“BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR, AND KNOCK”
This scripture appears to be the fulfilment of Luke 12: 36. It is the first step, so to speak, in the Lord’s coming, and precedes the rapture. In Luke 12 the Lord speaks of the way in which various classes will be affected by His coming. He first speaks of His own household; then of the dweller upon earth, to whom He comes as a thief; then of His servants, as such, and finally of the unrepentant ones.
First of all we have the circle which His love has formed, His own “little flock”, His “friends”. Though here on earth themselves, they are the happy objects of a Father’s tender care, and they are to have their treasure and their hearts in heaven, and they themselves are to be in readiness to welcome their own Lord. He speaks of leaving a wedding to come to them. It is not any particular wedding that is in view. A wedding is the brightest scene man knows of, but we see here One who leaves the brightest scene to come home. It is His own door at which He knocks, and we are to be like men who await their own Lord, ready to give Him an immediate welcome.
It is beautiful to see in this chapter the homecoming of divine love. The blessed Lord returns to the circle which His love has formed upon earth, the place of His affections. But if this scripture tells us what He desires, Revelation 3: 20 shows what He gets. Instead of a house in order, lights burning and an immediate welcome, we see One standing without and saying, “if any man hear my voice”. That “if” should go right home to our very hearts. If there be a response to divine love in the heart of any single individual. If there is any one awake to hear.
The blessed Lord is always first. As it was in the beginning so it will be at the very last. It was His love that first took action. He chose us, and not we Him. And so at His coming again there will be the invitation which bids Him come, but this will be because, in His own unsought grace, He has made Himself so necessary to our hearts that we cannot possibly do without Him. He comes to us before He comes for us.
It is very beautiful to see that this is what is taking place today. Sad indeed to think that we should need arousing, but the Lord is taking the first step in His wondrous coming. “He that shall come will come”, Heb 10: 37. None can turn Him back when He sets forth, but in His wonderful grace He takes the place of a suppliant, in order that whatever there is of affection for Him in our hearts it may declare itself in giving Him a welcome in His own circle.
Song of Songs 5 shows the manner of His knocking. We see here the blessed persistency of love. If there is no response to His voice He puts in His hand. The door may be barred, but He will find a hole, and we cannot keep out the hand of love. And we see, that though love seeks the individual, yet it is in His own circle that we reach Him, where He feeds His flock amongst the lilies, Song of Songs 6: 3; Luke 12: 27.
Even with regard to the earthly people, we see in Revelation 10 the Lord coming down in a mysterious way before He comes openly in chapter 19. The temple and the altar are measured out, and the two witnesses are ordained, and all this precedes the Lord’s appearing.
And so with us, the rapture is an act of power towards every one of the redeemed. Not one will be left behind, though to those who are not watching it will come as a surprise. But though, as regards ourselves, we look for the Saviour from heaven, who will bring us into His own blessed circumstances of glory, should we not, first of all, consider the coming of our Lord as it affects that blessed One Himself? His affection, so to speak, steps on in front of His power, and our hearts are reached before our bodies are changed.
There are two houses in Luke 12. There are those who live as servants in their lord’s circle, and there is the “good man” who lives in his own circle. Let each of us ask himself, ‘Where do I live?’ It is a blessed thing to live in the circle of the Lord’s interests. This is not the same thought as the house of God. It is the circle of discipleship, those whom the Lord calls His friends, v 4. It is blessed for us to make our home there, but if we are asleep we might just as well be anywhere else, either as regards our own appreciation of our privileges, or our readiness to hear our Lord’s voice. We see what the Lord’s own circle is to Him, in that He leaves the brightest scenes to come to it, and we see the delight of His heart in those of His own who are ready to open to Him when He knocks.
When God comes to His own earth (Ps 24: 7-10), the everlasting doors are to be lifted up, because of the greatness of the One who enters, and so it is for us to open to our own Lord in a worthy manner.
STOCKPORT
1909
From Mutual Comfort 1909