The Advent of Faith - Revelation 2:20-22

Beware of Attempts to Discredit Christ’s Advent

1. From blatant notions that He isn’t God

2. To subtle threats against His grace

Now may the God of hope fill you with complete joy and peace as you continue to believe, so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13, EHV)

Revelation 3:20-22 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."'"

This October at the Pacific Coast Pastoral Conference we enjoyed an escape room as part of our R&R activity. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, an escape room is series of rooms in a building that contain various mind games and puzzles. In order to successful “break out” of the room, you have to work with your group to solve the puzzles.

There are several different themes you can choose from as well and we chose a wild west theme. Part of the intrigue is having some unexpected twists and turns along the way. One such twist came immediately at the beginning as two our team members, one being myself, were handcuffed, taken into the “town jail,” and locked behind a barred door. Obviously, my incarcerated partner and I knew right away that our freedom would be subject to our teammates’ ability to solve the puzzle that would unlock the jail.

As it turned out, things didn’t get off to a great start. When the rest of the pastors joined us, they immediately had access to all the other rooms while we stayed locked away. There was a sheriff’s office, a saloon, a billiard room, and even a room with a hangman’s gallows – along with the town jail. Unbeknownst to one of the pastor’s, the key to our jail cell was in plain sight. In fact, he picked it up within the first 30 seconds (it was on bar in the saloon). He assumed that we would find a way to break ourselves out and never thought to see if the key fit the jail door’s lock. It wasn’t until about 15 minutes later, and after several pleas for help, that we tried to key and finally got out.

While we were in jail, there wasn’t much we could do except communicate with the other pastors on the outside. The key was not within our reach. We could not break down the door on our own, and there were no other exits. We had to talk and listen in order to open the door. (summarize this quicker)

As strange as it sounds, that very situation is a good metaphor for faith in Jesus – specifically how a believer comes to faith. The analogy of a door is before us today as we consider the famous scene from Revelation 3. The picture of Jesus at the door knocking is memorialized for many of us in the famous painting by Warner Sallman, which you can find in the bulletin. Sallman’s inspiration for this painting was Revelation 3:20. But what does it mean when Jesus knocks at the door, and more importantly, how do we open it and gain access to Him? The key to those answers is in communication. Much like being locked in a jail cell, we can’t open the door on our own. We need help. But, we do have communication with God – through His Word, which is the very source of our freedom.     

We study this on the first Sunday of Advent because the theme and focus of this season is the arrival of Jesus. There are three important arrivals of Jesus in the Scripture. The first is often the most obvious, His birth on Christmas. This is the primary focus of the Advent season. The second is a theme we have been looking at in the past month – the second coming of Jesus on Judgment Day. The third is one we rarely connect with the official Advent season, but it’s equal in importance to the others – Jesus’s arrival in your heart. As a believer, Jesus lives in you. Faith is the kingdom of God in a person’s heart. Jesus is part of your life. Jesus described this aspect of faith in John 14: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”

The difficulty is that we have an inward tendency to discredit the validity of each of these three Advents. There are certainly many things we could study and discuss about all three today, but for our purposes, as we anticipate Christmas, we will focus on the first arrival of Jesus and how it pertains to the direct arrival of Him in our hearts – that is, faith.

You are probably familiar with some of the ways that people discredited Jesus’ first Advent. The most well-known example is King Herod, who in a fit panic over the thought of losing earthly power issued the murderous command to annihilate all the baby boys in the kingdom who were two years old or younger. His folly is best summarized in the famous line from hymn 131: “The star proclaims the King is here; But Herod, why this senseless fear? He takes no realms of earth away, Who gives the realms of heavenly day.”

You might also remember that the crowds of people wanted to make Jesus their own earthly king after He performed the miracle of feeding 5,000 people. They figured that their lives would be pretty good if Jesus could do this for them on a regular basis. Another group that discredited Christ’s first Advent was the religious leaders – the Pharisees and Sadducees. They wanted Jesus to be more critical of the Roman occupation of Israel, rather than the religious legalism they endorsed. And they absolutely hated that Jesus continually claimed to be God. Even Jesus’ own disciples had a difficult time understanding and trusting that His work was focused on heavenly rewards, and not earthly. Each of the misconceptions about Jesus’ first Advent ultimately stemmed from an unwillingness to believe that He was the Son of God. It was an attack on the divinity of Jesus as God, which was essential to His work of salvation.

But as Jesus gives us this picture of standing at the door and knocking, indicating His arrival – His status as God is undeniable. For one thing, Jesus likens His arrival to that of a feast, where He will enter and dine with the individual. Then in the very next verse that unity is portrayed as sharing in the authority of God in heaven – that the believer sits with Jesus on His throne, just as Jesus sits with the Father on His throne.

The fact that Jesus has the right to extend this blessing, and the fact that the very blessing itself is to share in power with God – proves without a doubt that Jesus is the Son of God. If He was not, He couldn’t offer such a gift. But this is the conclusion of our faith – unity with God in heaven.

What we also see here is Jesus at the center of God’s work. Undoubtedly, you’ve heard the argument from someone at some time that the word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible, and therefore, is not a true depiction of God. Again, those waging such arguments are the ones who deny that Jesus is God and therefore attempt to discredit His first Advent. But instead of looking for the word Trinity, look for the teaching. You will see it here. In these verses we see a reference to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and how they operate as one true God. The fact that Jesus claims to be part of the true Godhead, and that the center of God’s work is on what He has accomplished, shows that He is God.     

And if you look close enough, you’ll see that throughout Scripture all over the place. Jesus weaves His work in and throughout the overall work of the Trinity. This is one such section. Those who hear Jesus’ voice, as it is given by the Holy Spirit, have the right to reign in victory with the Father. Christ’s first Advent, as humble as it was, does not discredit His status as God, rather it helps us understand His divinity even more. One of the greatest proofs for the power of God is the mercy He is willing to show sinners. That was at the heart of Jesus’ decision to come and be born here on earth.

Similarly, to the way that Jesus came to be born on earth, many today attempt to discredit the way he comes to a person’s heart today. This arrival of Jesus is so crucial because it’s the way our faith is established, which gives us the blessings that Jesus won for us. We need to be correct and accurate in what we believe and teach about how a person comes to faith – essentially, how that is opened.

This is where the familiar image of the text comes into your life and becomes part of your faith. When you think about Jesus knocking on the door to your heart, the logical response is that you open it. That would indeed work for a perfect person, but we’re trapped in that jail cell of sin. We can’t free ourselves, and we can’t open the door for Jesus, but we can listen to His voice. As Christians, we’re not liberated by what makes sense in our heads, but instead from what we receive from the Word of God. The first truth that communication with Jesus tells us is that we don’t have the key on our own. Romans 8:7 says, For the mind-set of the sinful flesh is hostile to God, since it does not submit to God’s law, and in fact, it cannot. Romans 3:20 likewise reiterates: For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

The effect of a flesh and mind that is hostile to God is not just that I can’t reach my way to heaven with my hands. My heart and mind are corrupted too. It’s equally futile for me to build my trust around mentally uncloaking my heart to Jesus, by choosing Him or deciding that He is my Savior. I can’t do this because I’m limited: intellectually, morally, and physically. In fact, the very premise of salvation dictates that we need to be saved. Someone who can come to God on their own, or even with a bit of their own strength mixed with His, doesn’t really need to be saved. There is absolutely no point to believing in Jesus as the Savior from sin, if we can reach Him by our own efforts.

And yet, at the very same time – the door to your heart does need to open and Jesus is calling you to believe. At some point, a Christian does intellectually accept what Jesus has done and who He, and they are renewed morally to be righteous as Jesus is. So, from one perspective, these details discredit the Advent of faith, and from another perspective they are the very products of faith.

The difference between each side is God’s grace. Anytime you take control, in any phase of faith – whether it be conversion, renewal, or sanctification – you are denying God’s grace in Jesus. Grace is underserved and unconditional. Grace in Christ makes no greater or lesser impact in your life based on your efforts, or your will. And you should thank God every day for that because it means that everything Jesus has done for you, the very merits of achieving life in heaven, are completely outside of what you can or cannot do on your own. It all depends on Jesus.

It's there in our text. Before Jesus even mentions opening the door, He says, “If anyone hears My voice…” Likewise, Jesus concludes, “If anyone has ears to hear, let Him hear what the Spirit says.” The power to open the door to your heart– to believe, to trust, to accept, to be born again – however you want to describe it, is found in Christ’s Word alone. And why is that? Because the Word proclaims in a clear and unmistakable way – God’s grace in Christ. So also, Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” 2 Timothy 3:15 reads, “from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” Even Isaiah in the OT wrote, "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.” And Jesus Himself said to His disciples, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.”

So, yes, the door is opened for the believer. Jesus enters and He makes His home in the heart. He is accepted. He is believed. His Word is taught and understood and proclaimed and rejoiced in. The sinner is forgiven – born again. But it did not happen by your hand turning the knob, your mind making the choice, or your righteousness providing the opportunity. The only difference is your Savior’s tender and persistent call by the gospel, in His unshakable promises delivered by the Spirit, in His wounded body and pierced hands, in His holy and divine blood shed on your behalf. In short, His Grace for you.

That’s what it looks like, when Grace is kept in an equal setting with Faith. And that’s what it took for the door of your heart to be opened and to stay open. God keeps us from discrediting this arrival of our Savior by faith – this Advent. (bring it back to intro) – How easily we can go from blatant attack against Jesus to subtle discrediting of His grace. Both are connected with in the spectrum of doubting the Word.

Advent is a season of rejoicing upon the arrival of our Savior. There is no greater way to do that than by remembering and honoring His grace as that which opened your heart and that which keeps Jesus there. Amen.