LAODICEA The Call to change Revelation 3v19-20
"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore and repent. 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."
The thought of the majestic Lord standing outside the church pleading with some to open the door is mind blowing. It is reminiscent of the appeals by the Lord to the wayward Ephraim through the prophet Hosea. Statements like "I will allure her" (Hosea 2v14), "I drew them with chords of a man with bands of love" (Hosea 11v4), "how shall I give thee up oh Ephraim" (Hosea 11v8), and "Oh Israel return unto the Lord Thy God" (Hosea 14v1). No matter the spiritual state that makes Him sick, still He loves them and calls on them to turn. This turning will involve a process of discipline like the "gold tried in the fire." He calls on them to change and he starts by suggesting that they become zealous instead of what they are, lukewarm. The only zeal they had was for the pursuit of material things. Spiritual exercises like evangelism, prayers, bible study, and worship ...... in all those they were half hearted. They probably thought of these things as fanaticism. Christ is saying here, I want you to get some of that zeal. If the Lord had been half hearted in what He did, where would we all be? In John chapter 2, when He saw His Father's house being used for common trading, and all the evils associated with that, He cleared the temple and His disciples remembered the words which were written " the zeal of thine house has consumed Me." He says "My Father's house is a house of prayer, and you have made it a den of thieves." When the priceless things of God are being reduced to a common level it is time for the hearts of God's people to be inflamed, to be zealous, to protest when needed. All over the New Testament it is written "He gave Himself for us;" He held nothing back, He gave His all, and we should give no less. It is time to rekindle zeal for the house of God. Perhaps this is what He means by the phrase "buy of Me gold tried in the fire."
He now goes on to show the way; how can lukewarm, half hearted people become zealous? ; how can people who are poor spiritually become rich?; how can people whose garments are stained start to walk in purity in white raiment?; how can people who are spiritually blind, suddenly begin to see things clearly from God's point of view? The answer is clear we must have fellowship with the Lord, because that is exactly what He means when He says "I will come into Him, and sup with Him, and He with Me." The answer is individual fellowship with the Lord on a daily basis. Paul distinquishes between the Lord's supper in (1st Corinthians chapter 11) and the Lord's table in (1st Corinthians chapter 10). The Lord's supper is what we do briefly once every week. The Lord's table is what He provides for us every day of the week. We all of us have three meals a day; it is interesting to me that the prophet Daniel was said to have prayed three times a day. It is my belief that the Lord has a portion for His people every single day, like the manna that fell from heaven on the desert floor. Failure in this is the cause of all departure, we need constant, daily, fellowship with the Lord at His table that He has provided for us. What He is saying here, is, I am standing at the door knocking and if you let Me in, I will provide enough every day that you will ever need spiritually. The Psalmist David when he considered the Lord as his shepherd wrote these words "Thou prepares a table for me in the presence of mine enemies."
The Lord expands on this aspect of spiritual life in John chapters 14 & 15. There He speaks of becoming intimately involved in their lives. He says "if a man love Me, he will keep My words and My father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him." (John 14v23) In chapter 15 he develops the teaching of the vine and the branches where He says "I am the vine, ye are the branches." That is, just as the life of the vine is transmitted to the branches, so my life will become fruitful in you. Five times over in this context He says "Abide in Me." This is the secret of Christian living, this is the source of spiritual fruit, this is the seed of spiritual power. It is one thing for me to be in Christ, it is yet another for Christ to be in me. We all sing happily "Abide with me" especially in times of trouble. The cry has to be alongside of that "Abide in Me." I have to live with the Lord and allow Him to live in me. Have you supped with Him today? He is standing, knocking , asking to come in to you life, to nourish you. It is only as we live with Him in the sanctuary, like the man in Psalm 73, that we see things clearly, that we accept God's way, and we begin to truly live the life of God. All else is "vanity and vexation of spirit".
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