Greetings again my Brethren. Last month we started looking at Revelations 3:20-22 as we continue to look at the LORD’s call in particular we will look at what is emphasized in these verses. We read, “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) Here the communion and ministry of God to the one God is knocking on their heart’s is contingent upon man’s response to the approach. I believe God always stands at our heart and knocks maybe he does not rap tat-a-tat-tat, but God knows how to touch (knock) our heart and our lives in ways that we know without a shadow of doubt it is indeed God knocking. At times we may guess is that you LORD? But at other times God makes His wishes known loud and clear. And at these times we must either open the door in submission and commitment or slam the door in the face of God shaking our fist in defiance. When we reject the LORD’s approaches this is what we say, “I do not need you I am the captain of my own ship I know better than you God.” If we do this then there can be NO fellowship or communion (no matter how often we go to church, sing in the choir, how much money we chunk in the offering plate, etc.) with the LORD. The most important word in this verse is not “knock,” “hear,” “voice,”or “open,”but “if.” “If”sets the condition of receiving from God. The spiritual principle is, if you do this (your fill in the word) then God will do this (you fill in the word). God is to us what we are to God. David writes, “With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright; 26 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward. 27 For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.” (Psalm 18:25-27) In other words God will not be merciful to us (no matter how long and hard we claim how much God loves us) if we are not merciful to others. Now it is not about sowing and reaping that is a different spiritual principle, what you plant you will eat the fruits of your labours, like in Job, “Remember, I pray thee, who everperished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off? 8 Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same. 9 By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.: (Job 4:7-9) One is you get what you ask for and the other is as you act and treat others you shall be treated. This extends even to our forgiveness, which is not open ended where we forgive a little and expect to be forgiven much. Jesus told the disciple “as you forgive you will be forgiven.” The emphasize is not on the forgiveness, but on the ‘as.” As we forgive. If we forgive much we will be forgiven much, but if we forgive little then we shall be forgiven by God and man little. Even our forgiveness is not up to God, but to us. So many verses in the Scriptures that talk of forgiveness yet we (that is a plural pronoun I include myself here) seem to stumble and fall out of the way in this area. So the condition is hearing His voice and opening our heart to what He is saying. If we do this then He will “sup”(sit down to dine with us) and we have communion with Him. I wonder what the LORD would serve “if”we sat down to the table with Him? Many people (Christians included) do not sit down at the dinner table with the LORD and “sup”because they miss the very first word in Revelations 3:20, “Behold.” The word “Behold”means to stop and pay attention. Far too many people (Christians included) are far too busy working for the LORD and fail to become the work of the LORD(see Ephesians 2:10). They go to church and but the spiritual ideal that we are the church that the LORD is building by the Spirit for all eternity a habitation an abode for Him to dwell in. Paul tells us in Ephesians, “In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:21-22) Amazing the God of the universe wants to live in us as His eternal abode, not the heavens (or the earth), the stars above, or even the galaxies He created, but inside of us. I cannot explain it. It is beyond my ability to understand why God would want to live in us, but He does. What a complete communion we have with God when He is in us and we are in Him. The door of our heart swings wide open and we are communing heart to heart (that is our heart to God’s heart) What else could we ask for?
Next month we will continue to look at specifically what is emphasized in the LORD’S CALL as we look at our response. Do you hear Him calling? Please know God is calling. Walter Beuttler said if you build God a temple He will inhabit it. Have you built God a temple? If you do He will abide and wait for you.
Written by David Stahl
