Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1904-02-24

81 IMJI l'5 knocking. knock
#l ing; or Jesus sit
NIk rT-- ting an honored
MtE guest within the
$500 heart. partaking OF
- the hospitality
there offered. and then becoming In
turn the gracious host and setting be-
fore the soul delectable feast OF good
things fresh from His Fathers store
house above. Jesus standing without
brings the shadow of possible soul
tragedy. for irresistibly the question
springs forth for answer: Will the
door be opened ere the waiting one
departs? or will it remain closed and
shut and barred forever? Jesus within
, sharing in the feast brings the vision
OF that larger. more glorious feast
around which the great company of the
redeemed are to gather some day in
the Fathers House. Behold" saith
the Lord. aad well may man contem
plate all that these two pictures mean.
Doors shut against the Son of God and
the Saviour of men. and doors opened
TO give Him entrance. Before the shut
door Jesus stands patiently. knocks
persistently and pleads lovingly.
Through the opened door Jesus enters
quickly and blesses richly Shut doors
and opened doors. The shut doors hold
imprisoned within the sin-darkened
chambers Of the heart the precious i'm
mortal soul. the opened doors admit
the Light OF the world, and the thrill
OF new life and hope is felt with the
Divine presence.
OUR text is part of the appeal to the
~ back-slidden church OF Laodicea.
which has become worldly and rich in
perishable gold. but which is poor
and blind and naked" in the eyes
or God. 1t was lukewarm in its
love and devotion to its Lord. and be-
cause 1t was neither cold nor hot. :" the
Lord declares: 81 will spew thee out of
my mouth" But following this declara-
ton of rejection, Jesus goes on to plead
with the individual members of the
church to repent. for Behold. | stand
at the door and knock; If any man hear
my voice, and open the door, will come
in to him and will sup with him. and he
with Me-. Jesus is dealing with the in
dlvidual Primarily our text is adj
dressed to the back-slidden Christian.
Jesus has been crowded out of the heart
and the life by the "cares of this world
and the deceitfulness of riches. but He
longs TO come back again. and so he
stands at the door and knocks for adj
mission. But IT is equally true that He
seeks out the Ensaved sinner and as per-
sistently and lovingly knocks at the
door of his heart. To the one who has
never accepted Christ as Saviour. He
comes and pleads: Behold, stand at
the door and knock; IL any man hear NV
voice, and open the door, I will come in
to him. and will sup with him and he
with Me-" And 1t is to such we want tn
bring a message. We shall have a word
to say to the Christian who is keeping
HIS Lord without the chamber of his
heart where some pleasure. some ambi-
ton, some sir is being harbored. and in
ouiged' out f1rst OF all we desire to pre-
sent GODS claim to the unsaved, to try
10 Drlng them to see who is standing
without their heart knocking for admit
lance, to endeavor to show them wba.
the shut door means and what the omen
door.
FIRST OF all what is the door which
when shut proves an impossible bar
rier to Jesus? What is II that keeps
Jesus on the outside? What is it that
prevents His bringing the hope OF saliva
ton, and the Joy of His presence into the
heart and life? 1t is that tremer-
dous something which we call the
will" 1t has pleased God TO en-
vi
the will. And this will of man has the
power to lift him up to Heaven or cast
him down TO hell. II the will shuts ont
the Christ and declares that It does not
need Him and can get along without Him.
the soul IS rejecting Gods claims and
losing its only hope Of salvation and
eternal life. If the will is yielded to
the Christ. and He is permitted to
enter the heart and rule in the
life. then does the soul begin to know
what Jesus meant when He said: "He
that belieyeth on the Son HATH eternal
life The will is the door. Jesus
knocks. not that the will may be de-
stroyed, but that 1t may swing open. NAV
yield to Him and give Him entrance. So
many, many dear souls are hindered bv
the thought that to yield the will to
Christ means to lose the will entirely.
But never was there greater mistake
made, never did a soul misunderstood
God more, than when It believed that
a man loses his will and his personality
when he surrenders to God. When /
knock on the door to my home it is not
with the intention of destroying thai
door. DO not want It to open to me that
may wrench it from its hinges and
throw it aside as useless and undesirable
That door has a very useful function to
perform. It is absolutely necessary to
the completeness of the house. With