Behold, Jesus At The Door

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock..." (cf. Rev. 3:20).

Is Jesus really knocking at the door of the heart of the unbeliever, as evangelists ostensibly quote Rev. 3:20 in their salvation formula?  This verse is addressed to the church of Laodicea, a so-called "lukewarm" fellowship, that had apparently no room in their hearts for Jesus. What is delineated by lukewarm is that Jesus didn't know where they stood spiritually; they wouldn't take a stand for Him and proclaim His name, but were sitting on the fence trying to remain neutral.  Jesus would rather mingle with people who are not believers (even publicans, sinners, and any so-called scum) than pretenders or hypocrites who feign belief.

God doesn't require perfect and complete faith, but sincere, unfeigned faith.  True faith is not ashamed to proclaim Jesus as Lord openly and to spread the good news.  True faith is contagious and people catch on and wonder what makes you different.  Jesus said that if you are not for Him, you are against Him, and that means lukewarm professors (and there is a difference between a profession of faith and reality of faith) are not believers and are in the same boat as unbelievers.

Jesus didn't say that if you're not for Him you are neutral or against Him!  But against Him without a doubt.  The problem with this church is that they had an outward show of religion, a memorizing of the Dance of the Pious, and no inward reality.  The true believer desires to live out His faith and to know Christ, as well as make Him known--possessing a burden for the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.

This verse applies to salvation, but it is not the whole equation.  The big picture is that you must believe in your heart and not have a story or head belief to be a genuine believer.  Faith is not mere mental assent or acquiescence!  Faith is something put into action, viz., knowledge and knowledge acted upon and demonstrated.  This church had not gone the route of loving Jesus with their whole heart and were only halfhearted followers, not having a vital fellowship and relationship with the Lord, which is what Christianity is all about--not a philosophy, but getting to know Jesus and how He thinks and fellowshipping with Him, the Father, and in the church.  Christ cannot open the door, the resident must and He desires true fellowship with us--the invitation is to all who hear His voice, and the sheep will hear His voice (cf. John 10:27).

In summation, saving faith is not believing merely in the Jesus of history, but in the one knocking at the door!  Someone has said:  Faith is not believing that there is a God, but in the God who is there!  Jesus must not be just born, but born in you!   Soli Deo Gloria!

Jesus Our Exemplar

Jesus is the man on a mission, extraordinaire, and no one is in a league with Him in doing the Father's will during their lifetime.  According to any secular standards, Jesus influenced history more than any mortal and is the person behind Western civilization, par excellence. No one gave Him authority, yet He commanded it and spoke with authority, not by authority, such as no man ever spoke--He would say, "You have it heard it said, but I say unto you...."  Without writing a book He inspired and set more pens into motion, granting more themes, without learning or schooling, led to the rise of more universities and scholarly writing, yet speaking with such eloquence, and without soldiers or money, conquered more hearts.

In sum, He taught us more in every field of scholarship more than anyone else in history. He was His own authority and never footnoted His sermons or quoted the authorities, His formula was simply, "It is written."   Millions would die for this itinerant preacher today, who only led a tight-knit band of twelve and an outer band of seventy during his tenure on earth, yet He is the model preacher and best teacher who ever lived bar none. Who was the greatest leader in history? The greatest example of morals?  The greatest leader?  Who did the most good for mankind?  No matter what aspect you're examining, Jesus is the model or icon to emulate.

Even though He only recruited the Twelve, it was enough because He so profoundly influenced them and they were the ones that could do the job (note that Judas was replaced after the resurrection by Matthias and then by Paul).  Jesus never was a number cruncher, always concerned about the quality not the quantity of His loyal band.  If He were asked why He didn't reach out more and have an alternate plan, should the apostles fail, He only would say, "I have no other plan."  Jesus invariably showed us what can be done with a preacher who preaches what he practices and practices what he preaches without duplicity and with candor.

Jesus' methodology or M.O. was unique in that he did miracles as signs to accompany a point in preaching or teaching He was doing.  I'll give you a for instance:  To illustrate Himself as the Bread of Life, he fed the multitude; as Life itself, He rose the dead.  He never did miracles on-demand or for show--never doing the so-called biggie miracle that the Pharisees demanded the ultimate proof. He never did miracles for personal gain, prestige, profit, or to attract attention for Himself.  It's true that miracles didn't hurt the draw, and also they are conducive to people making up their minds about Him; nevertheless, He didn't rely on His supernatural powers to prove Himself--His appeal was to hearts and He came to heal sinners and the sick, who needed a physician, and didn't want would-be disciples who didn't count the cost and weren't fully devoted.

The problem with miracles is that they don't automatically bring faith--sometimes they bring skepticism, and usually, they just bring the desire for more miracles!  Miracles don't produce faith, but faith produces miracles, and Jesus knew this!  Jesus certainly wasn't going to force Himself on anyone but wanted to reach the hearts of the people through His message.  His impact was such that He profoundly influenced everyone that came into contact with Him--there was no middle ground, neutral territory, or fence to stand on.

Jesus' life shows what can be done with little when God is in it:  Saint Theresa said she wanted to erect a convent and all she had as resources were twelve pence; her followers said that even Saint Theresa couldn't do much with twelve pence; she replied that Saint Theresa and God could do anything! When we look at the miracles of the feeding of the multitudes, we see that we do the addition and God does the multiplication, and smallness is no obstacle with God.  Nothing is small or big to God and what He is after is our faithfulness, not our success, which is up to Him in whatever way He sees fit to measure it by--not in the eyes of the world, though.   We are not to compare ourselves with others and wonder or judge, but faithfully do what God has called us to with His blessing.

In conclusion, we see the Jesus model, as the success of a ministry, not in its size or extent of outreach, but the quality of impact it has and the discipleship it does; the job of the church isn't merely evangelizing but teaching and raising up disciples who can do likewise with others as the whole church works in unison and corporately to accomplish the Great Commission as its goal. Jesus wasn't looking for admirers or halfhearted followers, but those who would sell out lock, stock, and barrel-like the original apostles did after the resurrection, willing to die for Him and carry the message to the ends of the earth, forsaking all for the kingdom.  True success is faithfully following the Jesus model and trusting Him for the results and appraisal of our work done in faith.  Soli Deo Gloria!