A quarterly magazine for the proclamation and defense of the Gospel
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A quarterly magazine for the proclamation and defense of the Gospel |
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Vol. 5, Issue 1 | Spring 2011 |
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Primum Mobile is a quarterly web magazine. This issue and all its contents are © Copyright 2004-2011 by the editors. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
by Paul Lytle
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.-Revelation 3:20
I cannot tell you how many times I have heard this verse in an evangelistic context. The Gospel has been proclaimed, and the invitation to repent and believe has been given, and the evangelist quotes this passage, explaining, “Jesus is at the door of your heart. He is knocking. Won’t you let him in?”
This verse has been so pervasively misquoted that this very author has done it before in a previous issue of Primum Mobile. It has been ingrained in many of us, that this verse is an evangelistic verse, calling for the faith of the people. Let Jesus into your heart and be saved!
So it was a great surprise to find out that this verse isn’t directed at individuals in an evangelistic way at all. In fact, it’s directed at a church body.
The church at Laodicea had fallen into the worst sort of error – the error of being lukewarm. They were not cold; that is, they had not rejected the Gospel outright. Nor were they hot; that is, fervent in their faith. Instead, their religion was of a very passive and heartless type. They claimed the mantle of Christ, and yet would not wear it. They claimed the kingdom of God, but would not strive toward it. They were cultural Christians, of a type we are probably very familiar with today. Today’s America is filled with those who go to worship on Sunday morning, and then set aside their “faith” for the rest of the week. Or there are whole churches that do not truly worship God, and nor do they seem to care about heavenly matters, but instead talk about themselves, either in regards to their money, or their marriages, or their relationships, or about politics. We have these supposed Christians and churches on both sides. The conservative may be more interested in politics and status than in Christ. The liberal may be more interested in social justice and charity than in Christ.
This is the sort of church that Laodicea was. They were wealthy in the eyes of men. They had everything they could want, but their hearts had no fire for Jesus.
And because of this, Jesus’ judgment upon them threatens to be great indeed. Let us look at the entire section:
And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: “The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation. I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”-Revelation 3:14-22
They have thought themselves rich, but God knows they have nothing. They have thought greatly of their clothes, but they are naked before a just and righteous God. Jesus here bids them to get imperishable gold and pure clothing. He bids them turn to himself and see rather than remain blind in themselves.
How are they to do this? Be zealous and repent. Turn away from the focus of worldly comforts. They called themselves Christians, but their comfort was not in Christ, but in their own wealth and prosperity. Jesus tells them to turn from that and to the one who truly matters.
And so he tells them that he stands at the door and knocks. What door is it? It’s figurative, of course, but the door here is not vague. It’s the door of the church. Nowhere here do we see him speaking of the door to our hearts.
What are we to see in this passage? We must see that there are two possible results here. Either they will be spit from his mouth, or he will come in and eat. Jesus is careful to point out that he is the one who conquers, so as to remind them that they will not be left alone forever. The warning has come in this letter, and Jesus figuratively stands at their door for their reply. What will they choose? Will they turn to him in repentance, or will they ignore him, and so condemn themselves in judgment?
The irony of this passage is that it is usually (not always, but usually) used in rather man-centered Gospel presentations. They are the ones that speak nothing of the holiness and justice of God, or the wickedness of men, but rather that God has a wonderful plan for your life, or that God is what can fill up that empty part of your heart. The suggestion is made that God wants to make our lives better. See? He stands at the door of our hearts. People respond in the hopes that praying a prayer will make their lives better. They become lukewarm Christians, putting on the title but having nothing of the heart of God. They have not truly repented, but they instead have looked to God as a way to have a better life. This passage is not meant to be an invitation to have your best life now or a life of purpose. It is not an image of Jesus sitting around hoping that people will make a decision for Christ.
Far different from those images is the warning delivered here. Jesus has confronted them of their sin and is offering them mercy before they are destroyed. When we use this passage, it is usually without even mention of sin, much less a warning of judgment.
There is a famous painting of Jesus standing at this imaginary door, but there is no handle on the door. The artist explained that the handle was on the inside and must be opened from within. It is such a lovely image, and yet it is horrible in its lack of understanding of who God is. There is a handle on the outside of the door, for we worship a sovereign and powerful God. And Jesus will enter that church, and all churches like it. He will not wait outside forever. He will come in either invited, to celebrate the wedding feast of the Lamb, or he will come in to judge. Our God perhaps pauses at the door for a time as an act of mercy, giving people the chance to repent, but he is not a God who bends to our beck and call. He will come in, and every knee will bow.
The Bible does call all men to repent, and it does even plead with people to have faith in Jesus. We should be evangelizing with all of our hearts and strength. We should be calling people to turn from their sins. But we should not be doing it by taking passages out of context and bending them to our will. When we do such things, we are forgetting this very important point: It is not our own wisdom that creates believers. We can do a lot to create false converts (the very sort of “Christian” that filled the church of Laodicea), but we cannot create real believers with our schemes and devices. True belief comes from the witness of the Word of God, applied by the Holy Spirit. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). Therefore, let us stay with what the Bible actually says instead of what we think would sound good.
