Acts 11:3 for εισερχομαι προς — eiserchomai pros to go into a
man‘s house. Cf. John 14:23.
Will sup (δειπνησω — deipnēsō). Future active of δειπνεω — deipneō old verb, from δειπνον —
deipnon (supper), as in Luke 17:8. Fellowship in the Messianic kingdom (Luke 22:30; Mark
14:25; Matthew 26:29). Purely metaphorical, as is plain from 1 Corinthians 6:13.

Copyright Statement
The Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament. Copyright Broadman Press 1932,33,
Renewal 1960. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Broadman Press (Southern Baptist
Sunday School Board)
Bibliography
Robertson, A.T. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". "Robertson's Word Pictures of the New
Testament". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/rwp/revelation-3.html. Broadman
Press 1932,33. Renewal 1960.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Vincent's Word Studies
I stand at the door and knock

Compare Song of Solomon 5:2, Κρούω Iknock was regarded as a less classical word than κόπτω
. Κρούω is to knock with the knuckles, to rap; κόπτω , with a heavy blow; ψοφεῖν of the
knocking of some one within the door, warning one without to withdraw when the door is
opened. Compare James 5:9. “He at whose door we ought to stand (for He is the Door, who, as
such, has bidden us to knock), is content that the whole relation between Him and us should be
reversed, and, instead of our standing at His door, condescends Himself to stand at ours”
(Trench). The Greeks had a word θυραυλεῖν for a lover waiting at the door of his beloved.
Trench cites a passage from Nicolaus Cabasilas, a Greek divine of the fourteenth century: “Love
for men emptied God (Philemon 2:7). For He doth not abide in His place and summon to
Himself the servant whom He loved; but goes Himself and seeks him; and He who is rich comes
to the dwelling of the poor, and discloses His love, and seeks an equal return; nor does He
withdraw from him who repels Him, nor is He disgusted at his insolence; but, pursuing him,
remains sitting at his doors, and that He may show him the one who loves him, He does all
things, and sorrowing, bears and dies.”
My voice
Christ not only knocks but speaks. “The voice very often will interpret and make intelligible the
purpose of the knock” (Trench).
Hear - open the door
No irresistible grace.
Will sup ( δειπνήσω )
See on Luke 14:12. For the image, compare Song of Solomon 5:2-6; Song of Solomon 4:16;
Song of Solomon 2:3. Christ is the Bread of Life, and invites to the great feast. See Matthew
8:11; Matthew 25:1sqq. The consummation will be at the marriage-supper of the Lamb (Mark
14:25; Revelation 19:7-9).
He with me
It is characteristic of John to note the sayings of Christ which express the reciprocal relations of
Himself and His followers. See John 6:56; John 10:38; John 14:20; John 15:4, John 15:5; John
17:21, John 17:26. Compare John 14:23.

Copyright Statement
The text of this work is public domain.
Bibliography
Vincent, Marvin R. DD. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". "Vincent's Word Studies in the New
Testament". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/vnt/revelation-3.html. Charles
Schribner's Sons. New York, USA. 1887.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Wesley's Explanatory Notes
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.
I stand at the door, and knock — Even at this instant; while he is speaking this word.

If any man open — Willingly receive me.
I will sup with him — Refreshing him with my graces and gifts, and delighting myself in what I
have given.
And he with me — In life everlasting.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain and are a derivative of an electronic edition that is available on the
Christian Classics Ethereal Library Website.
Bibliography
Wesley, John. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". "John Wesley's Explanatory Notes on the
Whole Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/wen/revelation-3.html. 1765.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary
20.] Behold, I stand at the door (the construction with the prep. of motion after ἕστηκα, is
perhaps owing to the idea of motion conveyed in the verb,—“I have placed myself.” See reff.,
especially ref. Luke) and knock (the reference to Song of Solomon 5:2 is too plain to be for a
moment doubted: and if so, the interpretation must be grounded in that conjugal relation between
Christ and the church,—Christ and the soul,—of which that mysterious book is expressive. This
being granted, we may well say, that the vivid depiction of Christ standing at the door is
introduced, to bring home to the lukewarm and careless church the truth of His constant
presence, which she was so deeply forgetting. His knocking was taking place partly by the
utterance of these very rebukes ( ἐλέγχω), partly by every interference in judgment and in mercy.
Whenever His hand is heard, He is knocking at the door. But it is not His hand only that may be
heard: see below): if any man hear my voice (here we have more than the mere sound of his
knock: He speaks. See Acts 12:13 f. κρούσαντος δὲ τοῦ πέτρου τὴν θύραν … ἐπιγνοῦσα τὴν
φωνὴν τοῦ πέτρου. In that case we must conceive Rhoda to have asked “who is there?” and Peter
to have answered. It may not be uninstructive to fill up this connexion in a similar manner. “It is
I,” is an answer the soul may often hear, if it will enquire the reason of an unexpected knock at
the door of its slumbers; or we may compare Song of Solomon 5:2, φωνὴ ἀδελφιδοῦ μου κρούει
ἐπὶ τὴν θύραν, ἄνοιξόν μοι), and open the door ( ἀκούσῃ, ἀνοίξῃ, aorists, because prior in time to
the futures which follow: “shall have heard,” “shall have opened:” but it would be pedantry thus
to render them in our language. On the sense, cf. Song of Solomon 5:6.
Our verse is a striking and decisive testimony to the practical freedom of our will to receive or
reject the heavenly Guest: without the recognition of which, the love and tenderness of the
saying become a hideous mockery.
We then open the door to Christ, when we admit Him, His voice, His commands, His example,
to a share in our inner counsels and sources of action. To say that this can be done without His
grace, is ignorance: to say it is done only by that grace irresistibly exerted, is far worse—it is, to
deprive His gracious pleadings of all meaning), [and] (this καί is superfluous in the sense, merely
expressing the sequence: and may on that account have been omitted) I will enter in to him, and I
will sup with him, and he with me (the imagery is taken from the usages of intimate hospitality.
But whereas in these it would be merely the guest who would sup with the host who lets him in,
here the guest becomes himself the host, because He is the bread of life, and the Giver of the

great feast of fat things and of the great marriage supper (Matthew 8:11; Matthew 25:1 ff.; ch.
Revelation 19:7; Revelation 19:9).
St. John is especially fond of reporting these sayings of reciprocity which our Lord uttered: cf.
John 6:56 (John 10:38), John 14:20, John 15:4-5, John 17:21; John 17:26. This blessed
admission of Christ into our hearts will lead to His becoming our guest, ever present with us, and
sharing in all our blessings—and, which is even more, to our being ever in close union with Him,
partaking ever of His fulness, until we sit down at His table in his Kingdom).

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Alford, Henry. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". Greek Testament Critical Exegetical
Commentary. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hac/revelation-3.html. 1863-1878.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary
FULL SURRENDER
‘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.’
Revelation 3:20
These are the words of the Risen Christ, the Resurrection Lord, Who still stands in the midst of
the seven golden candlesticks.
Let us look at the passage as affording a striking picture of the characteristics, cause, and cure of
an unsatisfactory Christian experience.
I. The Characteristics.
(a) Self-satisfaction.
(b) Self-deception.
(c) Lukewarmness.
II. The cause of this lamentable condition. It is not always noticed that it is found in the position
Christ occupies with reference to the Church. He is external to it. ‘Behold, I stand at the door and
knock’ (Revelation 3:20). ‘But how,’ you ask, ‘can Christ be external to a true Church? Surely a
Church is not a Church at all if Christ be still waiting for admittance.’ We have only to turn to
the Song of Solomon 5:2 to see that a Church may be a true Church, and yet through drowsiness
and slothfulness of spirit may keep her Master waiting at the door. For be it remembered the
heart is a house of many chambers. There is the sunny chamber of the affections, and the throne
chamber of the will. Are we quite sure that Christ has full possession of them all?
III. The Cure. How can Laodicea be changed? The answer is found in the next verse. Admit
Christ, and He will do the rest. See, He stands and knocks. He is the ‘Heavenly Merchantman’
crying His wares, ‘Buy, buy, who’ll buy?’ He has gold tried in the fire to make you rich—gold
that will never tarnish, the very currency of heaven. He has white raiment that you may be

clothed—snow-white vestures in which to array your soul; those defiled and filthy garments, He
can make them pass away. He can cleanse the very thoughts of your heart and habits of your soul
by the inspiration of His Holy Spirit. He has eye-salve, sacred, costly ointment—holy
ointment—Holy Ghost ointment, wherewith to anoint your eyes that you may see. Will you not
admit Him? He brings these treasures with Him. Will you buy?
Rev. E. W. Moore.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Nisbet, James. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". Church Pulpit Commentary.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cpc/revelation-3.html. 1876.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
John Trapp Complete Commentary
20 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.
Ver. 20. Behold, I stand] Christ stands, he doth not sit; now while a man is standing he is going.
Christ is but a while with men in the opportunities of grace; he will not always wait their leisure.
The Church sought him (when once gone) with many a heavy heart, Cant. iii.
And knock] By the hammer of my word and hand of my Spirit.
And open the door, &c.] sc. By teachableness and obedience. This is not spoken of the first act of
conversion ( quae gratuita est et inopinata), but of the consequences of it; in which man, who
being dead hath been made alive, ought to co-operate with God’s grace.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Trapp, John. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". John Trapp Complete Commentary.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jtc/revelation-3.html. 1865-1868.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Sermon Bible Commentary
Revelation 3:20
Christ at the Door.
Consider, in the first place, the account which Christ gives of His dealings with men: He stands
at the door and knocks; in the second place, the promise which He makes to such as yield to His
solicitation: "I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with Me."

I. "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock." Then the heart is by nature closed against God. On no
other supposition could it be needful that Christ should knock for admission. When we turn from
considering men as members of society to considering them as creatures of God, then it is we
may bring them all under one verdict and pronounce the corruption of our nature total and
universal. Here it is that there is no difference, for the virtuous and the vicious are equally at
enmity with God, equally void of love to God, equally indisposed to the service of God. When
we try men by their love of God, by their willingness to submit to Him, by their desire to please
Him, there is no difference whatsoever; all must be equally brought under the description, "The
carnal mind is enmity against God." This truth it is which we derive from the words of our text;
it is a truth that the heart of every one is naturally barred against God, so that although it may
readily be opened at the touch of friendship or at the call of distress, yet does it obstinately
exclude that Creator and Benefactor who alone can fill its mighty capacities. And if the Church
thus shows the natural condition of the heart, it shows with equal accuracy by what kind of
means Christ strives to gain the entrance which is wickedly denied. Observe, no sort of violence
is used. There is nothing like forcing the door. Christ knocks, but when He has knocked, it still
rests with man to determine whether he will obey the summons and let in the Guest.
II. Consider briefly the promise of the text. If men would deal candidly with others and with
themselves, many would have to confess that they see little of what is pleasant in the account
which Scripture gives of the joys and enjoyments of redeemed men in glory. They have no taste
for adoring God and admiring Him in His perfections; and they cannot, therefore, be alive to the
happiness of a state in which praising God will form the chief business, and knowing God the
great delight. But if you have no relish for such happiness as heaven is to afford, this of itself
should make you earnest in obeying Christ's summons and throwing open the door, for I do not
know a more startling truth, if we be yet indifferent and impenitent, than that heaven would be
no heaven to us, even if we could get within its precincts. But to those who can feel the worth of
the promise in the text we need not say that there is a communion of intercourse between Christ
and the soul which, if not capable of being described to a stranger, is inestimably precious to
those by whom it is experienced. It is no dream of the enthusiast, it is the statement of soberness
and truth, that Jesus so manifests Himself to those who believe on His name, and communicates
such a sense of His presence, that He may be said to come in to them, to sup with them, and they
with Him.
H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 3249.
The Waiting Saviour.
The Lord Jesus is continually asking for admission into the hearts of all of us. He asks in various
ways and at various times.
I. He comes to us sometimes and showers blessings on our heads. He heaps mercy upon mercy
and privilege upon privilege; He gives us all that makes life joyous and bright; He gives us the
tender love of family and friends; He gives us a bright, happy, peaceful home; He gives us
prosperity in our worldly affairs; sometimes He knocks by sending us mercies and deliverances,
and seeks thus to awaken our gratitude, and seeks thus to draw forth our love.
II. Or, again, sometimes He knocks by sending us afflictions. He lays His hand upon us; He
sends sickness into our family; He sends us trouble and anxiety in our worldly affairs; He sends
us disappointment and sorrow; He takes from us those who are nearest and dearest to us on earth;

and then, when we are crushed and broken in heart, then, when we are full of sorrowful and
desponding thoughts—then it is that Christ knocks.
III. Again, the Lord knocks by means of warnings. We have most of us had certain solemn
warnings in the course of our lives. Once more, He knocks at sacred seasons and at sacred
services. We never come to church, we never listen to a sermon, we never read a chapter of
God's word, but then Christ knocks at our hearts, then He calls to us, then He speaks to us. He
bids us give up this and that sin; He bids us clear away those weeds, those rank, foul, hateful
weeds, and open the door of our hearts, and give entrance to the Lord who died for us on
Calvary.
IV. Lastly, consider why Christ knocks; consider what it is that He offers to do for us; consider
why He desires to abide in our hearts. It is because He desires to make those hearts like Himself;
it is because He desires to make them pure, and loving, and faithful, and true; it is because He
desires to make them so completely one with Him that in all our thoughts, and words, and works
we may reflect His glory, His purity, His love.
E. V. Hall, The Waiting Saviour, p. 13.

Welcoming Christ.
I. Note Christ's love at the present time: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock." (1) Our first
impression of this adorable figure is of wonder that He should be there at all. He, the Son of God,
who has suffered such unspeakable wrongs for us, comes again in a form most Divinely fair, and
offers Himself as our Guest. He who contains within Himself infinite treasures of love, who
comprehends all creatures within His arms, comes down to us and stands at our door, as if we
alone out of His whole Church required Him with us. (2) Look on this image of patience. There
He stands in the cool evening hour, having waited till the heat and business of the day be past.
He chooses the time when the mind is most likely to be at leisure, and to be quick to hear. The
cares of the day are over; it is the hour of relaxation. The very solitude of the chamber disposes
the mind to serious thought. Silence has its quiet influence. The spirit of the evening scene is
peace. His footprints are on the threshold, marking His last visit, and no one has heeded them.
No welcome, it is feared, for Him again to-night, waiting patiently till all within be hushed and
His voice be heard.
II. "If any man hear My voice, and open the door." This is the condition of His entering, the
welcome which He asks of us. Two possible states of life are indicated: a man may be so deaf
that he cannot hear, or he may hear and not heed.
III. "I will come in to him," etc. In the whole Bible there is not a touch of Divine love more
tender and penetrating than this. (1) The intimacy of Christ's love is here so great that the
believer may shrink from it in fear. But this is not God's intention. Wherever Jesus enters He
takes men as they are. All He asks is a welcome; that is, their faith. (2) When He sits at meat
with you see the perfect interchange and equal communion of your spirit with His: "I will sup
with him, and he with Me." Whatever He gives He gives Himself; He is all in all to the faithful
soul, and the soul is all in all to Him.
C. W. Furse, Sermons at Richmond, p. 164.

References: Revelation 3:20.—Homiletic Magazine, vol. x., p. 137; T. J. Crawford, The
Preaching of the Cross, p. 57; Homilist, 2nd series, vol. i., p. 91; J. Vaughan, Christian World
Pulpit, vol. xviii., p. 307; R. Glover, Ibid., vol. xxxii., p. 342; G. Macdonald, Ibid., vol. xxxiv., p.
215; Preacher's Monthly, vol. viii., p. 357.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Nicoll, William R. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". "Sermon Bible Commentary".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/sbc/revelation-3.html.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible
Revelation 3:20. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock:— "Behold, I have stood for a long time,
and I still stand at the door, and knock; waiting for admittance into your hearts. If any man hear
my voice with a due regard, and open the door; if he welcome me with affection due to such a
Friend and such a Saviour, how mean soever his circumstances in life may be, and how faulty
soever his character may formerly have been, I will enter into his house, and,like some princely
guest, will bring my own rich and delightful entertainment along with me; I will sup with him,
and he shallsup with me; I will treat him with the most endearing and familiar friendship, accept
the tokens of his affection, and give him the most solid evidences of mine." See Luke 14:15;
Luke 14:35. John 10:2; John 10:42.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Coke, Thomas. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy
Bible. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tcc/revelation-3.html. 1801-1803.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
These words are very expressive of the tender love and gracious condescension of Christ towards
poor sinners; full of heavenly rhetoric, to win and gain their hearts unto himself.
Here observe, That man's heart is Christ's door, that this door of the heart is naturally shut, yea,
locked and barred against Christ by ignorance and infidelity; that, notwithstanding this, Christ
knocks graciously at the door of men's hearts by his word, by his rod, by his Spirit: knocking is a
vehement motion, a reiterated motion, we knock again and again; a gradual motion, first more
gently, then loudly; and it is a finite motion, men will not always continue knocking, but if none
answer, they turn their backs and go their way. All the knocks 0f Christ will cease and end, his
Spirit will not always strive.

Farther observe, Christ doth not only knock, but stands knocking; it denotes the assiduity of
Christ in waiting upon sinners, and his patience in knocking; standing is a waiting posture, it
denotes an earnest desire and patient expectation.
Observe, Though Christ knocks at the door of man's heart, he doth not break it open, he doth not
offer violence to men's wills, and save them against their wills; but the Holy Spirit inclines them
to hear Christ's voice, and enables them to open the door to him, causing them to approve of and
consent to the offer and call of Christ.
Observe, That the door is no sooner open, but Christ comes in, and sups with the sinner: his
coming in denotes our union to him; his supping, our communion with him, imperfect on earth,
complete in heaven; there is a mutual, sweet, and intimate communion between Christ and
believers here on earth; there will be a perfect, complete, and uninterrupted communion with him
in heaven, when they shall ever be with the Lord.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Burkitt, William. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". Expository Notes with Practical
Observations on the New Testament.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/wbc/revelation-3.html. 1700-1703.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Charles Simeon's Horae Homileticae
DISCOURSE: 2504
EPISTLE TO LAODICEA
Revelation 3:20. 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.
OUR blessed Lord, in his sermon on the mount, says, “Ask, and ye shall have; seek, and ye shall
find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Now this is exactly what we might expect of a
gracious God, and more especially of an all-merciful Redeemer. But who would ever imagine
that this process should be inverted; and that, instead of a sinner knocking at the door of heaven
in fervent supplications, the Son of God himself should come and knock at the door of his heart,
soliciting admittance there? Yet this is the representation given us in my text: so infinitely are
“God’s ways higher than our ways, and his thoughts than our thoughts.” Let us contemplate this
mystery: let us consider,
I. The marvellous condescension of the Lord Jesus Christ towards our sinful race—
The hearts of men are shut and barred against him—
[“The strong man armed,” even Satan, occupies the souls of men as his palace, and fills them
with all manner of evil; and by his great power “he keeps them in peace,” unconscious of their
subjection to him, and altogether satisfied with their bondage [Note: Luke 11:21.]. When the
Lord Jesus Christ comes to seek admission there, every possible resistance is made to him. The
lusts, which have taken possession of them, bar the door against him. Prejudice and unbelief

determine them to obstruct his entrance; whilst the world, and all its lusts, maintain their post,
with a steadfastness that bids defiance to every effort, save that which is omnipotent — — —]
But he “stands at the door, and knocks”—
[He comes to men in his word, and demands that they yield themselves up to him — — — He
comes also by the secret energy of his Spirit; and warns men of their danger, if they persist in
their rebellion against him — — — He comes also by his providence, to awaken them by terrors,
or soften them by afflictions, if by any means he may prevail upon them to open to him — — —
Year after year does he “stand,” “waiting to be gracious to them,” and importuning them by
every kind of argument to admit him. Of Israel it is said, that “forty years he suffered their
manners in the Wilderness [Note: Acts 13:18.].” And many are the years that he has borne with
us. The generality he finds so fast asleep, that not all the thunders of his law can waken them.
Some are just roused from their slumbers: but, averse to receive him, they begin to put him off
with frivolous excuses. Their language is like that of the Church of old; “I sleep, but my heart
waketh: it is the voice of my Beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my
dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. But
I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them
[Note: Song of Solomon 5:2-3.]?” Still, however, does he continue knocking with invincible
patience: so true is that saying of the prophet, “All the day long I have stretched forth my hands
unto a disobedient and gainsaying people [Note: Isaiah 65:2 and Romans 10:21.].”]
What marvellous condescension is this!
[If we were to stand for any length of time imploring mercy from God, and were left without any
answer of peace, it were nothing but what our sins have justly merited; nor could we have the
smallest reason to complain. But that the Lord Jesus Christ should sue in vain for admission into
our hearts, appears incredible; or, at all events, we might expect him, after the first refusal of his
overtures, to say, “They are joined to idols; let them alone:” “My Spirit shall strive with them no
more;” from henceforth I “give them over to their own heart’s lusts, to follow their own
imaginations, till they have “filled up the measure of their iniquities,” and “wrath shall come
upon them to the uttermost.” But, “behold!” yes, well may it be said “Behold;” for His
condescension exceeds belief. Do but reflect, who it is that thus waits upon us: it is the Creator,
importuning his guilty and rebellious creatures: it is the Judge, following the criminal with
entreaties to accept of pardon, and to let his sentence of condemnation be reversed: it is the self-
sufficient God, who would be equally happy and glorious if every child of man were left to
perish like the fallen angels, that labours thus to ingratiate himself with the vilest of mankind, if
by any means he may prevail on some of them to accept at his hands all the blessings both of
grace and glory. Say, I pray you, Is not this a condescension, that surpasses all the powers of
language to express, or of imagination adequately to conceive?]
But this subject will appear more fully in its true light, if we consider,
II. The mercies which he desires to impart unto them—
These are expressed under a familiar and most significant metaphor—
[The metaphor of a guest is not uncommon in the Holy Scriptures. Our Lord said to his
Disciples, “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him; and we will
come unto him, and make our abode with him [Note: John 14:23.].” And this shall be realized, in
the most endearing manner, to all who open to him: “He will come in to them, and sup with
them, and they with him.” We cannot conceive of any act of friendship that is not comprehended

under this term. But how shall I convey any adequate idea of its import? What sweet
manifestations of his love will he impart to the soul, and what rich communications of his grace!
Who can fully explain that declaration of the Apostle, “Truly our fellowship is with the Father,
and with his Son, Jesus Christ [Note: 1 John 1:3.]?” We may think of all the familiarities and
endearments that ever were enjoyed, even among the most attached friends or relatives, and they
will fall infinitely short of that blessedness which he will impart to the believing soul. When he
comes in to sup with us, he will, if I may so say, bring his own provision along with him. What
“exceeding great and precious promises” will he set before us, for our support! What tastes of his
love will he give us, when he shall “shed it abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost?” And what
foretastes also of his glory will he communicate, when he bids us to drink of the cup of his
salvation!]
Nor is there a person under heaven excluded from this benefit—
[His own word is, “If any man hear.” It matters not how unworthy any man may be: if he had all
the sins of Manasseh himself upon his soul, the mercy here proffered should be imparted to him.
We are told of Manasseh, that he filled Jerusalem itself with the blood of innocents, and made
the people worse than the heathen whom the Lord had destroyed before them: yet, when he
humbled himself, God heard his supplication, and made himself known to him under the
endearing character of Israel’s God [Note: Jeremiah 19:4. 2 Chronicles 33:9; 2 Chronicles 33:12-
13.]. We may be sure, therefore, that no person under heaven shall be excluded from a
participation of the grace that is here so freely offered. All that is required of any man is, to “hear
the Saviour’s voice, and open to him.” O that this were duly considered by us all! Brethren, you
are not called upon to merit any thing at the Saviour’s hands, but only to receive thankfully what
he so freely offers. Only be sensible that you have hitherto excluded him from your hearts, whilst
you have given a ready reception to the basest lusts; be sensible, I say, of this, and now open
your hearts to him, and all the blessings of salvation shall be yours, for your present comfort, and
for your everlasting possession.]
Address—
1. Those who are yet strangers to the Saviour’s love—
[The generality of men who call themselves Christians would quite revolt at the expression in my
text, and at all the wonders of love contained in it. But, brethren, wherefore is it thus with you? Is
it because there is no truth in these representations? or because ye have never yet sought to
experience them in your souls — — — Would ye but now open your hearts to him, verily, there
is not one amongst you of whom it should not be said, that “Christ is gone to be a guest with a
man that is a sinner [Note: Luke 19:7.].” But if ye refuse his entreaties now, the time will come,
when ye shall cry to him, but not be heard [Note: Proverbs 1:24-31. Isaiah 55:6.].]
2. Those who have had some experience of it in their souls—
[Be not satisfied with any measure of intercourse that you have yet enjoyed with your Lord and
Saviour. Ye cannot expect, with Paul, to be caught up into the third heavens: but ye may expect
from the Saviour such an abundance of grace and mercy and peace as shall be a foretaste of
heaven itself. Only cast out, with increasing zeal and diligence, the lusts that have occupied your
heart, sweeping from every corner of it “the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump,” and your
feasts with the Saviour here shall be only a prelude to that richer feast which you shall enjoy
above: for all with whom he has supped on earth shall “sit down with him at the marriage-supper
of the Lamb in heaven” for evermore [Note: Revelation 19:9.].]

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Simeon, Charles. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". Charles Simeon's Horae Homileticae.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/shh/revelation-3.html. 1832.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Heinrich Meyer's Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament
Revelation 3:20. If the epistle to the church at Laodicea be regarded as having a design differing
in no essential point from that of the other epistles, neither can Revelation 3:20 be regarded the
epilogue,(1620) which rather comprises only Revelation 3:21-22, nor can the eschatological
sense in Revelation 3:20, which is properly made prominent by Ebrard, be denied, as is usually
done. The ἰδού ἕστηκα ἐπὶ τὴν θύραν καὶ κρούω, κ. τ. λ., is essentially nothing else than the
ἐρχο΄αι ταχύ, or ἥξω with its paracletic applications.Revelation 2:5; Revelation 2:16, Revelation
3:3; Revelation 3:11. Cf. also Revelation 2:10; Revelation 2:22 sq." class="bible_footnote
alt_foreground_dark bold" id="1621" style="display: inline; "(1621) The door before which the
Lord stands, and asks entrance by his knock ( κρούω) and call (cf. ἀκ. τ. φωνῆς ΄ου), is ordinarily
understood as the door of the heart,(1622) and, accordingly, the κρούειν, as the preaching of the
gospel,(1623) the movements occasioned by the Holy Spirit,(1624) while special providential
dispensations, are also added.(1625) The ἐισελεύσο΄αι, κ. τ. λ., is not then understood in its full
personal sense,(1626) and the δειπνήσω limited either entirely to the blessed communion of
believers with the Lord in this life,(1627) or, as is entirely out of place, to the communion in the
present and the future life.(1628) The latter reference Beng. obtains by understanding the δειπν.
΄ετʼ αὐτοῦ of the earthly, and the κ. αὐτ. ΄ετ ἐ΄οῦ of the heavenly life. In their peculiar nature the
κρούειν and the φωνή of the Lord, whereby he asks entrance, are not distinct from the ἐλέγχειν
and παιδεύειν, Revelation 3:19, just as it is from the same love that he does both the former and
the latter. His coming is near; he stands already before the door. And he wishes the church at
Laodicea also to be prepared to receive him, in order that he may not come in
judgment,Revelation 3:3; Revelation 2:5." class="bible_footnote alt_foreground_dark bold"
id="1629" style="display: inline; "(1629) but to enter therein, and hold with it the feast of
blessed communion.Matthew 25:1 sqq." class="bible_footnote alt_foreground_dark bold"
id="1630" style="display: inline; "(1630) The sense, especially of the formula δειπν. ΄ετʼ αὐτοῦ
κ. αὐτὸς ΄ετʼ ἐ΄οὺ, expressing the complete communion of the one with the other, is that of John
17:24; Colossians 3:4.(1631)
An immediate connection with Song of Solomon 5:2(1632) is not discernible; although it is
incorrectly asserted(1633) that in the N. T. in general, and in the Apoc. especially, no trace
whatever of the Song of Solomon can be detected. Ebrard, appropriately: “The figure (of the
wedding), or this idea together with the general doctrine of the relation of Christ to his Church as
bridegroom, depends upon the Song of Solomon.” But in our passage the idea, in general, of
Christ as bridegroom is not definitely expressed.(1634) [See Note XLI., p. 184.]
NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR
XLI. Revelation 3:20. ἰδοὺ ἔστηκα, κ. τ. λ.

Alford, on the contrary: “The reference to Song of Solomon 5:2 is too plain to be for a moment
doubted; and, if so, the interpretation must be grounded in that conjugal relation between Christ
and the Church,
Christ and the soul,—of which that mysterious book is expressive. This being granted, we may
well say that the vivid depiction of Christ standing at the door is introduced to bring home to the
lukewarm and careless church the truth of his constant presence, which she was so deeply
forgetting. His knocking was taking place, partly by the utterance of these very rebukes, partly
by every interference in justice and mercy.” Trench: “The very language which Christ uses here,
the κρούειν ἐπὶ τὴν θύραν, the summons ἀνοίγειν recurs. Nor is the relation between the one
passage and the other merely superficial and verbal. The spiritual condition of the bride there is,
in fact, precisely similar to that of the Laodicean angel here. Between sleeping and waking, she
has been so slow to open the door, that, when at length she does so, the Bridegroom has
withdrawn. This exactly corresponds to the lukewarmness of the angel here. Another proof of the
connection between them is, that, although there has been no mention of any thing but a
knocking here, Christ goes on to say, ‘If any man hear my voice.’ What can this be but an
allusion to the words in the canticle, which have just gone before: ‘It is the voice of my beloved
that knocketh’?”
The reference, by Bengel, of the δειπνήσω to the communion both in this life and the life to
come, may have found, in the distinction between μετʼ αὐτοῦ and μετʼ ἐμοῦ, more than is
intended; nevertheless, we can see, in this passage, only the blessed communion with God begun
here on earth, and consummated in heaven,—not two communions, but one, at two different
stages. Gebhardt (p. 127) finds the thought of the Lord’s Supper suggested. Luthardt’s brief
notes refer to Luke 12:36; interpreting the knocking as the impending return of the Lord, the
opening of the door, by suggesting the familiar hymn of Paul Gerhardt,—
“Oh, how shall I receive thee?”—
and the supping, by the Lord’s Supper in the kingdom of God (Matthew 26:29; Luke 22:29-30).
In connection with the ἐάν τις ἀκούσῃ τῆς φωνῆς, Trench’s remarks are important as to the
incompatibility of this passage with any doctrine of irresistible grace; as well as his warning
against the Pelagian error, “as though men could open the door of their heart when they would,
as though repentance was not itself a gift of the exalted Saviour (Acts 5:31). They can only open
when Christ knocks, and they would have no desire at all to open unless he knocked.… This is a
drawing, not a dragging; a knocking at the door, not a breaking open the heart.” So Gerhard (L.
T., ii. 275): “When God, by his word, knocks at the door of our heart, especially by the
proclamation of his law, the grace of the Holy Spirit is at the same time present, who wishes to
work conversion in our heart; and therefore, in his knocking, he not only stands without, but also
works within.”

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Meyer, Heinrich. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". Heinrich Meyer's Critical and Exegetical
Commentary on the New Testament.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hmc/revelation-3.html. 1832.

\l " return to 'Jump List'
Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament
Revelation 3:20. ἰδοὺ—, behold—) The observation respecting retrograde order depends almost
entirely upon this very increase of close approach, respecting which see Erkl. Off.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Bengel, Johann Albrecht. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomon
of the New Testament. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jab/revelation-3.html.
1897.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible
There is a double interpretation of this text, each of them claiming under very valuable
interpreters; some making it a declaration of Christ’s readiness to come in to souls, and to give
them a spiritual fellowship and communion with himself; others interpreting it of Christ’s
readiness to come to the last judgment, and to take his saints into an eternal joyful fellowship and
communion with himself: hence there is a different interpretation of every sentence in the text.
I stand at the door; either, in my gospel dispensations, I stand at the door of sinners’ hearts; or, I
am ready to come to judge the world.
And knock, by the inward monitions and impressions of my Spirit, or my ministers more
externally; or, I am about to knock, that is, I am ready to have the last trump sounded.
If any man hear my voice, and open the door; that is, if any man will hearken to the counsels and
exhortations of my ministers, and to the monitions of my Spirit, and not resist my Holy Spirit; or,
if any man hath heard my voice, and opened his heart to me.
I will come in to him; I will come in by my Spirit, and all the saving influences of my grace; or, I
will come to him as a Judge to acquit him.
And will sup with him, and he with me; and I will have a communion with him in this life, he
shall eat my flesh, and drink my blood; or, I will have an eternal fellowship and communion with
him in my glory. The phrase seems rather to favour the first sense; the so frequent mention
before of Christ’s coming to judgment, and the reward of another life, as arguments to persuade
the angels of the churches to their duty, favours the latter sense.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Poole, Matthew, "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". Matthew Poole's English Annotations on
the Holy Bible. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mpc/revelation-3.html. 1685.

\l " return to 'Jump List'
Alexander MacLaren's Expositions of Holy Scripture
Revelation
CHRIST AT THE DOOR
Revelation 3:20.
Many of us are familiar, I dare say, with the devoutly imaginative rendering of the first part of
these wonderful words, which we owe to the genius of a living painter. In it we see the fast shut
door, with rusted hinges, all overgrown with rank, poisonous weeds, which tell how long it has
been closed. There stands, amid the night dews and the darkness, the patient Son of man, one
hand laid on the door, the other bearing a light, which may perchance flash through some of its
chinks. In His face are love repelled, and pity all but wasted; in the touch of His hand are
gentleness and authority.
But the picture pauses, of course, at the beginning of my text, and its sequel is quite as wonderful
as its first part. ‘I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with Me.’ What can surpass
such words as these? I venture to take this great text, and ask you to look with me at the three
things that lie in it; the suppliant for admission; the door opened; the entrance, and the feast.
I. Think, then, first of all, of that suppliant for admission.
I suppose that the briefest explanation of my text is sufficient. Who knocks? The exalted Christ.
What is the door? This closed heart of man. What does He desire? Entrance. What are His
knockings and His voice? All providences; all monitions of His Spirit in man’s spirit and
conscience; the direct invitations of His written or spoken word; in brief, whatsoever sways our
hearts to yield to Him and enthrone Him. This is the meaning, in the fewest possible words, of
the great utterance of my text.
Here is a revelation of a universal truth, applying to every man and woman on the face of the
earth; but more especially and manifestly to those of us who live within the sound of Christ’s
gospel and of the written revelations of His grace. True, my text was originally spoken in
reference to the unworthy members of a little church of early believers in Asia Minor, but it
passes far beyond the limits of the lukewarm Laodiceans to whom it was addressed. And the
‘any man’ which follows is wide enough to warrant us in stretching out the representation as far
as the bounds of humanity extend, and in believing that wherever there is a closed heart there is a
knocking Christ, and that all men are lightened by that Light which came into the world.
Upon that I do not need to dwell, but I desire to enforce the individual bearing of the general
truth upon our own consciences, and to come to each with this message: The saying is true about
thee, and at the door of thy heart Jesus Christ stands, and there His gentle, mighty hand is laid,
and on it the flashes of His light shine, and through the chinks of the unopened door of thy heart
comes the beseeching voice, Open! Open unto Me.’ A strange reversal of the attitudes of the
great and of the lowly, of the giver and of the receiver, of the Divine and of the human! Christ
once said, Knock and it shall be opened unto you.’ But He has taken the suppliant’s place, and,
standing by the side of each of us. He beseeches us that we let Him bless us, and enter in for our
rest.
So, then, there is here a revelation, not only of a universal truth, but a most tender and pathetic
disclosure of Christ’s yearning love to each of us. What do you call that emotion which more

than anything else desires that a heart should open and let it enter? We call it love when we find
it in one another. Surely it bears the same name when it is sublimed into all but infinitude, and
yet it is as individualizing and specific as it is great and universal, as it is found in Jesus Christ. If
it be true that He wants me, if it be true that in that great heart of His there are a thought and a
wish about His relation to me, and mine to Him, then, then, each of us is grasped by a love that is
like our human love, only perfected and purified from all its weaknesses.
Now we sometimes feel, I am afraid, as if all that talk about the love which Jesus Christ has to
each of us was scarcely a prose fact. There is a woeful lack of belief among us in the things that
we profess to believe most. You are all ready to admit, when I preach it, that it is true that Jesus
Christ loves us. Have you ever tried to realize it, and lay it upon your hearts, that the sweetness
and astoundingness of it may soak into you, and change your whole being? Oh! listen, not to my
poor, rough notes, but to His infinitely sweet and tender melody of voice, when He says to you,
as if your eyes needed to be opened to perceive it, ‘Behold! I stand at the door and knock.’
There is a revelation in the words, dear friends, of an infinite long-suffering and patience. The
door has long been fastened; you and I have, like some lazy servant, thought that if we did not
answer the knock, the Knocker would go away when He was weary. But we have miscalculated
the elasticity and the unfailingness of that patient Christ’s lore. Rejected, He abides; spurned, He
returns. There are men and women who all their lives long have known that Jesus Christ coveted
their love, and yearned for a place in their hearts, and have steeled themselves against the
knowledge, or frittered it away by worldliness, or darkened it by sensuality and sin. And they are
once more brought into the presence of that rejected, patient, wooing Lord, who courts them for
their souls, as if they were, which indeed they are, too precious to be lost, as long as there is a
ghost of a chance that they may still listen to His voice. The patient Christ’s wonderfulness of
long-suffering may well bow us all in thankfulness and in penitence. How often has He tapped or
thundered at the door of your heart, dear friends, and how often have you neglected to open? Is it
not of the Lord’s mercies that the rejected or neglected love is offered you once more? and the
voice, so long deadened and deafened to your ears by the rush of passion, and the hurry of
business, and the whispers of self, yet again appeals to you, as it does even through my poor
translation of it.
And then, still further, in that thought of the suppliant waiting for admission there is the
explanation for us all of a great many misunderstood facts in our experience. That sorrow that
darkened your days and made your heart bleed, what was it but Christ’s hand on the door? Those
blessings which pour into your life day by day ‘beseech you, by the mercies of God, that ye yield
yourselves living sacrifices.’ That unrest which dogs the steps of every man who has not found
rest in Christ, what is it but the application of His hand to the obstinately closed door? The stings
of conscience, the movements of the Spirit, the definite proclamation of His Word, even by such
lips as mine, what are they all except His appeals to us? And this is the deepest meaning of joys
and sorrows, of gifts and losses, of fulfilled and disappointed hopes. This is the meaning of the
yearning of Christless hearts, of the stings of conscience which come to us all. ‘Behold! I stand
at the door and knock.’ If we understood better that all life was guided by Christ, and that
Christ’s guidance of life was guided by His desire that He should find a place in our hearts, we
should less frequently wonder at sorrows, and should better understand our blessings. /^ The boy
Samuel, lying sleeping before the light in the inner sanctuary, heard the voice of God, and
thought it was only the grey-bearded priest that spoke. We often make the same mistake, and
confound the utterances of Christ Himself with the speech of men. Recognize who it is that

pleads with you; and do not fancy that when Christ speaks it is Eli that is calling; but say,
‘Speak, Lord! for Thy servant heareth.’ ‘Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye
everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in.’
II. And that leads me, secondly, to ask you to look at the door opened.
I need not enlarge upon what I have already suggested, the universality of the wide promise here
- ‘If any man open the door’; but what I want rather to notice is that, according to this
representation, ‘the door’ has no handle outside, and is so hinged that it opens from within,
outwards. Which, being taken out of metaphor and put into fact, means this, you are the only
being that can open the door for Christ to come in. The whole responsibility, brother, of
accepting or rejecting God’s gracious Word, which comes to you all in good faith, lies with
yourself.
I am not going to plunge into theological puzzles, but I appeal to consciousness. You know as
well as I do - better a great deal, for it is yourself that is in question - that at each time when your
heart and conscience have been brought in contact with the offer of salvation through faith in
Jesus Christ, if you had liked you could have opened the door, and welcomed His entrance. And
you know that nobody and nothing kept it fast except only yourselves. ‘Ye will not come to Me,’
said Christ, ‘that ye might have life.’ Men^ indeed, do pile up such mountains of rubbish against
the door that it cannot be opened, but it was they that put them there; and they are responsible if
the hinges are so rusty that they will not move, or the doorway is so clogged that there is no
room for it to open. Jesus Christ knocks, but Jesus Christ cannot break the door open. It lies in
your hands to decide whether you will take or whether you will reject that which He brings.
The door is closed, and unless there be a definite act on your parts it will not be opened, and He
will not enter. So we come to this, that to do nothing is to keep your Saviour outside; and that is
the way in which most men that miss Him do miss Him.
I suppose there are very few of us who have ever been conscious of a definite act by which, if I
might adhere to the metaphor, we have laid hold of the door on the Inside, and held it tight lest it
should be opened. But, I fear me, there are many who have sat in the inner chamber, and heard
the gracious hand on the outer panel, and have kept their hands folded and their feet still, and
done nothing. Ah! brethren, to do nothing is to do the most dreadful of things, for it is to keep the
shut door shut in the face of Christ. No passionate antagonism is needed, no vehement rejection,
no intellectual denial of His truth and His promises. If you want to ruin yourselves, you have
simply to do nothing! All the dismal consequences will necessarily follow.
‘Well,’ you say, ‘but you are talking metaphors; let us come to plain facts. What do you want me
to do? ‘I want you to listen to the message of an infinitely loving Christ who died on the Cross to
bear the sins of the whole world, including you and me; and who now lives, pleading with each
of us from heaven that we will take by simple faith, and keep by holy obedience, the gift of
eternal life which He offers, and He alone can give. The condition of His entrance is simple trust
in Him, as the Saviour of my soul. That is opening the door, and if you will do that, then, just as
when you open the shutters, in comes the sunshine; just as when you lift the sluice in flows the
crystal stream into the slimy, empty lock, so - I was going to say by gravitation, rather by the
diffusive impulse that belongs to light, which is Christ - He will enter in, wherever He is not shut
out by unbelief and aversion of will.
III. And so that brings me to my last point, viz., the entrance and the feast.

My text is a metaphor, but the declaration that ‘if any man open the door’ Jesus Christ ‘will
come in to him,’ is not a metaphor, but is the very heart and centre of the Gospel, ‘I will come in
to him,’ dwell in him, be really incorporated in his being, or inspirited, if I may so say, in his
spirit. Now you may think that that is far too recondite and lofty a thought to be easily grasped
by ordinary people, but its very loftiness should recommend it to us. I, for my part, believe that
there is no more prose fact in the whole world than the actual dwelling of Jesus Christ, the Son of
God who is in heaven, in the spirits of the people that love Him and trust Him. And this is one
great part of the Gospel that I have to preach to you, that into our emptiness He will come with
His fullness; that into our sinfulness He will come with His righteousness; that into our death He
will come with His triumphant and immortal life; and He being in us and we in Him, we shall be
full and pure and live for ever, and be blessed with the blessedness of Jesus. So remember that
embedded in the midst of the wonderful metaphor of my text lies the fact, which is the very
centre of the Gospel hope, the dwelling of Jesus Christ in the hearts even of poor sinful creatures
like you and me.
But it comes into view here only as the basis of the subsequent promises, and on these I can only
touch very briefly, ‘I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with Me.’ Well, that speaks
to us in lovely, sympathetic language of a close, familiar, happy communication between Christ
and my poor self, which shall make all life as a feast in company with Him. We remember who
is the mouthpiece of Jesus Christ here. It is the disciple who knew most of what quietness of
blessedness and serenity of adoring communion there were in leaning on Christ’s breast at
supper, casting back his head on that loving bosom; looking into those deep sad eyes, and asking
questions which were sure of answer. And John, as he wrote down the words ‘I will sup with
him, and he with Me,’ perhaps remembered that upper room where, amidst all the bitter herbs,
there was such strange joy and tranquility. But whether he did or no, may we not take the picture
as suggesting to us the possibilities of loving fellowship, of quiet repose, of absolute satisfaction
of all desires and needs, which will be ours if we open the door of our hearts by faith and let
Jesus Christ come in?
But, note, when He does come He comes as guest. ‘I will sup with him.’ ‘He shall have the
honour of providing that of which I partake.’ Just as upon earth He said to the Samaritan woman,
‘Give Me to drink,’ or sat at the table, at the modest village feast in Bethany, in honour of the
miracle of a man raised from the dead, and smiled approval of Martha serving, as of Lazarus
sitting at table, and of Mary anointing Him, so the humble viands, the poor man’s fare that our
resources enable us to lay upon His table, are never so small or poor for Him to delight in. This
King feasts in the neatherd’s cottage, and He will even condescend to turn the cakes. ‘I will sup
with Him.’ We cannot bring anything so coarse, so poor, so unworthy, if a drop or two of love
has been sprinkled over it, but that it will be well-pleasing in His sight, and He Himself will
partake thereof. ‘He has gone to be a guest with a man that is a sinner.’
But more than that, where He is welcomed as guest. He assumes the place of host. ‘I will sup
with him, and he with Me.’ You remember how, after the Resurrection, when the two disciples,
moved to hospitality, implored the unknown Stranger to come in and partake of their humble
fare, He yielded to their importunity, and when they were in the guest chamber, took His place at
the head of the table, and blessed the bread and gave it to them. You remember how, in the
beginning of His miracles, He manifested forth His glory in this, that, invited as a common guest
to the rustic wedding, He provided the failing wine. And so, wherever a poor man opens his heart
and says, ‘Come in,’ and I will give Thee my ‘best,’ Jesus Christ comes in, and gives the man

His best, that the man may render it back to Him. He owes nothing to any man. He accepts the
poorest from each, and He gives the richest to each. He is Guest and Host, and what He accepts
from us is what He has first given to us.
The promise of my text is fulfilled immediately when the door of the heart is opened, but it
shadows and prophesies a nobler fulfilment in the heavens. Here and now Christ and we may sit
together, but the feast will be like the Passover, eaten with loins girt and staves in hand, and the
Red Sea and wilderness waiting to be trodden. But there comes a more perfect form of the
communion, which finds its parallel in that wonderful scene when the weary fishers, all of whose
success had depended on their obedience to the Master’s direction, discerned at last, through the
grey of the morning, who it was that stood upon the shore, and, struggling to His side, saw there
a fire of coals, and fish laid thereon, and bread, to which they were bidden to add their modest
contribution in the fish that they had caught; and the meal being thus prepared partly by His hand
and partly by theirs, ennobled and filled by Him, His voice says, ‘Come and dine.’ So, brethren,
Christ at the last will bring His servants to His table in His kingdom, and there their works shall
follow them; and He and they shall sit together for ever, and for ever ‘rejoice in the fatness of
Thy house, even of Thy holy temple.’
I beseech you, listen not to my poor voice, but to His that speaks through it, and when He knocks
do you open, and Christ Himself shall come in. ‘If any man love Me he will keep My
commandments, and My Father will love him, and We will come and make Our abode with
him.’

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
MacLaren, Alexander. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". Alexander MacLaren's Expositions of
Holy Scripture. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mac/revelation-3.html.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Justin Edwards' Family Bible New Testament
I stand at the door; representing his readiness and desire to bestow all needed good upon all who
serve him.
Sup with him, and he with me; which would be to their rich mutual joy. Christ is ready to save
men; but in order to be saved by him, they must receive him in faith and love as their Redeemer,
and devote life to his service. If they are lost, it will be on account of their opposition to him, and
their refusal to accept of his salvation.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Edwards, Justin. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". "Family Bible New Testament".

https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/fam/revelation-3.html. American Tract Society.
1851.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges
20. ἕστηκα ἐπὶ τὴν θύραν καὶ κρούω. The Lord expresses His affection, from which He has
intimated that the Laodiceans are not excluded, by this figure of intense and condescending
tenderness. It is intended to remind the readers of Song of Solomon 5:2 : but the figure of the
lover’s midnight visit is too delicate to bear being represented, as here, with a mixture of the
thing signified with the image, especially since the visit is not to the Church, personified as a
single female, but to any individual, and of either sex; so it is toned down into a visit from a
familiar friend.
ἐάν τις ἀκούσῃ τῆς φωνῆς μου. It is implied that anyone is sure to hear His knock, and be roused
to ask who is there: but only those who love Him will know His voice (as Rhoda did St Peter’s,
Acts 12:14) when He says “It is I.”
δειπνήσω. The blessing promised is a secret one to the individual. There can thus hardly be a
reference to the Holy Eucharist, which is shared publicly by the whole Church.
μετ ̓ αὐτοῦ καὶ αὐτὸς μετ ̓ ἐμοῦ. The sense is, “I will take all he has to give Me, as though I had
need of it, and benefited by it (cf. Matthew 25:37-40): but at the same time, it will really be I that
give the feast, and he that receives it.” There can hardly be a better illustration than a quaint and
touching legend, given in a little book called Patranas, or Spanish Stories, with the title “Where
one can dine, two can dine.”

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
"Commentary on Revelation 3:20". "Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cgt/revelation-3.html. 1896.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
is a clear reference to that parable. The Son of Man, Whom John saw standing among the
lampstands, is pictured as having arrived and as standing and knocking at the door of this church
so that He may come in and sup with them. ‘I am here’, He says, ‘knocking’. But the inference is
that they are not ready to hear.
So He next makes His plea to individuals in the church. If any one will hear His voice and open
the door He will come in to him and they will eat together. In other words He wishes the church
to see Him as on the verge of His coming in glory, and to respond on that basis. At some stage
He will come, and no one knows when, so they must be like servants making ready.
But He recognises that they are so complacent that He is doubtful of their response so He then
addresses each individual member. If any individual will therefore recognise Him as the coming
Lord and welcome Him, even before His coming, He will sup with them, and they with Him.

This does not really represent the heart’s door, but it does refer to an individual’s willingness to
receive Him and welcome Him, which is much the same thing.
This reminds us that all these letters sent to the churches are sent as from the Lord Who is about
to come in His glory. They are to see Him as on the verge of coming. As we learn here, this is in
order to awaken them. It is also an encouragement to them to persevere in the face of hardship
and tribulation. He is still on the verge of coming today. He delays only because He is
longsuffering (2 Peter 3:9). But who knows when He will finally arrive?

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Pett, Peter. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". "Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible ".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/pet/revelation-3.html. 2013.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Whedon's Commentary on the Bible
20. Behold—The apparently broken connexion between this and the former verses of this
address will be restored, if we consider the verse as a quotation from Solomon’s Song, Song of
Solomon 5:2-6. The Church of Laodicea is represented by the sleepy bride at whose door the
bridegroom knocks, but she is so remiss that she opens the door too late, for he is gone. She says,
“It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my love; for my head is filled
with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.” The allusion shows to Laodicea the love
between the Saviour and the Church, but the fearful danger of a deferred welcome to him.
I stand at the door, and knock—There is a wonderful pathos in the picture. It is the supplicator
Christ. It is night, and the darkness and damps are falling upon him. He is rejected by the sons of
men almost the entire world round, and comes for admission at the door of one who professes to
love him.
If any man—Of the Laodicean Church immediately, of the whole world inferentially.
Open the door—For, though Lord of all power, he will never force the door open. There is a
solemn if which every man must decide for himself.
I will—God’s will is to knock; and if man’s will is to open, then comes Christ’s will to come in.
Sup—The evening dinner, as we may say; the principal meal of the day.
With him—As his guest.
He with me—As my guest; I being truly his host. And, continuing the reference to Solomon’s
Song, this is the supper of Christ and his bride, the Church; the marriage supper of the Lamb,
which is symbolically ever repeating itself here, but plenarily consummated at the resurrection of
the just. Note 19.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Whedon, Daniel. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". "Whedon's Commentary on the Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/whe/revelation-3.html. 1874-1909.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Foy E. Wallace's Commentary on the Book of Revelation
4. "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"--3:20.
Here is the note of deep affection in the metaphor of the common meal, which the ancients
regarded as a manifestation of fraternal confidence. The old term sup here signifies spiritual
communion, which the Lord offered to restore with the Laodiceans. In common parlance today
the word fellowship is in vogue.
The remedial import of this high light in the Lord's persuasions to Laodicea, is that reconciliation
begins with Jesus Christ. He reverses here the order of Matthew 7:7 : "Knock, and it shall be
opened unto you." Here the Lord himself knocks, asking that they open unto him. The people of
old accompanied their knocking with addressing those inside, in order that they might know who
was knocking, and thus whether to open. Jesus here announces himself as the One seeking
admission; but he does not force entrance. Here the truth of free moral agency incidentally
appears--man can receive or reject divine overtures.

Copyright Statement
These files are a derivative of an electronic edition available at BibleSupport.com. Public
Domain.
Bibliography
Wallace, Foy E. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". "Foy E. Wallace's Commentary on the Book
of Revelation". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/foy/revelation-3.html. 1966.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Revelation 3:20. Behold, I stand at the door. The figure is not intended to convey to the church
the thought of the Lord’s constant presence, but rather the assurance that He has taken up a new
position, that He is at hand for judgment, and that He will immediately admit His people to the
full enjoyment of His promised blessedness.
And knock. These words bring more forcibly home to us the Lord’s standing at the door and the
nearness of His presence. No knocking in various ways, by providence, by conscience, by the
ordinances of the Church, by the work of the Spirit, is referred to. The words simply show how
near Jesus is, and how ready to bless (comp. James 5:9).
If any one hear my voice, etc. The picture is one of the heavenly reward, and both statements, I
will sup with him, and he with me, are to be taken together. The first is not confined to the
blessedness of earth, the second to the blessedness of heaven; but the two combined express the

glory and joy of the future world, where the believer shall be for ever with his Lord.—Different
opinions have been entertained as to the foundation of the figure, a very common supposition
being that it rests upon St. John’s own personal intercourse with Jesus related at John 1:39, and
upon his Master’s visits to him at the close of many a day’s labour during His earthly ministry.
Such a reference is far-fetched; and it is much more natural to think of the words of the Song of
Solomon in chap. Revelation 5:2, and to behold here the festivity and joy of the time of the
Lord’s marriage to His Church. Revelation 19:9, where we read of the marriage supper of the
Lamb, appears to confirm this. May we not also connect with the supper of this verse the thought
of the last supper in the upper chamber at Jerusalem? We are dealing with the last of the Epistles,
and the imagery may well be drawn from one of the closing acts of the Saviour’s life on earth.
That Supper is not a mere memorial of death: it is a spiritual feast in which the life of the
believer is most intimately bound up with that of his Lord, in which the union between them is
the closest of all unions, that between the Bridegroom and the bride.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Schaff, Philip. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". "Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New
Testament". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/scn/revelation-3.html. 1879-90.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
The Expositor's Greek Testament
Revelation 3:20. The language recalls Song of Solomon 5:2 ( φωνὴ ἀδελφιδοῦ μου κρούει ἐπὶ
τὴν θύραν· ἄνοιξον μοι, for contemporary evidence of the allegorical use of Canticles see
Gunkel’s note on 4 Esdras. 5:20 f. and Bacher’s Agada d. Tannaiten, i. 109, 285 f. 425, etc.)
interpreted in the eschatological sense ( γινώσκετε ὅτι ἐγγύς ἐστιν ἐπὶ θύραις Mark 13:29 =
Matthew 24:33) of the logion in Luke 12:35-38 upon the servants watching for their Lord, ἵνα
ἐλθόντος καὶ κρούσαντος εὐθέως ἀνοίξωσιν αὐτῷ (whereupon, as here, he grants them intimate
fellowship with himself and takes the lead in the matter). To eat with a person meant, for an
Oriental, close confidence and affection. Hence future bliss (cf. En. lxii. 14) was regularly
conceived to be a feast (cf. Dalman i. § 1, (910). 4 a and Volz 331), or, as in Luke 22:29-30 and
here (cf. Revelation 3:21), feasting and authority. This tells against the otherwise attractive
hypothesis that the words merely refer to a present repentance on the part of the church or of
some individuals in it (so e.g. de Wette, Alf., Weiss, Simcox, Scott), as if Christ sought to be no
longer an outsider but a welcome inmate of the heart (cf. Ruskin’s Sesame and Lilies, § 95). The
context (cf. 18 and 21), a comparison of Revelation 16:15 (which may even have originally lain
close to Revelation 3:20), and the words of James 5:9 ( ἰδοὺ ὁ κριτὴς πρὸ τῶν θυρῶν ἕστηκεν)
corroborate the eschatological interpretation (so e.g. Düsterdieck, Pfleid., Bousset, Forbes,
Baljon, Swete, Holtzmann), which makes this the last call of Christ to the church when he arrives
on the last day, though here Christ stands at the door not as a judge but as a friend. Hence no
reference is made to the fate of those who will not attend to him. In Revelation 2:5; Revelation
2:16, ἔρχομαι σοι need not perhaps be eschatological, since the coming is conditional and
special, but ἔρχομαι by itself (Revelation 3:11) and ἥξω (Revelation 2:25) must be, while
Revelation 3:3 probably is also, in view of the context and the thief-simile. The imminent threat

of Revelation 3:16 is thus balanced by the urgency of Revelation 3:20. For the eschatological
ἰδού cf. Revelation 1:7, Revelation 16:15, Revelation 21:3, Revelation 22:7; Revelation 22:12.
φωνῆς, implying that the voice is well-known. To pay attention to it, in spite of self-engrossment
and distraction, is one proof of the moral alertness ( ζήλευε) which means repentance. For the
metaphorical contrast (reflecting the eternal paradox of grace) between the enthroned Christ of
21 and the appealing Christ of 20, cf. the remarkable passage in Sap. 9:4; 9:6 f., 10 f., where
wisdom shares God’s throne and descends to toil among men; also Seneca’s Epp. lxi.
(quemadmodum radii solis contingunt quidem terram, sed ibi sunt unde mittuntur; sic animus
magnus et sacer conüersatur quidem nobiscum, sed haeret origini suae [Revelation 5:6]: illinc
pendet, illuc spectat ac nititur, nostris tanquam melior interest). By self-restraint, moderation,
and patience, with regard to possessions, a man will be some day a worthy partner of the divine
feast, says Epictetus (Enchir. xv.): “but if you touch none of the dishes set before you and
actually scorn them, τότε οὐ μόνον ἔσει συμπότης θεῶν ἀλλὰ καὶ συνάρχων.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Nicol, W. Robertson, M.A., L.L.D. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". The Expositor's Greek
Testament. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/egt/revelation-3.html. 1897-1910.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Haydock, George Leo. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". "George Haydock's Catholic Bible
Commentary". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hcc/revelation-3.html. 1859.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes
stand. Literally have taken my station.
knock. The call to the wedding feast (Revelation 19:9), to which the parables pointed, e.g. Luke
12:35-38 "when He cometh and knocketh". The popular belief that the Lord is ever knocking at
the hearts of sinners is a distortion of Scripture akin to blasphemy.
any man. App-123.
sup, &c. A gracious promise to His servants (See Revelation 1:1). See Luke 12:37.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Bullinger, Ethelbert William. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". "E.W. Bullinger's Companion
bible Notes". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bul/revelation-3.html. 1909-1922.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged
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.
Stand - waiting in wonderful condescension and long-suffering.
Knock - a further manifestation of His loving desire for our salvation. Himself "the door" (John
10:7), who bids us "knock," that it maybe "opened unto" us (Matthew 7:7), is first Himself to
knock at the door of our hearts. If He did not knock first, we should never come to knock at His
door. Song of Solomon 5:2; Song of Solomon 5:4-6, is plainly alluded to; the Spirit here sealing
the canonicity of that mystical book. The spiritual state of the bride there, between walking and
sleeping, slow to open the door to her divine lover, answers to the lukewarm Laodicea. 'Love
toward men emptied God; for He does not remain in His place and call to Him the servant whom
He loved, but comes down Himself to seek him; He who is all-rich arrives at the lodging of the
pauper, with His own voice intimates His yearning love, seeks a similar return, withdraws not
when disowned, is not impatient at insult, and when persecuted still waits at the doors (Nicolaus
Cabasilas in Trench).
If any man hear - for man is not compelled; Christ knocks, but does not break open the door,
though the violent take heaven by force of prayer (Matthew 11:12). Whosoever hears, does so
not of himself, but by the drawings of God's grace (John 6:44): repentance is Christ's gift (Acts
5:31). He draws, not drags. The Sun of righteousness, the moment the door is opened, pours in
His light, which could not previously find entrance.
My voice. He appeals to the sinner not only with His hand (His providence) knocking, but with
His voice (His word: or rather, His Spirit applying to man's spirit the lessons to be drawn from
His providences and His word). If we disregard His knocking at our door now, He will disregard
our knocking at His door hereafter. As to His second coming, He is even now at the door (James
5:9); we know not how soon He may knock; we should always be ready to open to Him
immediately.
I will come in to him - as I did to Zaccheus.
Sup with him, and he with me. Delightful reciprocity. Compare John 6:56, end. Ordinarily, the
admitted guest sups with the admitter: here the divine guest becomes Himself the host, for He is
the bread of life, and Giver of the marriage feast. Here again He alludes to Song of Solomon 2:3;
Song of Solomon 4:16, where the Bride invites Him to eat pleasant fruits, even as He first
prepared a feast for her: "His fruit was sweet to my taste." Compare the same interchange, John
21:9-13, the feast being made up of the viands Jesus brought, and those the disciples brought.
The consummation of this blessed intercommunion shall be at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb,
of which the Lord's Supper is the foretaste.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Jamieson, Robert, D.D.; Fausset, A. R.; Brown, David. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20".
"Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jfu/revelation-3.html. 1871-8.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
The Waiting Guest
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.—Revelation 3:20.
The Church of Laodicea, to which these words were originally addressed, had grievously
declined, so that it scarce retained any sign of spiritual life. Words cannot be found to express
more strongly a decayed and almost desperate moral condition than those which Christ addresses
to this once flourishing community. Spiritual pride, strange to say, is the most common attendant
and fatal sign of spiritual degeneracy, as though, the worse men grew, the better they fancied
themselves. But when Christ solemnly rebuked the Church of Laodicea, depicting its condition
in terms which lead us to expect nothing else than its final condemnation, then it is that, in place
of assuming the office of Judge and thundering forth the vengeance of heaven, Christ still
presents Himself as a pleader with the obdurate, and makes one more effort to prevail on them to
be saved. This is one of those exquisite transitions which give the Bible such power of
persuasiveness.
The text was originally spoken in reference to the unworthy members of a little Church of early
believers in Asia Minor, but it passes far beyond the limits of the lukewarm Laodiceans to whom
it was addressed. And the “any man” is wide enough to warrant us in stretching out the
representation as far as the bounds of humanity extend, and in believing that wherever there is a
closed heart there is a knocking Christ.
Of all the pictures which flashed before the mind of the prisoner-seer of Patmos, the most
wonderful is that which shows Jesus standing as a suppliant at a door, and that the door of a
church (Revelation 3:20). It was only the other day that I discovered for myself the reason why
this is the most wonderful picture in the Apocalypse. Others may have found it out before, but it
was only then that I saw that the words in Revelation 3:14 should be read as an inscription over
the door—“The Church of the Laodiceans.” I had not thought of that before; the door had been
any door to me. And while it was wonderful that Jesus should stand there and knock, His action
has all the effect of a surprise when it is seen that He is standing and knocking at the door of the
Church of the Laodiceans, of which He had said, “Because thou art neither cold nor hot, I will
spue thee out of my mouth.” What was the matter with this Church? It was not a society of
unbelievers or hypocrites. It was not accused of unfaithfulness or of heresy, or of any gross or
open sin. It was not even a cold Church. Evidently it was not without some faith or love or
obedience. Jesus said it was “lukewarm” obedience. What was the cause of this lukewarmness?
Our answer is found in the position of Jesus. He is standing at the door—outside. The Church

bore His name, and called Him Lord and worshipped Him, but He was not “in the midst” of it.
That is enough to account for its spiritual condition. Intensity of devotion is impossible while He
remains at the door.1 [Note: J. Reid, in The Churchman, Feb. 1910, p. 133.]
We have represented in the text—
I. The Waiting Christ.
II. The Closed Door.
III. The Door Opened.
IV. The Entrance and the Feast.
I
The Waiting Christ
Who knocks? The exalted Christ. What is the door? The closed heart of man. What does He
desire? Entrance. What are His knockings and His voice? All providences, all monitions of His
Spirit in man’s spirit and conscience, the direct invitations of His written or spoken word—in
brief, whatsoever sways our hearts to yield to Him and enthrone Him. This is the meaning, in the
fewest possible words, of this great text.
1. This wonderful picture of Christ standing at the door like a weary traveller asking to be let in
just reverses the common view which one is apt to take of the religious life. We commonly think
of truth as hiding itself within its closed door and of ourselves as trying to get into it. We speak
of “finding Christ,” or “proving God,” or “getting religion,” as if all these things were mysteries
to be explored, hidden behind doors which must be unlocked; as if, in the relation between man
and God, man did all the searching, and God was a hidden God. But the fundamental fact of the
religious life is this—that the power and love of God are seeking man; that before we love Him,
He loves us; that before we know Him, He knows us; that antecedent to our recognition of Him
must be our receptivity of Him. Coleridge said that he believed in the Bible because it found
him. It is for the same reason that man believes in God. God finds him.
It is coming more and more to be seen that such religious progress as man has made is not so
much his endeavour to find God, as God’s endeavour to find him; that it is more satisfactory to
represent man’s religious history as a continuous knocking on the part of God at the door of
man’s heart than as a continuous spontaneous search on man’s part after God. To Christians,
indeed, no other view is at all possible; for of course to represent the relation between man and
God as search on man’s part instead of revelation on God’s part would be to empty the idea of
God of all meaning.
The sunlight travels far from its source in the deep of heaven—so far that, though it can be
expressed in figures, the imagination fails to take in the magnitude of the sum; but when the rays
of light have travelled unimpeded so far, and come to the door of my eye, if I shut that door—a
thin film of flesh—the light is kept out, and I remain in darkness. Alas! the Light that travelled so
far, and came so near—the Light that sought entrance into my heart, and that I kept out—was the
Light of life!1 [Note: W. Arnot, The Anchor of the Soul, 278.]
Behold, I knock! Methinks if on My face
Thou wouldst but rest thine eyes,
Wouldst mark the crown of thorns, the sharp nails trace,

Thou couldst not Me despise!
Thee have I yearned for with a love so strong,
Thee have I sought so earnestly and long;
My road led from a cross unto this place;
Behold, I knock!
2. But we have in the text a hint of the Divine long-suffering, which does not merely knock, and
then, if it be not opened to it at once, go away and leave us to ourselves, to our own impenitence
and hardness of heart. Christ rather, as one who knows that He has a message which it supremely
concerns men that they should receive, and who will therefore take no denial, knocks, and, not
being admitted, knocks again, with all the importunity of love. “Behold! I stand at the door and
knock.” There is in the words a revelation of an infinite long-suffering and patience. The door
has long been fastened; we have, like some lazy servant, thought that if we did not answer the
knock, the Knocker would go away when He was weary. But we have miscalculated the
elasticity and the unfailingness of that patient Christ’s love. Rejected, He abides; spurned, He
returns.
There is a familiar picture by Holman Hunt that paints the idea of our text. There is shown a
cottage neglected, falling into ruin. In front of the window tall thistles spring up, and long grass
waves on the pathway, leading to the door overgrown with moss and rank poisonous weeds. In
front of the fast-closed door with rusted hinges a tall and stately figure stands amid the night
dews and the darkness with a face that tells of toil and long, weary waiting, and one hand
uplifted to knock and another bearing a light that may perhaps flash through some of the chinks
of the door. It is Christ, the Son of God, seeking to get into our sinful hearts.1 [Note: W.G.
Elmslie, Memoir and Sermons, 86.]
3. Christ does not only knock; He also speaks; He makes His “voice” to be heard—a more
precious benefit still! It is true, indeed, that we cannot in our interpretation draw any strict line of
distinction between Christ knocking and Christ speaking. Both represent His dealings of infinite
love with souls for winning them to receive Him; yet at the same time, considering that in this
natural world a knock may be anyone’s, and on any errand, while the voice accompanying that
knock would at once designate who it was that stood without, and with what intention, we have a
right, so far as we may venture to distinguish between the two, to see in the voice the more
inward appeal, the closer dealing of Christ with the soul, speaking directly by His Spirit to the
spirit of the man; in the knocking those more outward gracious dealings, of sorrow and joy, of
sickness and health, and the like, which He sends and, sending, uses for the bringing of His elect,
in one way or another, by smooth paths or by rough, to Himself. The “voice” very often will
interpret and make intelligible the purpose of the “knock.”
Will anyone venture to say, “This mysterious voice has never uttered itself to spiritual ear of
mine”? Is it indeed so? Have we then never had our times of gracious visitation? Assuredly we
all have had them, and not seldom. We may indeed have missed them and their meaning
altogether; but the times themselves not the less have been ours—times of a great joy, and times
of a great sorrow; times when our God has given to us so much, and times when He has taken
away so much; times of weary sickness, and times of unlooked-for recovery; times with no
ominous hour for long years knocking at our door with its tidings of mishap; or times when we
have had sorrow upon sorrow; times when we have been made to enter on the miserable
possession of our past sins; times when we have walked in the glorious liberty of the children of

God; times when the world was sweet unto us, and when the world was bitter; times when we
walked compassed with troops of friends, and times when lonely paths were appointed for our
treading. Has not our God been speaking to us in all this joy and in all this sorrow? He can gently
speak as well as loudly knock; and happy is the man who has ears to hear. In every gracious
thought that visits us, in every yearning after better things, in every solemn resolution for the
days to come, in every tender memory of days gone by, Christ is standing before our door,
saying, “It is I.”
The boy Samuel, lying sleeping before the light in the inner sanctuary, heard the voice of God,
and thought it was only the grey-bearded priest that spoke. We often make the same mistake, and
confound the utterances of Christ Himself with the speech of men. Recognize who it is that
pleads with you; and do not fancy that when Christ speaks it is Eli that is calling; but say,
“Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.”
It will be as well, I think, to explain these locutions of God, and to describe what the soul feels
when it receives them, in order that you may understand the matter; for ever since that time of
which I am speaking, when our Lord granted me that grace, it has been an ordinary occurrence
until now, as will appear by what I have yet to say.
The words are very distinctly formed; but by the bodily ear they are not heard. They are,
however, much more clearly understood than they would be if they were heard by the ear. It is
impossible not to understand them, whatever resistance we may offer. When we wish not to hear
anything in this world, we can stop our ears, or give attention to something else: so that, even if
we do hear, at least we can refuse to understand. In this locution of God addressed to the soul
there is no escape, for in spite of ourselves we must listen; and the understanding must apply
itself so thoroughly to the comprehension of that which God wills we should hear that it is
nothing to the purpose whether we will it or not; for it is His will, who can do all things. We
should understand that His will must be done; and He reveals Himself as our true Lord, having
dominion over us. I know this by much experience.1 [Note: The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus (ed.
1911), 213.]
II
The Closed Door
1. The “knock” and the “voice” may alike remain unheard and unheeded. It is in the power of
every man to close his ear to them; therefore the hypothetical form which this gracious promise
takes: “If any man hear my voice, and open the door.” There is no irresistible grace here. It is the
man himself who must open the door. Christ indeed knocks, claims admittance as to His own; so
lifts up His voice that it may be heard, in one sense must be heard, by him; but He does not break
open the door, or force an entrance by violence. There is a sense in which every man is lord of
the house of his own heart; it is his fortress; he must open the gates of it; unless he does so,
Christ cannot enter. And, as a necessary complement of this power to open, there belongs also to
man the mournful prerogative and privilege of refusing to open; he may keep the door shut, even
to the end. He may thus continue to the last blindly at strife with his own blessedness, a
miserable conqueror who conquers to his own ever-lasting loss and defeat. There are times in our
lives when we are not at home to the serious thoughts that come to visit us, to the higher life
embodied in Christ that would enter in, when we dare to exercise towards God that tremendous
power which all of us have, the power not to open the door even to Him, to disregard even His
knocking.

I remember hearing some years ago of an incident which occurred near Inverness. A beautiful
yacht had been sailing in the Moray Firth. The owners of it—two young men—landed at
Inverness, purposing to take a walking tour through the Highlands. But they lost their way, and
darkness found them wandering aimlessly about in a very desolate spot. At last, about midnight,
they fortunately came upon a little cottage, at the door of which they knocked long and loudly for
admittance. But the inmates were all in bed, and curtly the young men were told to go elsewhere,
and make no more disturbance there. Luckily, they found shelter in another house some distance
away. But next morning the inhospitable people heard a rumour that filled them with chagrin,
and gave them a lesson they would not be likely soon to forget. What do you think it was? Just
this: that the two young men who knocked in vain at their door the previous night were Prince
George (now our King) and his brother the late Duke of Clarence—the most illustrious visitors
in the kingdom. You can fancy the shame the people must have felt thus unconsciously to have
shown themselves so inhospitable to the noblest persons in all the land. But are we any better?
Are we not, indeed, much worse, if we shut Jesus Christ, the greatest of all Kings, out of our
hearts?1 [Note: W. Hay, God’s Looking-Glass, 91.]
The late Dr. William Arnot of Edinburgh relates a story that beautifully illustrates this text: “I
was visiting,” said he, “among my people of Edinburgh. I looked up at the high houses to see
whether Betty Gordon, an aged saint of God, was at home. I knew she was in, for when she went
away she always carefully pulled down the blind, and this day the blind was not drawn. I knew
that she was poor, but she trusted God, and I was glad that somebody had given me some money
that morning to give to the poor. I put aside Betty’s rent for a month in my pocket and climbed
up the winding stone stairs to her door. I knocked softly, but there was no answer. Then I
knocked louder, but there was still no answer. At last I said, ‘Betty forgot to pull down the blind,
and she has gone out. What a pity!’ Then I went down the stairs. The next morning I went back
and knocked at the door. After a little waiting, Betty came and opened it. ‘Oh,’ she said, ‘is it
you, Mr. Arnot? I am so glad to see you! Come in!’ There were tears in her eyes and a look of
care. I said, ‘Betty, what are you crying for?’ ‘Oh,’ she said, ‘Mr. Arnot, I am so afraid of the
landlord. He came yesterday, and I hadna the rent, and I didna open the door, and now I am
afraid of him coming; for he is a hard man.’ ‘Betty,’ I asked, ‘what time did he come yesterday?’
‘He came between eleven and twelve o’clock,’ she said. ‘It was twenty-five minutes to twelve’.
‘Well,’ I said, ‘it was not the landlord; it was I, and I brought to you this money to pay your
rent.’ She looked at me, and said, ‘Oh, was it you? Did you bring me that money to pay my rent,
and I kept the door shut againt you, and I would-na let you in? And I heard you knocking, and I
heard you ringing, and I said, That is the landlord; I wish he would go away. And it was my ain
meenister. It was my ain Lord who had sent ye as His messenger, and I wouldna let ye in.’”1
[Note: J.L. Brandt, Soul Saving, 185.]
2. Although it must be for Christ a sad thing—a thing which cuts Him to the heart—that we
should trust Him so little as not to care to admit Him, yet it is less for His own sake than for ours
that He is vexed. Ours is the loss. He comes with blessings in both hands. This Prince of Love
has help and healing for every part of us. It is our unwillingness to open up to Him, and nothing
else, that checks the current of His benefactions, and reduces Him to stand, with hands still
“laden” and half His kindly purpose unfulfilled, a suppliant Saviour. Yet He will do no more
than knock and call. Though the urgency is on His side, He will not open. Though as crowned
King He stands, with title to command and power to compel, yet He will not open. God will do
no violence to man’s reluctance; nor does it beseem One who draws near in grace ungraciously
to force a passage. Nor in truth can the door to our heart’s affections be broken through from

without, only opened consentingly from within. Permission He must crave; He cannot, and He
will not, enter undesired. A man is the only being that can open the door of his own heart for
Christ to come in. The whole responsibility of accepting or rejecting God’s gracious Word,
which comes to him all in good faith, lies with the man himself. He knows that at each time
when his heart and conscience have been brought in contact with the offer of salvation through
faith in Jesus Christ, if he had liked he could have opened the door and welcomed the entrance of
the Saviour. And he knows that nobody and nothing kept it fast except only himself. “Ye will not
come to me,” said Christ, “that ye might have life.” Men, indeed, do pile up such mountains of
rubbish against the door that it cannot be opened, but it was they that put the rubbish there; and
they are responsible if the hinges are so rusty that they will not move, or the doorway is clogged
that there is no room for it to open.
When Holman Hunt painted that wonderful picture of the thorn-crowned King outside the door
knocking, he showed his picture to his dearest friend, in the studio before it was publicly
exhibited. His friend looked at it, at the kingly figure of Christ, at the rough and rugged door, and
at the clinging tendrils which had spread themselves over the door. Suddenly he said: “Hunt, you
have made a terrible mistake here.” “What mistake have I made?” said the artist. “Why, you
have painted a door without a handle.” “That is not a mistake,” replied Hunt. “That door has no
handle on the outside. It is inside.”1 [Note: G. Campbell Morgan.]
But all night long that voice spake urgently,
“Open to Me.”
Still harping in mine ears:
“Rise, let Me in.”
Pleading with tears:
“Open to Me, that I may come to thee.”
While the dew dropped, while the dark hours were cold:
“My Feet bleed, see My Face,
See My Hands bleed that bring thee grace,
My Heart doth bleed for thee,—
Open to Me.”

So till the break of day:
Then died away
That voice, in silence as of sorrow;
Then footsteps echoing like a sigh
Passed me by,
Lingering footsteps slow to pass.
On the morrow
I saw upon the grass
Each footprint marked in blood, and on my door

The mark of blood for evermore.2 [Note: Christina G. Rossetti, Poetical Works, 241.]
3. It is one of the commonplaces of our experience that we do not like people to force themselves
on our acquaintance, to force their friendship on us; and any attempt to do that generally results
in creating dislike to those who try to come into our hearts without knocking, who do not respect
the privacy of our choice of friends, but walk straight in without announcing themselves or
waiting till they are asked to come in. Now it makes the great truth of God’s search for us, God’s
wonderful insistence in meeting us at every point of life, all the more solemn that it is part of the
Divine humility, part of God’s respect for our freedom, a proof that He wants love and trust that
are freely given, that He does not force Himself on our acquaintance, as it were. So we come to
this, that to do nothing is to keep our Saviour outside; and that is the way in which most men that
miss Him do miss Him. There are many who have sat in the inner chamber, and heard the
gracious hand on the outer panel, and have kept their hands folded and their feet still, and done
nothing. To do nothing is to do the most dreadful of things, for it is to keep the door shut in the
face of Christ. No passionate antagonism is needed, no vehement rejection, no intellectual denial
of His truth and His promises. If we want to ruin ourselves, we have simply to do nothing!
Why does Christ not come in? Is not this Divine Spirit omnipotent? Has He not power to enter
where He will, to breathe where He chooses, to blow where He listeth? Why, then, does He stand
without, knocking at the door of a frail human heart? Could He not break down that door in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and annihilate that opposing barrier which disputes His
claim to universal empire? Yes, but in so doing He would annihilate also the man. What makes
me a man is just my power to open the door. If I had no power to open or to forbear opening, I
would not be responsible. He meant me to respond to Himself, to open on His knocking at the
door. He could have no joy in breaking down the door, in taking the kingdom of my heart by
violence; there would be no response in that, no answer of a heart, no acceptance of a will by His
will. Therefore, He prefers to stand without till I open, to knock till I hear, to speak till I
respond.1 [Note: G. Matheson, Moments on the Mount, 144.]
My friend Mr. Collier, of Manchester, told me of an incident that occurred during one of his
mission services at the Central Hall. Holman Hunt’s picture was on the screen. In front sat a
working man and his little boy. A great hush was over the audience. Presently the little boy
nudged the man and said, “Dad, why don’t they let Him in?” The man was a little nonplussed,
then after a moment’s silence said, “I don’t know, Jimmy. I expect they don’t want Him to come
in.” Again a moment’s silence, and Jimmy said, “It’s not that. Everybody wants Him.” After a
pause he continued, “I know why they don’t let Him in. They live at the back of the house.” The
man who refuses to admit Jesus has some motive, something kept behind and out of sight. He is
living at the back.1 [Note: G. Campbell Morgan.]
III
The Door Opened
1. Notice the simple conditions of the text—“If any man will hear my voice and open the door.”
Christ does not say: “If any man make himself moral; if any man will try and make himself
better; if any man has deep sorrow; if any man has powerful faith.” No, that is not it. This is what
He says: “If any man will hear my voice, and open the door.” The condition of His entrance is
simple trust in Him as the Saviour of the soul. That is opening the door, and if we do that, then,
just as when we open the shutters, in comes the sunshine; just as when we lift the sluice in flows
the crystal stream into the slimy, empty lock, so Christ will enter in.

2. The text is a metaphor, but the declaration, that “if any man open the door” Jesus Christ “will
come in to him,” is not a metaphor; it is the very heart and centre of the gospel: “I will come in
to him,” dwell in him, be really incorporated in his being. There is no more certain fact in the
whole world than the actual dwelling of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who is in heaven, in the
spirits of the people that love Him and trust Him. Into our emptiness He will come with His
fulness; into our sinfulness He will come with His righteousness; into our death He will come
with His triumphant and immortal life; and He being in us, we shall be full and pure and live for
ever, and be blessed with the blessedness of Jesus.
The manner and the way, whereby Christ’s righteousness and obedience, death and sufferings
without, become profitable unto us, and are made ours, is by receiving Him, and becoming one
with Him in our hearts, embracing and entertaining that Holy Seed which, as it is embraced and
entertained, becometh a Holy Birth in us, which in Scripture is called: “Christ formed within”;
“Christ within, the hope of glory” (Galatians 4:19; Colossians 1:27), by which the body of sin
and death is done away, and we cleansed and washed and purged from our sins, not imaginarily
but really; and we really and truly made righteous and holy and pure in the sight of God: and it is
through the union betwixt Him and us (His righteous life and nature brought forth in us, and we
made one with it, as the branches are with the vine), that we have a true title and right to what He
hath done and suffered for us.
It is not the works of Christ wrought in us, nor the works which we work in His spirit and power,
that we rest and rely upon as the ground and foundation of our justification; but it is Christ
Himself, the Worker revealed in us, indwelling in us; His life and spirit covering us, that is the
ground of our justification.1 [Note: Robert Barclay, Truth Cleared of Calumnies (Works, i.
164).]
IV
The Entrance and the Feast
1. “I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” These words speak to us in
lovely, sympathetic language of a close, familiar, happy communion between Christ and our
poor selves, which shall make all life as a feast in company with Him. We remember who is the
mouthpiece of Jesus Christ here. It is the disciple who knew most of what quietness of
blessedness and serenity of adoring communion there were in leaning on Christ’s breast at
supper, casting back his head on that loving bosom; looking into those deep, sad eyes, and asking
questions which were sure of answer. And St. John, as he wrote down the words, “I will sup with
him, and he with me,” perhaps remembered that Upper Room where, amidst all the bitter herbs,
there was such strange joy and tranquillity. But whether he did or not, may we not take the
picture as suggesting to us the possibilities of loving fellowship, of quiet repose, of absolute
satisfaction of all desires and needs, which will be ours if we open the door of our hearts by faith
and let Jesus Christ come in?
Let Thy Holy Spirit be pleased, not only to stand before the door and knock, but also to come in.
If I do not open the door, it were too unreasonable to request such a miracle to come in when the
doors were shut, as Thou didst to the apostles. Yet let me humbly beg of Thee, that Thou wouldst
make the iron gate of my heart open of its own accord. Then let Thy Spirit be pleased to sup in
my heart; I have given it an invitation, and I hope I shall give it room. But, O Thou that sendest
the guest, send the meat also; and if I be so unmannerly as not to make the Holy Spirit welcome,

O let Thy effectual grace make me to make it welcome.1 [Note: Thomas Fuller, Good Thoughts
in Bad Times.]
Speechless Sorrow sat with me;
I was sighing wearily,
Lamp and fire were out: the rain
Wildly beat the window-pane.
In the dark we heard a knock,
And a hand was on the lock;
One in waiting spake to me,
Saying sweetly,
“I am come to sup with thee!”

All my room was dark and damp;
“Sorrow,” said I, “trim the lamp;
Light the fire, and cheer thy face;
Set the guest-chair in its place.”
And again I heard the knock;
In the dark I found the lock:—
“Enter! I have turned the key!
Enter, Stranger!
Who art come to sup with me.”

Opening wide the door He came,
But I could not speak His name;
In the guest-chair took His place;
But I could not see His face!
When my cheerful fire was beaming,
When my little lamp was gleaming,
And the feast was spread for three,
Lo! my Master
Was the Guest that supped with me!2 [Note: Harriet M. Kimball.]
2. “I will come in to him, and will sup with him” suggests that our Lord not only confers a
blessing but receives one; that He not only gives us satisfaction in His presence, but gets
satisfaction out of our presence. It is one of the most beautiful thoughts presented to us in the
Bible, that “the Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.” We
often think of what God can do for us. Do we ever think of what we can do for God? We often

talk about our trusting God. Have we a holy ambition to be such that it shall be possible for God
to trust us? We think of our loving God. Do we ever think of His loving us? We think of God’s
giving us pleasure. Do we ever think of our giving Him pleasure? And yet our blessed Lord
indicates that if the door is opened to Him, and He comes in to a soul that has hitherto excluded
Him, He is going to bring a blessing and to get a blessing; He is going to confer good and to
receive it; He is going to impart joy, and His own Divine heart is going to get a thrill of joy from
the obedience, and the confidence, and the communion of the willing soul.
Oh that we could take that simple view of things, as to feel that the one thing which lies before
us is to please God! What gain is it to please the world, to please the great, nay, even to please
those whom we love, compared with this? What gain is it to be applauded, admired, courted,
followed, compared with this one aim of not being disobedient to a heavenly vision? What can
this world offer comparable with that insight into spiritual things, that keen faith, that heavenly
peace, that high sanctity, that everlasting righteousness, that hope of glory, which they have who
in sincerity love and follow our Lord Jesus Christ?1 [Note: J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain
Sermons, viii. 32.]
3. Where Christ is welcomed as guest, He assumes the place of host. “I will sup with him, and he
with me.” After the Resurrection, when the two disciples, moved to hospitality, implored the
unknown Stranger to come in and partake of their humble fare, He yielded to their importunity
and, when they were in the guest-chamber, took His place at the head of the table, and blessed
the bread and gave it to them. In the beginning of His miracles, He manifested forth His glory in
this, that, invited as a common guest to the rustic wedding, He provided the failing wine. And so,
wherever a poor man opens his heart and says, “Come in, and I will give Thee my best,” Jesus
Christ comes in, and gives the man His best, that the man may render it back to Him. He accepts
the poorest from each, and He gives the richest to each.
With One so condescending and communicative, the blessed soul in whom Jesus dwells ventures
to be open too. With happy boldness we begin to tell Him everything. We consult Him even in
trifles. We lay great and little cares on Him. We ask His aid in every affair. Thus He shares in all
of ours as we in His, and communion attains completion. When such an exchange of sweet and
secret actings on one another becomes the habit of the inner life, then these two grow together—
the soul and its Saviour—inweaved into each other, till neither can be at any moment satisfied
without the other’s presence, or is to be thought of as sundered or alone. This action and reaction,
this varied play of friendship, this sense of common possession, this familiar commerce of giving
and receiving—what else is this but the joy of supping with Him and He with us?
All life to the positive mystic is full of God here and now. Dante found that “In His will is our
peace.” His dying to self was not a blind negation: it was a living unto God, in whom the
personality is strengthened, purified, consecrated and made conjunct with a life larger than, yet
kindred to, its own. The “I” and the “Thou” are only lost as they are in love: lost to be enriched,
surrendered to be ennobled: the soul comes back, laden with precious fruits, with new activities,
with intellect, conscience, will—nay, the whole being sanctified and enlarged.
The mystical books tell of the saint who knocked at the door of Paradise. “Who is there?” asked
the Lord. “It is I,” answered the saint, but the gate did not open. Again the saint tremblingly drew
near and knocked. “Who is there?” said the voice from within. “It is Thou,” replied the saint,
grown wiser, and immediately the door opened. He had found the Paradise of the soul. And it is
in the apprehension of the “Not I” that the “I” passes into a higher state of activity, where it is at
once “in tune with the infinite,” and passes into a new power of life and service. “We know that

we have passed from death into life.” Because He wills, and we will with Him in conscious
choice, is the secret of positive mysticism.1 [Note: D. Butler, George Fox in Scotland, 108.]
4.The promise of the text is fulfilled immediately when the door of the heart is opened, but it
shadows and prophesies a nobler fulfilment in the heavens. Here and now Christ and we may sit
together, but the feast will be like the Passover, eaten with loins girt and staff in hand, the Red
Sea and the wilderness waiting to be trodden. But there comes a more perfect form of the
communion, when Christ at the last will bring His servants to His table in His Kingdom, and
there their works shall follow them; and He and they shall sit together for ever, and for ever
“rejoice in the fatness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.”
Come in, Thou Saviour-King, who art knocking at our very souls this day for leave to show us
all Thy love, come in and traverse these unclean chambers of our being! Purge them by Thy
blood. Enlighten their darkness. Fill their empty spaces with Thy riches. Make what is ours,
Thine. See, we give it unto Thee—infirmity, error, sorrow: bear it with us! Make what is Thine,
ours. See, we open ourselves wide for it—pardon, strength, gladness: share Thy blessings with
us! So shall we sup with Thee and Thou with us; till in this communion our spirits echo after
their poor measure that ever-sounding song which circles round Thy heavenly banquet-hall—
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and
honour, and glory, and blessing!”1 [Note: J. O. Dykes.]
I love Thee, Lord, for Thou didst first love me,
And didst a home in this poor mansion seek.
I heard Thy knock, and straight unbarred my heart,
And listened wondering to Thine accents meek.

I long had lived unknowing of Thy love,
And selfishness directed all my will;
The name of God was but a name to me,
And earthly thoughts and aims enthralled me still.

Briers and thorns obstructed all approach,
And tangled weeds lay rotting at the door;
But Thou didst come, with bleeding hands and feet,
And ask admittance to my sin-stained floor.

I saw Thy love, I heard Thy pleading voice;
Thy words of grace enkindled high desire;
And, led by Thee, my Father I adored,
And on me fell the Holy Spirit’s fire.

I love Thee, Lord, but oh! how cold my love:

Abide Thou still within my trembling heart;
Lay Thou on me the purifying cross,
And let Thy life within my life have part.1 [Note: J. Drummond, Johannine Thoughts, 30.]
The Waiting Guest
Literature
Aitken (W. H. M. H.), Mission Sermons, iii. 68.
Arnot (W.), The Anchor of the Soul, 275.
Bain (J. A. K.), For Heart and Life, 41.
Bonar (H.), Light and Truth: The Revelation, 152.
Champness (T.), Plain Preaching for Plain People, 159.
Clark (H. W.), Meanings and Methods of the Spiritual Life, 94.
Dix (M.), Christ at the Door of the Heart, 1.
Dykes (J. O.), Plain Words on Great Themes, 101.
Elmslie (W. G.), Memoir and Sermons, 81.
Gregg (J.), Sermons Preached in Trinity Church, Dublin, ii. 106.
Hutchison (G.), Sermons, 222.
Hyde (T. D.), Sermon Pictures for Busy Preachers, ii. 320.
Ingram (A. F. W.), The Gospel in Action, 37.
Kelly (W.), Sermons, 75.
McFadyen (J. E.), Thoughts for Silent Hours, 201.
Maclaren (A.), Expositions: Epistles of John to Revelation, 302.
Maclean (J. K.), Dr. Pierson and his Message, 193.
Matheson (G.), Moments on the Mount, 144.
Monod (H.), in Foreign Protestant Pulpit, ii. 446.
Moore (E. W.), The Christ-Controlled Life, 174.
Mursell (W. A.), Sermons on Special Occasions, 253.
Peabody (F. G.), Mornings in the College Chapel, i. 107.
Ryle (J. C.), The Christian Race, 281.
Speirs (E. B.), A Present Advent, 113.
Trench (R. C.), Brief Thoughts and Expositions, 91.
Trench (R. C.), Commentary on the Epistles to the Seven Churches in Asia, 216.
Christian World Pulpit, x. 166 (J. S. Exell); xxxiv. 215 (G. MacDonald); lxiv. 420 (L. A.
Johnson); lxvi. 371 (E. Rees); lxix. 387 (G. C. Morgan); lxx. 173 (S. M. Crothers); lxxvi. 365 (N.
G. Phelps); lxxxi. 131 (A. H. McElwee); lxxxiv. 216 (C. Brown).
Churchman, New Ser., xxiv. 133 (J. Reid).

Free Church Year Book, 1908, p. 39 (P. T. Forsyth).
Preacher’s Magazine, xxi. 494 (J. Edwards); xxiv. 269 (G. W. Polkinghorne).
Twentieth Century Pastor, xxxiv. (1914) 19 (C. F. Aked).
Weekly Pulpit, ii. 3 (T. Phillips).

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Ellicott, Charles John. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". "Ellicott's Commentary for English
Readers". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/ebc/revelation-3.html. 1905.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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.

I stand
Song of Solomon 5:2-4; Luke 12:36
I will
John 14:21-23
will sup
19:9; Luke 12:37; 17:8

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Torrey, R. A. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". "The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tsk/revelation-3.html.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
The Bible Study New Testament
Listen! I stand at the door and knock. Christ is always knocking at the door, but they must turn
from sin and open the door to him. Faith and turning from sin are man's action. These are Christ's
own people, but they have forgotten him and are being called to renewal.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.

Bibliography
Ice, Rhoderick D. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". "The Bible Study New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/ice/revelation-3.html. College Press, Joplin, MO.
1974.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Light & Truth: Bible Thoughts and Themes on Revelation
Christ"s Loving Earnestness.
Revelation 3:20.
This is the sound of a trumpet. Yet it is not the iron, but the silver trumpet that here sounds out,
"Behold!" The church is asleep, and needs to be awakened; or she is busy with worldliness and
pleasure, and needs to be recalled to Him whom she is forgetting. Jesus loves her, but she loves not
Jesus; or at least has grown lukewarm in her love. Iniquity abounds, and the love of many waxes
cold.
Laodicea is the worst of the seven Churches; of whom her Lord has not one good thing to say. She
has not rejected His name, nor disowned His cross, nor departed from the faith; but she is neither
cold nor hot. She is one whom it is difficult to know how to deal with or to discipline. If she were
"cold," He would put her under special discipline; if she were "hot" ("fervent in spirit," Acts 18:25;
Romans 12:11), He would commend her, and make her to become more and more fervent. But she is
in the worst state of all—"lukewarm;" distasteful and useless—and therefore she must be "spued
out"—rejected as utterly loathsome, in the most loathsome way. Yet it is to this Church that the Lord
sends His most gracious messages—loving her to the last.
As He sent His words of largest grace to Israel in their worst state, by the prophets in the Old
Testament, and by His Son in the New, so He does to Laodicea. The tone of this epistle is marvelous
for its kindliness; and the words no less marvelous for the generosity and tenderness. This is not the
manner of men; but it is truly the way of the Lord—of Him who came not to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance.
I. The love of Christ.Herein is love. It is the love that passes knowledge. It is love not to the lovable
and the loving, but to the unloving and unlovable. It is love to the worst of sinners, the worst of
backsliders; love to those who had left their first love; who had once known Christ and His love, but
had begun to go back. It is free love. It is large love. It is love irrespective of goodness in us. It is
love which has broken through many a barrier in order to reach us; love which many waters could
not quench, nor the floods drown. This whole verse and this whole epistle breathe true and
unequivocal love. There is but one interpretation that can be put upon them—love. If they mean not
this, what can they mean? This speaks out in every line. "I will heal their backslidings; I will love
them freely."
Here is the fullness of the grace of Him who wept over Jerusalem; who said, "him who comes to me
I will never cast out." Here is the good news to all—for that which takes in Laodicea will surely take
in the ungodliest, the farthest gone in declension and apostasy. "Return unto me, you backsliding
children." "How shall I give you up? Can even Laodicea answer this question? It is one which God
Himself leaves unanswered.
II. The patience of Christ."I standat the door." He stands, and He has stood, as the words imply—not
afar off, but near, at the door. He stands. It is the attitude of waiting—of perseverance in waiting. He
does not call from a distance—He comes. He does not come and go—He stands. He does not sit

down, or occupy Himself with other concerns. He has one object in view—to get access to this poor
Laodicean—and therefore He stands. Patiently and untiringly He stands. At the door of a backslider
He stands. Day after day He is seen in the same posture, immoveable in His patient love. "Behold! I
stand." Here, surely, is the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ; the "meekness and gentleness of Christ;"
the patience of Him who endured the contradiction of sinners against Himself."
III. The earnestness of Christ."I knock." If the standing marks His patience, the knocking marks His
earnestness—His unwearied and persevering earnestness—as if He were renewing the ancient oath,
and swearing by Himself, because He can swear by no greater—"As I live, says the Lord, I have no
pleasure in the death of the sinner." He callsas well as knocks; for He says, "If any man hears my
voice." One of our modern literary men (Carlyle) has described the Bible as "that most earnest of all
earnest books;" and here is one of the passages which exhibit its unutterable earnestness. Christ does
not merely speak or call to Laodicea. He is too much in earnest for that; and, besides, she is so much
engrossed with the world that a voice would not reach her deaf ears. It needs knock upon knock to
startle her. So He continues knocking; not forcing the door, or using violence, for God always treats
us as reasonable and responsible creatures; and, besides, force cannot change the will or heart, and it
is with these that Christ has to do; it is unto them that He is seeking entrance.
We cannot by stripes or angry words compel a man to love us. Hearts not won either by force or
gold. Only love wins love—only earnestness overcomes rebelliousness. Christ treats us respectfully
as well as reasonably, as we treat each other when wishing to enter their dwelling, counting that
dwelling sacred, and only to be entered with the consent of the owner. How condescending is the
Master; how meek and lowly! How He exemplifies His own precept, "Knock, and it shall be
opened!" Hear His words of old, "It is the voice of my beloved that knocks, saying, Open to me, my
sister my love, my dove, my undefiled—for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops
of the night" (Song of Solomon 5:2). We ask—
(1.) HOW does He knockBy His word; His warnings; His invitations. By providences; by trials; by
comforts; by sorrows; by joys; by family troubles and national calamities; by wars at home or
abroad; by the confusions and distresses of nations. By convictions; by sermons; by friends; by the
changes of the year. By His Holy Spirit ever working; every striving. By this message here.
(2.) WHEN does He knockContinually. Day and night. All the day long. No man passes a day, no,
an hour, without a knock—sometimes louder, sometimes gentler. He is always knocking; and His
knocks seem to get louder as the last days draw on, and His coming approaches.
O sinner, O Laodicean, listen! The Lord is knocking! Listen! Do not let Him longer stand without.
Open, and bid Him welcome.
IV. The appeal of Christ to the Laodiceans."If any man will hear my voice, and open the door." It
is—
(1) a loving appeal;
(2) a personal appeal;
(3) an honest appeal;
(4) an earnest appeal.
"If anyman!" Here in another form is the often-repeated "whoever" of other places; and the force or
point of the expression is, "Oh that every man—every one of you!" "If you had known" is equal to
"Oh that you had known;" so "If any man" means "Would that each of you!" What an appeal! And is

it to do some great thing? No! only to hear His voice and to open the door—only that. Christ will do
all the rest. Hear, O man, O Laodicean! The Lord speaks to you from heaven. Is His voice
inarticulate and inaudible? Does He not mean you? Are His knockings not for you? Are His love,
His patience, His earnestness, not for you? At each door He knocks, saying to the inhabitant—Hear
and open. No lost soul hereafter shall be able to say, He did not knock at my door, else I would have
heard and opened.
O deaf Laodicean, listen and open, before it be too late; before He has gone away and left you alone
in your worldliness. Lukewarmness may seem little now, but what will it be hereafter? Christ"s
knocks may be unheeded now, but each one of them will come back to memory, when too late, to
torment you forever. Oh hear and open! Quickly, quickly, for the time is short!
V. The promise of Christ.This is threefold, and each of the three parts full of meaning and love.
(1) I will come in to him.His standing on the outside is of no use to us. No doubt His standing there
tells us His love, and forms one of the great items in the good news which we bring even to such a
sinner as that of Laodicea. But a mere outside Christ will profit us nothing. An outside cross will not
pacify, nor heal, nor save. It must come in; and it comes in upon our believing. We hear the knock,
and we say to the knocking One, "come in, You blessed of the Lord;" and immediately He comes in
with His healing, saving cross; He comes in with His divine fellowship and love. The gracious
promise is, "We will come in to him, and make our abode with him" (John 14:23). The presence of
the Lord Jesus in our dwelling, turns darkness into light. His absence is gloom; His presence is glory
and gladness.
(2) I will sup with him.When He comes in, He does not give a hasty salutation, a brief "Peace be
with you," and then depart. He sits down—not to rest Himself, as He did at Jacob"s well, but to sup
with us, as at Emmaus. He comes in as a guest, to take a place at our poor table, and to partake of
our homely meal. The King comes in—not to His banqueting-house, but to our earthly cottage. He
comes in lowliness and love, as He entered the house of Zaccheus, with "Today I must abide at your
house" upon His lips. At this table of ours, it is He who shares with us what we possess; it is we who
give to Him that whereon to feast, and not He to us. Such are the meekness and gentleness of Christ!
So affable, so accessible, so condescending He is! The knock comes to every door. Who will shut
Him out?
(3) He shall sup with me.Christ has a banquet in preparation, a feast of fat things—"the marriage
supper of the Lamb." To this He invites us here, promising that they with whom He sups on earth
shall hereafter sup with Him in His kingdom, when that shall be fulfilled which He spoke, "I will not
drink of the fruit of the vine, until the day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of God." The
wise virgins go in to the marriage and the supper; the foolish are shut out. Here is the gracious
promise, to be fulfilled hereafter when He comes again in His glory. He first sits down at our table,
and then, while sitting there, He gives us the invitation to sit down with Him at His royal table, in the
great bridal hall, where the marriage is to be consummated, and the festival held.
Now is the fast day—the feast day is coming. The absence shall be ended, the everlasting presence
and fellowship begun. We have here a feast in absence, when we feed on the symbols of the body
and the blood; but the feast of the presence is coming, when we shall feed on the divine "show-
bread" (or presence bread), Christ Himself being at once the provider and the substance of the feast.
O everlasting festival, when will you begin? O song that never ends, when shall your first notes be
heard? O lamps of the heavenly hall, when will you be lighted, to shine down on the great supper-
table, in the King"s own banqueting-house, where we shall feast forever, and go out no more?

While Christ is thus knocking at our door, He is bidding us knock at His. "Knock, and it shall be
opened." He will certainly hear our voice, and open the door to us. He will not be deaf to our voice,
nor bar the door, nor keep us standing, nor send us empty away.
Whether the parable of our Lord as to the waiting servants (Luke 12:35-37) may not point to the
same scene as that here in Laodicea, I do not say. They have some points in common. For it is the
Lord that there is said to knock that His servants may open to Him immediately. There is, no doubt,
a difference. In Luke He is represented as returning from the wedding to His own house. In the
Revelation, He comes to ours. But still, in both cases it is He who knocks. His Church will be found
in different circumstances when he comes. Then, as well as now, there may be many kinds of
knocking; yet in all it is the same earnest desire on his part to be admitted, that is described. He
wants to enter. His knock and His voice are sincere and loud. He will not force the door; but still He
wants to be in. O Church of God, keep Him not out. How much you lose! For His absence, no
outward prosperity, nor riches, nor numbers, can compensate. If He be kept out, all is sadness, and
leanness, and poverty. If He be admitted, all is well. Happy the Church with which Christ is daily
feasting. Happy the soul in which He has come to dwell, and who, in daily communion by faith,
tastes the Bridegroom"s love!

Copyright Statement
These files are a derivative of an electronic edition available at BibleSupport.com. Public Domain.
Bibliography
Bonar, Horatius. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". "Light & Truth: Bible Thoughts and Themes on
Revelation". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bch/revelation-3.html.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Walter Scott's Commentary on Revelation
CHRIST STANDS, KNOCKS, AND SPEAKS.
Revelation 3:20. — "Behold, I stand at the door, and am knocking; if any one hear My voice, and
open the door, I will come in unto him, and sup with him, and he with Me." This touching and tender
call has for centuries been the foundation of Christian song and sermon. The last appeal addressed to
the collective body is contained in verse 19; this is spoken to individuals only. Between the threat of
rejection (v. 16) and its execution the Lord takes an outside place: "Behold, I stand at the door," thus
morally disowning the professing Christian body. The Lord both knocks and speaks. What a rich
display of grace in the worst of circumstances! The Lord neither commands to buy (v. 18) nor forces
an entrance. He counsels in the one case, and knocks in the other. "I stand, . . . and am knocking." It
is a present and continuous action. The continuity of both actions is affirmed: He stands, He knocks.
The Lord will not force His presence where and when it is not desired. To the disconsolate travellers
to Emmaus "He made as though He would have gone further" (Luke 24:28). They constrained Him
to enter, saying, "Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And He went in to
tarry with them." In the presence of Jesus risen all is changed, He becomes the host and they His
guests (v. 30). "If any hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in unto him, and sup with him,
and he with Me." It is the last season of communion ere the night of judgment dawns. It is essentially
individual. If denied Church fellowship, how exceedingly sweet the promise! The voice here is not
that of Christ in quickening power, nor is it the knocking of salvation at a sinner's heart. The word to
sinners is, "I am the Door: by Me if any man enter in he shall be saved" (John 10:9). They have not

to knock, for it is an ever open door, and they have simply to enter in. To believers the word is,
"Knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Luke 11:9). But in our text He continues standing and
knocking. He wants the place in the hearts of His own. He will make a feast for us even now;
together with Him we joy and rejoice, but He dispenses the joy.

Copyright Statement
These files are a derivative of an electronic edition available at BibleSupport.com. Public Domain.
Bibliography
Scott, Walter. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". "Walter Scott's Commentary on Revelation".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/sor/revelation-3.html.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
E.M. Zerr's Commentary on Selected Books of the New Testament
The speciﬁc subject matter for the various churches seems to have been completed. This verse
represents the general attitude of the Lord toward all human beings. The door is that of the heart into
which Jesus will enter if given a welcome. He will not force an entrance into a man"s life, for the
only kind of service that will be pleasing to Him is a willing service. Hence the human heart must
respond to the call of the Lord. Sup with him and he with me. In old times it was one of the surest
indications of hospitality for a man to eat with another. It also was a token of recognition and
endorsement. (See Mark 2:16; 1 Corinthians 5:11.) This mutual supping between Christ and his host
is a ﬁgure of speech to indicate the great intimacy that He offers to share with a human being it
permitted to do so.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Zerr, E.M. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". E.M. Zerr's Commentary on Selected Books of the
New Testament. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/znt/revelation-3.html. 1952.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
Hanserd Knollys' Commentary on Revelation
Revelation 3:20
Revelation 3:20 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.
Behold I stand at the door, and knock.
Christ called this Church, her elders and members, to consider how unwilling He was to leave them,
to forsake them, and cast them off, if they would take His counsel and amend. Behold, that Isaiah ,
observe well what I have yet further to say to you, ere I depart from you.
I stand at the door, and knock.
Christ knocks at the door of our hearts by the powerful operations of his Holy Spirit, as 1
Thessalonians 1:4-5. and Hebrews 4:12. Christ continued his presence still with this Church,

notwithstanding their Luke -warmness, (as he did of old, Hosea 6:4-9. and Hosea 11:1-4; Hosea
11:7-12. How shall I give thee up Ephraim?—How shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee
as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together;) because, First,
Christ knew some of those Luke -warm ones were elect ones, whom the Father had given unto him,
John 6:37-40 and 2 Timothy 2:19. and John 10:16 or else Christ doth this to leave them without
excuse, Romans 1:20 and Hebrews 2:1-3.
If any man hear my voice, and open the door
That is in the ministry of the Word, and open the door of his heart, by a willing content to accept his
offers of grace upon gospel-terms.
I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
This is a great encouragement unto them to answer his earnest desire, and gracious invitation to open
their hearts, and to admit him entrance, by promising them, First, Union with him;
I will come in to him.
Secondly, Communion with him;
And sup with him, and he with me.
By supping together, we may understand the mutual fellowship between Christ and their souls, in the
sacred ordinances of God, 1 John 1:3.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Knollys, Hanserd. "Commentary on Revelation 3:20". "Hanserd Knollys' Commentary on
Revelation". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hkc/revelation-3.html.
\l " return to 'Jump List'
https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/heg/revelation-3.html#20
Revelation 3:20. Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any one hear my voice and open the door, I
will go into him, and sup with him, and he with me. The first part of the verse alludes to the Song of
Solomon 5:2, "I sleep, but my heart wakes. There is the voice of my beloved who knocks: Open to
me my beloved, my sister, my dove, my undefiled." The reference does not lie merely in the
particular words. The spiritual state of the person addressed is the same in both passages. The bride
is between sleeping and waking, incertum vigilans (comp. Revelation 3:2), corresponding to the state
of lukewarmness here: she cannot at first overcome her slumbering inactivity, and delays to let the
bridegroom in. This mere allusion to the commencement calls up before the trembling soul all that
follows; how repentance seizes her, and she would then open to the bridegroom, while he meanwhile
has gone away: "I sought him but 1 found him not, I called, but he answered not;" how she hied after
him, and was beaten by the watchmen. The grief of a soul, that has driven the Lord from it, could not
be more graphically exhibited than it is there. The second member of the verse, as well as the first,
points to the Song. There the supper is spoken of which the Lord will hold with the soul and it with
him. Immediately before the passage of Canticles just referred to, in Song of Solomon 4:16, the
bride speaks to the bridegroom, "Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits;"

and the bridegroom says in Song of Solomon 5:1, "I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse;
I break my myrrh together with roots; I eat my honey with my comb; I drink my wine with my
milk." This is the foundation for the saying here, "I will sup with him." In the Song, Song of
Solomon 2:3, the bride says, "As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved
among the sons. I sit under his shadow, which I desired, and his fruit is sweet to my taste." This is
the foundation for the other clause, "and he with me." In what the supper consists, which the bride
prepares for the bridegroom, and he again for her, is rendered plain by the Epiphonem of the sacred
bard, with which the whole piece concludes, that Song of Solomon 4:16 belongs to, and after which
we find the commencement of a new part at Song of Solomon 5:2, presenting Sulamith to our view
in another and less joyful situation: "Eat, O friends, and drink, and be drunk of love." It is love, to the
enjoyment of which the bride invites the bridegroom, and which she enjoys again of him. We have
substantially the same thing as this mutual supping between Christ and the believer in John 14:21,
"He that loveth me, shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and manifest myself to him."
This passage and that of John 14:23, "He that loveth me, will keep my works, and my Father will
love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him," stand in the closest relation to the
one before us, though of such a kind, that we cannot think of imitation. They, too, in their tender
sympathy, in their sweet and affectionate tone, point back to the Song. Aversion to that portion of
Scripture, however, has led some to deny that there is here any reference to it. The objection is
urged, that no references are anywhere else to be found in the New Testament to Canticles. But it is
enough to point in reply to John 7:38, "He that believeth on me, as the Scripture says, out of his belly
shall flow rivers of living water." The reference is to Song of Solomon 4:15, where the bride is
called "a garden-spring, a well of living waters, and they flow from Lebanon;" comp. Song of
Solomon 4:12, where she is called "a spring shut up, a fountain sealed." The belly, which has respect
to an Old Testament mode of representing the relation between the Lord and his church, only to be
found in Canticles, is from Song of Solomon 7:3, combined with Song of Solomon 4:15.
Accordingly, whenever we meet with the bride there, we are to think of believers. The formula, with
which the Lord quotes the passage, "as the Scripture says," should be heard as the cry, "Put off your
shoes, for it is holy ground," by those who are yet incapable of understanding the book, or even
abuse it to improper purposes. To that Song our Lord farther refers in Matthew 9:15, when he
compares himself to the bridegroom; and likewise in the parable of the bridegroom and the ten
virgins. John the Baptist points to it in John 3:29, and Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:1, Ephesians 5:27,
comp. with Song of Solomon 4:7, "Thou art altogether beautiful, my beloved, and there is no
blemish in thee." There are other parts of this book also, which refer to the Song; the bride in ch.
Revelation 22:17, Revelation 21:2; Revelation 21:9, the marriage supper of the Lamb in ch. 19. And
it confirms the reference to the Song here, that the passage, Song of Solomon 4:15, which is quoted
by our Lord in the Gospel of John, that of Song of Solomon 4:16, which forms the ground for "I will
sup with him," and Song of Solomon 5:2, on which the clause, "Behold, I stand at the door and
knock," rests, are all quite contiguous to each other. The Lord stands at the door for every one who
belongs to the number of his people, and has not yet committed the sin against the Holy Ghost; he
did so even for Judas the traitor up to the moment when Satan entered into him, so that there is no
occasion for the remark of De Wette, "If he still stood so near to them, their state could not have
been so very perilous.'' The more perilous the state was (if only it was not absolutely hopeless), the
more must the Lord have stood at the door, and knocked the more loudly. The knocking, with which
we are to associate calling, because this among the ancients was commonly connected with
knocking, unless we may take the knocking itself as a symbolical calling, which, perhaps, is the
simpler way:

This knocking is accomplished in various ways, by the word of God, and by the providences which
stir emotions in the soul. Here it is done more immediately by this epistle. In the promise respect is
not had to what may be experienced in a future state of being, which is first brought into view in the
following verse; but, as appears also from the parallel passages of the Gospel, to a relation to Christ,
which may exist even in this troublous world, and with all true believers is found to be as a heaven
upon earth, and that a light illuminates their darkness.

Christ Knocking At The Door
By J. Gerald Harris
Bible Book: Revelation 3 : 14-22
Subject: Jesus is Calling; Salvation; Call of God
Introduction
There is a famous painting by Warner Sallman. It is a picture of a cottage, run down and
neglected. Thistles have grown up around the door and grass has grown in the pathway. The
trailing years of vines and weeds are everywhere. The hinges are rusted. Yet, in the midst of that
dishevelment and neglect there stands the kingliest form that mind could imagine -- the Lord
Jesus Christ. There Jesus stands knocking at the door, and the glory of His light falls upon the
neglected cottage.
One of the most familiar stories I have read is of a discerning man who looked at the picture,
went to see Mr. Sallman, the artist, and said, "You have made a mistake. You did not put any
handle on the door. It is just a plain door." The artist replied, "No, not a mistake. You
misunderstand. The handle is on the inside. We must open the door. When we do, the glory of
that light falls upon the soul, and what a difference!" The Lord says, "I will come in to him, and
will sup with him, and he with me." Now, with that picture in mind I want us to look at our text.
The first thing that we shall consider is,
I. The Authoritative Christ
Verse 14 establishes the fact that Jesus is the authoritative Christ. Notice how it describes Him.
"These things sayest the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of
God." First of all, we see that it is Christ alone who authoritatively represents finality. He is "the
Amen." He only among men is the affirmation and the confirmation of the mind of God. Because
He is God's last word, there is no improving upon Him. "Amen" is stamped upon the very image
of Christ. "For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." His ministry fulfills every
promise of God: "For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen" (II Corinthians
1:20). Nothing can be added to or subtracted from any utterance that He makes.
In thinking on this matter, I recalled a problem, which was incurred over 200 years ago when this
country was in its infancy. John Quincy Adams was the President of the United States, and he
did a rather dramatic thing. He called both houses of Congress together for a special meeting. He
walked upon the rostrum carrying two bushel measures. Holding one in each hand, he said to the
people, "The bushel measure in my left hand comes from the city of New York. The one in my
right hand comes from the state of South Carolina. One of these bushel measures contains 68

cubic inches more than the other one." He stood silent for a few moments to let the implication
sink in, and then he slowly paced from side to side on the floor. In the same deliberate way, he
walked over to a little table and picked up two one-pound weights, the kind that were used on a
set of balance scales to weigh produce. With measured words, he said, "This weight in my right
hand came from Massachusetts. This other one came from Maine. One of them weighs nearly an
ounce more than the other." Again he waited a few moments for everyone to grasp the problem.
And then with a resonant voice, he said, "Gentlemen, we need a standard measure and a standard
weight for the United States of America." Thus came into existence what is known in
Washington as the Bureau of Weights and Measures. In it is a set of scales so delicate that the
man who wishes to weigh something accurately must stand at least ten feet away from it lest the
heat of his body upset the balance. I have read that the balance is so delicate that it could weigh a
wisp of smoke. The Bureau of Weights and Measures in Washington is the final authority on
such matters.
By the same token, there is a finality about Jesus Christ that points to His authority. He is the
"Amen." But Christ not only represents finality, He represents reality. Our text says that He is
"the faithful and true witness." He combines in himself all those qualities that a witness ought to
possess -- in a word, reality. That word "true" is a favorite word with John and expresses more
than just the opposite of false. It implies reality in contrast to shadow. Reality, that is what young
and old are hungering for today. They are fed up with the emptiness of the world, the sham of
nominal religion and the dissatisfaction of their own lives. They want reality; they want
authenticity. Dear friend, reality is to be found in Jesus Christ.
Stephen Olford tells about a very distinguished gentleman who sought him out after a worship
service some years ago. The man said, "What you have had to say tonight has made sense. It is
both reasonable and acceptable and I must act upon it. I want the Lord Jesus Christ to come into
my life. I desperately need Him." After a brief period of time, the man accepted Jesus Christ as
his personal Savior. Dr. Olford said, "Do you mind telling me who you are?" The man said, "My
name is Edgar Congdon. I am a doctor." Dr. Olford said, "In what field?" The man said, "Well, I
started off in surgery, went into general medicine, and then decided to become a psychiatrist."
Dr. Olford said, "As a psychiatrist, Dr. Congdon, may I ask you why you came here tonight?"
Dr. Congdon said, "Well, I have always carried a chip on my shoulder. I have looked down on
Christians as morons and nitwits. Yet all the time I knew in my heart that I was the stupid idiot.
Although I was thoroughly qualified to analyze patients, prescribe medication, perform
operations, give shock treatments and so on, I've often sent patients away from my office without
the real answer because I did not have the answer myself." But he said, "Tonight I have found
reality. I have found the answer. It is in Jesus Christ."
As we think about the authoritative Christ, let me say that He represents finality and reality, but
He also represents vitality. Our text says that He is "the beginning of the creation of God." He
has the originating power in the material, physical and spiritual realms. The Bible says, "by him
were all things made." When He speaks, men and things live. By the same creative word, all
things consist. In no other realm is this vitally and magnificently more operative than in the
spiritual.
If you have never experienced the transforming power of spiritual life, dear friend, then
encounter this Christ at once. So here is this authoritative Christ with His word of finality, His
word of reality, and His word of vitality. But I want you to notice another thing.

II. The Analyzing Christ
As He stands with a lantern in His hand to search out the darkest recesses of our hearts, He says,
"I know thy works" (verse 15), or more literally, "I know where you live." The truth is that He
knows us through and through. Nothing escapes His searching light or His analyzing gaze.
Let me say first of all, as we should expect, He sees our half-heartedness. He says, "thou art
neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and
neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth." The Lord Jesus Christ despises half-
heartedness. He had sooner have frigid hostility or boiling hot fervency, but He hates
lukewarmness. Now, this is a word to those of you who just persist in "sitting on the fence." This
is a word to those of you who "halt between two opinions," who are neither one thing nor the
other. Let me tell you with severe directness that since half-heartedness nauseates the risen Lord
-- whether it is in the sinner or the saint -- He cannot stand it. Indeed, He must judge it. His
words are "I will spew thee out of my mouth."
Chuck Swindoll tells about this kid who was on the football team, but he was real half-hearted
about football. He added very little to the team. He practiced, but he wasn't committed. He had a
uniform and would show up to play, but never with any kind of enthusiasm. Everything was
casual -- no big deal. Swindoll says that he was somewhere between "on the bench" and "off the
team." One day the players were doing 15 laps, and this showpiece was doing his usual 5 laps.
The coach came over and said, "Hey kid, here is a telegram for you." The kid said, "Read it for
me, coach." He was so lazy he did not even like to read. The coach opened it and read, "Dear
son, your father is dead. Come home immediately." The coach swallowed hard. He said, "Take
the rest of the week off." He didn't care if he took the rest of the year off. Well, funny thing --
game time came on Saturday and here came the teams rushing out on the field. And, lo and
behold, the last kid out was the goof off. No sooner did the gun sound than the kid said, "Coach,
can I play today? Can I play?" The coach thought, "Kid, you're not playing today. This is
homecoming. This is the big game. We need every real guy we have and you are not one of
them." Every time the coach turned around, the kid badgered him. "Coach, please let me play.
Coach, I've got to play." The first quarter ended with the score lopsided against the coach and his
team. At half time they were still further behind. The second half started and things got
progressively worse. The coach, mumbling to himself, began to write out his resignation, and up
came the kid. "Coach, coach, let me play, please." The coach looked at the scoreboard and said,
"All right, get in their kid. You can't hurt anything now." No sooner did the kid hit the field than
his team exploded. He ran, blocked and tackled like an all- star. The electricity leaped to the
team. The score evened up. In the closing seconds of the game, this kid intercepted a pass and
ran all the way for the winning touchdown. The stands erupted with cheers. The kid was
everybody's hero. Finally the excitement subsided and the coach got over to the kid and said, "I
never saw anything like that. What in the world happened to you out there?" He said, "Coach,
you know my dad died this week." The coach said, "Yes. I read you the telegram." "Well,
coach," he said, "my dad was blind. Today was the first day he ever saw me play."
Folks, we need to realize that the heavenly Father is watching us in this life. He really is not
absent. He's not unconcerned. He's not blind or dead. He is alive. He is watching, and we need to
learn to hate lukewarmness and half-heartedness just like He does. May God forbid that quality
and integrity and authenticity are ever negotiable in this church. If you have never been set on
fire, offer God a surrendered heart and let Him kindle a sacred flame on that altar. If your fire has

died down, rake off the ashes and stir up the gift of God. Rekindle the flame until you come to a
boil. But whatever you do, do not be lukewarm. It would be better if you had no fire at all.
So He sees our half-heartedness. But He also sees our high mindedness. Look in verse 17 (read).
If half- heartedness nauseates the Lord, then high mindedness causes Him to burn with a holy
indignation, especially when this high-mindedness overlooks personal wretchedness and misery
and poverty and blindness. You know, there are so many people today who do not sense any
need for God -- who do not sense a need for anything. They say, "We can do it without God. We
do not need to pray. We do not need to cry to God. We do not need to repent. We do not need to
turn. We do not need to ask. All we need to do is just get our human energy hitched up to some
great task and we can work out all these things ourselves." This was the spirit of high
mindedness that was prevalent in the Laodicean church, and it is so prevalent today. I pray that
we might humble ourselves with fear and trembling before God has to do the humbling. But with
this half-heartedness and high mindedness, I am thankful to say that He also sees our hunger.
Notice what He says in verse 18 (read). In these words of everyday life, the Lord Jesus reveals
the true hunger of the human soul. I have talked to at least a half dozen people recently who have
indicated to me that they were searching for something; they were in quest of something.
Several years ago someone gave me a videotape of a testimony of Pete Maravich. The video was
entitled "Pistol Pete Maravich, the Other Side." Now, Pete Maravich was a fabulous basketball
player. In fact, I was in the seminary when he played high school ball at Meedham Broughton
High School in Raleigh, North Carolina, and I used to see him play high school basketball. He
attained all kinds of college records when he was at LSU. And, of course, he went on to play
professional basketball, and was with the Atlanta Hawks for a period of time. He became a bold
and brave Christian, but he died of heart failure several years ago. But on this video he told about
his search for reality. He said, "I tried everything. I tried transcendental meditation. I tried Yoga,
reincarnation, life extending drugs. I became a vegetarian. I tried alcohol. At one point I fasted
for 25 days straight. I even got tired of basketball." He said, "After a spring game with the
Boston Celtics in which I scored 38 points, I just decided to quit. I became a recluse for two
years." Then he gave his life to Jesus Christ, and he said, "I wouldn't trade what I have now for a
thousand NBA championships." He realized that the hunger of his heart could only be satisfied
in Jesus Christ. But this analyzing Christ -- He knows our half- heartedness. He knows our high
mindedness. He knows about our hunger. But finally I want us to see…
III. The Appealing Christ
Now, I want you to mark with attention that the light, which sheds its rays about the door of the
heart, is also the appealing radiance of His face. Listen to His words of appeal. He says, "As
many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." Now, I want you to
notice that this is the reminder of Christ. In this passage we learn that there is a limit to His
aggression. He stops in reverence before our personality. He does not violate our moral freedom.
He stops at the door. He will do all in His power to gain our attention, to attract our love, to win
our hearts, but He never forces an entrance.
In the story of the prodigal son, the father waits and prays and hopes and yearns, but he does not
force the boy. If the boy chooses to live in a far country, he has the right to make that choice. The
father can but wait and pray and hope. If you'll remember, when the older brother was angry and
would not go in, the parable says, "The father went out and entreated him, and spoke to him, and
pled with him." So it is with us. The King of glory never breeches a man's will or violates a

man's freedom, but He reminds us of what we need to do. So here we have the reminder of
Christ.
But the next thing I want us to notice is the recognition of Christ. He says, "if any man hear my
voice." The voice of Christ is the gospel of Christ. God has spoken His last word to men in the
gospel through His Son. The writer to the Hebrews says, "God, who at sundry times and in
diver’s manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days
spoken unto us by his Son" (Hebrews 1:1-2). Jesus declared in John 5:25, "They that hear the
voice of the Son of God shall live." Dear friend, do you recognize that it is Christ who is
speaking to you at this moment. He is bidding you to view His hands, His feet, His side in order
that you may be sure that it is the redeemer himself, the One who died to put away your sins,
who rose again to justify, save, keep and satisfy you. Will you not cry with Thomas of old, "My
Lord and my God"?
Having considered the reminder of Christ and the recognition of Christ, notice next the reception
of Christ. He says that we are to open the door. Now, a little child is capable of doing that. It's
the deliberate act of faith, which receives Christ into the heart and into the life. If you have
recognized Him, receive Him. Welcome Him in your life.
I want you to notice His promise. He says, "I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he
with me." That is a wonderful promise, and the Lord never breaks His promise. By the way, the
word translated "sup" is "deipnein" and its corresponding noun is "deipnon." The word is very
significant. The Greeks had three meals in a day. There was "akratisma" which was their
breakfast, which was no more than a piece of dried bread dipped in wine. There was "ariston,"
the mid-day meal. A man did not go home for that. It was simply a picnic snack eaten by the side
of the pavement or in some colonnade or in the city square. It was a meal eaten in passing. But
then there was "deipnon." This was the evening meal. It was the main meal of the day. People
lingered and sat long and talked over it, for the day's work was done. There was time now for
unlimited and unhurried fellowship together. It was the "deipnon" that Christ would share with
the man who answered His knock. This was no hurried meal, no visit in passing, no hasty
conventional call. It was the meal where people lingered and fellowshipped together. This was
not a "brief glance, a passing word." This is the promise of intimate and lasting fellowship with
Christ. If a man will open the door, Jesus Christ will come in and linger in fellowship with him.
Conclusion
Now, what will you do with this Christ who stands at the door of your heart? Surely you will not
keep Him waiting any longer. Already the door is covered with creeping ivy. Already the
threshold is overgrown with brambles and grass. He knocks patiently because the latch is on the
inside. But how much longer will He continue to knock is hard to say, because His posture is that
of one who is about to depart. Will you not draw that rusty bolt and lift the latch and let Him in?
“If you are tired of the load of your sin,
Let Jesus come into your heart.
If you would like a new life to begin,
Let Jesus come into your heart.
Just now your doubtings give o'er,
Just now reject Him no more,

Just now throw open the door,
Let Jesus come into your heart.”

Revelation 3:20
by Grant Richison | Nov 27, 1998 | Revelation | 25 comments
Read Introduction to Revelation
20
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I
will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”
Behold, I stand at the door and knock
Jesus presents Himself as standing outside a house and knocking on the door. When Jesus
approaches this house, He finds the door shut. He takes the initiative to break down the barrier to
fellowship. His “knock” is His initiative to break that barrier.
If anyone hears My voice and opens the door
Jesus invites us into fellowship with Him not only with His hand by knocking but with His voice.
Jesus appeals to those inside the house by His knock. It is their responsibility to open the door.
Jesus cannot fellowship with those inside the house unless they invite Him in.
The “if” in the Greek indicates that Jesus is waiting on our choice. He will not compel
fellowship by force. He will not break down the door of your heart to have fellowship with you.
I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me
Jesus argues in the previous verse that He disciplines the Laodicean Christians because He loves
them. He speaks to Christians who grew lukewarm in their ardor for fellowship with Him. Now
He states that He wants fellowship with them.
The word “dine” means to eat the chief meal of the day. Here Jesus speaks of spiritual dining (1
Co 11:25). Jesus appeals here to Christians, not non-Christians. He appeals to them for intimate,
prolonged fellowship. He wants to get personal with us. The Creator and Sustainer of the
Universe wants fellowship with each and every Christian. Especially, this is an invitation to
those who are lukewarm to come back to Him. Jesus asks carnal Christians for their fellowship.
PRINCIPLE:
Jesus will not force fellowship upon us.
APPLICATION:
If we want fellowship with the Lord Jesus, we must invite Him into our lives. We invite Him to
become the center of our worship. He will not force a relationship upon us. He will not violate
our will.
Is Jesus outside the door of your church? Your church is His very own church, yet He stands
outside waiting to come in.

S h a r e https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Fversebyversecommentary.com%2F199
8%2F11%2F27%2Frevelation-
320%2F&title=Revelation%203%3A20https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2
Fversebyversecommentary.com%2F1998%2F11%2F27%2Frevelation-
320%2F&title=Revelation%203%3A20
« Revelation 3:19
Revelation 3:21 »
25 Comments
1. J a n e t H e n s l e y
2. Janet Hensley on February 14, 2009 at 7:58 pm
3. Dr Richison: A conversation came up the other day in which the idea of Jesus
“coming into your heart” was said to be unscriptural by some Christian friends.
4. I have had a tough time dealing with that claim because it has always been my
understanding that the verse Rev.3:20 meant that Jesus was outside knocking at the door
of the heart, not some other “door”.
5. When we speak of accepting Christ we often say, ” ask Him into your heart”.
Things like this are important to me. My friends laugh at me for searching things out so
intently but, I feel that the things of God are worthy of searching.
6. Anything you can send me on this would be greatly appreciated.
7. Thank you and may God richly bless you and yours, Jan
8. G r a n t
9. Grant on February 19, 2009 at 9:01 am
10. Janet,
11. Your friends are right for a number of reasons. 1) this passage does not speak to
non-Christians but Christians. The idea is for this church to enter into deep fellowship
with the Lord (the idea of “dine” means to have a full meal with). 2) A person cannot
become a Christian by simply letting Jesus into their heart; they have to rest in the
sacrificial death of Christ by faith for that to happen. Any invitation to receive Christ
without 3 essential elements is not becoming a Christian. Those three elements are: 1) a

person is separated from God by sin, 2) Jesus personally paid and suffered for that sin, 3)
trust in what Jesus did engages that person with eternal life.
12. Hope this helps,
13. Grant
14. j a n e t H e n s l e y
15. janet Hensley on February 21, 2009 at 1:13 pm
16. Thank you Grant; I do realize that one must Believe in the heart, confess with the
mouth to receive salvation. It was very hard to think that two of my dear friends could
feel so strongly against such a kind gentle way such as asking Him to come into our heart
as well. I do believe that He is a gentleman and waits patiently for us to open”the door”
whatever door that may be.
17. Do you know where this idea came from?
18. J a m e s S m i t h
19. James Smith on April 19, 2010 at 9:47 am
20. Janet and Grant, I have also recently been told by some Pastors and Bible teachers
that the heart is not signifigant is reaching any decision. They talk more about the mind
making when accepting Christ as your Saviour. I find this to be contridict the Bible in
mnay ways. I did a bible study on the Mind and heart, and found that the bible does make
distinct separation when talking about the two and oftens states that the change must
occurr within your Heart and Mind. I think the heart needs to change, since that is where
sin is concieved. Any commentary on this would be much appreciated
21. Thanks
22. James
23. G r a n t
24. Grant on April 19, 2010 at 10:39 am
25. James, thanks for your blog.
26. The word “heart” in Scripture does not connote what it means in English, at least
it is not parallel to the English. The word “heart” means the total person: the mind,
emotions, and will. A person cannot become a Christ solely by his/her emotions.
27. G e r r y

28. Gerry on June 3, 2010 at 2:18 pm
29. Interesting subject. I always thought 3:21 was for the nonChristian. I submit to
your believing he is talking to Christians and for them to wake up and start supping with
Him. Great discussion!
30. G r a n t
31. Grant on June 3, 2010 at 5:12 pm
32. Gerry, Notice that all messages in chapters two and three are addressed to
churches, not non-believers.
33. G e r r y
34. Gerry on June 3, 2010 at 7:55 pm
35. Thanks Grant,
36. I was telling my husband about this being addresse to believers. He reluctanly
agreed with me, but said he had used this same verse for the Good News Club for kids,
and watched many many children come to Christ because of it.
37. So if it works for conversin, why not? But you are right, it is about sleeping
Christians. Blessings
38. J a m e s S m i t h
39. James Smith on January 19, 2012 at 12:28 am
40. I prefer the KJV of this text – more poetic and real than the clinical, literal
versions elsewhere.
I too also believe it regards the knocking at the heart – literally speaking you might think
the door to a house, but these are supernatural Revelations, far beyond the realm of a
simple door to a house.
Lets get spiritual and personal with interpreting God's word to people – not a them and us
mentality.
love & peace to you all.
41. G r a n t
42. Grant on January 19, 2012 at 8:12 am
43. James, thanks for your good comment. I have one exception to your thoughts.
Although I agree that it is not enough to treat the Word of God clinically, without passion
and application, it is not enough to interpret the Bible spiritually. That leaves people open

to subjective interpretation which reads their own thoughts into the passage. I believe we
need both a careful exegetical, objective interpretation and a heart for the things of God
simultaneously. Sometimes that causes division because God's truth separates those who
have a heart for Him from those who do not.
44.
45. Bradley White-Findeisen on January 13, 2013 at 3:55 pm
46. In researching the Greek for Rev. 3:20, it was pointed out in one source that the
"I"s were incorrectly inserted and that's why they are italicized in the KJV. If the original
Greek does not include the "I"s, then the verse doesn't have Christ knocking at the door,
but, rather us knocking at the door and listening for Christ's voice. That puts an entirely
different spin on things. What do you think?
47. G r a n t
48. Grant on January 22, 2013 at 7:31 am
49. Bradley, all the Greek verbs of this verse are first person singular and are properly
translated.
50. L e o n
51. Leon on September 22, 2013 at 2:50 am
52. Amen. Revelation 3:20 Key words for interpretation. HEAR MY VOICE. Turns
this from bieng a casual visit to an urgent knock. picture someone knocking and calling
out to the resident. See the urgency? God bless
53. D i a n a
54. Diana on January 7, 2014 at 11:50 pm
55. What about all the people that gave their lives to the Lord in this fashion and
trully believed?Are they not saved ?
56. G r a n t
57. Grant on January 8, 2014 at 7:06 am
58. Diana, most of these people are probably saved because somewhere along the line
they heard and believed the true way a person comes to Christ–trust in the work of Christ
on the cross for eternal salvation.

59. V i c t o r i a
60. Victoria on June 18, 2014 at 7:20 am
61. Wonderful commentaries on this passage. I had a question pop up. If Jesus is
knocking on our heart’s door does that mean there is a time He will stop if we do not let
Him in? Please provide biblical evidence to support your answer.
62. G r a n t
63. Grant on June 18, 2014 at 8:20 am
64. Victoria, Jesus is always open to the return of the Christian to fellowship with
Him. No matter what the sin or how many times the Christians may have sinned; the
Lord opens His arms to the son or daughter who has gone astray. However, if there is
implacable, persistent unrepentance then it is possible to commit the "sin unto death
[physical death]" (1 Jn 5:16). This happened in 1 Corinthians 11 at the Lord's supper
(11:30). Before a person reaches that stage the Lord disciplines or child-trains the
Christian to bring him back into fellowship (He 12:5-6).
65. s a n g h m i t r a
66. sanghmitra on February 15, 2015 at 9:52 am
67. As a lay man i would like to explain this, If a person is not even willing to open
the door to someone who knocks, how will he give him food??? The secret behind this
verse may be, The one who knocks the door comes with food, if we open the door, we
will enjoy the feast.
68. G r a n t
69. Grant on February 15, 2015 at 8:10 pm
70. Sanghmitra, it is important to interpret Scriptures for what they say themselves. If
we inject our own thoughts, it becomes a dangerous way to interpret the Bible.
71. C h a n d r a
72. Chandra on November 2, 2017 at 5:14 pm
73. I’ve been getting woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of someone
knocking on my front door. I don’t think that anyone was there but the sound was
definitely a knock on my door. I’m not sure what this means because I am a Christian

already and if there is a door I need to open to have a deeper relationship with Jesus than
I don’t know how to open that door even though I really want to.
74. G r a n t
75. Grant on November 2, 2017 at 7:56 pm
76. Chandra, your experience has nothing to do with this passage. Also, it would be
dangerous to open the door in the evening without knowing who is there.
77.
78. Marthin Nongbak Sangma on November 22, 2017 at 5:40 am
79. Thank you, its really interested to my heart
80. G r a n t
81. Grant on November 22, 2017 at 8:49 am
82. Thank you Marthin
83. A l l e n
84. Allen on March 8, 2018 at 3:33 pm
85. So the image is of Jesus knocking at the hearts door of those who believe shows
that he wants fellowship. Surely it’s no unreasonable to think Jesus is doing the same
with those who He is drawing into this belief in Him.
86. G r a n t
87. Grant on March 8, 2018 at 4:32 pm
88. Allen, there is no doubt that God will draw all men to Himself but this is not the
argument of this particular passage. The Bible must be interpreted in its context. Here the
context is Jesus challenging churches for their weaknesses and strengths. The specific
context here is a message to the church at Laodicea.
Also, a person cannot come to Christ without trust in the death of Christ to forgive them.
If a person simply “lets Jesus into their heart” then where is the trust in the cross to
forgive sins? Having said that, again, God does take the initiative in drawing us to
Himself by the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

Christ stands at the door and knocks
Revelation 3:20
We often say that people should invite Christ into their lives.
Here, Christ himself explains what that means.
Christ offers many wonderful things to people (verse 18). He offers to forgive their evil deeds.
He offers to show them the truth about God. He wants to help them during their troubles in this
life. He wants to give them a home in heaven and the New Jerusalem, where he will always live
with them. A person receives all these things when that person begins a right relationship with
Christ.
Here, Christ describes that relationship as a simple friendship. He wants to be your friend, like
the friend with whom you share a meal.
Christ does not force anyone to accept his friendship. Friendship should be a relationship that
depends on love. Therefore, we have a choice. We can accept or we can refuse friendship. If
we do nothing, we have not accepted Christ’s friendship.
It is like when a person comes to someone’s house, in order to visit that other person. The visitor
does not force his way into the house. He knocks at the door and he asks politely to come in. If
the person inside accepts, then he and his visitor have become friends. They will talk together,
perhaps they will even eat together.
1 John 4:19 tells us that Christ first loved us. He loved us so much that he gave his own life for
us (John 15:12-13).
He died on the cross so that we could have a right relationship with him. He urges us to accept
that friendship. In other words, we should invite him into our lives. John 1:12 describes the
result if we do that. We become not just his friends, but members of his family, children of God.
The difference is that a family relationship is permanent. He is offering a friendship that is also a
family relationship. That friendship with Christ will never end.
Next part: Christ’s special guest (Revelation 3:21)
Please use the links at the top of the page to find our other articles in this series. You can
download all our articles if you go to the download page for our free 700+ page course book.
© 2016, Keith Simons.

AN EARNEST WARNING AGAINST LUKEWARMNESS NO. 1185

A SERMON DELIVER ED ON LORD’S-DAY MORNING, JULY 26, 1874, BY C. H.
SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

“Unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things says the Amen, the
faithful and true Witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know your works, that
you are neither cold nor hot: I would you were cold or hot. So then because you are
lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth. Because you say, I
am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that you are
wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel you to buy of me gold
tried in the fire, that you may be rich; and white raiment, that you may be clothed, and
that the shame of your nakedness do not appear; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that
you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
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 overcomes 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.” Revelation 3:14-21.

No Scripture ever wears out. The epistle to the church of Laodicea is not an old letter
which may be put into the waste basket and be forgotten, upon its page still glow the words,
“He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches.” This Scripture
was not meant to instruct the Laodiceans only, it has a wider aim. The actual church of
Laodicea has passed away, but other Laodiceas still exist—indeed, they are sadly
multiplied in our day, and it has ever been the tendency of human nature, however
inflamed with the love of God, gradually to chill into lukewarmness. The letter to the
Laodiceans is above all others the epistle for the present times. I should judge that the
church at Laodicea was once in a very fervent and healthy condition. Paul wrote a letter to
it which did not claim inspiration, and therefore its loss does not render the Scriptures
incomplete, for Paul may have written scores of other letters besides. Paul also mentions
the church at Laodicea in his letter to the church at Colosse, he was, therefore, well
acquainted with it, and as he does not utter a word of censure with regard to it, we may
infer that the church was at that time in a sound state. In process of time it degenerated,
and cooling down from its former ardor it became careless, lax, and indifferent. Perhaps its
best men were dead, perhaps its wealth seduced it into worldliness, possibly its freedom
from persecution engendered carnal ease, or neglect of prayer made it gradually backslide,
but in any case it declined till it was neither cold nor hot. Lest we should ever get into such
a state, and lest we should be in that state now, I pray that my discourse may come with
power to the hearts of all present, but especially to the consciences of the members of my
own church. May God grant that it may tend to the arousing of us all. I. My first point will
be THE STATE INTO WHICH CHURCHES ARE VERY APT TO FALL. A church may
fall into a condition far other than that for which it has a repute. It may be famous for zeal
and yet be lethargic. The address of our Lord begins, “I know your works,” as much as to
say, “Nobody else knows you. Men think better of you than you deserve. You do not know
yourselves, you think your works to be excellent, but I know them to be very different.”
Jesus views with searching eyes all the works of His church. The public can only read
reports, but Jesus sees for Himself. He knows what is done, and how it is done, and why it
is done. He judges a church not merely by her external activities, but by her internal
pieties, He searches the heart, and tries the reins of the children of men. He is not

An Earnest Warning Against Lukewarmness Sermon #1185
Volume 20
2
2
deceived by glitter. He tests all things, and values only that gold which will endure the fire.
Our opinion of ourselves and Christ’s opinion of us may be very different, and it is a very
sad thing when it is so. It will be melancholy indeed if we stand out as a church notable for
earnestness and distinguished for success, and yet are not really fervent in spirit, or eager
in soul-winning. A lack of vital energy where there seems to be most strength put forth, a
lack of real love to Jesus where apparently there is the greatest devotedness to Him, are sad
signs of fearful degeneracy. Churches are very apt to put the best goods into the window,
very apt to make a fair show in the flesh, and like men of the world, they try to make a fine
figure upon a very slender estate. Great reputations have often but slender foundations and
lovers of the truth lament that it should be so. Not only is it true of churches, but of every
one of us as individuals, that often our reputation is in advance of our deserts. Men often
live on their former credit, and trade upon their past characters, having still a name to live,
though they are indeed dead. To be slandered is a dire affliction, but it is, upon the whole, a
less evil than to be thought better than we are, in the one case we have a promise to comfort
us, in the second we are in danger of self-conceit. I speak as unto wise men, judge you how
far this may apply to us. The condition described in our text is, secondly, one of mournful
indifference and carelessness. They were not cold, but they were not hot, they were not
infidels, yet they were not earnest believers, they did not oppose the Gospel, neither did
they defend it, they were not working mischief, neither were they doing any great good,
they were not disreputable in moral character, but they were not distinguished for holiness,
they were not irreligious, but they were not enthusiastic in piety nor eminent for zeal, they
were what the world calls “Moderates,” they were of the Broad-church school, they were
neither bigots nor Puritans, they were prudent and avoided fanaticism, respectable and
averse to excitement. Good things were maintained among them, but they did not make too
much of them, they had prayer meetings, but there were few present, for they liked quiet
evenings at home, when more attended the meetings they were still very dull, for they did
their praying very deliberately and were afraid of being too excited. They were content to
have all things done decently and in order, but vigor and zeal they considered to be vulgar.
Such churches have schools, Bible classes, preaching rooms, and all sorts of agencies, but
they might as well be without them, for no energy is displayed and no good comes of them.
They have deacons and elders who are excellent pillars of the church, if the chief quality of
pillars is to stand still and exhibit no motion or emotion. They have ministers who may be
the angels of the churches, but if so they have their wings closely clipped, for they do not fly
very far in preaching the everlasting Gospel, and they certainly are not flames of fire, they
may be shining lights of eloquence, but they certainly are not burning lights of grace,
setting men’s hearts on fire. In such communities everything is done in a half-hearted,
listless, dead-and-alive way, as if it did not matter much whether it was done or not. It
makes one’s flesh creep to see how sluggishly they move, I long for a knife to cut their red
tape to pieces, and for a whip to lay about their shoulders to make them bestir themselves.
Things are respectably done, the rich families are not offended, the skeptical party is
conciliated, and the good people are not quite alienated, things are made pleasant all

round. The right things are done, but as to doing them with all your might, and soul, and
strength, a Laodicean church has no notion of what that means. They are not so cold as to
abandon their work, or to give up their meetings for prayer, or to reject the Gospel, if they
did so, then they could be convinced of their error and brought to repentance, but on the
other hand they are neither hot for the truth, nor hot for conversions, nor hot for holiness,
they are not fiery enough to burn the stubble of sin, nor zealous enough to make Satan
angry, nor fervent enough to make a living sacrifice of themselves upon the altar of their
God. They are “neither cold nor hot.” This is a horrible state, because it is one in which a
church wearing a good repute renders that reputation a lie. When other churches are
saying, “See how they prosper! see what they do for God!” Jesus sees that the church is
doing His work in a slovenly, make-believe manner, and He considers justly
Sermon #1185 An Earnest Warning Against Lukewarmness
Volume 20
3
3
that it is deceiving its friends. If the world recognizes such a people as being very distinctly
an oldfashioned puritanic church, and yet there is unholy living among them, and careless
walking, and a deficiency of real piety, prayer, liberality, and zeal, then the world itself is
being deceived, and that too in the worst way, because it is led to judge falsely concerning
Christianity, for it lays all these faults upon the back of religion, and cries out, “It is all a
farce! The thing is a mere pretence! Christians are all hypocrites!” I fear there are
churches of this sort. God grant we may not be numbered with them! In this state of the
church there is much self-glorification, for Laodicea said, “I am rich and increased with
goods, and have need of nothing.” The members say, “Everything goes well, what more do
we want? All is right with us.” This makes such a condition very hopeless, because reproofs
and rebukes fall without power, where the party rebuked can reply, “We do not deserve
your censures, such warnings are not meant for us.” If you stand up in the pulpit and talk
to sleepy churches, as I very frequently do, and speak very plainly, they often have the
honesty to say, “There is a good deal of truth in what the man has said,” but if I speak to
another church, which really is half asleep, but which thinks itself to be quite a model of
diligence, then the rebuke glides off like oil down a slab of marble, and no result comes of
it. Men are less likely to repent when they are in the middle passage between hot and cold
than if they were in the worst extremes of sin. If they were like Saul of Tarsus, enemies of
God, they might be converted, but if, like Gamaliel, they are neither opposed nor favoring,
they will probably remain as they are till they die. The Gospel converts a sincerely
superstitious Luther, but Erasmus, with his pliant spirit, flippant, and full of levity,
remains unmoved. There is more hope of warning the cold than the lukewarm. When
churches get into the condition of half-hearted faith, tolerating the Gospel, but having a
sweet tooth for error, they do far more mischief to their age than downright heretics. It is a
great deal harder to work for Jesus with a church which is lukewarm than it would be to
begin without a church. Give me a dozen earnest spirits and put me down anywhere in
London, and, by God’s good help we will soon cause the wilderness and the solitary place
to rejoice, but give me the whole lot of you half-hearted, undecided, and unconcerned, what
can I do? You will only be a drag upon a man’s zeal and earnestness. Five thousand
members of a church all lukewarm will be five thousand impediments, but a dozen earnest,

passionate spirits, determined that Christ shall be glorified and souls won, must be more
than conquerors, in their very weakness and fewness will reside capacities for being the
more largely blessed of God. Better nothing than lukewarmness. Alas, this state of
lukewarmness is so congenial with human nature that it is hard to fetch men from it. Cold
makes us shiver, and great heat causes us pain, but a tepid bath is comfort itself. Such a
temperature suits human nature. The world is always at peace with a lukewarm church,
and such a church is always pleased with itself. Not too worldly—no! We have our limits!
There are certain amusements which of course a Christian must give up, but we will go
quite up to the line, for why are we to be miserable? We are not to be so greedy as to be
called miserly, but we will give as little as we can to the cause. We will not be altogether
absent from the house of God, but we will go as seldom as we can. We will not forsake
altogether the poor people to whom we belong, but we will also go to the world’s Church,
so as to get admission into better society, and find fashionable friends for our children.
How much of this there is abroad! Compromise is the order of the day. Thousands try to
hold with the hare and run with the hounds, they are for God and Mammon, Christ and
Belial, truth and error, and so are “neither hot nor cold.” Do I speak somewhat strongly?
Not so strongly as my Master, for He says, “I will spew you out of my mouth.” He is
nauseated with such conduct, it sickens Him, and He will not endure it. In an earnest,
honest, fervent heart, nausea is created when we fall in with men who dare not give up
their profession, and yet will not live up to it, who cannot altogether forsake the work of
God, but yet do it in a sluggard’s manner, trifling with that which ought to be done in the
best style for so good a Lord and so gracious a Savior.
An Earnest Warning Against Lukewarmness Sermon #1185
Volume 20
4
4
Many a church has fallen into a condition of indifference, and when it does so it generally
becomes the haunt of worldly professors, a refuge for people who want an easy religion,
which enables them to enjoy the pleasures of sin and the honors of piety at the same time,
where things are free and easy, where you are not expected to do much, or give much, or
pray much, or to be very religious, where the minister is not so precise as the old school
divines, a more liberal people, of broad views, free-thinking and freeacting, where there is
full tolerance for sin, and no demand for vital godliness. Such churches applaud cleverness
in a preacher, as for his doctrine that is of small consequence, and his love to Christ and
zeal for souls are very secondary. He is a clever fellow and can speak well, and that suffices.
This style of thing is all too common, yet we are expected to hold our tongue, for the people
are very respectable. The Lord grant that we may be kept clear of such respectability! We
have already said that this condition of indifference is attended with perfect self-
complacency. The people who ought to be mourning are rejoicing, and where they should
hang out signals of distress they are flaunting the banners of triumph. “We are rich, we are
adding to our numbers, enlarging our schools, and growing on all sides, we have need of
nothing. What can a church require that we have not in abundance?” Yet their spiritual
needs are terrible. This is a sad state for a church to be in. Spiritually poor and proud. A
church crying out to God because it feels itself in a backsliding state, a church mourning its
deficiency, a church pining and panting to do more for Christ, a church burning with zeal

for God, and therefore quite discontent with what it has been able to do, this is the church
which God will bless, but that which writes itself down as a model for others, is very
probably grossly mistaken and is in a sad plight. This church, which was so rich in its own
esteem, was utterly bankrupt in the sight of the Lord. It had no real joy in the Lord, it had
mistaken its joy in itself for that. It had no real beauty of holiness upon it, it had mistaken
its formal worship and fine building and harmonious singing for that. It had no deep
understanding of the truth and no wealth of vital godliness, it had mistaken carnal wisdom
and outward profession for those precious things. It was poor in secret prayer, which is the
strength of any church, it was destitute of communion with Christ, which is the very
lifeblood of religion, but it had the outward semblance of these blessings, and walked in a
vain show. There are churches which are poor as Lazarus as to true religion, and yet are
clothed in scarlet and fare sumptuously every day upon the mere form of godliness.
Spiritual leanness exists side by side with vainglory. Contentment as to worldly goods
makes men rich, but contentment with our spiritual condition is the index of poverty. Once
more, this church of Laodicea had fallen into a condition which had chased away its Lord.
The text tells us that Jesus said, “I stand at the door and knock.” That is not the position
which our Lord occupies in reference to a truly flourishing church. If we are walking
aright with Him, He is in the midst of the church, dwelling there, and revealing Himself to
His people. His presence makes our worship to be full of spirituality and life, He meets His
servants at the table, and there spreads them a feast upon His body and His blood, it is He
who puts power and energy into all our church action, and causes the Word to sound out
from our midst. True saints abide in Jesus and He in them. Oh, brethren, when the Lord is
in a church, it is a happy church, a holy church, a mighty church and a triumphant church,
but we may grieve Him till He will say, “I will go and return to my place, until they
acknowledge their offense and seek my face.” Oh, you that know my Lord and have power
with Him, entreat Him not to go away from us. He can see much about us as a people which
grieves His Holy Spirit, much about any one of us to provoke Him to anger. Hold Him, I
pray you, and do not let Him go, or if He be gone, bring Him again to His mother’s house,
into the chamber of her that bare Him, where, with holy violence, we will detain Him and
say, “Abide with us, for You are life and joy, and all in all to us as a church. Ichabod is
written across our house if You be gone, for Your presence is our glory and Your absence
will be our shame.”
Sermon #1185 An Earnest Warning Against Lukewarmness
Volume 20
5
5
Churches may become like the temple when the glory of the Lord had left the holy place
because the image of jealousy was set up and the house was defiled. What a solemn
warning is that which is contained in Jeremiah 7:12-15, “But go you now unto my place
which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the
wickedness of my people Israel. And now, because you have done all these works, says the
LORD, and I spoke unto you, rising up early and speaking, but you heard not; and I called
you, but you answered not; therefore I will do unto this house, which is called by my name,
in which you trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have
done to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren,

even the whole seed of Ephraim.” II. Now let us consider, secondly, THE DANGER OF
SUCH A STATE. The great danger is, first, to be rejected of Christ. He puts it, “I will
spew you out of my mouth”—as disgusting Him, and causing Him nausea. Then the church
must first be in His mouth, or else it could not be spewed from it. What does this mean?
Churches are in Christ’s mouth in several ways, they are used by Him as His testimony to
the world, He speaks to the world through their lives and ministries. He does as good as
say, “O sinners, if you would see what My religion can do, see here a godly people banded
together in My fear and love, walking in peace and holiness.” He speaks powerfully by
them, and makes the world see and know that there is true power in the Gospel of the grace
of God. But when the church becomes neither cold nor hot He does not speak by her, she is
no witness for Him. When God is with a church the minister’s words come out of Christ’s
mouth. “Out of his mouth went a two-edged sword,” says John in Revelation and that
“two-edged sword” is the Gospel which we preach. When God is with a people they speak
with divine power to the world, but if we grow lukewarm Christ says, “Their teachers shall
not profit, for I have not sent them, neither am I with them. Their word shall be as water
spilt on the ground, or as the whistling of the wind.” This is a dreadful thing. Better far for
me to die than to be spewed out of Christ’s mouth. Then He also ceases to plead for such a
church. Christ’s special intercession is not for all men, for He says of His people, “I pray
for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which you have given me.” I do not think
Christ ever prays for the Church of Rome—what would He pray for, but her total
overthrow? Other churches are nearing the same fate, they are not clear in His truth or
honest in obedience to His Word, they follow their own devices, they are lukewarm. But
there are churches for which He is pleading, for He has said, “For Zion’s sake will I not
hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof goes
forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burns.” Mighty are His
pleadings for those He really loves, and countless are the blessings which come in
consequence. It will be an evil day when He casts a church out of that interceding mouth,
and leaves her unrepresented before the throne because she is none of His. Do you not
tremble at such a prospect? Will you not ask for grace to return to your first love? I know
that the Lord Jesus will never leave off praying for His own elect, but for churches as
corporate bodies He may cease to pray, because they become anti-Christian, or are mere
human gatherings, but not elect assemblies, such as the church of God ought to be. Now
this is the danger of any church if it declines from its first ardor and becomes lukewarm.
“Remember therefore from where you are fallen, and repent, and do your first works; or
else I will come unto you quickly, and will remove your candlestick out of his place, except
you repent.” What is the other danger? This first comprehends all, but another evil is
hinted at—such a church will be left to its fallen condition, to become wretched—that is to
say, miserable, unhappy, divided, without the presence of God, and so without delight in
the ways of God, lifeless, spiritless, dreary, desolate, full of schisms, devoid of grace, and I
know not what beside, that may come under the term “wretched.” Then the next word is
“miserable,” which might better be rendered “pitiable.” Churches which once were a glory
shall become a shame. Whereas men said, “The Lord has done great things for them,” they
shall now say, “see how low they have fallen! What a change has come over the place! What
emptiness and wretchedness! What a blessing rested there for so many years, but what a
contrast
An Earnest Warning Against Lukewarmness Sermon #1185

Volume 20
6
6
now!” Pity will take the place of congratulation, and scorn will follow admiration. Then it
will be “poor” in membership, poor in effort, poor in prayer, poor in gifts and graces, poor
in everything. Perhaps some rich people will be left to keep up the semblance of prosperity,
but all will be empty, vain, void, Christless, lifeless. Philosophy will fill the pulpit with
chaff, the church will be a mass of worldliness, the congregation an assembly of vanity.
Next, they will become blind, they will not see themselves as they are. They will have no eye
upon the neighborhood to do it good, no eye to the coming of Christ, no eye for His glory.
They will say, “We see,” and yet be blind as bats. Ultimately they will become “naked,”
their shame will be seen by all, they will be a proverb in everybody’s mouth. “Call that a
church!” says one. “Is that a church of Jesus Christ?” cries a second. Those dogs that
dared not open their mouths against Israel when the Lord was there will begin to howl
when He is gone, and everywhere will the sound be heard, “How are the mighty fallen, how
are the weapons of war broken.” In such a case as that the church will fail of overcoming,
for it is “to him that overcomes” that a seat upon Christ’s throne is promised, but that
church will come short of victory. It shall be written concerning it even as of the children of
Ephraim, that being armed and carrying bows they turned their backs in the day of battle.
“You did run well,” says Paul to the Galatians, “what did hinder you that you should not
obey the truth?” Such a church had a grand opportunity, but it was not equal to the
occasion, its members were born for a great work, but inasmuch as they were unfaithful,
God put them aside and used other means. He raised up in their midst a flaming testimony
for the Gospel, and the light thereof was cast athwart the ocean, and gladdened the nations,
but the people were not worthy of it, or true to it, and therefore He took the candlestick out
of its place, and left them in darkness. May God prevent such an evil from coming upon us,
but such is the danger to all churches if they degenerate into listless indifference. III.
Thirdly, I have to speak of THE REMEDIES WHICH THE LORD EMPLOYS. I do
earnestly pray that what I say may come home to all here, especially to every one of the
members of this church, for it has come very much home to me, and caused great searching
of heart in my own soul, and yet I do not think I am the least zealous among you. I beseech
you to judge yourselves, that you be not judged. Do not ask me if I mean anything personal.
I am personal in the most emphatic sense. I speak of you and to you in the plainest way.
Some of you show plain symptoms of being lukewarm, and God forbid that I should flatter
you, or be unfaithful to you. I am aiming at personality, and I earnestly want each beloved
brother and sister here to take home each affectionate rebuke. And you who come from
other churches, whether in America or elsewhere, you want arousing quite as much as we
do, your churches are not better than ours, some of them are not so good, and I speak to
you also, for you need to be stirred up to nobler things. Note, then, the first remedy. Jesus
gives a clear discovery as to the church’s true state. He says to it—“You are lukewarm, you
are wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” I rejoice to see people
willing to know the truth, but most men do not wish to know it, and this is an ill sign. When
a man tells you that he has not looked at his ledger, or day-book, or held a stock-taking for
this twelve months, you know whereabouts he is, and you say to your manager, “Have you
an account with him? Then keep it as close as you can.” When a man dares not know the

worst about his case, it is certainly a bad one, but he that is right before God is thankful to
be told what he is and where he is. Now, some of you know the faults of other people, and
in watching this church you have observed weak points in many places—have you wept
over them? Have you prayed over them? If not, you have not watched as you should do for
the good of your brethren and sisters, and perhaps, have allowed evils to grow which ought
to have been rooted up, you have been silent when you should have kindly and earnestly
spoken to the offenders, or made your own example a warning to them. Do not judge your
brother, but judge yourself, if you have any severity, use it on your own conduct and heart.
We must pray the Lord to use this remedy, and make us know just where we are. We shall
never get right as long as we are confident that we are so already. Self-complacency is the
death of repentance.
Sermon #1185 An Earnest Warning Against Lukewarmness
Volume 20
7
7
Our Lord’s next remedy is gracious counsel. He says, “I counsel you to buy of me gold tried
in the fire.” Does not that strike you as being very like the passage in Isaiah, “Come you,
buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price”? It is so, and
it teaches us that one remedy for lukewarmness is to begin again just as we began at first.
We were at a high temperature at our first conversion. What joy, what peace, what delight,
what comfort, what enthusiasm we had when first we knew the Lord! We bought gold of
Him then for nothing, let us go and buy again at the same price. If religion has not been
genuine with us till now, or if we have been adding to it great lumps of shining stuff which
we thought was gold and was not, let us now go to the heavenly mint and buy gold tried in
the fire, that we may be really rich. Come, let us begin again, each one of us. Inasmuch as
we may have thought we were clothed and yet we were naked, let us hasten to Him again,
and at His own price, which is no price, let us procure the robe which He has wrought of
His own righteousness, and that goodly raiment of His Spirit, which will clothe us with the
beauty of the Lord. If, moreover, we have come to be rather dim in the eye, and no longer
look up to God and see His face, and have no bright vision of the glory to be revealed, and
cannot look on sinners with weeping eyes, as we once did, let us go to Jesus for the eye-
salve, just as we went when we were stone blind at first, and the Lord will open our eyes
again, and we shall behold Him in clear vision as in days gone by. The word from Jesus is,
“Come near to me, I pray you, My brethren. If you have wandered from Me, return; if you
have been cold to Me I am not cold to you, My heart is the same to you as ever, come back
to Me, My brethren. Confess your evil deeds, receive My forgiveness, and henceforth let
your hearts burn towards Me, for I love you still and will supply all your needs.” That is
good counsel, let us take it. Now comes a third remedy, sharp and cutting, but sent in love,
namely, rebukes and chastenings. Christ will have His favored church walk with great
care, and if she will not follow Him fully by being shown wherein she has erred, and will
not repent when kindly counseled, He then betakes Himself to some sharper means. “As
many as I love I rebuke and chasten.” The word here used for “love” is a very choice one, it
is one which signifies an intense personal affection. Now, there are some churches which
Christ loves very specially, favoring them above others, doing more for them than for
others, and giving them more prosperity, they are the darlings of His heart, His Benjamins.

Now it is a very solemn thing to be dearly loved by God. It is a privilege to be coveted, but
mark you, the man who is so honored occupies a position of great delicacy. The Lord your
God is a jealous God, and He is most jealous where He shows most love. The Lord lets some
men escape scotfree for a while after doing many evil things, but if they had been His own
elect He would have visited them with stripes long before. He is very jealous of those whom
He has chosen to lean upon His bosom and to be His familiar friends. Your servant may do
many things which could not be thought of by your child or your wife, and so it is with
many who profess to be servants of God—they live a very lax life, and they do not seem to
be chastened for it, but if they were the Lord’s own peculiarly beloved ones He would not
endure such conduct from them. Now mark this, if the Lord exalts a church, and gives it a
special blessing, He expects more of it, more care of His honor, and more zeal for His glory
than He does of any other church, and when He does not find it, what will happen? Why,
because of His very love He will rebuke it with hard sermons, sharp words, and sore
smitings of conscience. If these do not arouse it He will take down the rod and deal out
chastenings. Do you know how the Lord chastens churches? Paul says, “For this cause
some are sickly among you, and many sleep.” Bodily sickness is often sent in discipline
upon churches, and losses, and crosses, and troubles are sent among the members, and
sometimes leanness in the pulpit, breakings out of heresy and divisions in the pew, and lack
of success in all church work. All these are smitings with the rod. It is very sad, but
sometimes that rod does not fall on that part of the church which does the wrong.
Sometimes God may take the best in the church, and chasten them for the wrong of others.
You say, “How can that be right?” Why, because they are the kind of people who will be
most benefited by it. If a vine wants the knife, it is not the branch that bears very little fruit
which is trimmed, but the branch
An Earnest Warning Against Lukewarmness Sermon #1185
Volume 20
8
8
which bears much fruit is purged because it is worth purging. In their case the chastening
is a blessing and a token of love. Sorrow is often brought upon Christians by the sins of
their fellow members, and many an aching heart there is in this world that I know of, of
brethren and sisters who love the Lord and want to see souls converted, but they can only
sigh and cry because nothing is done. Perhaps they have a minister who does not believe
the Gospel, and they have fellow members who do not care whether the minister believes it
or not, they are all asleep together except those few zealous souls who besiege the throne of
grace day and night, and they are the ones who bear the burden of the lukewarm church.
Oh, if the chastening comes here, whoever bears it, may the whole body be the better for it,
and may we never rest till the church begins to glow with the sacred fire of God, and boil
with enthusiastic desire for His glory. The last remedy, however, is the best of all to my
mind. I love it best and desire to make it my food when it is not my medicine. The best
remedy for backsliding churches, is more communion with Christ. “Behold,” says He, “I
stand at the door and knock.” I have known this text preached upon to sinners numbers of
times as though Christ knocked at their door and they had to open it, and so on. The
preacher has never managed to keep to free grace for this reason, that the text was not
meant to be so used, and if men will ride a text the wrong way, it will not go. This text

belongs to the church of God, not to the unconverted. It is addressed to the Laodicean
church. There is Christ outside the church, driven there by her unkindness, but He has not
gone far away, He loves His church too much to leave her altogether, He longs to come
back, and therefore He waits at the doorpost. He knows that the church will never be
restored till He comes back, and He desires to bless her, and so He stands waiting,
knocking and knocking again and again, He does not merely knock once, but He stands
knocking by earnest sermons, by providences, by impressions upon the conscience, by the
quickenings of His Holy Spirit, and while He knocks He speaks, He uses all means to
awaken His church. Most condescendingly and graciously does He do this, for having
threatened to spew her out of His mouth, He might have said, “I will get Me gone; and I
will never come back again to you,” that would have been natural and just, but how
gracious He is when, having expressed His disgust, He says, “Disgusted as I am with your
condition, I do not wish to leave you; I have taken My presence from you, but I love you,
and therefore I knock at your door, and wish to be received into your heart. I will not force
Myself upon you, I want you voluntarily to open the door to Me.” Christ’s presence in a
church is always a very tender thing. He never is there against the will of the church, it
cannot be, for He lives in His people’s wills and hearts, and “works in them to will and to
do of His own good pleasure.” He does not break bolt and bar and come in as He often does
into a sinner’s heart, carrying the soul by storm, because the man is dead in sin, and Christ
must do it all, or the sinner will perish, but He is here speaking to living men and women,
who ought also to be loving men and women, and He says, “I wish to be among you, open
the door to Me.” We ought to open the door at once, and say, “Come in, good Lord, we
grieve to think we should ever have put You outside that door at all.” And then see what
promises He gives. He says He will come and sup with us. Now, in the East, the supper was
the best meal of the day, it was the same as our dinner, so that we may say that Christ will
come and dine with us. He will give us a rich feast, for He Himself is the daintiest and most
plenteous of all feasts for perishing souls. He will come and sup with us, that is, we shall be
the host and entertain Him, but then He adds, “and he with me,” that is, He will be the host
and entertain us. So we will change places, we will be host and guest by turns. We will give
Him of our best, but poor fare is that, too poor for Him, and yet He will partake of it. Then
He shall be host and we will be guests, and oh, how we will feast on what He gives! Christ
comes, and brings the supper with Him, and all we do is find the room. The Master says to
us, “Where is the guest chamber?” and then He makes ready and spreads His royal table.
Sermon #1185 An Earnest Warning Against Lukewarmness
Volume 20
9
9
Now, if these be the terms on which we are to have a feast together, we will most willingly
fling open the doors of our hearts and say, “Come in, good Lord.” He says to you,
“Children, have you any meat?” and if you are obliged to say, “No, Lord,” He will come in
unto you none the less readily, for there are the fish, the net is ready to break, it is so full,
and here are more upon the coals ready. I warrant you, if we sup with Him, we shall be
lukewarm no longer. The men who live where Jesus is soon feel their hearts burning. It is
said of a piece of scented clay by the Old Persian moralist that the clay was taken up and
questioned. “How came you to smell so sweetly, being nothing but common clay?” and it

replied, “I laid for many a year in the sweet society of a rose, until at last I drank in its
perfume,” and we may say to every warm-hearted Christian, “How came you so warm?”
and his answer will be, “My heart bubbles up with a good matter, for I speak of the things
which I have made touching the King. I have been with Jesus, and I have learned of Him.”
Now, brethren and sisters, what can I say to move you to take this last medicine? I can only
say, take it, not only because of the good it will do you, but because of the sweetness of it. I
have heard say of some persons, that they were pledged not to take wine except as a
medicine, and then they were very pleased when they were ill, and so if this is the medicine,
“I will come and sup with him, and he with me,” we may willingly confess our need of so
delicious a remedy. Need I press it on you? May I not rather urge each brother as soon as
he gets home today to see whether he cannot enter into fellowship with Jesus? and may the
Spirit of God help him! This is my closing word, there is something for us to do in this
matter. We must examine ourselves, and we must confess the fault if we have declined in
grace. And then we must not talk about setting the church right, we must pray for grace
each one for himself, for the text does not say, “If the church will open the door,” but “If
any man hear my voice and open the door.” It must be done by individuals, the church will
only get right by each man getting right. Oh, that we might get back into an earnest zeal
for our Lord’s love and service, and we shall only do so by listening to His rebukes, and
then falling into His arms, clasping Him once again, and saying, “My Lord and my God.”
That healed Thomas, did it not? Putting his fingers into the print of the nails, putting his
hand into the side, that cured him. Poor, unbelieving, staggering Thomas only had to do
that and he became one of the strongest of believers, and said, “My Lord and my God.”
You will love your Lord till your soul is as coals of juniper if you will daily commune with
Him. Come close to Him, and once getting close to Him, never go away from Him any
more. The Lord bless you, dear brethren, the Lord bless you in this thing.

Every year on October 31st, children all over the world come knocking on strangers’ doors as
they celebrate Halloween, shouting the familiar catchphrase, “trick or treat?”
You’ll see kids dressed up in a variety of scary costumes hoping that the house owners will open
up their doors and offer them goodies in the form of sweets and candy.
Many Christians view Revelation 3:20 in a similar way. That verse says:
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 verse is a favourite among evangelists and preachers. It’s not uncommon for them to
interpret that verse as Jesus standing outside the doors of the life of a non-believer. He’s waiting
to be invited in, and stands there knocking on this stranger’s door, similar to the children going
trick or treating.
However, does the original verse in Revelation 3:20 actually refer to this?
Read on to find out.

Holman Hunt’s The Light of the World
The Light of the World by Holman Hunt, Keble College Oxford Version
Holman Hunt’s famous painting The Light of the World was inspired by the verse in Revelation
3:20. The Pre-Raphelite artist created three versions of this image. The original (completed in
1853) is displayed in the chapel at Keble College, Oxford. A smaller pastel version (completed
in 1856) hangs in Manchester City Art Gallery. The most famous and largest version (completed
in 1904) hangs in St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
Hunt’s painting is often used as a vivid evangelistic picture of how Jesus comes knocking on
unbelievers’ hearts, wanting to come in.
In his book Questions of Life, Nicky Gumbel, the founder of the Alpha Course and rector of
Holy Trinity Brompton church in London, interprets both the verse and the painting in this way.
He writes:
“Jesus, the Light of the World, stands at a door, which is overgrown with ivy and
weeds. The door clearly represents the door of someone’s life. This person has never
invited Jesus to come into his or her life. Jesus is standing at the door and knocking.
He is awaiting a response. He wants to come in and be part of that person’s life.”
The door in this painting doesn’t appear to have a handle on the outside. Hunt explained in his
book Pre-Raphaelitism and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood that this was deliberate. The handle
is in the inside and can only be opened from that end, representing the “obstinately shut mind.”
Gumbel comments on this fact, saying:
“In other words, we have to open the door to let Jesus into our lives. Jesus will never
force his way in. He gives us the freedom to choose. It is up to us whether or not we
open the door to him. If we do, he promises, ‘I will come in and eat with them and they
with me’ Eating together is a sign of the friendship which Jesus offers to all those who
open the door of their lives to him.”
While it could provide us with a useful picture of what happens with a non-believer, this is not
the original context of the passage in Revelation at all.
What does the passage actually say?
The original context of Revelation 3:20
The seven churches in Revelation Image credit: Free Bible Images, courtesy of
www.LumoProject.com.
Revelation 3:20 is part of a longer passage. It forms part of John’s vision of a message sent to the
church of Laodicea in 3:14-22.
John has a vision of Jesus speaking to seven different churches starting in Revelation chapter 2
and going through to the end of Revelation chapter 3. These churches are the church in Ephesus
(2:1-7), Smyrna (2:8-11), Pergamum (2:12-17), Thyatira (2:18-29), Sardis (3:1-6), Philadelphia
(3:7-13) and Laodicea (3:14-22).
Each of these churches are imperfect, and have something about them that is not quite up to
scratch. In each of these, warnings and encouragements are given.
To the church of Laodicea, Jesus gives a stern warning, because of their lukewarm nature.

He says:
15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or
the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit
you out of my mouth.
Jesus continues that the church thinks they are rich and not in need of anything, but in fact they
are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
When Jesus says that He stands at the door and knocks, it is immediately preceded by verse 19
which says:
19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 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.
4 things to note about Revelation 3:20
Revelation 3:20 is addressed to believers, not unbelievers

Revelation 3:20 is part of a message to a church. This is a church of believers. It is also
addressed to a whole congregation rather than an individual.
Now of course, the body of Christ is made up of individuals, and within that body, you can easily
find many individuals who have become lukewarm.
That is the danger for each one of us as Christians. We can allow our passion for Jesus to fade
and to become indifferent to sin, or to others in need.
In verse 19, Jesus also says that “those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.”
Revelation 3:20 is not about Jesus wanting to come into the life of an unbeliever. It is about how
we as believers can become lukewarm and feel we are now rich and self-sufficient. As such, we
can end up pushing Jesus out and leave Him standing on the outside of the door of our lives.
It’s not, as Nicky Gumbel writes, that the person has never invited Jesus into their lives. On the
contrary, they have invited Him in already, but are now crowding or pushing Him out.
The door that is overgrown with ivy and weeds in Holman Hunt’s painting more likely
represents the weeds that grow up and choke us, like the parable of the sower in Luke 8:4-15.
This is the parable of the Sower. In verse 14, Jesus explains that there are those who have heard
the word of God, but then go on their way as they are choked by life’s worries, riches and
pleasures, and they do not mature.
Jesus is not standing outside the door begging to come in.
The Light of the World by Holman Hunt, Manchester City Art Gallery Version
The impression often given by the Holman Hunt painting is that Jesus is constantly knocking on
the door of the unbeliever, hoping they will open up and invite Him in. But when they fail to do
so, perhaps He goes away sad and waits for another opportune time when they might be more
open.

However, the description of Jesus in these messages to the Seven churches is not one where He
is meek and mild. Instead, this is a Jesus who stands in glory and power. In verse 14, it says:
“These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s
creation.”
Similarly, in Chapter 2:1 when addressing the church of Ephesus, it says:
“These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks
among the seven golden lampstands.”
Or again in 2:8, it says:
“These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life
again.”
And in 2:12 it says:
“These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword.”
Or in 2:18 it says:
“These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet
are like burnished bronze.”
You get the picture. This is not a gentle picture of Jesus standing outside rather unassumingly.
This is a picture of Him in awe and majesty.
Verses 17-18 are both warnings and encouragements
Image credit: Free Bible Images, courtesy of www.LumoProject.com.
Verses 17-18 are important here for the context of the passage. They read as follows:
17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do
not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to
buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to
wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you
can see.
Jesus is saying to the church: “You think you’re rich and have acquired wealth and think you’re
self-sufficient. But this is what you’re actually like. You’re actually wretched, pitiful, poor, blind
and naked.”
On the one hand, the church’s view of themselves as rich and not needing anything can easily
make them what Tim Keller describes in his book Generous Justice: How God’s Grace Makes
Us Just as “middle class in spirit” as opposed to poor in spirit.
When they become that way, this makes them indifferent to the needs of those around them.
They can become lukewarm and merely existing in a self-sufficient way, being neither hot nor
cold.
On the other hand, Jesus is saying that the church are not in fact rich at all as they think. Their
righteousness is like filthy rags, as Isaiah 64:6 says. They are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and
naked. In particular, they are poor, because they need to wear Jesus’ own righteousness to cover
up their nakedness and to help them see. They need Jesus’ grace to survive. Without that, they
can do nothing.

I’ve written about being poor in spirit in more detail here.
Revelation 3:20 is a call for believers to repent
Verse 19-20 read:
19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 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 idea here is not that an unbeliever is receiving fellowship with Jesus for the first time, as
Nicky Gumbel describes.
Rather, in the context of this passage, Jesus was standing outside the door of the Laodicean
church. His call was to re-enter the lukewarm church’s doors through their repentance.
Applying it to us as believers more broadly, we can also become lukewarm towards Jesus. We
end up putting Him who was inside the door of our lives back outside again. When we do that,
we are out of fellowship or communion with Him.
In John 10:1-30, Jesus describes Himself as the Good Shepherd. He also refers to himself as the
door of the sheep and how his sheep hear his voice, and how He knows them and they follow
Him.
When believers – the sheep of the Shepherd – open up the door to Jesus again, they experience
that fellowship and communion that they had lost. Although Jesus is always dwelling within us
as believers, our experience is such that we no longer feel close to Him when we become
lukewarm.
Our repentance involves acknowledging that we are indeed wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and
naked. Our righteousness is like filthy rags and we need Jesus in every aspect of our lives.
We can easily allow our everyday lives to overwhelm us and push Jesus outside of our lives. We
can become distracted with all the cares and worries of this world.
When we become worried, we must remember that one thing is needed. To hear the word of God
again and spend time with Jesus. This was Jesus’ call to Martha when she was distracted by so
many other things instead of sitting at His feet.
The call to us is echoed in the old Vineyard song Light the Fire again, shown in the video above.
We ask Jesus not to let our hearts grow cold, but for Him to light the fire within us once again as
we open up our hearts to Him.
Conclusion
It is important to understand the original context of the passage so that we don’t distort it for our
own purposes. Yes, it would provide a useful evangelistic picture for the unbeliever. However,
Revelation 3:20 is not a passage about the unbeliever inviting Jesus into their life for the first
time.
The passage is addressed to believers as part of a warning against becoming lukewarm.
Have you read the original context of the passage before? Or have you used it as an evangelistic
image before? Are you surprised to discover the actual meaning and application?

Leave your comments in the section below. Also, please share if you found this article
useful.
https://drawingontheword.com/revelation-3v20-jesus-knocking-on-door/

On Whose Door Is Christ Knocking?
by Jeremiah Johnson
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
Comments (33)
A + A - reset
In the lead-up to the Truth Matters conference in October, we will be focusing our attention on
the sufficiency, authority, and clarity of Scripture. Of our previous blog series, none better
embodies that emphasis than Frequently Abused Verses. The following entry from that series
originally appeared on October 5, 2015. -ed.
Is it really “abuse” if a verse is used inaccurately to make an important point?
The short answer is, “Yes.” We should not be so careless and cavalier with Scripture, or think so
highly of ourselves, that we can impose new meaning—even if it is valid—on the inerrant,
sufficient Word of God. If the point is worth making, it’s worth making from the appropriate
text.
Which brings us to the verse before us today: Revelation 3:20 is certainly one of the most
familiar and frequently-quoted verses in the church. It’s a particular favorite for evangelists,
camp preachers, and anyone else who wants to lend some urgency to the call of God on a
sinner’s life
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will
come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20). In the hands of many
preachers and evangelists, the verse paints an attractive, compelling picture of Christ’s pursuit of
the sinner, and highlights the need for an immediate response.
But is that an accurate interpretation of the verse—is Christ truly at the doorstep of each sinner’s
heart, pleading to come in? And if not, on whose door is the Lord knocking? Let’s tackle those
issues one at a time.
Is Christ Knocking?
We use a lot of clichés as shorthand in the church, and not all of them are helpful or even
accurate. For example, many Christians talk about “asking Jesus into your heart.” And while that
phrase might have some vaguely biblical underpinnings, it doesn’t shed any light on what it truly
means to repent and believe. If anything, it muddles the sinner’s responsibility in salvation; it
dulls some of the sharp edges of the gospel.
In the same way, the common misapplication of Revelation 3:20 has done more harm than good.
Yes, the mental image of Christ knocking on the door of a sinner’s heart is moving. But it’s not
accurate—it’s a caricature at best, and it comes at a high theological cost.

Put simply, Christ isn’t pleading on every sinner’s spiritual doorstep. Jesus doesn’t need to beg
or badger anyone into the kingdom of heaven (John 10:27-28). Salvation isn’t merely a matter of
the Lord getting a foot inside the door of your heart—it’s a work of total transformation (Ezekiel
36:26). And most important of all, salvation is not triggered by an act of the sinner’s will—it is
God’s intervening work that rescues us from the just penalty of our sin (Ephesians 2:4-9).
In fact, the abuse of Revelation 3:20 often goes hand-in-hand with talk of “asking Jesus into your
heart” and other man-centered versions of the gospel message. One way to protect yourself and
your evangelism from such skewed perspectives is to closely adhere to biblical language when
you’re explaining the gospel.
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit
that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived
in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by
nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His
great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made
us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him,
and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come
He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift
of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:1-9, emphasis
added)
Train yourself to think about the gospel in those terms, and you’ll insulate yourself from the
influence of man-centered theology, and the temptation to reinterpret God’s Word.
Whose Door?
The door in Revelation 3:20 was not a vague spiritual metaphor—it was a specific door. And
while Christ wasn’t physically knocking, His words were directed to a specific group of people,
and should not be watered down or applied carelessly to just anyone.
The context of Revelation 3:20 is Christ’s letter to the church at Laodicea—also known as the
lukewarm church. In Revelation 3:14-22, the Lord condemns them for their spiritual self-
deception and apathy. Christ says, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish
that you were cold or hot” (v. 15). They did not openly reject Christ, but neither did they exhibit
any spiritual zeal or authentic love for God or His Word. They professed to know Christ, but He
had no place in their assembly.
And lost in their self-deception, they risked being spat out of God’s mouth altogether (v. 16).
Their only hope was to truly repent (v. 19).
In the context of Revelation 3, then, Christ was standing at the door of the Laodicean church,
eager to re-enter the congregation through the genuine repentance and salvation of its members.
In his commentary on this passage, John MacArthur explains the imagery of verse 20:
Though this verse has been used in countless tracts and evangelistic messages to depict
Christ’s knocking on the door of the sinner’s heart, it is broader than that. The door on
which Christ is knocking is not the door to a single human heart, but to the Laodicean
church. Christ was outside this apostate church and wanted to come in—something that
could only happen if the people repented.

The invitation is, first of all, a personal one, since salvation is individual. But He is
knocking on the door of the church, calling the many to saving faith, so that He may enter
the church. If one person (anyone) opened the door by repentance and faith, Christ would
enter that church through that individual. The picture of Christ outside the Laodicean
church seeking entrance strongly implies that, unlike Sardis, there were no believers there
at all.
Christ’s offer to dine with the repentant church speaks of fellowship, communion, and
intimacy. Sharing a meal in ancient times symbolized the union of people in loving
fellowship. Believers will dine with Christ at the marriage supper of the Lamb
(Revelation 19:9), and in the millennial kingdom (Luke 22:16, 29-30). Dine is from
deipneō, which refers to the evening meal, the last meal of the day. The Lord Jesus Christ
urged them to repent and have fellowship with Him before the night of judgment fell and
it was too late forever.
[1]

What does repentance look like? Far from merely opening the door of your heart to Christ, true
repentance reflects the conviction of your sin and the deep desire for righteousness. Here’s how
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones defined this important doctrine:
Repentance means that you realize that you are a guilty, vile sinner in the presence of
God, that you deserve the wrath and punishment of God, that you are hell-bound. It
means that you begin to realize that this thing called sin is in you, that you long to get rid
of it, and that you turn your back on it in every shape and form. You renounce the world
whatever the cost, the world in its mind and outlook as well as its practice, and you deny
yourself, and take up the cross and go after Christ.
[2]

The Urgent Call of the Gospel
When it comes to applying and interpreting Scripture, the details matter; good intentions are not
enough. We bring the authority of Scripture to bear in sinners’ lives only inasmuch as we handle
it accurately. We have a responsibility to the Lord, to each other, and to the unsaved world to
proclaim the excellence, inerrancy, and sufficiency of the Bible. And we can’t fulfill that
responsibility if we’re assigning our own meaning to God’s immutable truth.
With that in mind, you may still want to inject some urgency into the call to repent the next time
you share the gospel with friends or family. Rather than falling back on a misappropriation of
Christ’s words in Revelation, why not make a biblically sound argument? Here are a couple
passages that convey the sinner’s urgent spiritual needs.
Isaiah preached to the apostate nation of Israel pleading with them to return to the Lord:
Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked
forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and
He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. (Isaiah
55:6-7)
And in Acts 17 Paul ended his gospel appeal to a crowd of philosophers with these words:
Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all
people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the
world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to
all men by raising Him from the dead. (Acts 17:30-31)

These and other passages (cf. Acts 2:37-40; Hebrews 4:6-7) can be rightly used to urge
unbelievers or those lost in self-deception to respond to the gospel by repenting and turning to
Christ. What good is our evangelistic zeal if we aren’t biblically sound?

Home » Christian Devotionals » Reflection Stories https://www.testifygod.org/I-stand-at-the-
door-and-knock.html
True Meaning of “I stand at the door and
knock”
七月 23, 2018
Editor’s Notes: Everyone who sincerely believes in the Lord hopes to welcome the Lord’s
return, but for fear of being deceived by false Christs, we beware of and do not dare believe
anyone who preaches that the Lord has come. In this way, will we not miss the Lord’s coming?
The Lord Jesus prophesied, “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”
(Revelation 3:20). This verse tells us when the Lord Jesus returns, He will stand at the door and
knock. Only if we listen to the Lord’s voice and open the door, can we welcome Him.
Have you ever heard of the story of the wolf and the rabbits? Once there lived several little
rabbits and a big wolf in a forest. In order to protect her children from being harmed by the wolf,
each time the mother rabbit went out, she would warn her babies to close the door firmly and not
to open it until she came back. The baby rabbits were very obedient and smart. Afterward, the
wolf knocked at the door imitating the singing of the mother rabbit. The baby rabbits saw
through its trick by distinguishing its singing from their mother’s voice. In the end, when their
mother came back and knocked at the door, they recognized her through listening to her voice
and opened the door happily.
It was because warned by their mother before she left home that the little rabbits were cautious
and didn’t blindly open the door when they heard the knock. Also, the little rabbits were clever,
knowing that they should hear the voice and discern whether the one who knocked at the door
was their mother, so they saw through the wolf who disguised as their mother. Thus, they were
safe and sound until their mother came back. I think: If the baby rabbits hadn’t listened to their
mother’s warning and opened the door for the wolf, the consequences would have been
unimaginable. However, if they had foolishly followed their mother’s words, guarding against
and not opening the door for whoever knocked at it, they would have shut their mother outside
when she really came back.
Then, I can’t help but remember that the Lord Jesus once warned people two thousand years ago:
“And then if any man shall say to you, See, here is Christ; or, see, he is there; believe him
not: For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders, to
seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. But take you heed: behold, I have foretold you all
things” (Mark 13: 21-23).

From this verse, we can see that in the last days, if some people witness that the Lord has
returned, we must be careful and can’t blindly listen to them. But this doesn’t mean that we can’t
believe anyone who preaches the coming of the Lord. Otherwise we will shut the Christ outside
and thus miss the opportunity of welcoming the Lord when He really comes. Moreover, the Lord
Jesus has explained it clearly that His intention is to let us guard against false Christs whose
main traits are showing signs and performing miracles. We mustn’t believe such people when we
meet them. But now there are lots of brothers and sisters who don’t listen to anyone who
preaches the second coming of the Lord for fear of being deceived by false Christs. Isn’t this a
case of not eating for fear of choking?
It is said in the Book of Revelation: “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”
(Revelation 3:20). The Lord Jesus also said: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and
they follow me” (John 10:27). Moreover, I saw two passages of God’s words on a gospel
website: “As such, since we are searching for the footprints of God, we must search for
God’s will, for the words of God, for the utterances of God—for where there are the new
words of God, there is the voice of God, and where there are the footsteps of God, there are
the deeds of God. Where there is the expression of God, there is the appearance of God,
and where there is the appearance of God, there exists the truth, the way, and the life.” “So
let us seek God’s will and discover His appearance from His utterances, and follow His
footprints! God is the truth, the way, and the life. His words and His appearance exist
concurrently….”
From God’s words, we can see that when the Lord comes again, He will stand at the door and
knock. Whether we can welcome Him mainly depends on whether we are able to hear His voice.
If we can recognize God’s voice, we will be able to open our doors to welcome Him so that
attend the banquet with Him. So when it comes to the Lord’s second coming, we can’t close our
doors to guard against those who preach it because of our fear. It is crucial to pay attention to
listening to the voice of God. J e s u s , M e a n i n g o f

Just as in the Age of Grace, it was through listening to the words of the Lord Jesus that those
believers recognized that the Lord Jesus was the coming Messiah, followed Him, and then

welcomed the Messiah’s arrival. For example, in John 1:47-49 it says: “Jesus saw Nathanael
coming to him, and said of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael
said to him, From where know you me? Jesus answered and said to him, Before that Philip
called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. Nathanael answered and said to him,
Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” At first, Nathanael didn’t believe that
the Lord Jesus was the Messiah. But hearing that the Lord Jesus had known him when he was
under the fig tree, he recognized that the Lord Jesus was God Himself and followed Him.
Besides, Peter, John and other disciples also recognized God’s voice through listening to the
Lord Jesus’ words. Finally, they received God’s salvation.
On the contrary, some other Jewish people also knew that the Messiah would come, but they
believed the lies of the chief priests and Pharisees and blindly refused without searching for or
listening to the utterances and words of the Lord Jesus for fear of being deceived. Ultimately,
they lost the salvation of the Lord.
It can be seen that it is very important for us to be able to hear God’s voice, for it is directly
related to whether we can attain God’s salvation. Especially now, it is a critical time for the
return of the Lord, we should even more be the ones who listen to God’s voice humbly. Just as
Revelation says: “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”
(Revelation 2:7).
By Wu Wen

Tell the Lord Thank You
Christian Daily Devotionals by Minister Debra Aiken d o o r . j p g

Revelation 3:20 Jesus Is Knocking At The
Door
January 23, 2018

Revelation 3:20 Behold! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My
voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me.
When God says "behold" in this text, He is saying "look, see" that there is
something I want you to pay attention to.
This text before is a part of the letter that John had written to the church of
Laodicea that is described as a lukewarm church. They are neither hot or
cold, just lukewarm and because they chose not to be either hot or cold, God
declares that He will "spew them out of His mouth."
Doors are everywhere and are opened either automatically or manually with
our hands, body, etc., but they have to be open in order for us to enter therein.
There is also a door to our heart that must be opened also. For some of you,
Jesus has been knocking at the door of your hearts for a long time and is still
knocking.
The clock of all of our lives are ticking. Everyday we are a day older.
Jesus is knocking! Can you hear Jesus knocking and calling out your name?
Revelation 1:7 Look! He is coming with the clouds. Everyone will see Him,
even the ones who stuck a sword through him. All people on earth will weep
because of him. Yes, it will happen! Amen.
If you think the world in which we now live is chaotic, crazy and unstable,
imagine living in a world where there are no Christians? Well, this is what the
world would be like when Christ returns to take away His people. The world
will be left in a state of chaos with only the unsaved.
Today is the day to answer the knock at the door of your heart for if you
don't, you WILL be left behind when Christ returns.
NO MORE EXCUSES!
Which will it be for you on today? An open door for Christ to enter in and
commune with you or a closed door that will keep Him shut out of your heart
and keep you shut out of eternity forever?
I urge, beg and plea with you to open up the door of your heart to Christ on
today.
Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart in hope that you will open up and
let Him in.
God bless.
Debra

• /contributors/james-may-profile-5972?ref=SermonDetailsView all Sermons
Who Is That Knocking At Your Door?
Contributed by James May on Jul 28, 2002
/contributors/james-may-profile-
5972?ref=SermonDetails
based on 140 ratings (rate this sermon)
| 45,126 views
Scripture: Revelation 3:20-22, John 10:7
Denomination: Pentecostal
Summary: Jesus stands knocking without ceasing at the
door to the heart of every man. Why won’t we open the door
and let Him come in?
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next
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.
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
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!
Pastor, have you claimed your 14 day PRO trial?
Enter your name and email to begin. Credit card required, cancel any time. Plus, get email
updates & offers from SermonCentral. Privacy
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?
Preach With Confidence
Try PRO free & strengthen your sermons
Enter your name and email to begin. Credit card required, cancel any time. Plus, get email
updates & offers from SermonCentral. Privacy
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?

• Jesus Is Knocking
Contributed by Niles Lloyd on Oct 26, 2002
/contributors/niles-lloyd-profile-
6765?ref=SermonDetails
based on 86 ratings (rate this sermon)
| 19,430 views
Scripture: Revelation 3:14-20
Denomination: Baptist
Summary: AS LOST PEOPLE GO THROUGH LIFE,
THERE IS A LOVING SAVIOR WHO PERSISTENTLY
AND GENTLY KNOCKS AT THEIR HEARTS DOOR SO
THEY CAN BE SAVED.
• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next
TITLE: JESUS IS KNOCKING 10/8/02
TEXT: REVELATION 3:14 - 20
INTRO:
JESUS HERE IN HIS LETTERS TO THE 7 CHURCHES OF ASIA, SPEAKS TO EACH OF
THEM AND WITH EACH CHURCH, HE ADDRESSES A PARTICULAR PROBLEM.
1. 2:1 EPHESUS = DEPARTED, THEY HAD LEFT THEIR FIRST LOVE!
2. 2:8 SMYRNA = SUFFERING CHURCH
3. 2:12 PERGAMOS = DEFILED CHURCH – ALLOWED FALSE DOCTRINE
4. 2:18 THYATIRA = WORLDLY CHURCH – ALLOWED IMMORALITY
5. 3:1 SARDIS = WAS A DEAD CHURCH, LIKE THE MODERN DAY BAPTIST
6. 3:7 PHILADELPHIA = WAS A WEAK CHURCH
7. 3:14 LAODECIA = WAS A LUKE-WARM CHURCH
AND HERE IN 3:14 - 20 WE FIND JESUS SPEAKING TO THE CHURCH OF LAODECIA.
THIS CHURCHES PROBLEM WAS THAT OF COMPROMISE, IT WASN’T HOT OR
COLD, IT WAS JUST LUKE WARM. IF YOU WAS TO STUDY THIS TEXT YOU WOULD
FIND THAT JESUS SPOKE NO GOOD WORDS TO THIS CHURCH, ONLY WORDS OF
REBUKE AND CONDEMNATION. IN V.16 HE SAYS "I WILL SPUE THEE OUT OF MY
MOUTH..."

GO DOWN TO V.20
HERE WE FIND THE CHURCHES MAIN PROBLEM, JESUS WAS ON THE OUTSIDE OF
THE CHURCH AND WAS NOT WELCOMED IN. WE SEE THIS TODAY IN MANY OF
THE CHURCHES ACROSS AMERICA - EVERYONE TALKS ABOUT GOD AND DOING
GOOD, BUT THEY NEVER MENTION ANYTHING ABOUT –
Download this sermon with PRO
· JESUS CHRIST
· THE OLD RUGGED CROSS
· NAIL SCARRED HANDS
· AND JESUS HAS BEEN LEFT OUTSIDE THE CHURCH.
BUT THEN THERE IS ANOTHER APPLICATION I WANT YOU TO SEE THIS MORNING.
THIS VERSE HERE IN REV. 3:20 I BELIEVE PAINTS A WONDERFUL PICTURE OF THE
LORD JESUS CHRIST OUTSIDE THE HEARTS DOOR OF MANKIND - KNOCKING AND
WANTING TO COME IN.
ILL. YEARS AGO A MAN BY THE NAME OF HOLMAN HUNT PAINTED THIS PICTURE
ON A PIECE OF CANVAS - JESUS STANDING THERE KNOCKING AT THE DOOR.
SOMEONE CAME BY AND SAID " SIR Y OU FORGOT TO PUT A HANDLE ON THE
OUTSIDE OF THE DOOR." MR. HUNT SAID "THIS DOOR ONLY HAS A HANDLE ON
THE INSIDE AND YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN OPEN IT.
AS I PREPARED THIS MESSAGE, I THOUGHT WHAT A MARVELOUS PICTURE THIS
IS.
* THE CREATOR KNOCKING ON THE DOOR OF THE CREATED.
* THE INFINITE KNOCKING ON THE DOOR OF THE FINITE.
* THE ALMIGHTY KNOCKING ON THE DOOR OF THE FRAIL.
* THE LOVING KNOCKING ON THE DOOR OF THE SELFISH AND HATEFUL.
* THE CRUCIFIED KNOCKING ON THE DOOR OF THOSE WHO CRUCIFIED HIM.
DEAR FRIEND IN ALL THE WORLD, THERE IS NOT A MORE BEAUTIFUL PICTURE
THAN THIS OF THE LORD JESUS KNOCKING AT THE HEARTS DOOR.
LET ME SAY AS WE GET INTO THE MESSAGE TODAY, JESUS IS STILL KNOCKING
AT THE HEARTS OF THE LOST AND THOSE WHO ARE OFF INTO A LIFE OF SIN.
NOTICE WITH ME FIRST OF ALL....
I. GOD’S UNTIRING PATIENCE
BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK....
I BELIEVE GOD, WHO MADE MAN’S HEART FOR HIMSELF AND WHO SEES FROM
THE BEGINING TO THE END, KNOWS OF THE TRAGEDY THAT WILL FOLLOW
WHEN A MAN, WOMAN, BOY OR G IRL CLOSES THEIR HEARTS DOOR AND WILL
NOT LET HIM IN.
BUT BECAUSE OF HIS GREAT LOVE FOR YOU THIS MORNING, JESUS STANDS
THERE PATIENTLY WAITING, EVER SO GENTLY KNOCKING AT YOUR DOOR! WHY

WON’T YOU LET HIM COME IN? THERE IS NOT A DAY THAT GOES BY THAT THE
SAVIOR DOES NOT KNOCK.
SOMETIMES HE KNOCKS THROUGH –
· TRAGEDY, FINANCIAL LOSS
· SICKNESS, DEATH
· WHATEVER THE CASE, JESUS STANDS THERE PERSISTENTLY KNOCKING AT
YOUR DOOR.
ILL. I REMEMBER AS A LOST BOY MANY YEARS AGO HOW JESUS PERSISTENTLY
KNOCKED ON MY HEARTS DOOR. I REMEMBER THE –
· CHURCH SERVICES I SAT THROUGH WITH SWEATY HANDS
· PREACHING TAPES I LISTENED TO WITH A NERVOUS HEART
· MEN OF GOD I TALKED TO, NOT WANTING TO ADMIT I WAS LOST
· BUT I WANT TO THANK GOD FOR HIS GENTLE PERSISTENT KNOCK AT MY
HEARTS DOOR!
MY FRIEND I BELIEVE IF I HAD NOT GOTTEN SAVED WHEN I DID – THERE WOULD
BE NO HOPE FOR ME TODAY!
AND I WANT TO WARN YOU THAT ARE HERE THIS MORNING AND THE SAVIOR
HAS MANY TIMES KNOCKED ON THE DOOR OF YOUR HEART AND YOU HAVE
TURNED A DEAR EAR.
DON’T DO THAT! - LISTEN, EVERY TIME JESUS KNOCKS AND YOU DO NOT
LISTEN, YOU ENTER INTO AN ADVANCED STATE OF CALOUSNESS UNTIL SOONER
OR LATER, YOU WILL NEVER AGAIN HEAR THE KNOC KING HAND OF THE HOLY
SPIRIT IN YOUR LIFE.
MULITITUDES IN JESUS’ DAY WERE GUILTY OF DOING THIS. JESUS MARKED
THEM AS PEOPLE WHO HAVING EARS, HEAR NOT, EYES YET THEY DO NOT SEE....
THIS IS WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO REACT TO HIS VOICE TODAY -
TOMMOROW MAY BE TO LATE.
PSALM 95:7 - 8
TO DAY IF YE WILL HEAR HIS VOICE, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEART AS IN THE DAY
OF PROVOCATION.
SO NOT ONLY DO WE SEE HIS PATIENCE....
II. GOD’S UNIVERSAL PLEA
IF ANY MAN.....
GLORY TO GOD FOR THAT! IF ANY MAN HEAR MY VOICE, AND OPEN THE DOOR I
WILL COME IN TO HIM AND SUP WITH HIM AND HE WITH ME.
THIS PHRASE HERE "IF ANY MAN" IS LIKE THE WORD WHOSOEVER THAT IS
FOUND ELSEWHERE IN THE WORD OF GOD.

IF YOU ARE HERE TODAY AND YOU ARE NOT SURE THAT HEAVEN IS YOUR
HOME, YOU CAN TAKE THIS VER SE AND PUT YOUR NAME IN THERE.
IF NILES LLOYD, IF JIM FENDLEY….. IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE WHO YOU ARE,
ANY PERSON THAT HEARS THE SAVIORS VOICE CAN OPEN THE DOOR AND BE
SAVED.
NO MATTER, WHO YOU ARE, WHAT YOU ARE, NO MATTER WHAT KIND OF A LIFE
YOU HAVE LIVED, JESUS CHRIST THE KING OF KINGS STANDS THERE AT THE
DOOR OF YOUR HEART ASKING YOU TO LET HIM IN.
ILL. MENDELSOHN THE GREAT ORGANIST AND MUSICIAN WENT TO SEE THE
FRIEBURG ORGAN. THE CUSTODIAN BLUNTLY REFUSED HIM ENTRANCE.
LATER HOWEVER HE RELUCTANTLY PERMIT TED HIM ENTRANCE. AFTER
TACTFUL PERSUASION HE CONSENTED TO LET THE MAN PLAY A FEW NOTES ON
THE FAMOUS INSTRUMENT. ONCE SEATED AT THE ORGAN HE BEGAN TO PLAY,
THE CARE TAKER STOOD SPEECHLESS AS HE HEARD THE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC
BEING PLAYED. AS THE LAST CHORDS FA DED INTO THE AIR THE CUSTODIAN
RUSHED OVER TO THE MASTER MUSICIANS SIDE "TELL ME SIR, TELL ME YOUR
NAME!" MENDLSOHN HE REPLIED. THE HUMILIATED, ASHAMED AND SELF
CONDEMNED MAN COULD ONLY REPLY...."AND TO THINK THAT I REFUSED YOU
MENDELSOHN TO ENTER.”
Powerful Preaching with PRO
14 days FREE, get started now...
Enter your name and email to begin. Credit card required, cancel any time. Plus, get email
updates & offers from SermonCentral. Privacy
MY FRIEND TO THINK THAT THE CREATOR OF THE WORLD IS HERE KNOCKING
AT YOUR DOOR AND YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO LET HIM IN!
1. UNTIRING PATIENCE: 2.HIS UNIVERSAL PLEA
III. GOD’S GENTLE PERSISTENCE
IF ANY MAN HEAR MY VOICE...
YOU WOULD THINK THAT JESUS WOULD HAVE SAID HERE, "IF ANY MAN HEAR
ME KNOCKING ON THE DOOR....”, BUT HE DOES NOT. HE SAY’S, “IF ANY MAN
HERE MY VOICE…”
ILL. I heard the story of a poor woman in great distress because she could not pay her rent. She
was expecting the officer to seize her goods. Her pastor heard of her trouble and went to her
house with the money for her rent. He knocked but could not get an answer. He went to different
doors and windows, knocking so eager he was to help her, but he received no response at all. At
last he was compelled to go away, carrying the money back with him. The good woman thought
it was the officer seeking entrance to carry away her goods, and she had tightly barred every door
and window and gave no heed to the knocking of the one who wanted to help her most!
HOW MANY TIMES HAS JESUS BEEN KNOCKING ON YOUR HEARTS DOOR BUT
YOU REFUSE TO LISTEN?

SAD TO SAY - THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE THE IDEA THAT
RECEIVING CHRIST AS THEIR SAVIOR WOULD MEAN A –
· LOSS OF JOY
· YOU’D HAVE TO LIVE LIKE A MONK IN A MONASTARY
· WELL NONE OF THAT IS TRUE! I HAVE MORE FUN AND MORE JOY NOW THAT I
AM A CHRISTIAN THAN I COULD HAVE EVER HAD BEFORE.
· THERE IS GOING TO BE A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT WILL MISS OUT NOT ONLY ON
HEAVEN, BUT A LIFE FILLED WITH BLESSING AFTER BLESSING AS A RESULT OF
KNOWING CHRIST AS THEIR SAVIOR.
LISTEN, JESUS CHRIST PERSISTENTLY KNOCKS AT YOUR DOOR – AND THEN AS A
MEANS OF LAST RESORT, HE BEGINS TO CRY OUT FOR YO U TO OPEN THE DOOR.
BUT FRIEND, WHEN HE SEES THAT THERE IS NO RESPONSE, THE ONLY THING
FOR HIM TO DO IS TO QUIT KNOCKING AND QUIT CALLING OUT YOUR NAME.
1. UNTIRING PATIENCE: 2.HIS UNIVERSAL PLEA:
3. GOD’S GENTLE PERSISTENCE
IV. YOUR PERSONAL DECISION
IF ANY MAN HEAR MY VOICE AND WILL OPEN THE DOOR.."
MY FRIEND RECEIVING CHRIST IS NOT –
· A PROCESS
· GETTING BAPTIZED
· CHATICHISM
· THERE IS ONLY 1 CONDITION THAT NEEDS TO BE MET AND THAT IS THAT BY
FAITH YOU OPEN YOUR HEARTS DOOR AND ASK HIM TO COME IN. HE W ILL
COME IN NO OTHER WAY.
MY FRIEND, GOD WILL NOT, KICK DOWN THE DOOR AND BARGE HIS WAY INTO
YOUR LIFE. IT IS A PERSONAL DECISION THAT YOU HAVE TO MAKE.
· YOUR PREACHER CAN’T MAKE THAT DECISION FOR YOU
· NEITHER CAN YOUR PARENTS, YOUR HUSBAND OR WIFE, IT IS SOMETHING
THAT YOU HAVE TO DO.
MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE GETTING SAVED IS BY –
· JOINING A CHURCH
· GETTING BAPTIZED
· DOING GOOD WORKS
· BUT NONE OF THOSE HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH BEING BORN AGAIN.
MY FRIEND, UNTIL YOU HAVE DELIBERATELY OPENED THE DOOR TO CHRIST
AND INVITED HIM IN, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO CLAIM HIM AS YOUR SAVIOR AND
LORD.

OH, BUT HE STILL PATIENTLY WAITS, PERSISTENTLY, CALLING AND KNOCKING
AT YOUR DOOR.
V. GOD’S PRECIOUS PROMISE
I WILL COME IN AND SUP WITH HIM AND HE WITH ME
OH IF THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD COULD GET A GRIP ON THIS! IF YOU ARE HERE
TODAY AND YOU HAVE NEVER ASKED CHRIST TO COME INTO YOUR HEART,
YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE MISSING OUT ON!
Pastor, have you claimed your 14 day PRO trial?
Enter your name and email to begin. Credit card required, cancel any time. Plus, get email
updates & offers from SermonCentral. Privacy
MANY FEAR AND MANY HESITATE TO DO WHAT GOD HAS TOLD THEM TO DO.
THEY THINK THEY HAVE TO –
· DO SOME GREAT WORK
· QUIT ALL THEIR SINS
· CLEAN THEMSELVES UP FIRST BEFORE THEY INVITE HIM IN.
NO, YOU COME JUST AS YOU ARE! MY FRIEND CHRIS T IS NOT LOOKING FOR THE
RIGHTEOUS, HE IS LOOKING FOR THE UNRIGHTEOUS!
MATTHEW 9:13
I HAVE NOT CAME TO CALL THE RIGHTEOUS BUT SINNERS TO REPENTANCE.
MARK 2:17
THEY THAT ARE WHOLE NEED NOT A PHYSICIAN BUT THEY THAT ARE SICK.
FRIEND YOU COME TO JESUS CHRIST JUST AS YOU ARE AND LET HIM DO THE
CHANGING AND THE CLEANING UP.
NOW YOU’LL NOTICE WHEN JESUS SAID, “I WILL COME IN”, HE NEVER SAYS
ANYTHING ABOUT WANTING OUT! OH WHAT A BLESSED THOUGHT!
WHEN YOU GET JESUS CHRIST AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR YOU NOW HAVE A
· FRIEND THAT STICKETH CLOSER THAN A BROTHER
· GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT LIVING IN YOUR HEART
JESUS: I WILL NEVER LEAVE THEE, NOR FORSAKE THEE!
WHAT IS IT IN YOUR LIFE THAT IS HINDERING YOU FROM OPENING THAT DOOR?
AS I HAVE STUDIED THE SCRIPTURES THESE PAST SEVERAL YEARS, I HAVE
FOUND ONLY (1) SIN THAT HAS KEPT PEOPLE FROM COMING TO JESUS CHRIST.
AND THAT ONE WICKED VILE SIN IS YOUR SIN OF PRIDE.
JESUS IS KNOCKING – WILL YOU OPEN YOUR DOOR AND LET HIM COME IN.

The Handle is on the Other Side

When I was little, my Dad used to drop me off at a nearby church so I could go to the Sunday
School they had there. We weren’t a church-type family so what I saw and heard there was all
new to me. And I remember this painting they had of Jesus - now I know it’s one of the most
famous ones painted in modern times. You may have seen it. Jesus is in a garden, and He’s
knocking on what looks to be a big oak door. The man who painted it was named Holman Hunt.
And when he was ready to unveil it for the first time, he called his friends and family together to
be the first to see it. Well, it was pretty quiet as each person stood there and drank in the deep
feeling that painting conveys. Then people began to comment on what impressed them about it.
But one friend said hesitantly,

"Uh, Holman - it’s a beautiful painting. But - well, didn’t you forget something?"

"What did I forget?"

The friend said, "The handle. There’s no handle on the door."

To which the artist simply replied, "Oh! No, I didn’t forget the handle. When Jesus knocks on
the door of your heart - the handle’s on the INSIDE."

This painting was based on Jesus’ own words, recorded in our word for today from the Word of
God, Revelation 3:20. It was a statement made originally to believers who had left Jesus out. But
it also provides a wonderful word picture of the process by which any person begins a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ.

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will
come in." It’s real important that we understand what Jesus is saying here - it helps us determine
whether He is inside your heart - or outside. It’s literally the difference between eternity in
heaven . . . Or eternity in hell. I hope you can use this invitation of Jesus to determine exactly
where you stand with Him.

Jesus says Step 1 is the knocking. I believe that happens in your heart when you start
experiencing a spiritual tug inside . . . A restlessness that life must be more than this . . . A
strange stirring inside that starts you looking God’s direction. Then comes Step 2 - you realize
what you’re looking for - actually Who you’re looking for. In Jesus’ words, you "hear My
voice." You realize what you are looking for is Jesus . . . That the only way to be forgiven by
God is to give yourself to the One who paid for your sins with His life.

A lot of people have come that far. But Jesus is still outside. Jesus said, "If anyone opens the
door, I will come in." And notice who opens the door. Jesus doesn’t push His way in. He waits
for you to open the door. The handle’s on the inside. And it may be that you have never opened
that door.

Author unknown. If anyone has a proprietary interest in this story please authenticate and I will

be happy to credit, or remove, as the circumstances dictate.

Thanks to Daily Wisdom [email protected]

Jesus was at the door knocking

About This Presentation

Slide Content

Tags

Categories

Download

Quick Actions

Statistics

Related Slideshows

Jesus was at the door knocking

About This Presentation

Slide Content

Slide 1

Slide 2

Slide 3

Slide 4

Slide 5

Slide 6

Slide 7

Slide 8

Slide 9

Slide 10

Slide 11

Slide 12

Slide 13

Slide 14

Slide 15

Slide 16

Slide 17

Slide 18

Slide 19

Slide 20

Slide 21

Slide 22

Slide 23

Slide 24

Slide 25

Slide 26

Slide 27

Slide 28

Slide 29

Slide 30

Slide 31

Slide 32

Slide 33

Slide 34

Slide 35

Slide 36

Slide 37

Slide 38

Slide 39

Slide 40

Slide 41

Slide 42

Slide 43

Slide 44

Slide 45

Slide 46

Slide 47

Slide 48

Slide 49

Slide 50

Slide 51

Slide 52

Slide 53

Slide 54

Slide 55

Slide 56

Slide 57

Slide 58

Slide 59

Slide 60

Slide 61

Slide 62

Slide 63

Slide 64

Slide 65

Slide 66

Slide 67

Slide 68

Slide 69

Slide 70

Slide 71

Slide 72

Slide 73

Slide 74

Slide 75

Slide 76

Slide 77