Table of Contents
He stands at our doors
Jesus is knocking at the door of our hearts. Men belong to Him because he has redeemed them from the power of sin. He is the only One who is able to save man because he has purchased him with His own precious blood. But the sacrifice that he has made for us is little known, unrecognized, and unappreciated. He says to every one of us:
„Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.“ Rev. 3:20
If Jesus, the noble Redeemer, would personally come today into our cities and knock at our doors, we would open the door ajar with joy and happy exclamations, to receive Him. Everyone would say: “How would I let Him pass from me? I would never reject Him!” But today Christ does not appear before us visibly as He did in old times.
Invisible, He knocks on the door of every heart, and in numerous ways, he calls men to deny the world and in all self-sacrifice to bear their crosses. There is no single door where Christ has not stood at least once, asking to be accepted, because he has died for all. When we deny His state, His counsel, and His life principles, and excuse ourselves with our daily duties of life, we reject Him. Because His person is inseparable from His principles of life. It is impossible for us to accept Him and yet deny His principles at the same time.
Rejected by His own people
The Jewish nation of old presents a sad picture of how a man can reject Jesus. They were the chosen people of God from ancient days. God Himself had gifted them great privileges. He had promised them the eternal Canaan. To them were given the true worship and the promises of a Redeemer to come. They were eagerly looking forward to the Messiah whom they envisioned as a great ruler, wiser than Solomon, mightier than David, and holier than Moses, who would free them from their bondage to the Romans and exalt them in a mighty worldwide kingdom. But such a Christ did not come. And when the Man of Nazareth walked through their cities, they mocked Him, they reviled Him, they rejected Him and – at last – they had Him crucified through the Roman power. Heartbreaking is the expression of the disciple John:
“He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” John 1:10-11.
He knocked at the doors of His countrymen but they let Him pass from them. The apostles went in the name of Jesus to the Gentiles and in His name, they knocked at their doors.
Are we not in the same danger today? The Jews rejected Jesus in the flesh. We, as Christians, would never do this. But is it not possible for us to reject Christ by rejecting His principles and His commandments? Since this is possible, then all Christianity has closed its doors to Jesus because in the world today we see so much oppression and misery and yet so little love and joy.
Thousands of things knock at our doors from early morning to late evening, from cradle to grave. We open to them and they come in and stay with us. But what have we done with Jesus of Nazareth? When he knocked at our doors, did we recognize Him as our personal Redeemer?
Different means through which He knocks
Jesus knocks through the events of life, through the advice of some men, through the words of the Holy Scriptures, and to every man he necessarily knocks through conscience. The rejection of His calling would be a fatal choice because we have no means of saving ourselves.
When sometimes we are in a bad mood and a beggar knocks at our doors, we angrily and nervously close the door before his face. So unknowingly and without notice can our Savior knock someday at the door of our hearts. “But he will come again,” we may think. He has come several times. But one day he will pass us by. The time of salvation will pass when the Judgment is over and he will no longer plead on our behalf before His Father in heaven.
We may now say: “Unfortunately, I have no time for You now.” Or: “I don’t care to open, go knock at some other door.” Or even: “Thank you for visiting me but I cannot live with Your principles. I know what you desire from me – my heart, but it is already taken, maybe some other time.”
He was a stranger in our world
“O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?” Jer. 14:8.
He was a stranger on the earth. He came to men from the heights of heaven, but they refused to accept Him. When he stood before the door of humanity and knocked, they did not want to open. And when he was born into this world, no other place was found for Him but a stable and a manger.
And today he continues knocking at the door of humanity, asking to be accepted. He desires to give us His peace, to fill us with His love, and to quench our hatred. In vain does he knock, with the prints of the cruel nails on His hands, on the doors of the United Nations. This organization has not had the strength to even cause disarmament among the nations. It seems that its faith is going to be similar to the Peace Conference in Hague in 1899.
But the picture will change when Jesus appears again, visibly, at the clouds of heaven. Then He will no longer plead with man. But many people will then plead with Him. The prophet reports what His answer will be to those who seek Him after the close of probation:
“Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts.” Zech. 7:13.
Now Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart. In this probationary time, he wants to come into your life, with all His blessings. Your individual salvation or eternal death depends on you letting Him in. Are you going to put off opening the door, until it is too late to do so?
The close of probation
And someday, when the Judgment ends and the door of mercy is closed forever, many people who had no time, affection, and heart for Him, will knock on that door in utter despair. The Savior gave a parable. He said:
“Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are…” Luke 13:24-25.
The state of things will change and many will be knocking on the doors of the kingdom, they will be appealing to His heart, saying, “Lord, Lord, open to us!”, but this door will not be opened anymore for them, because they have not opened their doors for Him.
Have you heard Him when he has knocked on your life? Have you let Him enter into your inner life? Does he live with you, with all His gracious gifts, in this drought in human history? Then the glorious promise that was given through John is yours:
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name…” John 1:12.
One day at eventime two disciples were walking to Emmaus. Luke 24:13-35. A stranger came near them. Their hearts were soon kindled by the divine love. When they neared their door, the stranger would pass it by, when they insisted that he must enter, saying: “Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.”
The night is fast approaching our dark earth. Darkness covers the nations. Should we not invite Him to come in and say: “Lord, enter into my heart and stay there”? Or will we tarry until it is everlastingly too late?