BEHOLD I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK

Materialism and self-sufficiency had shut the heart of this assembly to Christ. He is no longer the attraction to them He once was but He is now replaced as their centre of focus. Ignored, the Lord goes to the outside place as no longer at the hub of their affairs. Be alarmed that self-sufficiency in an assembly shuts Him out, so be aware of the spirit that says, ‘We are sufficient and can manage on our own’.

This is not the first occasion that John has had to write of a lack of place and recognition for his Lord. Did he not com­mence his Gospel by saying, ‘He came unto his own, and his own received him not’? Seemingly, as it was in the beginning, so it will be at the end. How treacherously deceived is the human heart where divine things are concerned!

Amazingly, the Lord did not go away altogether for He stands outside the door and knocks. This door is not the sin­ner’s hard heart of unbelief but the hearts door of this local company of Christians. Unlike so many who would have given up and gone away, the Lord will never turn away from His own. For Him, there will always be a way back and He is there for when that time comes. Beware of giving up too soon on an assembly, or a believer, that seems to have turned aside from the Lord.

He points out their error of judgement, reprimands their lack of sensitivity and directs them to the remedy. Then He patiently stands at the door and knocks. Note the words He uses, ‘If any man hear my voice’. The appeal is to the individual and some­times it has only been an individual that responds to Him. It would not be the first time that God has only a remnant who will listen and take heed to His voice.

This ‘remnant few’ have similar characteristics wherever they are seen. They believe the promises of God’s word and wait expectantly for fulfilment. They cherish, as more pre­cious than life, fellowship with God, and they make sure they are linked with others who have the same hunger for Him that they have, cf. Mal. 3. 16-18. May God help us to be found amongst such when He returns!