Revelation 3:20, commentary and pictures

Christ stands outside the door of each individual heart and knocks, and whoever hears His voice and opens will have Him come in to share intimate fellowship as in eating together. This is His closing personal appeal after loving rebuke to lukewarm Laodicea, who profess to be rich and in need of nothing while in fact wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, calling them to be zealous and repent and to buy from Him faith and love, His righteousness, and spiritual discernment. He knocks through the striving of the Holy Spirit, through His Word and warnings and messengers, and through providence and blessings, and opening is heard only by an alert ear that recognizes His voice, repents by faith, humbles self, confesses sin, and surrenders the will to let Him take possession. To refuse to hear and open is to bar the door with cherished sin, pride, selfishness and worldliness, hardening the heart until He passes on and the lukewarm are spewed out and left to darkness and ruin. To open brings His entering presence with peace and joy, cleansing from sin, victory over Satan, clothing in His righteousness, and fitness to represent Him now and to share His throne and eternal life, and the call is urgent in this present day of opportunity while mercy still pleads and probation is near its end.

Wording and Immediate Setting

The promise is that Christ stands at the door and knocks, ready to enter the life of each church member with the richest blessings if that person hears His voice and opens the door. He invites every person to hear Him and welcome Him, and to the one who opens He promises to come in and share close fellowship pictured as eating a meal together. The call is spoken to the Laodicean church and to each person within it, following loving rebuke and the call to repent. The door is the door of the heart, barred by rubbish piled before it that must be taken away, namely difficulties between brethren, evil tempers, selfish covetousness, and the world rolled before the heart, and when the rubbish is removed the door can be opened and the Saviour welcomed in. The promise to come in and sup shows wondrous love after lukewarmness and sins, calling to return and be healed of backsliding, and while some gladly return and open, others let the message have no weight and glide on as before to be spewed out, so that only those who zealously repent find favor.

It is the closing personal appeal of the message to Laodicea, spoken as the words of Christ as the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, after His rebuke and chastening of as many as He loves and His call to be zealous and repent. It holds out to anyone who hears His voice and opens the door that He will come in and share fellowship with him. It then leads to the promise to him that overcomes of sitting with Christ in His throne. The message describes the Laodicean church as lukewarm, and its hearers must heed the counsel of the faithful and true Witness, repent zealously, and obtain the gold, white raiment, and eyesalve, or face rejection.

The Speaker is Christ as the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the beginning of the creation of God, and the heavenly Merchantman and Counselor. The verse belongs with His counsel to buy gold tried in the fire, white raiment, and eyesalve. Gold is faith and love and true character and spiritual riches to become truly rich, white raiment and white clothing is His righteousness to cover nakedness, and eyesalve is spiritual discernment to see need and to distinguish truth. This word is being fulfilled today and must be heard as what the Spirit says to the churches, as the last message of mercy and last warning joined to the third angel's message against going on in sin and lukewarmness without vitality and consecration.

It belongs to Revelation 3 and to the message in Revelation's third chapter sent to the church of the present day, especially to God's people and professing Christians become like the world. It is part of Jesus' message to Laodicea through every verse of the chapter, revealing the spiritual condition of God's people in the last days, which they are urged to heed and study. It belongs to the messages to the churches in Revelation 1-3 giving solemn warning of last events, to be studied, heeded, kept in mind, and given now with distinct evidence as truth for this time. The seven messages extend to the end of time, while a distinct shut door in 1844 and open door for further sanctuary light belong to that history apart from the heart's door in this verse.

It comes not from human lips but from the lips of the heavenly Messenger who cannot be moved by any human influence, and was penned by the inspiration of the Spirit of God. It is what the Spirit says to the churches and demands careful attention from all, especially from those who have a name that they live but are dead. It is to be received as words of mercy and encouragement and warning, not dismissed as a human message, for unbelief bars God's word from working effectively in the heart while receiving it as God's word brings people out of darkness.

Laodicean Condition Exposed

Laodicea is lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, professing to be rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing while in fact wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, not knowing its condition. It is self-satisfied and self-deceived, become worldly, cold and formal and void of warmth, colder and more formal about religious things, self-confident and determined to carry out its own ideas and plans. The faithful and true Witness therefore counsels it to repent zealously and to obtain gold tried in fire, white raiment and eyesalve, or else face rejection and being spewed out. His standing at the door and knocking with promise of coming in to share a meal is love rebuking and chastening, not leaving such to perish but making a last gracious call to repentance and close fellowship, with overcoming leading to sitting with Him in His throne as He overcame and sat with His Father. Hearing requires an ear alert to the Spirit, opened by the Holy Spirit to realize the true condition, and opening is the first work of repentance including clearing away dissension and misunderstanding.

The knocking exposes that first love has lapsed and holiness as the bond between heaven and earth has been broken by envy, evil-surmising and false reports, leaving those long enlightened self-sufficient and a disgusting morsel to be spewed out unless they lay aside self-sufficiency and welcome Him before repentance is sought too late even with tears. It exposes caviling and gossiping, calling instead for earnest seeking of precious gold of character, white raiment to cover nakedness and eyesalve to see. It exposes erected idols served in place of God, unfirmness to principle and separation from God among His own erring people on whom His eye rests and who will suffer for truth's sake. It exposes incoming selfishness, greed and boasting which He will not countenance, and blindness, ignorance, self-exaltation and a root of bitterness defiling others, even among professed servants and those connected with institutions. Such must clear the rubbish from the door by zealous repentance and prayer with strong crying and tears, admitting Jesus with willing mind so His image is reflected and intense love created.

The message is sent to those who have long known the truth, stand in positions of trust, and have had great light, many privileges and faithful instruction, yet are feeble, fragmentary and inefficient, hearing without appropriating truth, not following the Word, not knowing their condition, judging one another and resisting reproof while feeling in need of nothing. They have misjudged their condition and misrepresented His character, and are spiritually poor and blind, perilous and unready to meet Him without the robe of His righteousness. His knocking comes in love through earnest warnings, reproofs, messages, His Holy Spirit and testimonies, with counsel to gain gold, raiment and eyesalve, calling for zeal, repentance and diligent essential work and careful review of course. Those who make their own systems and ideas the standard and call heaven-sent light darkness refuse that knock and shut out the power and wisdom of God. Opening means asking for the Holy Spirit, being imbued as burning and shining lights, and reviving by practicing Bible principles.

They claim to believe the truth and profess much to serve Him, yet profession is contradicted by life, first love is left, faith is weak, and they have become cold and formal like the world, seeking human approval. They are half for Christ and half for the world, lukewarm and deceived about their state, called to sincere repentance, wholehearted zeal, personal response and renewed love. Leaving first love is a spiritual fall demanding prompt repentance and thorough transformation, for without love knowledge, ability, zeal and service are worthless and light does not shine, leaving failure to repent exposed to last-day deceptions. Overcoming in answer to this plainly marking message comes only as He overcame, by whole-hearted obedience to all the commandments, with no half action, all Christian graces cherished into a beautiful symmetrical character, though satanic agencies will pursue and tempt to corrupt principle.

The invitation itself is the remedy for self-deception and spiritual need, offering His entrance and shared meal to any who hear and open, with repentance opening to fellowship and to the overcomer's promise. It also belongs to exposing one lost in the fog of sophistry who has talked out damaging theories harming many souls, who cannot be reached without thorough breaking up of the fallow ground of the heart, dawning of spiritual light in the soul, and making straight paths for the feet.

Door Heart and Knocking

The door at which Christ stands is the door of the individual heart and soul and of each dwelling, not only a congregation, and He stands outside calling each person to respond. He comes as the heavenly Guest actively seeking poor, doubting and unbelieving souls who are asking how to find Him, and He knocks for entrance to unwilling, self-satisfied Laodiceans who have shut Him out and do not know their need. His knock calls for the heart to be opened to the softening, subduing influence of His grace and love, and to all who open He comes in and takes possession and shares a meal together in fellowship. Opening in this humble way, without exalting poor finite self, is the way to receive the Holy Spirit.

That door is barred by rubbish piled before it that must be taken away before it can be opened and the Saviour welcomed in. The rubbish is difficulties and dissension and misunderstanding between brethren, evil tempers, selfish covetousness, pride, self-love, cherished sin, worldliness, the world rolled before the heart, small unworthy things, and truth not stamped on the heart. Clearing it away belongs to the first work of repentance with zealous repentance and prayer, and some keep piling up rubbish and shut Him out while He also seeks welcome among congregations.

He knocks through the Holy Spirit striving upon the heart to be recognized, with an ear made alert to realize the true condition. He knocks through God's Word and through warning and reproof, through earnest warnings, reproofs, messages and testimonies and delegated messengers, through providence and blessings, pleading and presenting the precious jewels of truth, the riches of His grace and salvation, and the glistening white vesture of His own righteousness woven in heaven's loom with not one thread of human invention. Opening the door means heeding that testimony of warning, zealously separating sins away in order to receive the needed graces, welcoming Him in with a willing mind and buying the precious heavenly treasure, and those who open in this way live in perfect harmony with the testimony of the Spirit and have His image reflected in the soul with an intensity of love created.

Hearing His voice requires an ear alert to the voice of the Spirit and opened by the Holy Spirit to realize the wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked condition, with hearing ears that hearken rather than dull or closed ears that let Him knock in vain. Everything depends on recognizing and receiving the voice as the very voice of Jesus, received in faith and practiced and yielded to so that He leads to know and do God's will, rather than dismissing it as human or attributing it to anyone but Jesus. To continue in self-presumption and self-confidence is to close the ears, turn from the invitation, and instead open the door of the heart to Satan's bewitching delusions to one's own ruin.

Hearing and Opening Response

To hear and to open is the first work of repentance, done by faith and by surrender of the will. It means heeding the loving rebuke and warning, repenting zealously and not half-heartedly, separating from sins, humbling poor finite self instead of exalting it, feeling need, making broken confession, asking forgiveness, receiving the Word as God's own Word, and willingly admitting Jesus as the heavenly Guest without waiting for feeling. The ear must be alert to the Spirit and opened to realize the true lukewarm, wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked condition, recognizing envy, evil-surmising, false reports, caviling and gossip for what they are and clearing away dissension and misunderstanding before it is too late to find repentance even when sought with tears. This humble opening is the way to receive the Holy Spirit, to seek the precious gold of character tried in fire, the white raiment and the eyesalve, and to have Christ's image reflected in the soul with an intensity of love.

Opening is conversion of the whole man, not a partial claim of fellowship while resisting truth. It lets Christ take possession and enthrone Himself in the heart, suffering Him to cleanse the soul-temple of its rubbish and permitting the Holy Spirit to take possession of the human habitation for a new heart and Christlike character. What must be separated and put to death is selfishness, pride, self-love, self-esteem, self-justification, self-exaltation, holding to one's own opinion, masterful temper, crude manners, unchristlike words, unsanctified practices, harsh criticism and judging of brethren, grasping all for self, neglect to help the needy, and cherished idols. The human agent does not work the Spirit but is worked, fashioned, molded, watched over and disciplined by the Spirit through repression, submission and bending of the will after God's will and way, until self is crucified, hardness of heart is removed, humble thoughts of self replace exaltation of ideas, the tempted are helped rather than harshly judged, and the selfish unconverted man becomes a truly changed, unselfish witness for God.

Some refuse because they fear Christ will require something of them, as if He would be an expensive guest, and by shutting Him out of His own temple they lose the rich blessings of His grace and bring loss to the church. Pride humbled and subdued by His divine compassion and pitying love must listen for His voice, putting away sin and iniquity, letting the love of Jesus into the soul, and praying earnestly for Christ to take possession, which He will do to soften and subdue the heart and bestow gifts of grace. Pride, self-love, serving idols, spending on self what should save perishing souls, and neglect to welcome Him among congregations as well as in the individual heart must be removed as spiritual rubbish for Him to come in. When He is refused He passes by, and to close the door brings ruin to oneself, while to open forms a character for eternal life as seen in Joseph and Daniel, brings Him near the tempted and tried with redeeming pity, and gives gracious encouragement and close fellowship to the lowly, suffering, patient and faithful who recognize weakness and need.

The invitation is to any man, without regard to intelligence, refinement, standing or personal shortcoming, and Christ is actively hunting for poor, doubting, unbelieving, wandering, deeply sinful and lukewarm souls who ask how to find Him. He does not leave them to perish in their sins nor force entrance, but draws by love, fights for those who come in trust and overcomes the powers of darkness, refusing to reject any who come. He persistently seeks the lost and alienated who have lost first love, rebuking from love and calling to zeal and repentance, and when driven back He returns with greater pleading. Neglect leaves a person answerable in judgment, while wholehearted dedication with renewed heart, deep-rooted principle, humility, meekness, righteousness and readiness to sacrifice makes service and doing good possible.

Refusal and Solemn Warning

To refuse to hear and open is to keep every crevice of the heart sealed and add rebellion and stubbornness to guilt, hardening the heart and leaving darkness and poverty. The knocking belongs to the message that exposes the church as lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, professing to be rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing while in fact wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. It comes with loving rebuke and chastening and the command to be zealous and repent, with counsel to obtain gold tried in fire and white raiment and eyesalve, or face rejection. If the door is not opened, Christ will pass on and leave the soul and church destitute of His presence and destitute of true riches, while self-righteousness still claims to be rich. Those who let the message have no weight and glide on as before will be spewed out of His mouth, renounced by God, left to idols and to destroying angels.

Those who go on in sin and lukewarmness without vitality and consecration and do not repent and become sanctified through the truth lose favor like the fallen churches. They will receive plagues just as do opposers of the law, while only the sanctified who love Him and keep His commandments will compose the royal family in the heavenly mansions prepared for them. This warning belongs to the last message of mercy and last warning to a fallen world, joined to the proclamation of the third angel's message and to the promise that the overcomer shall sit with Christ in His throne as He overcame and sat with His Father.

To shut the door is to shut Christ out of His own temple and bring loss, silencing His voice and inviting deception and ruin. A heart firmly resisting Him will not be forced, for God does not compel righteousness, and transforming grace is needed to oppose Satan's works. Under Satan's influence a person may close the heart and refuse the repeated appeal, and that rejection can fuel pride, hatred, and conflict even with family members who love and follow Him. Persistently rejecting warnings and invitations caused Him to abandon the scribes and Pharisees to their blindness and its consequences, while Satan strengthened their stubbornness and led them toward ruin. Resisting the light and warnings He sends keeps the heart closed, while welcoming Him brings life and expels sin, and refusal through studies, business, appetite and worldly cares shuts out light and ends in eternal loss. Some fear to open because He may require something of them, yet when they will not open He passes by and they lose the rich blessings of His grace.

The straight testimony to Laodicea must be heeded, for its destiny hangs upon it, and it must work deep repentance rather than be half heeded, lightly esteemed, or entirely disregarded. Those who truly receive it in the heart obey it and are purified, exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth. Those who cannot bear its pointed reproof rise up against it and resist the truth, and that resistance helps cause a shaking among God's people. The message is rebuke rather than reassurance, not denying guilt nor treating reproof as undeserved, and ministers preaching present truth must not neglect it but bear it to arouse from security.

The same knocking was heard at Jerusalem, where mercy and light belonging to its peace and good were offered and all that could be done for the vineyard was done. Refusal to open and receive that light brought tears and left the nation to be let go and cast off to destruction by encompassing armies. There is a boundary to mercy where continued refusal ends striving and gives the refuser over to Satan and to judgment, for God's striving does not continue forever.

Blessings of Welcoming Christ

To open is to receive Christ Himself entering with the richest blessings and closest fellowship, bringing peace, rest, joy and power into the life. His presence calms severe trials, satisfies hunger and thirst of soul, speaks peace to doubts and fears, and gives an inward satisfaction that no human agent can supply. The door is barred by rubbish that must first be taken away — difficulties between brethren, evil tempers, selfish covetousness and the world rolled before the heart — and when that rubbish is removed the Saviour can be welcomed in. Such welcome answers wondrous love after lukewarmness and sin, fulfilling the call to return and be returned to and healed of all backslidings, warming the cold heart by divine love until the one accepted in the Beloved knows sitting together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

When the door is opened in contrite repentance, Satan loses his hold on the captive and Christ gains the victory, conquering another heart by mercy and love while angels in heaven rejoice. His image is then reflected in the soul and an intensity of love is created, filling heart and lips with His praise and the fragrance of His life. The heart is filled with the warmth of His love, goodness and tender compassion, so that the Saviour is revealed in dealings with others. Where the whole congregation humbles itself in broken-hearted confession, asking forgiveness of God and one another, pride melts and sorrow turns to Pentecostal rejoicing and praise lasting till nearly morning, which all heaven waits to give.

His coming cleanses the heart from sin and rubbish, expels Satan, and makes the soul a holy temple, sanctified, enlightened and clothed with His righteousness by faith. He imparts the divine nature and gives victory through a crucified and risen Saviour, restoring and healing backsliding by loving rebuke and chastening. Opening is linked with repentance, confession, humility and receiving Christ, and with buying gold tried in the fire which is character, white raiment to cover nakedness, and eyesalve to see. Those who come in trust are not rejected, for He fights for them and overcomes the powers of darkness, calling for a renewed heart, deep-rooted principle, humility, meekness, righteousness and readiness to sacrifice.

Fellowship now fits believers to represent Christ, share light and blessing with others, and labor with Him. Those who open still have a work to do as the salt of the earth, the light of the world, and living messengers to proclaim a living message in these last days, educating children for God and working with earnestness and zeal for the unconverted. His promise to come in and sup is an invitation to self-government in His service and to partnership with Him, as a father takes his son into partnership in business, calling young men and men of all ages to be sharers in the great work of redemption and uplifting, for without Him nothing can be done. Received now, that fellowship leads for every overcomer to the crown of immortality, life measuring with the life of God, and the eternal weight of glory, calling for coming out from the world and being separate, walking humbly in a contrite spirit, appreciating the great gift of Christ, and getting ready to meet the Lord in peace at His very soon coming in the clouds of heaven.

Present Time Application

The knocking belongs to the message in Revelation's third chapter sent to the church of the present day, applying especially to God's people and to professing Christians who have become so like the world that no difference can be seen. It is being fulfilled today and must be heard as what the Spirit says to the churches, addressing the lukewarm who claim to be rich and in need of nothing while wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. It is the last message of mercy and last warning to a fallen world, joined to the proclamation of the third angel's message, warning the churches and especially the commandment-keeping people against going on in sin and lukewarmness without vitality and consecration. It applies to Seventh-day Adventists who have had great light and have not walked in the light, standing at the door of the individual members to enter and give the richest blessings and fellowship if they will open. Those without the robe of righteousness would be unready to meet Him if He came today, and those who do not repent and become sanctified through the truth lose favor like the fallen churches and will receive plagues just as opposers of the law, while only the sanctified who keep His commandments will compose the royal family in the mansions prepared for those who love Him.

His coming to the door does not pronounce the church Babylon nor ask His people to come out, but shows He remains with them in love to reprove, correct, restore and heal backsliding through messages of reproof and warning. He reproves and corrects His chosen people whom He has made depositaries of His law with sacred trust and eternal truth to give to the world, calling each person to turn back so as not to be spewed out. His rebuke and counsel are acts of love to those who are spiritually poor and blind because they have misjudged their condition and misrepresented His character, calling them to repent and receive Him into fellowship pictured as sharing a meal. He does not leave them without warning and counsel, and those who open still have a work to do as the salt of the earth and the light of the world, living messengers to proclaim a living message in these last days. Wheat and tares remain together until the harvest, for that message of separation comes from no heavenly messenger or human agent inspired by the Spirit.

The appeal presses young men and young women and all hearers to be on the right side rather than the wrong side. In Noah's day the largest number chose the wrong side, and the world under Satan's training and inspiration now sustains and gives popularity to sin and transgression of the law. That popularity does not demerit or lessen the force of one principle of Jehovah. The Lord is waiting to bless young people if they will open the door of the heart to Him, and each person must do this opening individually.

Mercy still pleads while He knocks, and it is not yet too late in this day of opportunity with Jesus as Intercessor praying before the Father. Opening means accepting His offered presence, making peace with God, taking the padlock off the heart, binding to Him by a chain of living faith and keeping Him as the great Center above everything else. The response must be zealous repentance at the very commencement of surrender without waiting for special feeling, coming as a little child as a suppliant, consenting to give up sin and acknowledging guilt, which removes the barrier of love of sin that keeps Him outside the soul temple. The call is urgent because a person's life record may soon close, because repentance has become mixed with hay, wood and stubble and works of wrong and underhanded dealing while every evil work is coming into judgment, and because it is life or death to open now. Even as He wept over Jerusalem, the sinner could still have repented and escaped doom while He pleaded in love.

The message to the Laodiceans has gone forth since 1844, and the delay is to develop character and moral worth, to bring out what is in the heart, and to separate the precious from the vile while the lukewarm are spewed out. The Lord and angels patiently wait and test and weigh character before rejection, so believers must not rush ahead with a hurried fanatical spirit, must not take the work of rejecting into their own hands, must not push off those who have not yet reached the expected standard, and must not fear to associate with those they think already rejected. Outward display such as ruffles and bonnets covered with bows and ribbons is an index to pride inconsistent with professing to wait for Him to change vile bodies like His glorious body. The Lord is at the door, prophecy is fast fulfilling, and all are standing on the threshold of great and solemn events with a period of overwhelming interest soon to open when past controversies will be revived and new controversies arise amid undreamed scenes as Satan works through human agencies.

Daily Life and Mission

The knocking belongs to the work of watchmen who must study every word of the third chapter of Revelation as those watching for souls who must give an account, guarding every outpost and speaking in clear decided tones under the Holy Spirit to rouse ministers and doctors everywhere from stubborn unbelief so no soul is left in uncertainty, led in wrong, or left to perish in the enemy's snare. It is to be given clearly and distinctly as a warning of spiritual peril that exposes sin, calling for careful searching and correction of evil rather than a tangled mass of fault-finding over others, dwelling instead upon the great principles of faith. Satan is unwilling for this message to be rightly understood, and the Lord uses it to show that things have long been not right, so that remaining blind to it plunges further and further into difficulty. Its solemn warnings from Revelation 3:14-21 must have weight now, calling for humility, fairness, and Christlikeness especially toward those holding differing views and before young workers who are watching, refusing to let Satan control the powers. That means openness to precious old light now shining again about the righteousness of Christ in connection with the law of God, keeping the commandments, loving God supremely and neighbor as self, refusing false witness, false statements, misrepresentation and false light on others, refusing to receive finite men's words as the voice of God, praying and studying the Bible more, and holding only what bears heaven's credentials because God's infinite Word is sure forever. The same faithful description exposes the condition of one like Dr. Kellogg who had encouraged Satan and lost his bearings, and though he had made some moves in the right direction, admitting mistakes was painfully difficult for him.

Those who open still have a work to do as the salt of the earth and the light of the world, living messengers to proclaim a living message in these last days, for His coming is love and mercy to restore and heal all backslidings, not to pronounce them Babylon nor to call them out, but to rebuke and chasten those He loves with reproof and warning. Opening the heart means welcoming Christ as an honored guest at His first knock, receiving from Him divine treasures and precious things of light and blessing that are not to be kept but opened to other souls, so that receiving from Christ and giving to others brings an endless variety of good results. For those who teach God's Word this requires themselves to keep receiving and adding to treasure, constantly improving in presenting truth and growing in religious knowledge instead of remaining dwarfs satisfied with repeating set discourses from notes. His promise to come in and share a meal is an invitation to self-government in His service and to partnership with Him, as a father takes his son into partnership in business, calling young men and men of all ages to be sharers with Him in the great work of redemption and uplifting, since without Him nothing can be done and His presence enables sharing in the divine nature and overcoming. Letting Him in means being emptied of envy so the vacuum is supplied by the grace of Jesus Christ, coming out from the world and drawing the line of distinction plainly, becoming a praying family where angels can minister, and receiving special help and divine power as it came to Jesus Christ, so that with Christ at the head of the army against Satan those who open become laborers together with God with a world to save, educating children for God and teaching His love and power, and working with earnestness and zeal for the unconverted, proclaiming justification by faith and the righteousness of Christ with the Laodicean message.

The invitation is universal without regard to intelligence, refinement, or personal shortcomings, calling all to hear and open so He may enter into close communion, and He does not force entry but does not reject those who come in trust, fighting for them and overcoming the powers of darkness. It calls for a renewed heart, deep-rooted principle, humility, meekness, righteousness, and readiness to make sacrifices for Christ, and it is urgent because neglecting it leaves a person answerable in the judgment, while wholehearted dedication makes service and doing good possible. For those who have lived only half-heartedly it presses the need to go deeper and overcome, including controlling the temper and refusing to answer provocation with bitter words, because speech and spirit are God-given talents to be used for His glory, and His call to come in and share fellowship requires a wholehearted response that lets Him cleanse and transform. Opening means receiving Him as a willing guest and accepting His instruction, training, and discipline as workers serving God, setting aside personal preferences to follow the Lord's way and do His will, walking in the light as it comes, placing oneself in the channel of light, doing all to the glory of God, working out salvation with fear and trembling while God works within to will and to do of His good pleasure. Not opening is opening the heart instead to agencies that have no connection with God and failing in duty, contrary to the principle that must guide all who would be among the redeemed, and it belongs with putting away pride and self-exaltation and learning His meekness and lowliness so His presence shapes a humble, self-denying life that esteems others and bears their burdens. The door of the heart must always stay open so His voice is always heard and He enters into fellowship, meaning vigilant working with earnest, watchful waiting in view of His second appearing, holding together working, watching, and praying as the ideal of Christian duty that makes the perfect man in Christ Jesus, forbidding both a life of only waiting and a life of only bustle, activity, and excitement that neglects personal piety.

That indwelling creates union, being hidden with Christ in God, which leaves no room for difference or dissension, so no thought of opposition against another child of God can be allowed, and the Father cannot love those who do not love one another, for only through His encircling embrace with His human arm, giving His light and rest, does anyone have any right to heaven. Answering the knock and opening is the human part, and when done the glory of God pervades the soul with oneness in Christ Jesus, which forbids hating, annoying, and making one another unhappy, requiring conversion, clearing rubbish from the heart and clearing the King's highway, coming together in unity in diversity instead of magnifying faults, criticizing, finding fault, and drawing apart, whereupon Christ comes in to fellowship and bestows blessing, heavenly light, help, and revelation of God's power and glory that converts souls. Hearing His voice and opening means receiving Him into close fellowship pictured as sharing a meal, while a closed heart is revealed when needed confessions to God and to one another are withheld. This calls for religion in the home and thorough work in home life, especially educating and training children to have well-balanced characters that the Lord can approve, since neglecting these essential home duties removes any reason to expect God's blessing, while the Lord works with human efforts to do the work He has given, warning families not to continue in the Laodicean condition but to reform their homes.

Hearing His voice means listening to God speaking through His Word and His messengers and following His directions, and opening means obeying that light in daily practice, casting out idols, laying aside tea and coffee and every unhealthful indulgence in eating and drinking, and bringing habits into harmony with nature's laws. Those who do this are prepared to receive the heavenly Guest, Jesus the Sun of righteousness, and gain an atmosphere about the soul that is a savor of life unto life, while those who cherish what positively injures body and mind and refuse to obey keep the door closed, cannot understand sanctification of soul and body, and complain of lack of the Spirit while shutting Jesus out. His knocking includes His claim to His portion in tithes and offerings while keeping the rest for personal use, yet many do not hear because the din of the world fills their ears and they will not stop long enough to seek God earnestly and listen to what the Spirit says, whereas humbling before God, studying the Bible together, praying and weeping before Him, and giving self without reservation removes what blocks His entering. Opening to His knock gives understanding of the science of truth and keeps from being led into uncertain paths in the perilous times before us. Opening means accepting Christ as Saviour and making thorough work, and having Christ gives everything, the richest blessing God can give, bringing close fellowship of sharing together, good pay in serving in His army, and assurance of an immortal inheritance and enduring substance, even an eternal weight of glory. The same message judges institutions permeated with the spirit of the world, as with the Medical Missionary Association whose condition is unacceptable to Christ and not preparing people for an experience that will stand the test of judgment, calling for reform in God's institutions and decided witness in favor of truth including health reform such as not placing meat before patients in sanitariums.