Revelation 3:20

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.

We have seen that Jesus stands at the door of our lives and knocks, and IF we hear His voice we will open and let Him enter and with Him comes certain rewards. But now let’s look at how He enters, or in what form.

In the gospel of John it says:

John 10:2-8

But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
When he hath put forth all his own, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.
Jesus therefore said unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
All that came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.

Jesus says He is the Shepherd that leads His sheep. How? With His voice. We need to see a few things here:

1. The sheep hear His voice. Jesus is constantly speaking to us, His sheep, and we can hear, but somehow we have enough distractions to deceive us into thinkig He is not, and cannot speak to me today.
2. We can know His voice. In fact, I do believe we do know Hs voice, but don’t often choose to listen.
3. We should not know the voice of, or listen to the voice of, anything else, except the true Shepherd.
4. Here, His voice comes as a shepherd to us.

We love that dimension of Jesus. That’s what we were taught about Him in Sunday school. The picture of the gentle Jesus , meek and mild, leading us as His sheep, is a very non-threatening picture. And yet, it is a true picture, because that He is. But we need to see there is another dimension to this Jesus we love and serve and follow.

Enter the book of Revelation.

Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ,..

Revelation 1:10-17

I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet
saying, What thou seest, write in a book and send it to the seven churches: unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamum, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And having turned I saw seven golden candlesticks;
and in the midst of the candlesticks one like unto a son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle.
And his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
and his feet like unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace; and his voice as the voice of many waters.
And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last,

A New Revelation

A different picture of Jesus, Amen! The same Jesus, but a totally different manifestation of Him, a different revelation. Now, you must understand that John knew Jesus in the flesh and wrote about the revelation of Jesus as Shephered and us as sheep hearing His voice. But, now, this same John who had walked and talked with Him in the flesh, who had handled the Word of Life, who had known Him and heard His voice, who by all we now was the disciple who lent against Jesus breast, now sees Him, but this time he falls as dead at His feet. The picture, the vision, the revelation of the Resurrected Christ is so overwhelming that he falls as dead. The Man, the Shepeherd is now manifested in glory as a KING!

What we need to recognize is that, how Jesus Christ, the King, is manifested here , is how He is addressng the churches, and the church. At this time, He is speaking to the seven churches, the stages of the church, the state of the church in its different forms, as King. Not as Shephered. He still does come to our lives, Praise God, as Shephered and deal with us gently, but we cannot keep Him in that form exclusively. Jesus comes sometimes, many times, as King of Glory. John sees Him arrayed in Kingly majesty, dressed for war. Eyes as flames of fire that see through all; feet like unto burnished bronze, speaking of judgement; His voice as the sound of floods of waters, not the gentle Shepherd we see in the gospels. His hand holds the 7 stars, the messengers of the church; from His mouth proceeds a 2 -edged sword, speaking of the living, powerful, effective, penetrating and severing Word of God; and He outrays the pure glory of God. You can hardly look at Him. John, who knew the Lord, intimately, when he sees Him, just falls, as dead. He could not presume even to stand before such a revelation of the Christ, of the Jesus he had known.

Truly, in the church, we have a wonderful and life-saving revelation of Christ as Savior and Shepherd, but we have to learn to discern the fact that Christ Jesus does come as King. We need a revelation of this fact. The wonderful thing is that when He manifests Himself as King ,can you imagine what it does to the heart of the enemy? You have this majestic and glorious King warring on your behalf.

But the flip side of this is, we need to be adaptable to the fact that He also comes to us, knocking at the door of our lives, at the door of the church, not as Shepherd here, but as KING.

Are we ready? Are we prepared? Can we discern the difference between when He comes as King, or as Shepherd? Do we have the revelation of His Kingship, so that we will recognize Him? Will we adapt?

The True Possession

We must understand that we are the possessions He purchased with His life and blood. We are His. When we declare and confess He is Lord, we are saying, “You are the Owner, the Possessor, the Boss of everything I am”. His wasn’t a small price, He is not asking a small price. He will not relent until He has it all. He is not looking for the lands, as in physical countries. He is going to put all that under His feet at the end, but He is looking to possess us. We are His land, His husbandry, His building. He will go to war for this “territory”, the church, you and me. We are His church, His bride, His body. Are you seeing the picture? We NEED a revelation! The King of kings and the Lord of lords is standing at the door, knocking….If you hear His voice. He is not tap, tapping, gently to get your attention, if you feel like it, and then you open, at your leisure. No! This King is coming in authority and majesty, knocking, banging, demanding attention, demanding what is His. Do you hear His voice?

Enter The King

If we go back a few verses in Revelation and see something here:

Revelation 2:12-17 (ALT)

“And to the angel of the assembly in Pergamos write: ‘These [things] says the One having the sharp, double-edged sword:
‘I know your works and where you are dwelling, where the throne of Satan [is]. And you hold fast to My name, and you did not deny My faith in the days {in} which Antipas, My faithful witness [or, martyr], who was put to death beside you*, where Satan dwells.
‘_But_ I have a few [things] against you, that you have there [some] holding to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to throw a stumbling-block before the sons [and daughters] of Israel {and} to eat [food] sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual sin.
‘In the same way, _you_ even have [some] holding to the teaching of the Nicolaitans likewise.
‘Therefore repent! But if not [fig., Or else] I am coming to you quickly, and I will wage war against them with the sword of my mouth.
‘The one having an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies:

I have underlined some key points I would like you to see.

Remember, who is speaking to the church here. That’s right! Jesus, but not of Nazareth, but of Kingly Glory. And He is saying to the church: “Listen you are doing great, holding fast to My name and your faith in the midst of difficult circumstances, BUT… ” Wow! Jesus has a but here. You would think everything is hunky dory. I mean, its a great church. They are standing for the Name of Jesus even in the midst of persecution. They are standing in faith. In fact, Jesus is commending their faith and their stand. But…

Some in their midst were “holding to”. Now the point is not what they were holding to, that is another teaching altogether. The point is, in their midst, in the church,  those amog them were “holding to” something. When we look at the the “holding to” and see what it means, I think we get a better understanding.

Hold to:

G2902
krateō
From G2904; to use strength, that is, seize or retain (literally or figuratively): – hold (by, fast), keep, lay hand (hold) on, obtain, retain, take (by).

G2904
kratos
Perhaps a primary word; vigor [“great”], (literally or figuratively): – dominion, might [-ily], power, strength.

Repent!

So, these members in the midst of the church were “holding to” with strength; retaining; with great vigor and might and power. They would not relent. they were holding to something that Jesus, the King, did not approve of, was not pleased with, and yet they would not relinquish, they would not … Repent! Therefore, He says, He will come and what? WAGE WAR! With who? With those in their midst. How? Using the sword of His mouth-the Word of God.

Is it possible that some of the stuff we are blaming on the devil, that goes on in church, is just maybe, just possibly, The King of Glory Himself, Jesus Christ, warring for His throne in your and my life and the church, that is His prized possession? Is He, or is He not, talking to the church here? Well, we may say that’s not for us brother, not today. But do you sill believe we need to repent? Do you believe in the promises of that Jesus gives here as The King to His church. then it is necessary to believe that He also wants to remove all obstacles that stop Him from setting up His throne. We need to give Him all. We need to relinquish those things that are not of Him. We need to adapt and change at the Kings command. WE NEED TO HEAR HIS VOICE AND OPEN UP FOR HIM. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want this King warring with me. We sing a worship song in Reading- He will not relent until He has it all; I give You my heart…

Let’s give Him all today. Let’s repent quickly – change our minds, our thinking, our opinions, have an about turn in what we “hold to”, and adapt to the King and let Him come in and have it all. Let Him set up His throne in your life and in the church.