₦Sermon 38
A STRANGER AT YOUR DOOR POST
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me – Revelation 3:20 NLT.
Texts: Rev. 3:1-20, Luke 16:19-31, Judges 36:1-40.
A stranger is one in a strange land. A man may stay in a city that is not his for so many years but it does not mean that he is no longer a stranger in that land. At times our own blood brothers and sisters could also be strangers standing at our door post in need of our helps. Our background stranger who is standing at our door post is that same Jesus Christ who is preached to you yesterday, today and the years to come. It is the high time to receive Christ who has come in to our hearts knocking for us to open our hardened hearts. He comes for our own good and to bring salvation into our souls. This stranger wants us to receive him and he does not want our food but he comes for a purpose, to feed anyone who would give him a warmly welcome. He says: “If any man hear my voice and open the door (soul) I will come in to him _and will sup with him and he with me” – Revelation 3:20.
Matthew, one of the disciples of Jesus Christ was once a tax collector at Capernaum under the authority of Herod Antipas. Nelson traces briefly the nature of tax payment in ancient Israel during the time Matthew was a tax collector. In Jesus’ day, land and poll taxes were collected directly by Roman officials, but taxes on transported goods were contracted out to local collectors. Matthew was such a person or else he was in the service of one. These middlemen paid an agreed-upon sum in advance to the Roman officials for the right to collect taxes in an area. Their profit came out from the excess they could squeeze from the people. The Jewish people hated these tax collectors not only for their corruption, but also because they worked for and with the despised Romans. Tax collectors were ranked with murderers and rubbers, and a Jew was permitted to lie to them if necessary. The attitude discovered in the gospels is similar. Tax collectors lumped together with harlots (Matthew 21:31), Gentiles (Matthew 18:17) and most often, sinners (Matthew 9:10). They were as offensive to Jews for their economic and social practices as lepers were for their uncleanness; both were excluded from the people of God, Nelson (1798:809).
Matthew was known as Levi (Mark 2:14, Luke 5:27) and Our Lord Jesus Christ named him Matthew. This stunning change of name was done perhaps with the great memory of Matthew’s call. It discloses the fact that the name people attribute or associate us with for wrong doings will not be the same as we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. In all probability, Matthew had for once cheated some widows and orphans at the course of collecting taxes from them. Thus, he might be a notorious criminal that branded him a sinner. As Christ was knocking at his door, the soul of a sinner, Mathew opened his heart and accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and personal savior. With a glaring conviction to show his heart warmth welcome of Jesus Christ into his life, he invited Christ and his disciples to his home as dinner guests and Christ and His disciples ate with him and he with Him. This endorses faith in action and with implied meaning draws a parallel line with what is written in the book of Revelation 3:20.
Though we may not see Christ now with our physical eyes to dine with Him, but we could have a communion of the Holy Ghost through Him. Thus, when we welcome the king of kings in our souls, he will commune with our spirit which will indicate the act of purgation of our impure hearts. This is what he means to the Pharisees who see him as somebody eating with a sinner and he said to them: “Healthy people don’t need a physician, but sick people do” — Matt. 9:12. By implication, it was Mathew that was sick at sins and the great doctor Jesus came into his life and as he accepted Him, he was made whole and his name was changed from Levi which means “Joined” to Matthew which means “Gift of the Lord”.
However, the presence of God in our life encourages us not to fear (Judges 6). Gideon was born to the family that did not fear God and he was encouraged not to be afraid of anything by God as he welcomed him into his heart. When the Israelites did disobey God by running after Baal, God allowed the Midianites to torture them and oppress them with great impunity. Nonetheless as they later humbled themselves and cried unto their God (as an act of welcoming Him back as their God) He brought out a deliverer to them called Gideon.
When Gideon offered some acceptable oblations to the angel of God and the consummation of such a sacrifice by the angel with fire, he cried out that he is extremely doomed for the reason that he has seen the angel of God with his eyes. He then built an altar and dedicated it to God. He called it Jehovah shalom which means the Lord is peace. When this stranger comes into your life, he’ll bring peace to you, to your health, family, business and in your occupation.
Brethren, the Israelites repented from their sins and they piteously cried unto God, he bought a deliverer to them. If we could learn how to welcome Christ in our life, surely, he’ll be your deliverer at the point of your need. When people in your working place try to demote you, God will cause them to promote you and you’ll have the cause to glorify your heavenly father. Remember that Mordecai was promoted as Haman wanted to demote him.
More so, the church of Laodicea in Asia Minor is neither cold nor hot. She is described as lukewarm water. Sometimes Lukewarm water can cause one to regurgitate or vomit out messes and make stomachs quake. It is just like someone who is profusely sweating and feeling too hot and thirsty and needed to drink a cup of cold water and unfortunately a cup of lukewarm water is provided. He might tend to vomit it and look for cold and chilled water to drink. This inherent characteristic of the believers in Laodicea church for being neither cold nor hot signifies their state of dilemma and solitude. They sit on the fence. They are neither for Christ who is peaceful and meek nor for Satan who is disastrous and cataclysmic. And Christ wants them to fall in one place, to come to him or they go to Satan. Their attitude is extremely hated which might cause God to wrought out or vent his wrath on them because they are seen as good for nothing believers. They tenaciously claim to worship God but their hearts have not absorbed the power of the Holy Spirit to transform them. Their hearts are very far away to repent from their sins.
Furthermore, the members in the Laodicea church who received not Christ as their personal Saviour claimed to be rich and so needed not to bother themselves in obeying the instructions of Christ. Christ tells them that they are not rich. Thus, a rich man without Christ in his life is the most wretched poor person and which an obedient poor servant is far better than him. They are being advised by Christ to come to him and buy gold that is purified.
Why do we claim that we have Jesus but we keep him outside our heart? Let him come into our soul and purify the filthy things that have clouded it.
Brethren, it could be noted that the Laodicea is a kind of church that lives a carefree life. It is true that they go to church but their hearts are too far from Christ. They keep him knocking and waiting at their door posts and He sounds a warning that they should repent from their hardness of their heart.
Correspondingly, we should remember a certain rich man who had a stranger at his door post. The stranger was a poor Lazarus who was full of terrible sores and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Though, the rich man’s dog licking the sores on the poor man really fulfills the heart desires of the rich man. He did not welcome the poor Lazarus into his house which invariably means that he had not welcome Christ into his heart. Thus, anyone who does not welcome the poor denies the fact of knowing Christ. If you are rich there is God’s purpose for it. And he wants you as he has blessed you to extend your own helping hand to the poor around you. If not, one day you’ll abdicate your riches and die and find yourself being poor in the Hell fire, while the poor will become rich in heaven as his reward because when he was on earth despite his abject poverty, he still remained faithful.
Then, brethren, if we are poor in spirit and nobody welcomes us with the gospel, Christ will welcome us as Abraham welcomes Lazarus the poor man.
Let us as from today welcome Christ into our life and hospitalize the strangers anywhere we meet them and pray for those who are in prison or sick that God’s favour should locate them in Jesus name. Amen.
—————Meditation Point———————
LORD help me to unbind my hardened heart that I may welcome you into my life and help me to hospitalize strangers in my house as your servant may say :“since I’m a stranger on earth do not hide your commands from me”— Psalm 119:19 ISV . This I ask through the name of Jesus Christ, amen!
A STRANGER AT YOUR DOOR POST
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me – Revelation 3:20 NLT.
Texts: Rev. 3:1-20, Luke 16:19-31, Judges 36:1-40.
A stranger is one in a strange land. A man may stay in a city that is not his for so many years but it does not mean that he is no longer a stranger in that land. At times our own blood brothers and sisters could also be strangers standing at our door post in need of our helps. Our background stranger who is standing at our door post is that same Jesus Christ who is preached to you yesterday, today and the years to come. It is the high time to receive Christ who has come in to our hearts knocking for us to open our hardened hearts. He comes for our own good and to bring salvation into our souls. This stranger wants us to receive him and he does not want our food but he comes for a purpose, to feed anyone who would give him a warmly welcome. He says: “If any man hear my voice and open the door (soul) I will come in to him _and will sup with him and he with me” – Revelation 3:20.
Matthew, one of the disciples of Jesus Christ was once a tax collector at Capernaum under the authority of Herod Antipas. Nelson traces briefly the nature of tax payment in ancient Israel during the time Matthew was a tax collector. In Jesus’ day, land and poll taxes were collected directly by Roman officials, but taxes on transported goods were contracted out to local collectors. Matthew was such a person or else he was in the service of one. These middlemen paid an agreed-upon sum in advance to the Roman officials for the right to collect taxes in an area. Their profit came out from the excess they could squeeze from the people. The Jewish people hated these tax collectors not only for their corruption, but also because they worked for and with the despised Romans. Tax collectors were ranked with murderers and rubbers, and a Jew was permitted to lie to them if necessary. The attitude discovered in the gospels is similar. Tax collectors lumped together with harlots (Matthew 21:31), Gentiles (Matthew 18:17) and most often, sinners (Matthew 9:10). They were as offensive to Jews for their economic and social practices as lepers were for their uncleanness; both were excluded from the people of God, Nelson (1798:809).
Matthew was known as Levi (Mark 2:14, Luke 5:27) and Our Lord Jesus Christ named him Matthew. This stunning change of name was done perhaps with the great memory of Matthew’s call. It discloses the fact that the name people attribute or associate us with for wrong doings will not be the same as we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. In all probability, Matthew had for once cheated some widows and orphans at the course of collecting taxes from them. Thus, he might be a notorious criminal that branded him a sinner. As Christ was knocking at his door, the soul of a sinner, Mathew opened his heart and accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and personal savior. With a glaring conviction to show his heart warmth welcome of Jesus Christ into his life, he invited Christ and his disciples to his home as dinner guests and Christ and His disciples ate with him and he with Him. This endorses faith in action and with implied meaning draws a parallel line with what is written in the book of Revelation 3:20.
Though we may not see Christ now with our physical eyes to dine with Him, but we could have a communion of the Holy Ghost through Him. Thus, when we welcome the king of kings in our souls, he will commune with our spirit which will indicate the act of purgation of our impure hearts. This is what he means to the Pharisees who see him as somebody eating with a sinner and he said to them: “Healthy people don’t need a physician, but sick people do” — Matt. 9:12. By implication, it was Mathew that was sick at sins and the great doctor Jesus came into his life and as he accepted Him, he was made whole and his name was changed from Levi which means “Joined” to Matthew which means “Gift of the Lord”.
However, the presence of God in our life encourages us not to fear (Judges 6). Gideon was born to the family that did not fear God and he was encouraged not to be afraid of anything by God as he welcomed him into his heart. When the Israelites did disobey God by running after Baal, God allowed the Midianites to torture them and oppress them with great impunity. Nonetheless as they later humbled themselves and cried unto their God (as an act of welcoming Him back as their God) He brought out a deliverer to them called Gideon.
When Gideon offered some acceptable oblations to the angel of God and the consummation of such a sacrifice by the angel with fire, he cried out that he is extremely doomed for the reason that he has seen the angel of God with his eyes. He then built an altar and dedicated it to God. He called it Jehovah shalom which means the Lord is peace. When this stranger comes into your life, he’ll bring peace to you, to your health, family, business and in your occupation.
Brethren, the Israelites repented from their sins and they piteously cried unto God, he bought a deliverer to them. If we could learn how to welcome Christ in our life, surely, he’ll be your deliverer at the point of your need. When people in your working place try to demote you, God will cause them to promote you and you’ll have the cause to glorify your heavenly father. Remember that Mordecai was promoted as Haman wanted to demote him.
More so, the church of Laodicea in Asia Minor is neither cold nor hot. She is described as lukewarm water. Sometimes Lukewarm water can cause one to regurgitate or vomit out messes and make stomachs quake. It is just like someone who is profusely sweating and feeling too hot and thirsty and needed to drink a cup of cold water and unfortunately a cup of lukewarm water is provided. He might tend to vomit it and look for cold and chilled water to drink. This inherent characteristic of the believers in Laodicea church for being neither cold nor hot signifies their state of dilemma and solitude. They sit on the fence. They are neither for Christ who is peaceful and meek nor for Satan who is disastrous and cataclysmic. And Christ wants them to fall in one place, to come to him or they go to Satan. Their attitude is extremely hated which might cause God to wrought out or vent his wrath on them because they are seen as good for nothing believers. They tenaciously claim to worship God but their hearts have not absorbed the power of the Holy Spirit to transform them. Their hearts are very far away to repent from their sins.
Furthermore, the members in the Laodicea church who received not Christ as their personal Saviour claimed to be rich and so needed not to bother themselves in obeying the instructions of Christ. Christ tells them that they are not rich. Thus, a rich man without Christ in his life is the most wretched poor person and which an obedient poor servant is far better than him. They are being advised by Christ to come to him and buy gold that is purified.
Why do we claim that we have Jesus but we keep him outside our heart? Let him come into our soul and purify the filthy things that have clouded it.
Brethren, it could be noted that the Laodicea is a kind of church that lives a carefree life. It is true that they go to church but their hearts are too far from Christ. They keep him knocking and waiting at their door posts and He sounds a warning that they should repent from their hardness of their heart.
Correspondingly, we should remember a certain rich man who had a stranger at his door post. The stranger was a poor Lazarus who was full of terrible sores and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Though, the rich man’s dog licking the sores on the poor man really fulfills the heart desires of the rich man. He did not welcome the poor Lazarus into his house which invariably means that he had not welcome Christ into his heart. Thus, anyone who does not welcome the poor denies the fact of knowing Christ. If you are rich there is God’s purpose for it. And he wants you as he has blessed you to extend your own helping hand to the poor around you. If not, one day you’ll abdicate your riches and die and find yourself being poor in the Hell fire, while the poor will become rich in heaven as his reward because when he was on earth despite his abject poverty, he still remained faithful.
Then, brethren, if we are poor in spirit and nobody welcomes us with the gospel, Christ will welcome us as Abraham welcomes Lazarus the poor man.
Let us as from today welcome Christ into our life and hospitalize the strangers anywhere we meet them and pray for those who are in prison or sick that God’s favour should locate them in Jesus name. Amen.
—————Meditation Point———————
LORD help me to unbind my hardened heart that I may welcome you into my life and help me to hospitalize strangers in my house as your servant may say :“since I’m a stranger on earth do not hide your commands from me”— Psalm 119:19 ISV . This I ask through the name of Jesus Christ, amen!
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