Jesus-Standing at the Door

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. Rev 3:20

DO NOT forget the majesty and glory of Him who asks for admission!
In the following verse, He declares that He is able to give the right of sitting with Himself on His Throne. He stands, that some day we may sit! O child of two worlds, shut your ear to the chatterings and noise of this passing age, and listen to Him who stands at the door of your life and knocks!

Of course, we know that the Saviour never withdraws Himself from hearts that are really His own. He abides in them, as they abide in Him. But with us there may be ebbs as well as flows. The current may drop from feet to inches. The light may linger in the sky, while clouds obscure the face of the sun. The heat of the body may remain, but the extremities may become chilled. It is under these circumstances that the Lord of all worlds comes to the door of our poor tenement, and stands, and knocks, and asks for admission.

We may expect His knock when our love is cooling. Once our hearts beat quickly when we heard His approaching step; now, when He is at hand, we keep Him waiting on the doorstep till His head is filled with dew, and His locks with the drops of night. Do we not all know what it is to be "neither hot nor cold"? Somehow our heart has gone dead! It is then that we may expect to hear the knock of Christ. He only asks us to admit Him and He will restore the soul to love, and love to the soul.

We may expect His knock when we must go forth from this world. The moment comes when the post will present us with a letter like that received by Christiana: "The Master expects thee to stand in His Presence, in clothes of immortality, within ten days." The same summons will come to Mr. Honest and Mr. Ready-to-halt; to Mr. Despondency and to Miss Much-afraid; to Mr. Stand-fast and Mr. Valiant-for-truth. But in each case there will be the accompanying knock of Jesus, saying: "Fear not, I will be with you. I have called you by your name, you are Mine."  (Our Daily Walk)

​Personal note: During the years I worked caring for the elderly, as I listened to them, and watched their daily habits, I discerned those who had not opened their hearts to Jesus, and knew they weren't saved. I'd pray for them, and look for opportunities to speak to them about the Lord, and ask them if they'd like to pray the prayer of salvation. Some were happy to do so, and I'd be able to sit and read a scripture to them at times, when they couldn't sleep. But, there were other's who would refuse, and made it clear they had no desire to have anything to do with Jesus, I'd honor their choices, but with sadness, because it meant their eternity was going to be an eternity in hell, without Christ. Jesus never forces anyone to follow Him, he only invites us. It's up to us, if we open the door of our hearts and allow Him in, or not.
People may be the most loving, kind, and generous people, and be looked up to by many-but it doesn't change the fact that unless they have opened their hearts door to Jesus, they will face eternity in hell. When the day of their death comes, if they have never wanted anything to do with Jesus during their life, the Lord will honor their choice, and they will spend eternity without Him. Hell is a real place, but, a great many do not believe it, until they find themselves there-and it's too late to change their minds. The story Jesus told of the rich man and Lazarus is a mirror to us of this fact.
But, for the believer, there is great confidence in walking with Jesus-read on.

FEAR NOT
Confidence For the Believer

But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Isa 43:1-2

​The quality of fear is described in the Scriptures under various aspects.
Thus it is spoken of sometimes as a feeling to be exercised. “Be not highminded, but fear;” and again as a thing to be avoided, “Fear not.” There is the coward’s fear, which cannot bear the very sight of danger. Such is the fear that makes a man shrink from examining into the true state of his soul before God, and that makes men hide from themselves the thought of death. There is another kind of fear, which never shows itself till the time of actual trial comes; beforehand, it is arrogant and boastful, but sinks into despondency and despair when it is put to the test. God’s people are free from both of these; they are deeply conscious alike of their danger and of the inadequacy of their own strength to meet it: but they stand fast, “strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” A righteous, godly fear, the believer has; but the cowardice of the world, which is loud to boast, and slow to act, and quick to doubt, he must never know. It becomes neither the dignity of his calling, nor the faithfulness of his God. The believer and the unbeliever are sharply separated in respect of the objects of their fear. The timid child and the courageous man both have fear; but the one fears a shadow: the other, that which, not to fear, would show the absence of a reasonable courage.
What things ought we to fear? Shall we fear the opposition and hatred of the world; those who can injure the body, but cannot touch the soul; pain, or sickness, or temporal misfortune? Those may do so who make this world their all, but not the believer, who recognises in them the medicines of the soul. Shall we fear the devil? Not with God on our side. Or death? Not so; for it is the gate of higher life, and introduces us to life’s crown of glory. He who fears God need know no other fear. Such fear is not a base naked terror; it becomes a wondering reverence, and loses itself in love; for He is not against His people, but for them; “Fear not, for I am with thee.” But the absence of this fear makes everything else fearful.

II. THE REASON ASSIGNED. “Thou art mine.” These words were spoken to Israel after the flesh; yet, as the relations named—Creator, Redeemer, and Saviour—are not peculiar to them, but are realised by every believing heart, every believer may take to himself his share in this animating promise; for all these relations are adduced, not as reasons for anything we are to pay to God, but as reasons for that which we are to receive from Him,—they form the ground of our confidence (Psa_119:94). The certainty of our hope does not depend on our holding God, but on God’s holding us; it is not in our power to realise His promise at all times, but we may rest on the immutability of that promise (2Ti_2:13). The believer’s hope is “an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.” To see to what a strong rock that anchor holds, turn your thoughts to the relationship spoken of in these words, “I am thy Creator, thy Redeemer, thy Saviour;” “I have called thee by thy name,” words which imply a personal, immediate interest. All is His work; the goodness which created, the grace which has quickened, corrected, strengthened, taught, sanctified, has all come from Him!

III. THE PROTECTION PROMISED (Isa_43:2). This does not consist of any absence of trial and danger; the expressions of the text rather imply their presence, many in number, and varied in kind (Psa_69:1-2). No extraordinary interposition will preserve the child of God from those miseries “to which man is born as the sparks fly upwards.” The protection promised consists in the constant presence with the soul of its unseen but Almighty Saviour (Psa_16:8; Heb_13:5-6).

CONCLUSION.—Contrast the condition of the believer, and of the unbeliever. Affliction is the lot of all; but while a man loses nothing, in the calculation of earthly happiness, by becoming a follower of the Saviour, in the calculation of heavenly happiness he gains all. There is more sunshine, even in this world, to the righteous than to the unrighteous. Both have to share the “ills that flesh is heir to;” but what a difference in the strength of the two to meet them! If for a moment the Christian’s heart sinks, then the promise comes back to him like a refreshing breath from above—“Fear not; for I have redeemed thee.” (Edward Garbett, M.A.: Sermons, pp. 204–222).