Jesus stands at the door and knocks

H- ^[X] Revelation 3:20  ²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. 

Through the apostle John in Revelation 2-3, Jesus addressed seven letters to seven churches in Asia Minor. To the last church Laodicea, Jesus made the plea 3:20 above. Jesus is standing outside the church which is neither hot or cold seeking admittance! The Laodicean church had shut the door on the Head of the church; Jesus was an outsider to the hearts of most if not all of the congregation.

The Laodiceans were guilty of self-reliance, self-righteousness, and spiritual indifference. Even worse, the church was unaware of their wretched condition.
He was inviting everyone in the church to experience intimate fellowship with Him. And even though His desire was for the whole church to respond and open the door to Him, it was up to each individual to decide. ^[A] 

Today Jesus continues to say, “I stand at the door and knock!” To churches who are filled with nominal Christians, He sends out His earnest invitation for full fellowship. He calls us all to hear His voice and open the door so that He can come in and share an intimate union with us. To those who respond, Jesus Christ guarantees the open door of eternal life and the reward of ruling with Him in heaven. ^[Z1]

 A- I desire to have an intimate relationship with Jesus every day.

H- O God help me to be humble and totally dependent on You constantly.

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Notes: A– [A1- For how to have peace with God and become a Disciple ^[Y] click here, A2- for how to have the peace of God and grow as a Disciple click here, A3 for how to teach Disciples to be Disciple-makers click here]; O- Jehovah – LORD – God of promise, presence, accessibility, near to those who call on Him for deliverance [Psalm 107:13], forgiveness [Psalm 25:11] and guidance [Psalm 31:3].  [In Bibles the “ord” in LORD is in small caps but WordPress does not support small caps], Lord Jesus in the New Testament is Jehovah; U- I normally do not capitalize the “S” in satan; X- 4 steps in The H.E.A.R method of Bible study and worship; Y- “Disciples” or “Christians”?; Z- For the name, I normally use for the Lord Jesus Christ, click here.; Z1- Help from this source.

7 Church Eras from Revelation 2-3

Revelation is a complicated book with different interpretations. I will not try to defend anyone except I believe the Apostle John was the writer.

BibleProject 2 Videos for Revelation.  ^[B] 

I am finishing my 6 month Bible Reading by reading Revelations one book at a time. on 11/20/20 I read chapter 2. 

” The seven churches described in Revelation 2-3 are seven literal churches at the time that John the apostle was writing Revelation. Though they were literal churches in that time, there is also spiritual significance for churches and believers today. The first purpose of the letters was to communicate with the literal churches and meet their needs at that time. The second purpose is to reveal seven different types of individuals/churches throughout history and instruct them in God’s truth. Our focus should be on what message God is giving us through the seven churches. The seven churches are:

(1) Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7) – the church that had forsaken its first love (2:4).

(2) Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11) – the church that would suffer persecution (2:10).

(3) Pergamum (Revelation 2:12-17) – the church that needed to repent (2:16).

(4) Thyatira (Revelation 2:18-29) – the church that had a false prophetess (2:20).

(5) Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6) – the church that had fallen asleep (3:2).

(6) Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-13) – the church that had endured patiently (3:10).

(7) Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22) – the church with the lukewarm faith (3:16).”  Source

“Here’s a basic timeline of the 7 church eras with the phase of the Rome beast they faced.

” Source.

The 7 Churches of Revelations 2:1-3:2. “The conditions of the 1st 3 churches relate only to that church era. The next 4 church eras build on each other. In other words, the Sardis era does not replace the Thyatira Era but coexists with it. The Laodicea Era coexists with the 3 Eras.” Diagram from page 67 of “Exploring the Future” by John Phillips. Order here or here.

Henry Luke      To receive my daily blog posts scroll to “Follow” and add your email. Disclaimer: My Personal Journey by Henry Luke has no control over any advertising that may appear on this blog post and receives no payment for it. Ads & their links come from Word Press, or malware, or Google ads, etc.

[Notes]: A- [1] For how to have peace with God and become a Disciple ^[Y] click here, [2] for how to have the peace of God and grow as a Disciple click here, and [3] for how to teach Disciples to be Disciple-makers click here; B- BibleProject intro, themes, Old Testament and New Testament links,  BibleProject is the author and owner of the Video Content. For terms of use www.bibleproject.com. Bible Project Free Videos

X- 4 steps in The H.E.A.R method of Bible study and worship; Y- “Disciples” or “Christians”?;  Z- For the name, I normally use for the Lord Jesus Christ, click here.