Jesus was at the door knocking

JESUS WAS AT THE DOOR KNOCKING
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Revelation3:20 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
Revelation3:20
S. ConwayBehold, I stand at the door, etc. These words, so welt knownand
much loved, howevertheir primary intention may have had regard to a sinful
community like the Church at Laodicea, nevertheless lendthemselves 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 revealhim to us in all
his grace, he is represented:
1. As in constantnearness 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 atthe door: not merely stands there. The soul is like a great
palace that has many doors. And Christ knocks sometimesatthe one door
and sometimes at another. There is:
(1) The door of the intellect. To this he comes with the evidence of the
reasonablenessofhis faith and claims.
(2) Of the conscience. To this he shows the goodness andrighteousness ofthat
which he asks;how he ought to be obeyed.

(3) Of love. He wakes up, or seeksto 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 awakenedconscience, the fearful looking for of
judgment, are the means he uses.
(5) Of hope. The blessedprospectof eternalpeace and purity and joy.
3. And he knocks in many ways.
(1) Sometimes by his Word. As it is quietly read in the sacredScriptures, some
text will arrest and arouse the soul. Or, as it is faithfully, lovingly, and
earnestlypreached: 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 approachof 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 ofhis appeals
againand again?
5. See whatall this reveals ofhim.
(1) His infinite patience. How long he has waitedfor some of us, year after
year, and is not weariedyet!
(2) His gracious condescension. Thathe, our Lord and Saviour, should thus
deal with us.
(3) And, above all, what infinite love! Behold, then, this portrait of our all-
gracious Saviourand Lord, and let it draw your hearts to him as it should.
II. OF THE SOUL - the soulof eachone of us. Our text shows the soul:
1. As the objectof Christ's anxious concern, He would not else be thus
standing and knocking at the door of our hearts. And the reasonis 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 eternallife 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 estrangementof the human heart
from God.
(b) Conscience.Doesnot the ungodly man know that Christ does not dwell
within him, that he has no room for him - howeverit may be with other guests
- in his soul? And the strange, sadreluctancy to speak for Christ to others
shows how partial is his possessionofeven Christian souls.
(c) Facts. See whatmen 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 expectedbetter 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 "againstthe Holy Ghost, which hath never forgiveness."
Not any one definite act, but this persistentexclusionof 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 greatestprivilege - opening the door to Christ. He
says, "If any man will open," thereby plainly teaching us that men may and
should, and - blessedbe his Name - some will, open that door.
(1) The soul can do this. It is part of its greatprerogative. It could not say,
"Yes," if it could not say, "No;" but because it cansay, "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
consciousnessandScripture 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 setbefore
Christ that he will care for? Ah, what? "All our righteousnesses" - will they
do? Notat all. In this spiritual banquet that which he will most joyfully accept
is ourselves, coming in contrition and trust to restupon his love. "The
sacrifices ofGod," etc. (Psalm51.). 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!
"BlestJesus, whatdelicious fare!
How sweetthine entertainments are!" This we shall soonrealize.
(1) There is full, free pardon for every sin.
(2) Next, the assurance ofhis love, that he has acceptedus.
(3) Powerto become like him - renewing, regenerating grace.
(4) His peace, so that in all trial and sorrow we may "rest in the Lord."
(5) Powerto bless others, so that they shall be the better for having to do with
us.
(6) Bright hope, blessedoutlook 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, blessedintercourse, hallowed
communion, with himself. He is "knownto us in the breaking of bread."
CONCLUSION. How, then, shall it be? Shall we still keepthe door of our
hearts barred againsthim? May he forbid! We cando this; alas!some will.
But we can open the door. Do that.
"In the silent midnight watches,
List! thy bosomdoor!
How it knocketh- knockethknocketh-
Knockethevermore!
Say not 'tis thy pulse is beating:
Tis thy heart of sin;
Tis thy Saviour knocks and crieth,
'Rise, and let me in.'

"Deathcomes on with recklessfootsteps,
To the hall and hut;
Think you, Deathwill tarry knocking
Where the door is shut?
Jesus waiteth- waiteth - waiteth
But the door is fast;
Grieved, awaythy Saviour goeth:
Deathbreaks 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 waitedlong to know thee,
Now he knows thee not." S.C.
Biblical Illustrator
Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
Revelation3:20
The Guestof the heart
J. A. Kerr Bain, M. A.I. THE STRANGER-GUESTWANTING TO COME
IN. "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock."
1. When a strangercomes to your door, it matters a good dealto your feeling
as a host whether he be a mean man or a great one. An inhospitable actdone
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 greatin 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 strangercomes to your door, it is a considerationfor 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-dooras 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 welcomedas a friend? How deeply does He mean it, and how
tenderly!
3. When a strangercomes 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 strangercomes to your door, it is a thing of influence with you
whether your visitor is in earnestto getin, or shows indifference, and soon
gives up the endeavour. A callerwho knocks andgoes off againbefore you
have had reasonable time to answer.
5. When a strangercomes to your door, it is of every consequence to you what
may be the characterofhimself, and the complexion of his errand. Is he good,
and likely come for good? oris he evil, and likely come for evil? What far-
brought tidings, what peace, whathopes, what aids, what influence, he fetches
with him!
II. THE STRANGER-GUESTGETTINGIN. "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 lastacknowledgedthe
Voice by some beginnings of faith, and have arisen at its call to bustle long
about the apartment in a process ofrearranging, cleansing, tidying, adorning.
Not less natural it may be to sit down, after a desponding glance around you,
and endeavourto 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 factis 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 GuestHimself, 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 perseverancein 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 EARNESTNESSOF 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 personalappeal.
3. An honest appeal.
4. An earnestappeal.
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 wonderfulwords need no heightening of their
impressiveness, andyet 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 ofthe utterance is that it is the speechof that
Christ whose exaltedglories are so marvellously portrayed in the first chapter
of this book. The words are marvellous too, not only for that picture, but for
the cleardecisivenesswith which they recognise the solemn powerthat 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 suggestthe 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 againstit, has been His knocking
there. And think of what a revelation of Him that is! We are mostly too proud
to sue for love, especiallyif 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 RECOGNISEDHERE AS
RESIDING IN US, to let Him in or to keepHim 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
actionon 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 centralgift and promise of the gospel"that Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith." He Himself is the greatestofHis 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 greatand wonderful things are containedin 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 greatprince offers to honour a poor subject with his
presence, and let him provide some insignificant portion of the entertainment,
whilst all the substantial and costlyparts 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, "Istand 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 recognisesour liberty to admit Him.
II. BY WHAT MEANS HE MAKES HIS PRESENCE KNOWN.
III. THE BLESSINGS TO BE ENJOYED BYTHOSE WHO ADMIT HIM.
1. Reconciliation.
2. Communion.
3. Refreshment.
(Thos. Heath.)
Christ at the door
Homilist.I. THE PERSON.The Greatestatthe 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. Repeatedapplicationwhere rudely repulsed.
2. Desire to enter. Not for His own goodor gratification, but for our salvation,
because He delights in mercy.
II. THE SAVIOUR'S PERSISTENT EFFORTS.
III. THE SAVIOUR'S PROFFERED REWARD. The presence ofChrist 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
reversalof the attitudes of the greatand 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 takenthe 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 eachof 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 greatand 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 greatmany misunderstood
facts in our experience. Thatsorrow that darkenedyour 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 "beseechyou, by the mercies of God, that ye
yield yourselves living sacrifices." Thatunrest 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-closeddoor? 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 exceptHis appeals to us? And this is the deepestmeaning of
joys and sorrows, ofgifts and losses,offulfilled 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, andshould better understand our
blessings.
II. THE DOOR OPENED.JesusChrist knocks,but Jesus Christcannot break
the door open. The door is closed, and unless there be a definite acton your
part it will not be opened, and He will not enter. So we come to this, that to do
nothing is to keepyour 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 streaminto the slimy, empty lock;
so He will enter in, whereverHe is not shut out by unbelief and aversionof
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, ofa close, familiar, happy communication betweenChrist and my
poor self which shall make all life as a feastin 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, ofabsolute satisfactionof all desires and needs, which will be ours if
we open the door of our hearts by faith, and let Jesus Christcome in?
(A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Relationto Christ of the human soul
Homilist.I. HIS ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE SOUL. He is constantly in
contactwith the soul. He does not come occasionallyand 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 atthe door of intellectwith His
philosophic truths; at the door of conscience,with His ethicalprinciples; at
the door of love, with His transcendentcharms; at the door of hope, with His
heavenly glories;at the door of fear, with the terrors of His law.

1. The moral powerof the sinner. The soul has the power to shut out Christ. It
can bolt itself againstits 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? Nota 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 pleasedwe 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 conventionallygreat man deems it a condescensionto
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. Compassionforman.
2. Condescensionto 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 possessionofour 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 caseswhy 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 greatunkindness to the
Redeemer, and is regardedby Him as a greatsin.

2. Another cause is indifference. Some know that it is the Saviour standing at
the door of their hearts; but they are so absorbedwith other engagements,
they are so carelessaboutthe unseenand 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 altogetherlovely."
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 Godoffers is on entirely a human plane. Christian life
is only a transfiguration of every-day life.
2. The friendship which Godproposes is permanent in its continuance.
II. AN UNDOUBTED PROOF OF THE DIVINE SINCERITY.
1. You see this in the factthat the entire proposalcomes from Him. The grace
of this transactionis absolutely marvellous.
2. You see this in the successiveand persistentendeavours to bring this
friendship within reachof the soul.
III. THE ASSURANCE OF THE ENTIRE FULNESS OF THE
ATONEMENT. There is no restrictionin 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 AGENCYUNDER
THE PLAN OF SALVATION BY GRACE. It is wellto 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 reasonfor 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 ofbeings who should have minds and
hearts of their own. A free chance to choose betweenserving Him and
resisting Him He now gives to every one of us. And when He had thus
establishedmen in being, He sovereignlydecided never to interfere with the
free-will He had bestowed.
V. IF ANY MAN IS FINALLY LOST, THE RESPONSIBILITYRESTS
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 canbe no mystery, there
is no mistake about it. The Providence of God always clears the way up to the
crisis, removing every side-considerationwhich canpossibly 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; socialposition, wealth, official
station, accomplishments, popular favour; whoeverhas any of these ought to
hear in them the accents ofthat quiet voice speaking to his heart: "Behold, I
stand at the door and knock."
2. Observe the ease ofthe condition required of us. It is only to open the door.
Greatthings under the gospelare always simple.
3. Observe then, finally, what it is that keeps the Saviourout. 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 againstthe purpose of grace.
Christ came and you resistedHim.
(C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
Christ knocking atthe 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 greaterthe 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 attractedby 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 recordedby the gospelnarrative, which ought
to win his spirit into an imitation of the same.
3. The conscience. Manhas 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 offailure 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 closedto the entrance of the
truth. The door of the mind is closedby 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 conscienceis barred by a continued habit of evil.
II. THAT AT THE DOOR OF THE HUMAN SOUL TRUTH MAKES
CONTINUED APPEALS FOR ENTRANCE.
1. This appealof 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 charactershould gain for it an immediate and hearty
welcome into the soul, as a king should be welcomedinto 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 neglectof 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 onits
evil-doings, but to cleanse it by the Holy Spirit, to save it by grace, to enlighten
it by knowledge, and to cheerit by love.
4. The appeal of truth is heard. "And knock." Knocks atthe door are
generallyheard. 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
agencywithout being conscious ofDivine knockings atthe 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
seemstrange that Christ should have the key of the soul and yet stand
without? This is only explained by the free agencyof 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 openedby moral methods. Calm reflection,
earnestprayer, and a diligent study of the inspired Word, togetherwith the
gentle influences of the Divine Spirit, will open the soulto the entrance of
Christ (Acts 16:14).
IV. THAT IF THE HUMAN SOUL WILL OPEN ITS DOOR TO THE
RECEPTIONOF 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 soulHe 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 feastin 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 canrelate to Christ all the perplexities of life. The goodman carries a
feastwithin 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 counselHe will impart, and by the hope He
will inspire. The feast, the supply of holy energywill 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.
Whateveracquaintance any of us may have with Jesus, the acquaintance
beganon His side: by Him are the first overtures invariably made.
1. The written gospelis 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 easilybe avoided.
II. THAT CONSENT ALONE IS REQUIRED, ON OUR PART, TO GIVE
US A FULL PARTICIPATION IN HIS FRIENDSHIP.
1. The consentwhich 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 recognisedas Lord and Masterof the human being, to whom
we owe everything. I question whether there is any revelationmade 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 discoverwhat the explanation is. "Thou sayest, I am rich
and increasedwith 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 Satanprevents 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 religiona 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 excellentsubstitute 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 againstChrist, 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 cannotdo? 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 againstyour 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 stoodoutside
the door and knocked." Hadthe Lord Jesus Christ given us one offer of
mercy, and given one loud, thundering "knock," and, being refused, left us to
take the consequence, leftus to our own miserable doom, you know we should
have deservedit. Oh, deafen not your ears, men and women, againstHis call:
do not be so blind to your own interest as to keepHim 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 oftears." 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 preacheris speaking now, say, "Godis speaking to my soul;
He is speaking in all the infinity of His mercy: I cannot, I won't deafenmy ear
againstHim." Well, as soonas 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 saythat? 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
processionwith 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 feastalong 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
MorganDix, D. D.This door, at which the Saviour knocks, is the heart of man.
In the gospelthere 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 closedagainstChrist. 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 meeklystanding 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 askedforentrance into thy thoughts and
thy life? Many are called while yet children. The mind and heart of children
are readierfor the Lord than those of hardened men and women. Christ
knocks atthe 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, thatany would not hear? "The voice of the
Lord is mighty in operation," saith the psalmist: "the voice of the Lord is a
glorious voice." Thatvoice may call; something within the heart may deaden

the sound or shut it out. How dreadful is the state of such a soul! Marvelnot,
with this history before you, that the door is shut. The longer the heart is
closedagainstits God, the harder to open it. The processesofnature 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 essaythe task in vain. The rains and
snows of many a seasonhave beateninto the lock and chokedit up. In former
days, a path led to this door; a path by which the goodangels could reachit,
and all honest Christian friends; a pathway, pleasantto the eye, fresh with
flowers, cleanof rubbish, and easyto be found. Alas! how greatthe change I
The pathway now is rough with stones, or seems to be, for so rankly is it
overgrownwith weeds, that its outline is all but lost. Breasthighon either
hand are come up the briar and the thorn; the wall crumbles; it is grey with
mould; an aspectof desolationweighs downthe spirit as we gaze. Who would
walk on yonder pathway? Who would try to approachthat door? Yet there is
One, who cometh up this way. He looks towardthat closedand rusted door;
He turns His holy feet to that forsakenpath. His face is grave and sad,
earnest, and full of love. He hath on Him the vesture of the High Priestwho
maketh intercessionforsin. He is coming up the path. He has reachedthe
gate. Behold, He standeth at the door. Without, around, all is silence. He
knocks. Ohsoul thus calledby Jesus Christ, what answerwilt 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 reachthe 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.
(MorganDix, D. D.)
The Saviour knocking atthe door
James Hamilton, D. D.I. WHO KNOCKS? The Son of God, Immanuel, the
Mediatorbetwixt God and man, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of glory, the
Redeemerof 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 DIFFERENTBARS. Some
are closedby carelessness, andsome 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 MERCIFULREDEEMER, WHAT WOULD BE THE
CONSEQUENCE? Pardonofsin would come. Peace ofconscience 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 clearthat He is some one of importance. "Behold," He says, "I stand at
the door; I who could never have been expectedto 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 reasonfor this.
It is the glorious Redeemerwho is here, the Monarchof earth and heaven. See
then how this text sets forth at the very outsetof it the Divine mercy. We think
it a greatthing 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 againstChrist, yea, fastened, bolted, and barred, againstHim.
2. On Christ's part, this expressionimplies a willingness to enter our hearts;
and more than a willingness, an earnestdesire 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 privilegedto 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 protectoris 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 greatkindness comes
to the door; we in greatfolly keepHim 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 soughtentrance into my heart, and that I kept out — was the
Light of life! If I keepout that Light, I abide in the darkness ofdeath: 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 occupythe
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 blessedVisitant 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. Theyhave hard thoughts of Him.
They think He comes to demand a righteousnesswhich they cannot give, and
to bind them over to the judgment because theycannot pay. God is love, and
Christ is the outcome of His forgiving love to lostmen. 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 Strangerreceived
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
addressedto the senses only, and that which reaches the heart.
2. The internal voice of Christ is various, according to the different
circumstances ofthe persons to whom it is directed. To some it is an
awakening voice:it rouses them from their carnalsecurity. To those who are
bowed down with a sense ofsin, 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. Deadsinners
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 nearto 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
decoratedfor the occupancyof pride; in another one covetousnessmay keep
its iron safe;on the walls of another, perhaps, sensualityhas hung some
pictures that, if Christ enter, must be pulled down. Unbelief has chilled and
darkenedthe whole house. Satan has a mortgage on the whole of it, and by
and by will forecloseit. An enormous amount of sin has accumulated in every
room and closet, foryou 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 sweetvoice 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. Ofall whom she loved, only one survives — a lad at sea;all the rest
have passed"from sunshine to the sunless land." She has not sether 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 abouthim; 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 atour heart
J. R. Miller, D. D.Jesus stands at our gate and knocks, andthere 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 sweetestbenedictionof 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.Whenwe were in Dublin, I went out one morning to an early
meeting, and I found the servants had not openedthe 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 anotherbolt 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.Whenyour King and Lord comes to claim the homage of your
hearts, and to pay you a royal visit, you receive His message withcoldness and
indifference. You treat Him as the people of Alsace and Lorraine treatedthe
Emperor of Germany and the Crown Prince after the Franco-Prussianwar,
when they pulled down their blinds, and lockedand bolted their doors, and

satin gloomy silence as the emperor passed. Theyhad 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 celebratedoratorin 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 sovereignofthe 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 greatpicture 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 closelyand you perceive that there is no knob or latch on the outside
of the door. It canbe openedonly 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 evertried 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 neededto 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 covetedtheir love, and yearned for a place in their hearts, and
have steeledthemselves 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 eventhrough 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 ‘beseechyou, 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, evenby 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, evenlift 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 keepyour 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 keepthe 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 keepby 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 blessedwith 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 evenof 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 blessedthe 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 RedSea 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, evenof Thy holy temple.’
I beseechyou, 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, evenat 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 soeverhis circumstances in life may be, and
how faulty soeverhis 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; evenas 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
sevenchurches 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 lessermoment! 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 exposedto 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 seenby 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 evena 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, evenas 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 blessedintercommunion 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 NTCommentaryHYPERLINK "/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, Revelation3:3; 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. Revelation3:3; 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 blessedcommunion 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 evenhave 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; Revelation2:16, 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, Revelation22:7; 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, sedibi sunt unde mittuntur; sic
animus magnus et sacerconüersatur 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

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