Behold, I stand at the door, etc. These words, so welt known and much loved, however their primary intention may have had regard to a sinful community like the Church at Laodicea, nevertheless lend themselves so aptly to the setting forth of Christ's dealing with individual sinful souls, and have been so often used in this way, that once more we employ them for the like purpose. They supply three vivid pictures.

I. OF OUR SAVIOR "Behold, I stand," etc.; and they reveal him to us in all his grace, he is represented:

1. As in constant nearness to the soul. He stands at the door. He does not come for once and then depart, but there he continues.

2. And he knocks at the door: not merely stands there. The soul is like a great palace that has many doors. And Christ knocks sometimes at the one door and sometimes at another. There is:

(1) The door of the intellect. To this he comes with the evidence of the reasonableness of his faith and claims.

(2) Of the conscience. To this he shows the goodness and righteousness of that which he asks; how he ought to be obeyed.

(3) Of love. He wakes up, or seeks to wake up, the spirit of gratitude in response to all he is and has done for the soul.

(4) Of fear. The alarm of the awakened conscience, the fearful looking for of judgment, are the means he uses.

(5) Of hope. The blessed prospect of eternal peace and purity and joy.

3. And he knocks in many ways.

(1) Sometimes by his Word. As it is quietly read in the sacred Scriptures, some text will arrest and arouse the soul. Or, as it is faithfully, lovingly, and earnestly preached: how often he knocks in this way! And

(2) sometimes by his providence. Sickness; bereavement; loss of wealth, or friends, or other earthly good; disaster; the approach of pestilence; nearness of death; trouble of mind, body, or estate; - all are the Lord's knockings. And

(3) sometimes by his Spirit. These more often than any. "The Spirit... says, Come."

4. And we know that he does this. Have we not been conscious of his appeals again and again?

5. See what all this reveals of him.

(1) His infinite patience. How long he has waited for some of us, year after year, and is not wearied yet!

(2) His gracious condescension. That he, our Lord and Saviour, should thus deal with us.

(3) And, above all, what infinite love! Behold, then, this portrait of our all-gracious Saviour and Lord, and let it draw your hearts to him as it should.

II. OF THE SOUL - the soul of each one of us. Our text shows the soul:

1. As the object of Christ's anxious concern, He would not else be thus standing and knocking at the door of our hearts. And the reason is that he knows:

(1) The soul's infinite value and preciousness. He knows its high capacities - that it can love and worship, resemble, and rejoice in God.

(2) Its terrible peril. Were it not so, there would not be need for such anxious concern. It is in peril of losing eternal life and of incurring eternal death. It is nigh unto perishing - a lost sheep, a lost piece of silver, a lost child.

2. As exercising its fearful Tower. Refusing Christ, keeping him outside the soul. Many other guests are admitted freely, but not Christ.

(1) The soul has this power of refusal. None other has. Not the stars of heaven, not the mighty sea, not the raging winds, not the devouring fire. All these obey. But the soul can refuse.

(2) And here it is exercising this power. That Christ is kept outside the soul is the testimony of:

(a) Scripture. Texts innumerable tell of the estrangement of the human heart from God.

(b) Conscience. Does not the ungodly man know that Christ does not dwell within him, that he has no room for him - however it may be with other guests - in his soul? And the strange, sad reluctancy to speak for Christ to others shows how partial is his possession of even Christian souls.

(c) Facts. See what men are and say and do; mark their conduct, their conversation, their character; examine the maxims, principles, and motives which regulate them, and see if Christ be in all or any of them. And this, not only in men brought up in ungodliness, but often in those trained in pious homes, and from whom you would have expected better things.

(3) And this is the soul's own doing. It voluntarily excludes Christ. When his appeal is heard, and very often it is, men divert their thoughts, distract them with other themes; or deaden their convictions, by plunging into pleasure, business, sin; or delay obedience, procrastinating and putting off that which they ought promptly to perform. Ah, what guilt! Ah, what folly!

(4) And this is the sin "against the Holy Ghost, which hath never forgiveness." Not any one definite act, but this persistent exclusion of Christ. The. knocking of the Lord is heard more and more faintly, until at length, although it goes on, it is not heard at all. The sin has been committed, and the punishment has begun. But the text contemplates also the happier alternative.

3. The soul claiming its greatest privilege - opening the door to Christ. He says, "If any man will open," thereby plainly teaching us that men may and should, and - blessed be his Name - some will, open that door.

(1) The soul can do this. It is part of its great prerogative. It could not say, "Yes," if it could not say, "No;" but because it can say, "No," it can also say, "Yes."

(2) And the opening the door depends upon its saying, "Yes." This is no contradiction to the truth that the Holy Spirit must open the heart. Both are essential; neither can be done without. It is a cooperative work, as consciousness and Scripture alike teach. But the Spirit ever does his part of the work; it is we only who fail in ours. May we be kept here from!

III. SALVATION. The result of such opening the door is this, and the picture that is given of it is full of interest.

1. Christ becomes our Guest. "I will sup with him." Now, if we invite any one to our table, we have to provide the feast. But what have we to set before Christ that he will care for? Ah, what? "All our righteousnesses" - will they do? Not at all. In this spiritual banquet that which he will most joyfully accept is ourselves, coming in contrition and trust to rest upon his love. "The sacrifices of God," etc. (Psalm 51.). Let us bring them; they, but naught else, will be well pleasing to him. But the scene changes.

2. Christ becomes our ]lost. "He with me." Ah! now what a difference!

"Blest Jesus, what delicious fare!
How sweet thine entertainments are!" This we shall soon realize.

(1) There is full, free pardon for every sin.

(2) Next, the assurance of his love, that he has accepted us.

(3) Power to become like him - renewing, regenerating grace.

(4) His peace, so that in all trial and sorrow we may "rest in the Lord."

(5) Power to bless others, so that they shall be the better for having to do with us.

(6) Bright hope, blessed outlook to the eternal inheritance.

(7) And at last, in due time, that inheritance itself.

Such are some of the chief elements of that banquet at which Christ is the Host; and all the while there is sweet, blessed intercourse, hallowed communion, with himself. He is "known to us in the breaking of bread."

CONCLUSION. How, then, shall it be? Shall we still keep the door of our hearts barred against him? May he forbid! We can do this; alas! some will. But we can open the door. Do that.

"In the silent midnight watches,
List! thy bosom door!
How it knocketh - knocketh knocketh -
Knocketh evermore!

Say not 'tis thy pulse is beating:
Tis thy heart of sin;
Tis thy Saviour knocks and crieth,
'Rise, and let me in.'

"Death comes on with reckless footsteps,
To the hall and hut;
Think you, Death will tarry knocking
Where the door is shut?

Jesus waiteth - waiteth - waiteth
But the door is fast;
Grieved, away thy Saviour goeth:
Death breaks in at last.

"Then 'tis time to stand entreating
Christ to let thee in;
At the gate of heaven beating,
Waiting for thy sin.

Nay - alas! thou guilty creature;
Hast thou then forgot?
Jesus waited long to know thee,
Now he knows thee not." S.C.

I. THE STRANGER-GUEST WANTING TO COME IN. "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock."

1. When a stranger comes to your door, it matters a good deal to your feeling as a host whether he be a mean man or a great one. An inhospitable act done to your Queen might never vex you at all if it was only done to an obscure wanderer. Who, then, is this? Is He mean? or is He great? He does not look very great in the starlight. But He is. At home He is worshipped, and wields all command; and beings before whom the mightiest of the earth are as infants, only venture to bow themselves at His feet when their faces are shielded from the lustre of His glory.

2. When a stranger comes to your door, it is a consideration for you whether he has come to a door only, or to your door; whether he has come to your door by chance, or to yourself on purpose. Has this Stranger, then, just happened upon this cottage-door as one that serves His turn as well as any other? or does He mean to seek this very home and this very board, if haply He may be welcomed as a friend? How deeply does He mean it, and how tenderly!

3. When a stranger comes to your door, it is of some moment to you whether he has come but a short distance to see you, or has come from far. This waiting Stranger — whence comes He? From another country? He has come from another world. Through peril, through tribulation, He has come hither.

4. When a stranger comes to your door, it is a thing of influence with you whether your visitor is in earnest to get in, or shows indifference, and soon gives up the endeavour. A caller who knocks and goes off again before you have had reasonable time to answer.

5. When a stranger comes to your door, it is of every consequence to you what may be the character of himself, and the complexion of his errand. Is he good, and likely come for good? or is he evil, and likely come for evil? What far-brought tidings, what peace, what hopes, what aids, what influence, he fetches with him!

II. THE STRANGER-GUEST GETTING IN. "If any man hear My voice, and open the door."

1. The Stranger did not force an entrance. It is from the inside, after all, that a man's heart opens to his Saviour-King.

2. At the same time it is of the utmost importance to note, that the transaction, with this indispensable element of free choice in it, is the veriest simplicity. "If any man hear," "and open" — lo! it is accomplished, and the Son of God is within. Very natural it may be — after you have at last acknowledged the Voice by some beginnings of faith, and have arisen at its call to bustle long about the apartment in a process of rearranging, cleansing, tidying, adorning. Not less natural it may be to sit down, after a desponding glance around you, and endeavour to devise some plan by which you may entertain the Guest more worthily. All the while, and all the same, your Guest is standing without. The one luckless fact is the tardiness of your hospitality. The honour is done Him by nothing but by letting Him in. And more: your heart-home will only be made fit for His presence by His presence.

3. But there may be some one who is saying with a certain sincerity, "I have tried to open my heart to Christ, and I could not — cannot!" It will baffle your own strength. But what of your Guest Himself, and that power of His — so freely available now?

III. THE STRANGER-GUEST IN. "I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me." It is a scene with much light in it, and an atmosphere of security and deep peace.

(J. A. Kerr Bain, M. A.)

I. THE LOVE OF CHRIST. It is free love. It is large love. It is love irrespective of goodness in us.

II. THE PATIENCE OF CHRIST. He stands, and He has stood, as the words imply — not afar off, but nigh, at the door. He stands. It is the attitude of waiting, of perseverance in waiting. He does not come and go; He stands. He does not sit down, or occupy Himself with other concerns. He has one object in view.

III. THE EARNESTNESS OF CHRIST. If the standing marks His patience, the knocking marks His earnestness — His unwearied earnestness.

1. How does He knock?

2. When does He knock?

IV. THE APPEAL OF CHRIST TO THE LAODICEANS. "If any man will hear My voice, and open the door." It is —

1. A loving appeal.

2. A personal appeal.

3. An honest appeal.

4. An earnest appeal.

V. THE PROMISE OF CHRIST.

1. I will come in to Him. His standing on the outside is of no use to us. A mere outside Christ will profit us nothing. An outside cross will not pacify, nor heal, nor save.

2. I will sup with him. He comes in as a guest, to take a place at our poor table and to partake of our homely meal.

3. He shall sup with Me. Christ has a banquet in preparation.

(H. Bonar, D. D.)

These wonderful words need no heightening of their impressiveness, and yet there are two considerations which add pathos and beauty to them. The one is that they are all but the last words which the seer in Patmos heard in his vision, from the lips of the exalted Christ. Parting words are ever impressive words; and this is the attitude in which Jesus desired to be thought of by all coming time. Another consideration intensifying the impressive-Hess of the utterance is that it is the speech of that Christ whose exalted glories are so marvellously portrayed in the first chapter of this book. The words are marvellous too, not only for that picture, but for the clear decisiveness with which they recognise the solemn power that men have of giving or refusing an entrance to Him; and still further, for the grandeur of their promises to the yielding heart which welcomes Him.

I. THE EXALTED CHRIST ASKING TO BE LET IN to a man's heart. The latter words of the verse suggest the image of a banqueting hall. The chamber to which Christ desires entrance is full of feasters. There is room for everybody else there but Him. Now the plain sad truth which that stands for about us, is this: That we are more willing to let anybody and anything come into our thoughts, and find lodgment in our affections, than we are to let Jesus Christ come in. The next thought here is of the reality of this knocking. Every conviction, every impression, every half inclination towards Him that has risen in your hearts, though you fought against it, has been His knocking there. And think of what a revelation of Him that is! We are mostly too proud to sue for love, especially if once the petition has been repulsed; but He asks to be let into your heart because His nature and His name is Love, and being such, He yearns to be loved by you, and tie yearns to bless you.

II. NOTICE THAT AWFUL POWER WHICH IS RECOGNISED HERE AS RESIDING IN US, to let Him in or to keep Him out. "It any man will open the door" — the door has no handle on the outside. It opens from within. Christ knocks: we open. What we call faith is the opening of the door. And is it not plain that that simple condition is a condition not imposed by any arbitrary action on His part, but a condition indispensable from the very nature of the case?

III. THE ENTRANCE OF THE CHRIST, with His hands full of blessing. It is the central gift and promise of the gospel "that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." He Himself is the greatest of His gifts. He never comes empty-handed, but when He enters in He endows the soul with untold riches. We have here also Christ's presence as a Guest. "I will come in and sup with Him." What great and wonderful things are contained in that assurance! Can we present anything to Him that He can partake of? Yes! We may give Him our service and He will take that; we may give Him our love and He will take that, and regard it as dainty and delightsome food. We have here Christ's presence not only as a Guest, but also as Host — "I will sup with him and he with Me." As when some great prince offers to honour a poor subject with his presence, and let him provide some insignificant portion of the entertainment, whilst all the substantial and costly parts of it come in the retinue of the monarch, from the palace.

(A. Maclaren, D. D.)

I. WHAT IS IMPLIED by the expression, "I stand at the door."

1. That Christ is outside man's heart.

2. That He is deliberately excluded.

3. That He is excluded in favour of other guests.

4. That notwithstanding He wishes to enter.

5. That He recognises our liberty to admit Him.

II. BY WHAT MEANS HE MAKES HIS PRESENCE KNOWN.

III. THE BLESSINGS TO BE ENJOYED BY THOSE WHO ADMIT HIM.

1. Reconciliation.

2. Communion.

3. Refreshment.

(Thos. Heath.)

I. THE PERSON. The Greatest at the door of the meanest.

II. THE ATTITUDE.

1. Service.

2. Waiting expectation.

3. Supplication.

III. THE ACTION.

IV. THE OBJECT.

(Homilist.)

I. THE SAVIOUR'S HUMILITY AND CONDESCENSION.

1. Patience. Repeated application where rudely repulsed.

2. Desire to enter. Not for His own good or gratification, but for our salvation, because He delights in mercy.

II. THE SAVIOUR'S PERSISTENT EFFORTS.

III. THE SAVIOUR'S PROFFERED REWARD. The presence of Christ is the highest privilege man can desire. It involves —

1. Familiarity.

2. Reciprocity.

3. Unity.

4. Enjoyment.

(Homilist.)

I. THE SUPPLIANT FOR ADMISSION. A strange reversal of the attitudes of the great and of the lowly, of the giver and of the receiver, of the Divine and of the human! Christ once said, "Knock and it shall be opened unto you." But He has taken the suppliant's place. So, then, there is here a revelation, not only of a universal truth, but a most tender and pathetic disclosure of Christ's yearning love to each of us. What do you call that emotion which more than anything else desires that a heart should open and let it enter? We call it love when we find it in one another. Surely it bears the same name when it is sublimed into all but infinitude, and yet is as individualising and specific as it is great and universal, as it is found in Jesus Christ. And then, still further, in that thought of the suppliant waiting for admission there is the explanation for us all of a great many misunderstood facts in our experience. That sorrow that darkened your days and made your heart bleed, what was it but Christ's hand on the door? Those blessings which pour into your life day by day "beseech you, by the mercies of God, that ye yield yourselves living sacrifices." That unrest which dogs the steps of every man who has not found rest in Christ, what is it but the application of His hand to the obstinately-closed door? The stings of conscience, the movements of the Spirit, the definite proclamation of His Word, even by such lips as mine, what are they all except His appeals to us? And this is the deepest meaning of joys and sorrows, of gifts and losses, of fulfilled and disappointed hopes. If we understood better that all life was guided by Christ and that Christ's guidance of life was guided by His desire that He should find a place in our hearts, we should less frequently wonder at sorrows, and should better understand our blessings.

II. THE DOOR OPENED. Jesus Christ knocks, but Jesus Christ cannot break the door open. The door is closed, and unless there be a definite act on your part it will not be opened, and He will not enter. So we come to this, that to do nothing is to keep your Saviour outside; and that is the way .in which most men that miss Him do miss Him. The condition of His entrance is simple trust in Him, as the Saviour of my soul. That is opening the door, and if you will do that, then, just as when you open the shutters, in comes the sunshine; just as when you lift the sluice in flows the crystal stream into the slimy, empty lock; so He will enter in, wherever He is not shut out by unbelief and aversion of will.

III. THE ENTRANCE AND THE FEAST. "I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with Me." Well, that speaks to us in lovely, sympathetic language, of a close, familiar, happy communication between Christ and my poor self which shall make all life as a feast in company with Him. John, as he wrote down the words "I will sup with him, and he with Me," perhaps remembered that upper room where, amidst all the bitter herbs, there was such strange joy and tranquility. But whether he did or no, may we not take the picture as suggesting to us the possibilities of loving fellowship, of quiet repose, of absolute satisfaction of all desires and needs, which will be ours if we open the door of our hearts by faith, and let Jesus Christ come in?

(A. Maclaren, D. D.)

I. HIS ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE SOUL. He is constantly in contact with the soul. He does not come occasionally and then depart; He stands.

1. His deep concern. In the eye of Christ the soul is no trifling object: He knows its capabilities, relations, power, influence, interminable history.

2. His infinite condescension.

3. His wonderful patience.

II. HIS ACTION UPON THE SOUL. He does not stand there as a statue doing nothing. He knocks: He knocks at the door of intellect with His philosophic truths; at the door of conscience, with His ethical principles; at the door of love, with His transcendent charms; at the door of hope, with His heavenly glories; at the door of fear, with the terrors of His law.

1. The moral power of the sinner. The soul has the power to shut out Christ. It can bolt itself against its Creator. This it does by directing its thoughts to other subjects, by deadening its convictions, by procrastinations.

2. The consummate folly of the sinner. Who is shut out? Not a foe or thief; but a friend, a physician, a deliverer.

3. The awful guiltiness of the sinner. It shuts out its proprietor, its rightful Lord.

III. HIS AIM IN REFERENCE TO THE SOUL. It is not to destroy it; but to come into it and identify Himself with all its feelings, aspirations, and interests.

1. Inhabitation. "I will come unto him." We are perpetually letting people into our hearts. How pleased we are if some illustrious personage will enter our humble homes and sit down with us, etc.

2. Identification. "Sup with him and he with Me." I will be at home with him, be one with him. A conventionally great man deems it a condescension to enter the house of an inferior — he never thinks of identifying himself with the humble inmate. Christ does this with the soul that lets Him in. He makes its cares His own.

(Homilist.)

I. THE GREAT KINDNESS OF THE REDEEMER TO MAN.

1. Compassion for man.

2. Condescension to man.

3. Communion with man. The Saviour does not come as a stranger, He comes as a friend and a guest.

4. The consummation of man. He takes possession of our spirits to make them perfect and glorious. This will be the perfecting of our humanity, the consummation of all our best and brightest hopes and capacities.

II. THE GREAT UNKINDNESS OF MAN TO THE REDEEMER.

1. Ignorance is the cause in some cases why the visit of the Saviour is not welcomed. If the ignorance be involuntary and unavoidable, then it is not culpable; but if it be the result of a voluntary refusal to know who the Saviour is, and what His knocking means, then it shows great unkindness to the Redeemer, and is regarded by Him as a great sin.

2. Another cause is indifference. Some know that it is the Saviour standing at the door of their hearts; but they are so absorbed with other engagements, they are so careless about the unseen and eternal, that they let Him stand outside, and make no effort to let Him in.

3. Another cause is unbelief.

4. Prejudice is another cause of the unkindness of man to the Redeemer. The Cross is an offence to many. Prejudice blinds the eyes and hardens the heart and prevents man seeing Jesus as He really is — "the chief among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely."

5. The last cause of unkindness we will mention is ingratitude.

(F. W. Brown.)

I. FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD IS PROPOSED AS THE GRAND PRIVILEGE OF THE RACE.

1. The friendship which God offers is on entirely a human plane. Christian life is only a transfiguration of every-day life.

2. The friendship which God proposes is permanent in its continuance.

II. AN UNDOUBTED PROOF OF THE DIVINE SINCERITY.

1. You see this in the fact that the entire proposal comes from Him. The grace of this transaction is absolutely marvellous.

2. You see this in the successive and persistent endeavours to bring this friendship within reach of the soul.

III. THE ASSURANCE OF THE ENTIRE FULNESS OF THE ATONEMENT. There is no restriction in the offers of Divine grace.

1. There is no limit on the human side. If any man will open his heart, the Saviour will come in.

2. There is positively no limit on the Divine side either. The offer is made in terms utterly without restriction.

IV. AN EXPLICIT RECOGNITION OF HUMAN FREE AGENCY UNDER THE PLAN OF SALVATION BY GRACE. It is well to inquire why it is He thus pauses on the threshold.

1. It is not because He is unable to force His way in. There is no opposition so violent that He could not crush it beneath His Omnipotent might.

2. The reason for the Divine forbearance is found in the inscrutable counsels of the Divine wisdom. In the beginning, He drew one line around His own action. He determined to create a class of beings who should have minds and hearts of their own. A free chance to choose between serving Him and resisting Him He now gives to every one of us. And when He had thus established men in being, He sovereignly decided never to interfere with the free-will He had bestowed.

V. IF ANY MAN IS FINALLY LOST, THE RESPONSIBILITY RESTS UPON HIS OWN SOUL. The Saviour has come so far, but it is perfectly clear He is coming no further.

1. Observe how unbeclouded is the final issue. There can be no mystery, there is no mistake about it. The Providence of God always clears the way up to the crisis, removing every side-consideration which can possibly confuse it. Education that fits for usefulness is a demand for usefulness; the love of our children is a hint for us to love God as children; social position, wealth, official station, accomplishments, popular favour; whoever has any of these ought to hear in them the accents of that quiet voice speaking to his heart: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock."

2. Observe the ease of the condition required of us. It is only to open the door. Great things under the gospel are always simple.

3. Observe then, finally, what it is that keeps the Saviour out. Nothing but will. This is the inspired declaration: "Ye will not come unto Me, that ye might have life." That is, you set a definite purpose against the purpose of grace. Christ came and you resisted Him.

(C. S. Robinson, D. D.)

I. THAT THERE IS IN THE HUMAN SOUL A DOOR FOR THE ENTRANCE OF THE TRUTH.

1. The intellect. Is not the theology of the Bible in its broad outlines reasonable? Christ, in the evidence, enlightenment, and conviction of the truth, stands knocking at the mind of man, and the greater the knowledge of the truth, the louder is the appeal for entrance.

2. The heart. Man is endowed with the capability of love and sympathy. He has warm affections. He is so constituted as to be attracted by the pathetic and the beautiful. Hence, he looks out upon nature with admiring eye. And it is to this capability in man that the truth appeals. It presents to him an ideal beauty in the life of Christ, as recorded by the gospel narrative, which ought to win his spirit into an imitation of the same.

3. The conscience. Man has the ability to turn his natural judgment to moral and spiritual questions, and this is what we mean by conscience. To this faculty the truth presents its requirements; convinces of failure in the devotion of the inner life to Christ; and spreads out before it the threat of avenging justice.

4. But, strange to say, the door of the soul is closed to the entrance of the truth. The door of the mind is closed by error, by ignorance, and by prejudice. The door of the heart is shut by pride, by unbelief, and by wilful sin. The door of the conscience is barred by a continued habit of evil.

II. THAT AT THE DOOR OF THE HUMAN SOUL TRUTH MAKES CONTINUED APPEALS FOR ENTRANCE.

1. This appeal of truth is authoritative. Truth comes to men with authority, even with the claim of a sinless life, and with the emphasis of a Divine voice. Its distinguished character should gain for it an immediate and hearty welcome into the soul, as a king should be welcomed into a cottage. But truth comes to men not only with the authority of character, but also with the authority of right. The faculties of the human mind were made to receive it.

2. The appeal of Truth is patient. Other guests have entered — wealth in splendid apparel, ambition with loud clamour, and pride with haughty mien — but Christ with gentle spirit has remained without. His patience has been co-extensive with our neglect of Him. It is Divine.

3. The appeal of truth is benevolent. The truth does not seek to enter the soul of man merely to spy out its moral defilement, to pass woful sentence on its evil-doings, but to cleanse it by the Holy Spirit, to save it by grace, to enlighten it by knowledge, and to cheer it by love.

4. The appeal of truth is heard. "And knock." Knocks at the door are generally heard. And certainly this is the case in reference to the advent of Christ to the soul. It is impossible to live in this land of religious light and agency without being conscious of Divine knockings at the portal of the soul.

III. THAT THE HUMAN SOUL HAS THE ABILITY OF CHOICE AS TO WHETHER IT WILL OPEN ITS DOOR FOR THE ENTRANCE OF THE TRUTH OR NOT.

1. The door of the soul will not be opened by any coercive methods. Does it not seem strange that Christ should have the key of the soul and yet stand without? This is only explained by the free agency of man. But though He enter not to dwell, the soul is visited by spiritual influences which are the universal heritage of man.

2. The door of the soul must be opened by moral methods. Calm reflection, earnest prayer, and a diligent study of the inspired Word, together with the gentle influences of the Divine Spirit, will open the soul to the entrance of Christ (Acts 16:14).

IV. THAT IF THE HUMAN SOUL WILL OPEN ITS DOOR TO THE RECEPTION OF THE TRUTH, CHRIST WILL ENTER INTO CLOSE COMMUNION WITH IT.

1. Then Christ will inhabit the soul. "I will come in to him." Thus, if Christ come into the soul He will dwell in its thoughts, in its affections, in its aspirations, in its aims, and in all its activities. He will elevate and consecrate them all. True religion just means this, Christ in the soul, and its language is (Galatians 2:20).

2. Then Christ will be in sympathy with the soul. "And will sup with him." It is impossible to have a feast in the soul unless Christ spreads the table; then the meal is festive. It removes sorrow; it inspires joy. While we are partaking of it we can relate to Christ all the perplexities of life. The good man carries a feast within him (John 4:32).

3. Then Christ will strengthen the soul. He will strengthen the moral nature by the food He will give, by the counsel He will impart, and by the hope He will inspire. The feast, the supply of holy energy will be resident within.

(J. S. Exell, M. A.)

I. THAT, IN THE DISPENSATION OF THE GOSPEL, CHRIST IS THE UNINVITED GUEST, PLEADING FOR ADMISSION. Whatever acquaintance any of us may have with Jesus, the acquaintance began on His side: by Him are the first overtures invariably made.

1. The written gospel is a proof of it.

2. The Christian ministry is another proof.

3. The strivings of His Spirit are another instance of this. In the two former cases, His approach can more easily be avoided.

II. THAT CONSENT ALONE IS REQUIRED, ON OUR PART, TO GIVE US A FULL PARTICIPATION IN HIS FRIENDSHIP.

1. The consent which is required.

2. The friendship which is offered.

(J. Jowett, M. A.)

"Behold!" The sight is indeed a most astonishing one, which ought to fill our hearts with surprise and shame. God outside; He who ought to be recognised as Lord and Master of the human being, to whom we owe everything. I question whether there is any revelation made to us in the whole course of God's Word that more strongly illustrates the persevering love of God. The love of God is not content with redeeming a guilty world, but He brings the redemption to the door of every human being. How, it is natural we should ask, is this extraordinary phenomenon to be explained? If we look at the context, we discover what the explanation is. "Thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing." Ah! it is in those words that the clue is found to the extraordinary spectacle. I cannot understand a man going on, year after year, realising his own inward want, and yet not accepting the supply which God has given. How is it that Satan prevents this? How is it that he brings us to the position which is indicated to us by this figure? By filling us with all sorts of things which are not God. What are they? Some make their religion a substitute for God. That is one of the very worst substitutes that we can possibly fix upon. Again, how many persons there are who find an excellent substitute for Christ in morality. A man may have kept all the Ten Commandments, and yet, all the while, be shutting the door of his heart against Christ, and if a man does that, he keeps the letter of the Commandments, but not the spirit. Again, how many there are who take worldly pleasures as a substitute for God. Another thing set up in the place of God is the love of wealth. What is there that money cannot do? Another man puts learning in the place of God. What is there that intelligence cannot do? All these attempts to create substitutes, what are they? They are simply so many sins against your own soul. It would not have been at all a thing to be marvelled at, if we had read this passage thus: "The Lord once stood outside the door and knocked." Had the Lord Jesus Christ given us one offer of mercy, and given one loud, thundering "knock," and, being refused, left us to take the consequence, left us to our own miserable doom, you know we should have deserved it. Oh, deafen not your ears, men and women, against His call: do not be so blind to your own interest as to keep Him standing there: listen to what He says, "If any man hear My voice." Notice that. He does not say, "If any man makes himself moral; if any man will try and make himself better." That is not it, thank God! "If any man will shed oceans of tears." No, that is not it. "If any man has deep sorrow." No, that is not it. "If any man has powerful faith." No, that is not it, What is it He says? "If any man will hear My voice." As the preacher is speaking now, say, "God is speaking to my soul; He is speaking in all the infinity of His mercy: I cannot, I won't deafen my ear against Him." Well, as soon as the man hears the voice, he is on the highway to salvation. What more is wanted? Just one thing more. "If any man hear My voice, and will open unto Me." It does not sound very much, does it? "Ah, but," you say, "faith is so difficult. One man says, faith is this, and another says it is another thing." Do you think the Lord Jesus Christ will stand back if you say that? I tell you, you will find those bolts and bars will fly back the moment you tell Him you are willing. Now, what are you going to do? Nay, what will He do? He says, "If any man will open to Me, I will come in." Well, what will He do? Young man! you are thinking to yourself, "I should like to have Jesus as my Saviour, but if He comes to my heart He will bring a funeral procession with Him; my countenance will fall, my life will be overshadowed, my joy will be gone; my youthful pleasures will disappear, and I shall become mournful and morose." I tell you that is the devil's lie, not God's truth. Wherever Jesus is, He carries a feast along with Him, and so He says to-night, "If any man will open unto Me, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me."

(W. H. M. H. Aitken, M. A.)

This door, at which the Saviour knocks, is the heart of man. In the gospel there is more than enough to give full exercise to the most powerful intellect: yet the final aim is at the heart. What the heart is, that the man is; he who wins the heart has the whole man. The door is the sinner's heart. That door is closed against Christ. He stands, and knocks. First, observe that it is the Lord who comes to us men, not we to Him. He not only comes to that door; He stands there waiting; nor doth He only stand and wait, but meekly standing thus and waiting, He knocks. So deeply does He long for entrance, that it is hard to make Him go. Canst thou not recall an hour, in which thy Saviour came to thee, and asked for entrance into thy thoughts and thy life? Many are called while yet children. The mind and heart of children are readier for the Lord than those of hardened men and women. Christ knocks at the hearts of children; if they do not open unto Him at that time, they may not do so until after many years; they may never do so, not even in the hour of death. "If any man hear My voice!" Can this be imagined, that any should not hear? or worse, that any would not hear? "The voice of the Lord is mighty in operation," saith the psalmist: "the voice of the Lord is a glorious voice." That voice may call; something within the heart may deaden the sound or shut it out. How dreadful is the state of such a soul! Marvel not, with this history before you, that the door is shut. The longer the heart is closed against its God, the harder to open it. The processes of nature have their due effect; the elements do their work in silence and surely; a work which every day makes more effectual. The bars, long stationary, rust in the staples; some time since, a child might have slipped them out and laid them aside; now, the strength of a man would essay the task in vain. The rains and snows of many a season have beaten into the lock and choked it up. In former days, a path led to this door; a path by which the good angels could reach it, and all honest Christian friends; a pathway, pleasant to the eye, fresh with flowers, clean of rubbish, and easy to be found. Alas! how great the change I The pathway now is rough with stones, or seems to be, for so rankly is it overgrown with weeds, that its outline is all but lost. Breasthigh on either hand are come up the briar and the thorn; the wall crumbles; it is grey with mould; an aspect of desolation weighs down the spirit as we gaze. Who would walk on yonder pathway? Who would try to approach that door? Yet there is One, who cometh up this way. He looks toward that closed and rusted door; He turns His holy feet to that forsaken path. His face is grave and sad, earnest, and full of love. He hath on Him the vesture of the High Priest who maketh intercession for sin. He is coming up the path. He has reached the gate. Behold, He standeth at the door. Without, around, all is silence. He knocks. Oh soul thus called by Jesus Christ, what answer wilt thou make? Perhaps there shall be no reply. The knock resounds within: the voice is heard outside; but within there is silence: neither knock nor voice can reach the ear of the spiritually dead. The door may shake in its rusty hinges; the bars may creak in the staples; but none comes to open. No wonder. There is nothing inside, save that worse than nothing, a dead soul; dead in sin, and buried in forgetfulness.

(Morgan Dix, D. D.)

I. WHO KNOCKS? The Son of God, Immanuel, the Mediator betwixt God and man, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of glory, the Redeemer of the lost, Almighty to save, and all-sufficient to satisfy your souls. What hinders that you should not let Him in?

II. DIFFERENT HEARTS ARE BOLTED WITH DIFFERENT BARS. Some are closed by carelessness, and some by ignorance, and some by indolence, and some by frivolity, and some by prejudice, and some by pride, and some by strong besetting sins.

III. WERE YOU TO YIELD TO THE STRIVING SPIRIT — WERE YOU TO WITHDRAW THESE BOLTS, AND ADMIT INTO YOUR SOUL A MIGHTY AND MERCIFUL REDEEMER, WHAT WOULD BE THE CONSEQUENCE? Pardon of sin would come. Peace of conscience would come. The smile of God would come into your soul.

(James Hamilton, D. D.)

I. WHO IS HE?

1. It is clear that He is some one of importance. "Behold," He says, "I stand at the door; I who could never have been expected to stand there." He speaks, you observe, as though His coming to us would surprise us; just as we might suppose a monarch to speak at a beggar's door. And there is a reason for this. It is the glorious Redeemer who is here, the Monarch of earth and heaven. See then how this text sets forth at the very outset of it the Divine mercy. We think it a great thing that God should sit on a throne waiting for sinners to come to Him, but here He describes Himself as coming to sinners.

II. WHAT IS THE LORD JESUS DOING AT OUR DOOR?

1. On our part, it implies this mournful fact, that our hearts are all naturally shut against Christ, yea, fastened, bolted, and barred, against Him.

2. On Christ's part, this expression implies a willingness to enter our hearts; and more than a willingness, an earnest desire to enter them.

III. WHAT DOES THIS GRACIOUS STRANGER AT OUR DOOR WISH US TO DO?

IV. WHAT WILL THIS EXALTED BEING AT OUR DOOR DO FOR US, IF WE LET HIM IN?

1. "I will come in to him." There His presence is promised, and with it the light and comfort and bliss and glory of it.

2. "I will sup with him, and he with Me." This implies a manifestation of Christ in the heart He dwells in, and intercourse and communion with it.

(James Hamilton, M. A.)

I. WHO STANDS? An ancient patriarch, by keeping open heart and open house for strangers, was privileged to entertain angels unawares. This day we may obtain s visit of the Lord of angels, if only we will let Him in.

II. HOW NEAR HE COMES. "Behold, I stand at the door." We are not much moved by anything that is far distant. Whether the visitant be coming for judgment or mercy, we take the matter lightly, as long as he is far away. A distant enemy does not make us tremble — a distant friend fails to make us glad. When your protector is distant, you tremble at danger; when he is near, you breathe freely again. How near the Son of God has come to us! He is our Brother: He touches us, and we touch Him, at all points.

III. HOW FAR OFF HE IS KEPT. "At the door." He in great kindness comes to the door; we in great folly keep Him at the door. The sunlight travels far from its source in the deep of heaven — so far, that though it can be expressed in figures, the imagination fails to take in the magnitude of the sum; but when the rays of light have travelled unimpeded so far, and come to the door of my eye, if I shut that door — a thin film of flesh — the light is kept out, and I remain in darkness. Alas l the light that travelled so far, and came so near — the Light that sought entrance into my heart, and that I kept out — was the Light of life! If I keep out that Light, I abide in the darkness of death: there is no salvation in any other.

IV. HE KNOCKS FOR ENTRANCE. It is more than the kindness of His coming and the patience of His waiting. Besides coming near, He calls aloud: He does not permit us to forget His presence.

V. MANY THINGS HINDER THE HEARING. Other thoughts occupy the mind; other sounds occupy the car. Either joy or grief may become a hindrance. The song of mirth and the wail of sorrow may both, by turns, drown the voice of that blessed Visitant who stands without and pleads for admission.

VI. HEAR, AND OPEN. Hearing alone is not enough. It is not the wrath of God, but His mercy in Christ, that melts the iron fastenings and lifts up these shut gates, that the King of Glory may come in. The guilty refuse to open for Christ, even when they hear Him knocking. They have hard thoughts of Him. They think He comes to demand a righteousness which they cannot give, and to bind them over to the judgment because they cannot pay. God is love, and Christ is the outcome of His forgiving love to lost men. He comes to redeem you, and save you. It is when you know Him thus that you will open at His call.

(W. Arnot, D. D.)

I. "IF ANY MAN HEAR MY VOICE."

1. That the voice of Christ is either external or internal; or, that which is addressed to the senses only, and that which reaches the heart.

2. The internal voice of Christ is various, according to the different circumstances of the persons to whom it is directed. To some it is an awakening voice: it rouses them from their carnal security. To those who are bowed down with a sense of sin, and wounded with the fiery darts of Divine wrath, it is a healing and comforting voice.

3. In order to hear His voice aright, our hearts must be renewed. Dead sinners cannot hear the voice of Christ; but His is a life-giving voice, and what it commands it communicates.

II. AND OPEN THE DOOR.

III. "I WILL COME IN TO HIM."

1. Nearness.

2. Possession.

3. Inhabitation.He not only comes near to the soul to converse with it, but into it to dwell there, and becomes the vital principle of all holy obedience.

IV. "AND I WILL SUP WITH HIM, AND HE WITH ME."

(B. Beddome, M. A.)

Your heart is a house with many rooms; one apartment is decorated for the occupancy of pride; in another one covetousness may keep its iron safe; on the walls of another, perhaps, sensuality has hung some pictures that, if Christ enter, must be pulled down. Unbelief has chilled and darkened the whole house. Satan has a mortgage on the whole of it, and by and by will foreclose it. An enormous amount of sin has accumulated in every room and closet, for you have never had a "house-cleaning" since you were born. To that dwelling-place of sin, which may yet become a dwelling-place of endless anguish, my loving Saviour has come again. If you will stop the turmoil of business, or the noise of merriment long enough to listen, you will hear a marvellously sweet voice outside, "Behold, I stand here and knock; if thou wilt open this door I will come in." Christ without means guilt; Christ within means pardon. Christ without means condemnation; Christ within means salvation. Christ shut out means hell; Christ admitted is the first instalment of heaven.

(T. L. Cuyler, D. D.)

A widow woman lives by herself in a little cottage by the seashore. Of all whom she loved, only one survives — a lad at sea; all the rest have passed "from sunshine to the sunless land." She has not set her eyes upon him for years. But her heart is full of him. She thinks of him by day, and dreams of him by night. His name is never missed out from her prayers. The winds speak about him; the stars speak about him; the waves speak about him, both in storm and calm. No one has difficulty in understanding how her boy dwells in her heart. Let that stand as a parable of what may be for every believer in the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

(J. Culross, D. D.)

Jesus stands at our gate and knocks, and there are many who never open to Him at all, and many more who open the door but slightly. The latter, while they may receive blessing, yet miss the fulness of Divine revealing which would flood their souls with love; the former miss altogether the sweetest benediction of life.

(J. R. Miller, D. D.)

Whilst a man is standing He is going.

(J. Trapp.)

When we were in Dublin, I went out one morning to an early meeting, and I found the servants had not opened the front door. So I pulled back a bolt, but I could not get the door open. Then I turned s key, but the door would not open. Then I found there was another bolt at the top, then I found there was another bolt at the bottom. Still the door would not open. Then I found there was a bar, and then I found a night-lock. I found there were five or six different fastenings. I am afraid that door represents every sinner's heart. The door of his heart is locked, double-bolted, and barred.

(D. L. Moody.)

When your King and Lord comes to claim the homage of your hearts, and to pay you a royal visit, you receive His message with coldness and indifference. You treat Him as the people of Alsace and Lorraine treated the Emperor of Germany and the Crown Prince after the Franco-Prussian war, when they pulled down their blinds, and locked and bolted their doors, and sat in gloomy silence as the emperor passed. They had some excuse for refusing to see him, as they were a conquered people, and his presence reminded them of their humiliation and defeat. But there is no excuse for you.

(Isaac Marsden.)

It was said by a celebrated orator in the House of Lords a century ago, that an Englishman's house is his castle, that the winds of heaven might enter by every window, that the rains might penetrate through every cranny, but that not even the sovereign of the land dare enter into it, however humble, without its owner's permission. God treats you in the same way. He says, "Willingly open your heart to Me, and I will give you every blessing; but I must be made welcome."

(G. Warner.)

In Holman Hunt's great picture called "The Light of the World," we see One with gentle, patient face, standing at a door, which is ivy-covered, as if long closed. He is girt with the priestly breastplate. He bears in His hand the lamp of truth. He stands and knocks. There is no answer, and He still stands and knocks. His eye tells of love; His face beams with yearning. You look closely and you perceive that there is no knob or latch on the outside of the door. It can be opened only from within. Do you not see the meaning?

(J. R. Miller, D. D.)

David, JohnJerusalem, Laodicea, Philadelphia, SardisAnyone, Behold, Dine, Door, Ears, Eat, Feast, Giving, Hears, Knock, Knocking, Listens, Makes, Man's, Open, Opens, Sign, Stand, Standing, Stood, Sup, Voice, Waiting1. The angel of the church of Sardis is reproved and exhorted to repent.
37. The angel of the church of Philadelphia is approved for his diligence and patience;
14. the angel of Laodicea rebuked for being neither hot nor cold.
20. Christ stands at the door and knocks.

Revelation 3:20

     1210   God, human descriptions
     4438   eating
     4476   meals
     5048   opportunities, and salvation
     5196   voice
     5299   door
     5312   feasting
     5355   invitations
     5699   guests
     7622   disciples, characteristics
     8102   abiding in Christ
     8122   friendship, with God
     8446   hospitality, duty of
     8604   prayer, response to God
     8764   forgetting God
     9150   Messianic banquet

Revelation 3:15-20

     8466   reformation

Revelation 3:15-22

     5885   indifference

Revelation 3:19-20

     6732   repentance

Revelation 3:20-21

     2312   Christ, as king

August 5. "If any Man Hear My Voice and Open the Door I Will Come into Him and Will Sup with Him and He with Me" (Rev. Iii. 20).
"If any man hear My voice and open the door I will come into him and will sup with him and he with Me" (Rev. iii. 20). Some of us are starving, and wondering why the Holy Spirit does not fill us. We have plenty coming in, but we do not give it out. Give out the blessing you have, start larger plans for service and blessing, and you will soon find that the Holy Ghost is before you, and He will "prevent you with the blessings of goodness," and give you all that He can trust you to give away to others. …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

An Advance Step in the Royal Programme
(Revelation, Chapters iv. and v.) "We are watching, we are waiting, For the bright prophetic day; When the shadows, weary shadows, From the world shall roll away. "We are watching, we are waiting, For the star that brings the day; When the night of sin shall vanish, And the shadows melt away. "We are watching, we are waiting, For the beauteous King of day; For the chiefest of ten thousand, For the Light, the Truth, the Way. "We are waiting for the morning, When the beauteous day is dawning, We are …
by S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks on the Crowned Christ of Revelation

A Solemn Warning for all Churches
I. GENERAL DEFILEMENT. The holy apostle, John, said of the church in Sardis, "These things saith he that hath the Seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou has a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die; for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou has received and heard, and hold fast and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856

The Loved Ones Chastened
The fact is, that this world is not the place of punishment. There may now and then be eminent judgments; but as a rule God does not in the present state fully punish any man for sin. He allows the wicked to go on in their wickedness; he throws the reins upon their necks; he lets them go on unbridled in their lusts; some checks of conscience there may be; but these are rather, as monitions than as punishments. And, on the other hand, he casts the Christian down; he gives the most afflictions to the …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857

Commendation for the Steadfast
The Philadelphian saints, like the limpet, which has but little strength, stuck firmly to the rock, and they are commended for it. They had little strength, but they kept God's word, and they did not deny his name. Possibly if they had felt stronger they might have presumptuously quitted the word of the Lord for the opinions of men, as the Galatians did, and then they would have lost their reward. May every church of the Lord Jesus Christ, whether it have little strength or much, be concerned to …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 30: 1884

23D DAY. A Speedy Coming.
"He is Faithful that Promised." "Behold, I come quickly."--REV. iii. 11. A Speedy Coming. "Even so! come, Lord Jesus!" "Why tarry the wheels of Thy chariot?" Six thousand years this world has rolled on, getting hoary with age, and wrinkled with sins and sorrows. A waiting Church sees the long-drawn shadows of twilight announcing, "The Lord is at hand." Prepare, my soul, to meet Him. Oh! happy days, when thine adorable Redeemer, so long dishonoured and despised, shall be publicly enthroned, in presence …
John Ross Macduff—The Faithful Promiser

Love in Chastisement.
"He is Faithful that Promised." "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten."--REV. iii. 19. Love in Chastisement. Sorrowing Believer! what couldst thou wish more than this? Thy furnace is severe; but look at this assurance of Him who lighted it. Love is the fuel that feeds its flames! Its every spark is love! Kindled by a Father's hand, and designed as a special pledge of a Father's love. How many of his dear children has He so rebuked and chastened; and all, all for one reason, "I love them!" …
John Ross Macduff—The Faithful Promiser

The Disciple, -- Master, what are Heaven and Hell...
The Disciple,--Master, what are heaven and hell, and where are they? The Master,--1. Heaven and hell are the two opposite states in the spiritual realm. They have their origin in the heart of man and it is in this world that their foundations are laid. Since man cannot see his own spirit, so neither can he see these two states of the soul. But he has experience of them within him, just as he feels pain from a blow and perceives sweetness from eating sweetmeats. The wound caused by the blow may increase …
Sadhu Sundar Singh—At The Master's Feet

The Universality of Actual Grace
The gratuity of grace does not conflict with its universality. Though God distributes His graces freely, He grants them to all men without exception, because He wills all to be saved. This divine "will to save" (voluntas Dei salvifica) may be regarded in relation either to the wayfaring state or to the status termini. Regarded from the first-mentioned point of view it is a merciful will (voluntas misericordiae) and is generally called first or antecedent will (voluntas prima s. antecedens) …
Joseph Pohle—Grace, Actual and Habitual

Of Self-Denial and the Casting Away all Selfishness
"My Son, thou canst not possess perfect liberty unless thou altogether deny thyself. All they are enslaved who are possessors of riches, they who love themselves, the selfish, the curious, the restless; those who ever seek after soft things, and not after the things of Jesus Christ; those who continually plan and devise that which will not stand. For whatsoever cometh not of God shall perish. Hold fast the short and complete saying, 'Renounce all things, and thou shalt find all things; give up …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

The Exalted One.
Hebrews i. SOME thirty-five years ago, when the so-called "Higher Criticism" had begun its destructive work, a believer living in England, predicted that within thirty years the storm would gather over one sacred head. How this has come true! Satan's work of undermining the authority of the Bible, a pernicious work still going on, is but the preliminary to an attack of the Person of Christ. To-day as never before the glorious Person of our Lord is being belittled in the camp of Christendom. This …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

Inspiration.
"And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write, These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God."-- Rev. iii. 1. We do not speak here of the New Testament. Nothing has contributed more to falsify and undermine faith in the Scripture and the orthodox view concerning it than the unhistoric and unnatural practise of considering the Scripture of the Old and the New Testament at the same time. The Old Testament appears first; then came the Word in the flesh; and only after that the Scripture …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Laodicea
We reach, in this last Epistle, the lowest point of Judah's degradation, in that long line of departure from God, from the day Israel left her "first love," even the day of her espousals, when brought forth out of Egypt, down, down through one vast scene of idolatry and judgment, until we find that nation described in the Epistle to the Assembly in Laodicea in a condition of spiritual destitution such as characterised the People in the period of the Minor Prophets. Indeed, so complete is the correspondence, …
E.W. Bullinger—Commentary on Revelation

The Seventh
refers to the throne, of which Solomon's was in every respect the ideal type. This, the highest promise, is given to the overcomers in the lowest condition of Israel's degradation, which is described as in danger of being "spued out." What that was we have already seen (page 89), and now we have the chiefest of all the promises. The overcomers in that last terrible condition of things are the ones who most need the greatest of Divine help and encouragement. Hence the highest promise is given. "To …
E.W. Bullinger—Commentary on Revelation

Set Me as a Seal Upon Thy Heart, as a Seal Upon Thine Arm; for Love is Strong as Death, Jealousy is Cruel as Hell; the Lights Thereof are Lights of Fire and Flames.
The Bridegroom invites the Spouse to set Him as a seal upon her heart; for as He is the source of her life, He ought also to be its seal. It is He who hinders her from ever leaving so blessed a state; she is then the fountain sealed, which none but Himself can either open or shut. He desires also that she should set Him as a seal upon her exterior and her works, so that everything may be reserved for Him and nothing may move without His directions. She is then a garden enclosed for her Bridegroom, …
Madame Guyon—Song of Songs of Solomon

Whether Predestination is Certain?
Objection 1: It seems that predestination is not certain. Because on the words "Hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown," (Rev 3:11), Augustine says (De Corr. et Grat. 15): "Another will not receive, unless this one were to lose it." Hence the crown which is the effect of predestination can be both acquired and lost. Therefore predestination cannot be certain. Objection 2: Further, granted what is possible, nothing impossible follows. But it is possible that one predestined---e.g. …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit
Having spoken of the general notion of blessedness, I come next to consider the subjects of this blessedness, and these our Saviour has deciphered to be the poor in spirit, the mourners, etc. But before I touch upon these, I shall attempt a little preface or paraphrase upon this sermon of the beatitudes. 1 Observe the divinity in this sermon, which goes beyond all philosophy. The philosophers use to say that one contrary expels another; but here one contrary begets another. Poverty is wont to expel …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Flimsy Garments
'Their webs shall not become garments.'--ISAIAH lix. 6. 'I counsel thee to buy of me ... white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear.'--REV. iii. 18. The force of these words of the prophet is very obvious. He has been pouring out swift, indignant denunciation on the evil-doers in Israel; and, says he, 'they hatch cockatrice's eggs and spin spiders' webs,' pointing, as I suppose, to the patient perseverance, worthy of a better cause, which bad men …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Calling and the Kingdom
'I beseech you, that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.'--Eph. iv. 1. 'They shall walk with Me in white; for they are worthy.'--Rev. iii. 4. The estimate formed of a centurion by the elders of the Jews was, 'He is worthy for whom Thou shouldst do this' and in contrast therewith the estimate formed by himself was, 'I am not worthy that Thou shouldst come under my roof.' From these two statements we deduce the thought that merit has no place in the Christian's salvation, but all …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,John

Nineteenth Day for the Holy Spirit on Christendom
WHAT TO PRAY.--For the Holy Spirit on Christendom "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof."--2 TIM. iii. 5. "Thou hast a name that thou livest, and thou art dead."--REV. iii. 1. There are five hundred millions of nominal Christians. The state of the majority is unspeakably awful. Formality, worldliness, ungodliness, rejection of Christ's service, ignorance, and indifference--to what an extent does all this prevail. We pray for the heathen--oh! do let us pray for those bearing …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

Fragrant Spices from the Mountains of Myrrh. "Thou Art all Fair, My Love; There is no Spot in Thee. " --Song of Solomon iv. 7.
FRAGRANT SPICES FROM THE MOUNTAINS OF MYRRH. HOW marvellous are these words! "Thou art all fair, My love; there is no spot in thee." The glorious Bridegroom is charmed with His spouse, and sings soft canticles of admiration. When the bride extols her Lord there is no wonder, for He deserves it well, and in Him there is room for praise without possibility of flattery. But does He who is wiser than Solomon condescend to praise this sunburnt Shulamite? Tis even so, for these are His own words, and were …
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come

A Short and Easy Method of Prayer
CHAPTER I The Universal Call to Prayer What a dreadful delusion hath prevailed over the greater part of mankind, in supposing that they are not called to a state of prayer! whereas all are capable of prayer, and are called thereto, as all are called to and are capable of salvation. Prayer is the application of the heart to God, and the internal exercise of love. S. Paul hath enjoined us to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. v 17), and our Lord saith, "I say unto you all, watch and pray" (Mark xiii. …
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer

All are Commanded to Pray --Prayer the Great Means of Salvation
CHAPTER I. ALL ARE COMMANDED TO PRAY--PRAYER THE GREAT MEANS OF SALVATION, AND POSSIBLE AT ALL TIMES BY THE MOST SIMPLE. Prayer is nothing else but the application of the heart to God, and the interior exercise of love. St Paul commands us to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. v. 17). Our Lord says: "Take ye heed, watch and pray." "And what I say unto you, I say unto all" (Mark xiii. 33, 37). All, then, are capable of prayer, and it is the duty of all to engage in it. But I do not think that all are …
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents

How to Make Use of Christ as the Life when the Soul is Dead as to Duty.
Sometimes the believer will be under such a distemper, as that he will be as unfit and unable for discharging of any commanded duty, as dead men, or one in a swoon, is to work or go a journey. And it were good to know how Christ should be made use of as the Life, to the end the diseased soul may be delivered from this. For this cause we shall consider those four things: 1. See what are the several steps and degrees of this distemper. 2. Consider whence it cometh, or what are the causes or occasions …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

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