An Open Door© by Gary W. Crisp
The Key Is Love
An Open Door© by Gary W. Crisp
The Key Is Love
As we have looked at some things we may think are important, let us recall the Words of the Savior to His disciples...they are really very simple Words, yet it is not so easy to walk and talk and live by His request. This is why we need Him so very much in our daily lives. I cannot be the kind of Christian He has called me to be without His Grace and His Love working effectively in my heart and life. I simply cannot. What were these simple Words He spoke to His disciples...?
One day, during the Life and Ministry of Jesus, a lawyer came to Him, asking which of the commandments was the greatest in the law. The scripture, Matthew 22:35-40, says he did this to tempt Him, or to test and prove Him. Jesus, already knowing this man’s heart, probably just smiled before He replied:
We will find this commandment repeated in Matthew 19:19, Mark 12:31, Romans 13:9, Galatians 5:14, and in James 2:8. The simple fact of the matter is: If we love God and truly love our neighbor, then we will not commit murder, we will not commit adultery, we will not lie, cheat or steal; we will not bear false witness, we will not covet our neighbor’s wife or anything he may have, for we will be content and secure in our relationship with God and nothing will be able to move us from it. That is why love, true love, sums up the law and the prophets. And in 1st John 4:7-11, we hear John telling us how important love is...not only to us and to others, but to God as well. Let’s look at what John, who is called the “Apostle of Love”, had to say concerning this aspect of our walk with Him.
Love is important. Looking back at what we discussed earlier about David and his fervent love for God, it isn’t hard to see how he could have been called “a man after God’s own Heart”. For if God is Love, and David understood the Heart of God, then he would have loved with a God-kind of Love. During the seventies and eighties we heard a lot of talk about the “God-kind of Faith”. Well, we “made it through” the nineties -- and here it is, the year 2000 -- and we are so much closer to His Return than ever before. With this in mind, let us exhibit and practice and strive to possess this wonderful “God-kind of Love”, for this kind of Love is what Jesus speaks of when He says: “I hold the Key of David; I AM He that opens, and no man can shut; and shuts, and no man can open.”
Next, let’s see what a fervent, intimate love-relationship with the Lord really is.
When Jesus speaks, here, of an “open door”, He is speaking of an invitation to “come to Him” and have fellowship with Him, and “open” implies limitless possibilities. The word sup means to “dine, such as the principal (or evening) meal; to sup or have supper; a feast.” As we know from reading the Gospels, having a meal with Jesus was no ordinary meal; He always found an audience with which to speak and teach and share some of Himself. When He says to us, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hears My Voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and I will sup with him, and he with Me”, He is declaring an “open door” policy. His Door is always “open”.
The world doesn’t realize it, nor would it admit it if it knew, but when companies and corporations and even political machines declare they have an “open door” policy, they are merely reflecting an honorable and Godly Principle of the Kingdom of God. In fact, many policies and practices in our social lives are gleaned from spiritual truths and principles, but the world is usually ignorant and/or even very unthankful regarding the whole truth of this matter.
This “open door” policy of the Lord’s is very special. When He comes to us and declares that all we need to do is “hear” His knock and “open” our doors, He is revealing to us the great Truth of His Fellowship -- dining with Him, as it were. And when He sets an open door before us, He is welcoming us in to a relationship that is intimate and unique. If we choose to go in, we can fellowship and partake of Him and know Him as never before, and no man can interfere, for He clearly says, “no man can shut it”. Or, when we are “shut in” with the Lord, no man can come and open up and interfere with our relationship with Him. There was a song we sang once, though I haven’t heard it in a while. It goes like this:
“Shut in with God in a Secret Place;
There in the Spirit, beholding His Face;
Gaining more Power to run in the Race,
I love to be shut in with God.”
Being “shut in” with God is a good thing. It is said of Joshua, in Exodus 33:11, “And the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he (Moses) returned again to the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart out of the tabernacle.” In other words, he lingered, staying in and enjoying and appreciating the Presence of the Lord. And note that it is said of Moses that he talked with the LORD “face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” Intimacy. That is what we see here with Moses and Joshua. And that is what we saw with David. And this is that to which the Lord is calling us.
The Key of David is the Open Door to Jesus...a clear and gracious invitation to any and all who can hear His Knock, as well as open up their hearts to Him when He comes. Now I know that many Christians believe (because they have been taught so) that this “knocking at the door” is Jesus knocking at a sinner’s heart, but this is not true, dear saints. This letter was written to and for Christians, first of all; and secondly, He is speaking to those who have overcome. All of this is to Christians; to believers; to followers of Christ and His Word.
Therefore, the Book of Revelation is a letter written -- first of all -- to those who were not only awaiting the Lord’s return, but it was written to those who loved Him, longing for His return. There is a side issue as well: This book was also written to those and for those saints who were “not quite ready”, with the hope that the words would “incite” them to ready themselves for His Return. There were those, to whom John wrote, that were still “playing too close to the edge” -- “fence-walking”, as it were -- trying to keep their hearts (and lives) in both the world and the Kingdom of Heaven, but this is not acceptable to the Lord. And so the Lord, through John, did everything He could to bring them back to the safety of His Fold, into His Pasture. Some came back; some did not. Should any of us find ourselves “too far from safety”, may we hurriedly get ourselves back to the safe Covering of His Loving Arms.
One of the things Jesus told John to do, in writing to the Philadelphian church, was to remind them and encourage them, for they “have kept My Word, and have not denied My Name.” This is not a slight thing in the Eyes of the Lord. He is very appreciative of those who will keep His Word and honor His Name, even in the face of persecution. And, when they were in that place of intimate communion with Him, no man or no thing could come in between the Lord and the Christians who persevered and overcame. Why...? Because they were “shut in” with the Lord, and no man or demon or any thing was able to “open the door” and interfere or intrude.
“Shut in with God in a Secret Place....”
The Key of David opens up to us the Love of God, and as (or if) we go in to “dine with the Lord” we will find that this Love has, in turn, opened to us another door -- the Door to the Father’s Heart. This Door we Christians rarely find, usually because we are so “busy” about the Father’s Business. However, if we were truly “busy”, as Jesus was busy, then we would never be apart from the Father’s Heart or His Business, for in the very Heart and Business of God there is Fellowship with God. And fellowship requires intimacy, and intimacy requires time and time requires committment. And, in this Secret Place -- being “shut in” with God -- we will there find our directions and instructions on what to do, when to do it, and where it needs to be done...and we will no longer be “scurrying about”...breathless and weary and frustrated while
“doing” the Will of the Father.
And we should realize this: When Jesus does come knocking...if we do not have true, sincere committment, we may as well forget the rest, for we will most assuredly not have the time nor the intimacy in our hearts. And then fellowship will be a sterile, shallow and vain act.
May it never be so with us.
But rather -- when He comes -- may our hearts be ready to pray:
Oh Lord, we sincerely ask: Please keep us and watch over us, that our love for You will never grow stale, impersonal or impotent. When You come to us, knocking on our heart’s door, may our glad hearts always hasten to answer You. And when You call, may our happy spirits rise to meet and fellowship with a true and fervent love. Please, Dear God, please let it be so in our lives, and may it be so to the glory and honor of Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Faithful Lord and Savior.
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