1. INTRODUCTION:

1. SCRIPTURE READING – Revelation 3:14-22.
   
   
2. THE PASSAGE WAS WRITTEN TO CHURCH AT LAODICE (Revelation 3:14).
   
   
3. NOTE: 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."
   
   
4. WHAT IS BEING TAUGHT IN THIS PASSAGE?

1. THAT JESUS IS OUTSIDE AND WOULD LIKE TO COME IN.

1. Once he was inside.
2. He is now outside due to lukewarmness:
   
   a. Christ knows our works and they are neither hot or cold (Revelation 3:15)
   b. The Lord found them undesirable, They were neither real zealous (hot) toward him, neither were they
   completely removed from him (that is cold).
   c. They wanted to have benefits of both the physical and spiritual world.
   d. Partial obedience has never been acceptable to the Lord.

1. Saul was told to utterly destroy the Amelekites in 1 Samuel 15:3.
   
   a. Saul kept Agag alive (1 Samuel 15:8-9), also the best of the sheep, oxen,
   fatlings and lambs.
   b. Samuel said in 1 Samuel 15:22 "…Hath the Lord as great delight in
   burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
   Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of
   rams."

2. Ananias and Sapphira in Acts five, could have kept back part of the price received from a possession they sold. It was theirs. However, they lied about the amount in
   Acts 5:4.

2. THE DOOR HAS BEEN CLOSED AND JESUS IS OUTSIDE:

1. The door has been closed by man not the Lord.
2. God’s love was shown in sending his Son to seek and save the lost (John 3:16).
3. The door is locked from the inside.

3. CHRIST IS SEEKING ADMITTANCE:

1. Christ does not use force to enter, but seeks to enter by permission of the one that has shut the door.

1. Christ stands outside. He is not a robber or thief, but one that cares.

John 10:1-2 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep."

2. Christ knocks. By reminding man of the goodness and severity of God.
3. Christ calls out. His voice is one of love, admonition, warning and promise. 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."

2. That to which Christ seeks entrance is the heart:

JESUS IS KNOCKING, cont’d:

1. This is the center for all that man does, it is his physical home. Proverbs 4:23 "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."
2. Matthew 12:35 "A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things."
3. Romans 10:10 "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, …"
4. Proverbs 23:7 "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: eat and drink, saith he to thee: but his heart is not with thee."

1. CHRIST MAKES TWO PROMISES: (Revelation 3:20)

1. "I will come in to him."
2. "And sup with him and he with me."

2. RECEIVING THESE PROMISES DEPENDS UPON US OPENING THE DOOR.

NOTE: We must remove that which has the door to our heart locked.

1. Selfish desires.
2. Worldly affairs.
3. Sinful nature. Hebrews 12:1-2 "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is setdown at the right hand of the throne of God."

3. WILL YOU OPEN YOUR HEART TO THE LORD?

1. Paul’s prayer about the Ephesians:

Ephesians 3:14-21 "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."

2. Opening our hearts to the Lord will bring forth the fulfillment of more than just the promises in
   Revelation 3:20, but also:

1. Comfort your hearts (Colossians 4:8).
2. Establish your hearts (I Thessalonians 3:13).
3. Direct your hearts into love (II Thessalonians 3:5; James 5:8).

SONG: "THERE’S A STRANGER AT THE DOOR"

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