“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.”
Revelation 3:20
One of the best known, most often quoted Scriptures in the entire Bible is Jesus’s Promise that IF we accept His offer of eternal salvation and open our “door” to Him, he will “…come in” and enter our heart. For eternity our life will then be Blessed! But, we first must respond to His knocking AND open the door. That knocking may come as a result of our eyes finally being opened to His Word. It may come about as the result of others praying for us. It may come about in turbulent times as we finally recognize the fulfillment of His prophetic Word and turn to Him. Humbly, I pray God is directing me and this message may open the eyes of some unbelievers so they realize all He has Promised. Jesus does not force Himself on us! Instead, we must come to realize that only through Belief in Him, accepting the fact He died for our sins and opening our door to Him will we be saved for eternity.
In the Garden of Eden God walked with Adam and Eve. They had a close, intimate connection. There was NO door between them. He also gave them free choice. Unfortunately, they chose not to follow God’s command to NOT eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. By doing so they introduced sin into this world and the resulting eternal damnation to mankind through their sinful choice. Also, by doing this, they closed the door to God since He will not tolerate sin. However, God’s Grace then brought His Son to this world as the ultimate Sacrificial Lamb who, though Himself sinless, would die to cover our sins. We now have a choice! We can accept His Gift of Salvation or we can choose to not accept it. Of course, as the Bible says in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.” We are all sinful so without Jesus (the Gift of God), we all will die. It is our FREE choice! It is OUR door to open!
A while ago I read an interesting comment about those who DO NOT accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and are therefore doomed to spend eternity in Hell. The comment made was God does not lock the door into Hell after them. Rather, they themselves had locked the door from the inside as a refusal of God’s offer to them. The big difference is once you are condemned to Hell, Jesus will NOT be knocking again on the door. Just ask the rich guy (Luke 16:19-31)!!!
In the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24), Jesus was specifically asked by a few of His disciples what they should be looking for and when could they expect to see those things which will happen in the Last Days He had prophesied about. His response:
“So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the DOORS (notice doors are plural? Hmmmm – capitals mine).”
Matthew 24:33
There we have it again. Doors not only separating us today from Jesus but also indicative of a Coming OPENING of the doors (plural) during the Last Days. I recently read Escape the Coming Night by Dr. David Jeremiah (which I strongly encourage you to read). As the Lord has led me so many times, I saw a message there I had never seen or heard before. The last book in the Bible, the Book of Revelation, is estimated to be 95% prophetic as it basically covers the coming times and the events AFTER Jesus’s Resurrection. In other words, it is all about what will happen from approximately 95 A.D. (when it was written) until Eternity. What caught my attention in Dr. Jeremiah’s book is that ONLY twice in the entire Book of Revelation is there a reference to the DOOR being opened.
“After this I looked, and, behold, a door was OPENED (capitals mine) in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.”
Revelation 4:1-2
The first time the door is opened is right after the Church Age ends with John’s letter to the seven churches. Most Biblical scholars believe not only was he addressing the seven churches he founded but that each church is also symbolically and sequentially linked to the entire history of the Christian Church throughout the ages. In other words, when John describes the Laodicean Church, the last of the seven churches, he discusses them as being an Apostate church (“…that thou art neither cold nor hot…” – Revelation 3:15). Jesus rebukes the last church as basically failing to get His message out. He even says to them right after the end of the history of the Church (see beginning Scripture above from the end of Revelation 3), He is knocking on the door!
Most believe right after that the Opening of the Door in Revelation 4:1-2 above is symbolic of John experiencing the Promised coming Rapture. The door in Heaven was opened. A voice sounded like a trumpet. He was told to come up here. He was immediately “…in the spirit” and was with Jesus in Heaven. Compare this to what Paul told us about the Rapture.
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord IN THE AIR (capitals mine). And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
The similarities? A loud command. A trumpet call. Going UP to meet Him in the clouds. Being with Him forever. In other words, when the door to Heaven is opened the FIRST time, it is for the Rapture of the Believers, both dead and alive. Notice Jesus does not at this time come DOWN to earth. Rather, we meet UP with Him in the clouds! I know some will argue the Rapture occurs at Armageddon but the Book of Revelation in His Holy Bible says clearly it will occur after the Church age but BEFORE the trials of the Tribulation. If you agree then when is the door opened the second time?
“And I saw heaven OPENED (capitals mine), and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.”
Revelation 19:11
Here, near the end of the Book of Revelation and after most of God’s Wrath has been poured out on an unbelieving world, the door to Heaven is opened again. This time, Jesus Returns at Armageddon to defeat the anti-christ and false prophet and to throw Satan into the bottomless pit for His 1,000 year Millennium reign on earth. Just as the above Scripture relates how Jesus is coming to judge and make war, we are told in Zechariah 14:3-4, “Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives.”
Again, we are reminded of the two times God opens the doors to Heaven. The first will be when He opens the door at the Rapture and commands the Believers, both dead and alive, to “…come up here.” The second time, near the end of the Bible, He opens the door and He comes down to “…judge and make war” against an unbelieving world. I pray all hear the first door opening and not the second! This has got to be comforting to all we have a choice TODAY to make. Since we do not know when all this will happen, we must be prepared and ask Jesus to come into our lives TODAY.
Knock! Knock
“Who’s there”.
“Jesus!”
“Jesus who?”
Jesus, who “… taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; KNOCK (capitals mine), and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it SHALL BE OPENED (capitals mine).”
Matthew 7:7-8
It is so rewarding, so comforting to know only through belief in Jesus can our sins be taken away and forgiven. Please help me to get His Word out, to do what we are ALL told to do ands that is to “…therefore comfort one another with these words.” I pray I see you soon at the FIRST OPEN door!
May God Bless you!