Participants: Alden Ho (Host)
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000303
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00:01 Three Angels
00:05 Broadcasting Network 00:09 now presents the 00:13 closed captioned program 00:17 Faith Chapel 00:30 Hello friend. My name is Pastor Alden Ho. 00:33 I run a ministry called Wheel Salt Ministries 00:35 in Berrien Springs, Michigan. 00:36 I have a message for you today 00:38 And the title of the message, believe it or not really is, 00:41 "Knock, Knock. Who's there? " 00:42 We'll answer that question in just a moment. 00:44 Because before we proceed, before we open the Word of God 00:47 let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. 00:49 Heavenly Father, this is such an important message 00:54 for us to understand. 00:55 In the world that we live in today 00:57 there are so many distractions that are all around us. 01:01 Help us to be able to know 01:03 who's standing at the door of our heart. 01:06 Lord speak. Speak to that door right now, 01:09 the door that might be crying, the door that might be hurting. 01:13 Please answer and hear our prayer. 01:17 Touch my lips. May they speak your words. 01:19 In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 01:22 There is a story that is told 01:25 of a new pastor who moved to a new district. 01:28 He wanted to go visit all 01:30 his new church members 01:32 In the process of going to visit 01:33 his church members he approached 01:34 one house and as he got to the 01:36 door, he knocked on the door. 01:38 He noticed there was a bit of movement in the house 01:41 but no one actually came to the door. 01:44 And he continued knocking a second time. 01:47 He still saw some movement 01:50 but nobody came to the door. 01:52 Trying not to be belligerent 01:54 one last time he said he'd try. 01:57 He knocked on the door the third time. 01:59 When no one came to the door 02:01 he took out his business card 02:03 out of his pocket, he took his pen out 02:05 and on his business card he wrote 02:07 Revelation 3:20 02:10 Well the next week at church 02:11 he found that same business card in the offering plate. 02:14 But right below Revelation 3:20 02:17 Someone had marked down Genesis 3:10. 02:21 Now, if you are students of the Bible you will know 02:23 Revelation 3:20 says, "I stand at the door and knock " 02:26 "if any one hear my voice and open the door " 02:28 "I will come in and sup with him. " 02:30 But if you know Genesis 3:10, it says, 02:34 "I heard your voice but I ran because I was naked. " 02:39 Now that's a chuckle. We might find that funny. 02:43 But the truth of the reality is 02:45 Jesus is standing there and he is knocking at our door. 02:48 And He's asking us, "Will you let Me in? " 02:51 Let's look at our text for today 02:54 and find out what this is all about 02:55 It's found in Revelation 3:20 03:14 You see friend Jesus is standing at the door of your heart. 03:17 He stands at the door of every church and every heart. 03:22 he's waiting to be invited in and he wants to be invited in. 03:26 Sometimes you know the question is 03:28 Jesus seems so far away. 03:30 And if He seems so far away the question is, 03:33 'Who actually moved? ' 03:35 Jesus is the Rock. He does not move. 03:37 So He always stays there. 03:38 It's we who are the ones who run. 03:41 But in retrospect to this text 03:44 God wants to be our Lord. 03:49 He wants to be our closest Friend. 03:51 There sometimes things we keep distant from Him. 03:56 We shut the door on Him perhaps because we're too busy. 04:00 We have things going on. 04:02 But believers in Christ should not leave Him outside the door. 04:07 He is the God of Love. 04:10 He is the God of the Universe. 04:12 Who not only died for us 04:13 but who is waiting to embrace us with His love. 04:16 It's very interesting in this text, 04:19 Jesus is standing there. He is knocking. 04:22 He is wanting to gain entrance there. 04:24 Let's try a little game here. 04:26 You answer. Knock, knock... 04:28 You say, "Who's there? " 04:31 I'll say, "Jesus. " And your response will be, 04:34 "Jesus, who? " 04:35 And that's exactly what happens friend. 04:38 Jesus is standing at the door. He's saying, "Knock, knock. " 04:41 And we say, "Who's there? " 04:44 He simply replies, "Jesus. " 04:47 We know that voice. 04:49 We know what He sounds like. 04:51 As we look thorough the peep hole or the curtain 04:55 We know who is there. 04:57 But the problem is many of us do not want to answer Him. 05:01 We don't want to acknowledge that He's even there. 05:03 We might even put headphones on 05:05 to try to drown out the knocking noise. 05:08 You see, He stands there knocking at our heart. 05:12 But there are sometimes things in the way of our heart 05:16 that stop us from getting there to the door. 05:19 You might find issues such as anger 05:22 hatred, jealousy, envy, 05:26 you might even have an eating disorder 05:29 that stops you from hearing God's voice. 05:31 Then there are issues that some men might have 05:34 or even women, with pornography. 05:36 Then there are some other addictions, 05:39 alcohol, tobacco, drugs. 05:43 Jesus is knocking at your door. 05:45 There are issues sometimes for people who 05:48 consider themselves Christians 05:50 but yet they can't hear God's voice because 05:52 temperance, temperance for time, 05:55 temperance for finance 05:57 and temperance, believe it or not for appetite. 06:00 Some of have issues with evil tempers. 06:04 Some of you might even have issues 06:07 with a brother or sister in your church. 06:09 Yeah, one of those 'saints. ' 06:10 One of those people you grow to love 06:12 but sometimes you have bad attitudes towards them. 06:16 Or you can't even sit in the same pew with them. 06:19 Or if you see them coming down towards you at church you 06:22 detour and go the other way to avoid them. 06:24 Jesus is knocking. 06:27 He's asking for you, in light of that brother or sister 06:31 to wash each other's feet in humility one weekend. 06:35 There's a quote from Ellen White 06:38 She writes in, 'Testimonies to the Church, volume 1 ' 06:42 page 143, she says this: 07:19 My question is this, "Do we let Him in? " 07:23 Or better still, "Can you let him in? " 07:26 You understand, I'm paraphrasing from 'Desire of Ages' 07:32 'With every knock unanswered ' 07:34 The desire for us to be able to open the door 07:37 as Jesus is standing there becomes weaker. 07:40 The voice of the Holy Spirit 07:42 if ignored today will not be as strong tomorrow. 07:46 And with each passing day that 07:48 seemingly loud knock will continue to diminish 07:52 and grow quieter and quieter. 07:54 There is another quote that is given 07:56 by Ellen White, it's taken from 07:59 LS 160, and she writes here: 08:50 Jesus is there 08:52 Once again, "Knock, Knock. " 08:54 "Who's there? " 08:56 "Jesus " 08:58 "Jesus who? " 08:59 Jesus is standing there at the door. 09:02 He is waiting to come in. 09:03 He is wanting to come in! 09:06 He's being very patient. 09:08 And He promises us if we allow Him to come in 09:14 there are things He can do for us 09:16 that we cannot do ourselves. 09:18 We are promised this in 2 Chronicles 7:14 09:43 Jesus is standing there friend. 09:45 He is standing at your door. He's wanting to come in. 09:49 No matter where you are, no matter what country you're in 09:52 You might be in a room in Las Vegas. 09:55 You might be in a hut in Africa. 09:58 Jesus is knocking at your door. 10:01 He's asking you permission if He can come in. 10:04 He will not help himself to come in. 10:07 That's what Love is all about. 10:10 He loves you so much, He will not intrude into your life 10:13 if you want to live your life the way you want to live. 10:16 But He simply stands there patiently waiting. 10:19 Will you let Him in? 10:21 Will you go to the door? 10:23 Will you open it? 10:25 We find the very famous verse in the Bible 10:28 many people know, John 3:16 10:30 Why does He stand there and knock? 10:32 Well, Jesus stands there and knocks for a very good reason. 10:35 He says this in John 3:16 10:50 You see friend, Jesus loves you so much 10:53 His Father sent Him so he could die on the cross for you! 10:57 He patiently waits for you. 10:59 He will not walk in Himself. 11:02 In fact the door is quite interesting. 11:04 If we look at the structure of the door 11:07 The door doesn't actually have a knob or handle on the outside. 11:11 That's why he waits. 11:13 He cannot enter in. 11:15 You are the only one who has access to that door. 11:17 And the door knob is only located on the inside. 11:21 There's an interesting text that I find 11:25 It's found in 'Messages to Young People' 11:28 I don't have it setup on the script for you 11:31 but I wanted to read this to you 11:32 because it's very interesting, it says, 11:33 "Satan knows to a great degree " 11:35 "the mind that is affected by that upon which it feeds. " 11:39 "He is seeking to lead both the youth and those of mature age " 11:43 "to read story books, tales and other literature. " 11:47 "The reader of such books becomes so " 11:49 "unfitted for the duties lying before them " 11:52 "They live in an unreal life " 11:54 "and have no desire to search the Scriptures " 11:56 "to feed upon the heavenly manna. " 11:58 The big craze that is happening nowadays 12:00 is the Harry Potter series. 12:01 People are so enthralled with Harry Potter. 12:05 In fact, young people are so mesmerized by it 12:08 That parents cannot even get them to watch TV 12:11 because they're reading so much of these books. 12:14 Jesus is standing, He's knocking at the door. 12:18 "Knock, knock. " "Who's there? " 12:22 We find a parallel to Revelation 3:20 12:26 also found in Song of Solomon, chapter 5. 12:30 And in this particular passage 12:31 it's interesting because it parallels 12:34 from the standpoint that Jesus is 12:35 standing there at the door knocking. 12:37 And its referring to Jesus, as a groom standing at the door 12:42 with the bride, the church, us, inside. 12:46 And here's what it says, 13:47 The same scenario here. 13:49 The bride is inside, the groom is knocking. 13:53 He's wanting to gain access, to enter in. 13:57 But the bride delays. She waits. 14:01 When she finally wakes up 14:04 and realizes she should open the door 14:06 she goes, she looks through the doorway 14:09 and Jesus is not there. 14:11 Why did He leave? 14:14 He will only knock so long. 14:16 And like with other villages in Matthew 14:21 He will leave, dusting off his sandals. 14:24 Friends, don't let Jesus leave. 14:27 You hear the knock. Answer the door. 14:30 Because you know who it is who's knocking there. 14:33 Remember, in this particular passage 14:37 that we find in Revelation 3 14:40 Jesus is knocking at the door. 14:42 He is knocking and He is wanting 14:44 to gain access. 14:46 But which church is this referring to? 14:50 Well it's very interesting that we find 14:52 that the church in Revelation 3:20 14:55 is the church of Laodicea. 14:57 It is the lukewarm church. 14:58 Now I find it very interesting since it is a lukewarm church 15:02 they're neither hot nor cold is what it says. 15:05 Let's read that. Revelation 3:16 15:18 Friends, Jesus doesn't like lukewarmness. 15:21 Although it's a comfortable temperature 15:23 That's the problem with it. 15:25 We get so comfortable in our Laodicean state 15:29 that we don't need anything. 15:32 Some of you who live in more modern civilizations 15:37 you have refrigerators. 15:38 When you open a refrigerator and you have all the food 15:41 you could possibly need for a week 15:43 is all located in there 15:45 there's no need to pray. 15:47 For those of you who don't live 15:49 in that type of society 15:51 you know what it's like to have to pray for your meal. 15:54 And know that when that meal is given to you 15:57 you know that God has provided that meal for you. 16:00 That's why you can say it with more passion when you pray. 16:03 Jesus is asking us here 16:06 don't be lukewarm. 16:08 Be hot! Don't be cold. 16:11 There's nothing worse than 16:14 a lukewarm Christian do you know that? 16:15 A Christian who has one foot in the world 16:17 and one foot in the church. 16:19 You gotta be totally miserable! 16:21 You can't enjoy the peace and joy that God has given you 16:25 in His kingdom because you feel guilty about sin. 16:28 But then on the other hand 16:30 you can't have a good time sinning either 16:33 because you know it's wrong. 16:35 Such Christians are useless spiritually. 16:38 Jesus tells them to choose whom they are going to serve. 16:42 Stop playing games. 16:44 He's standing there. He's knocking. 16:47 And He's wanting to be the Lord of your life. 16:50 Will you answer? 16:53 Let's go back. 16:55 "Knock, knock. " "Who's there? " 16:58 "Jesus. " He wants to come in. 17:02 The handle. He's waiting for the handle. 17:05 He's wanting to know if you will 17:07 reach for the handle and let Him in. 17:09 There's a call from Joshua 17:13 Joshua in his final remarks to the children of Israel. 17:18 He is getting ready to hang it up, I guess you could say. 17:21 To retire, to let another leadership take over. 17:24 And Joshua says in Joshua 24:14-15, 17:30 he's talking to the people there. 17:33 And this is what he says: 18:15 Joshua gave it in his final farewell address 18:21 to the children of Israel. 18:23 He pleaded with them. 18:24 Choose! Will you serve the gods you served before, 18:29 before we crossed over? 18:31 Or are you going to serve the gods of this land? 18:35 The gods of the Amorites. 18:38 But he said unequivocally, without a shadow of doubt, 18:41 he says, "But as for me and my house " 18:44 "we will serve the Lord. " 18:45 He didn't care what other people thought. 18:47 You should not care what other people think. 18:51 We need to serve the Lord and serve Him only. 18:55 You see, when Joshua asked the people 18:58 to make a choice about whom they should serve 19:00 they said far be it from us that 19:03 we should forsake the Lord. 19:04 In the same way there are people 19:06 who make a dramatic profession of faith in Jesus Christ 19:10 They ask Jesus into their lives. 19:12 And they are high as a kite with joy for their salvation. 19:16 However, not many of these people stay in the same game. 19:21 They may be attracted to somebody of the opposite sex. 19:25 And they may get involved in a relationship that they shouldn't 19:29 They may have developed an interest in a sport, 19:32 or hobby or perhaps it is a job that takes them away. 19:36 It takes away and it robs their time with God. 19:41 Although there is nothing specifically wrong with 19:44 other interests and pursuits 19:46 when you start replacing God as the Lord of your life 19:50 with other things, You have forsaken Him. 19:54 God calls you and me, He calls all His believers 20:00 to make a choice. 20:01 Joshua offered all the children of Israel a choice, 20:04 'Serve the other false Gods, or serve the Lord. ' 20:08 Everyone must make a choice. 20:12 Joshua called the people to make such a choice 20:14 He demonstrated the right choice by saying to them, 20:17 "As for me and my house we will serve the Lord. " 20:20 He didn't care what other people thought either. 20:24 He only cared what God thought. 20:26 is it clear that truly following God 20:30 requires us to make a choice. 20:31 The children of Israel were called upon to reject 20:35 the false Gods of their past 20:37 and to serve the living God. 20:38 We nowadays are being called also to make a choice. 20:42 In the life that we live right now 20:46 Some of us cannot hear his voice. 20:48 We cannot hear the knock. We have so many distractions. 20:52 There's the TV, there are movies, there's mp3 players 20:57 there's radio, there are needs. 21:00 There are people that are begging us to 21:03 wear this, dress this way, look this way. 21:06 How can we possibly hear God amidst all that noise? 21:11 Sometimes technology is supposed to make life easier for us. 21:15 In fact, it actually makes life more difficult for us because 21:17 it takes more of our time. 21:19 Jesus is standing there. 21:21 It has not changed. 21:23 He stands there, He knocks. 21:26 And He asks, "Who will you serve? " 21:30 "I would like, obviously, for you to serve Me, " He says. 21:32 But you need to choose for yourself. 21:35 And whatever you choose, choose wisely. 21:39 There's a quote I came across. 21:43 It's found in 'Signs of the Times. ' 21:45 And it says this: 21:47 "The prince of the powers of darkness " 21:51 "is playing a game of life for the soul. " 21:55 "He is working with every device that he can invent " 21:59 "with all deceivableness of all unrighteousness " 22:01 "to separate man from God. " 22:04 "The lust of the flesh, the pride of life " 22:07 "the vanities of this world have taken " 22:09 "possession of the soul temple and no room is left for Jesus. " 22:14 It's interesting. 22:18 Satan's working in these last days. 22:20 And he is working so hard to try 22:23 and deceive us in every way possible. 22:26 If you think about some of the things that 22:29 he has got you wrapped around with. 22:31 And he's got your time all sucked up so 22:34 that you don't have time for Jesus. 22:36 Sometimes we hit the ground running 22:38 first thing in the morning and we're off. 22:41 Jesus is calling us. 22:43 Spend time with Him each and every day. 22:46 Open the door of your heart; will you let Him in? 22:49 You have to understand that sometimes 22:53 we don't want to let Jesus in. 22:55 Sometimes we feel that we've got so much junk. 22:59 We have so much stuff in the house. 23:01 And because we have so much stuff in the house 23:03 we have to clean up before we can let Jesus in. 23:07 But friends you have to understand. 23:10 Jesus is the best housekeeper there is. 23:16 There is no way that you'll be able to clean up your house. 23:19 There's no way that you can do it by yourself. 23:21 Only Jesus can help you. 23:23 Move the things away from the door. 23:27 Let him in. 23:29 Once you let Him in He can take care of the anger. 23:32 He can take care of the eating disorders, 23:35 the pornography, the evil tempers, 23:37 the problems with appetite. 23:40 He can take care of all those problems. 23:42 Whatever issue you have, believe me, 23:45 There is no issue big enough 23:48 that Jesus cannot handle. 23:50 He's wanting to be there. 23:52 He's wanting to be the Lord of your life. 23:54 He's wanting to come in. 23:57 There's a passage that is given 24:00 it's found in the 'Review and Herald' 24:01 November 2nd, 1886: 24:42 Friends, Jesus has allowed you to be prosperous. 24:48 He's testing you through that prosperity. 24:52 He's wanting to know who it is that you will serve. 24:55 He's standing there knocking. 24:58 I came across a quotation 25:01 once again from the 'Thoughts from the Mount of Blessings. ' 25:04 And it is a very strong quote for us today. 25:08 Many of us have problems and we think that 25:11 we can overcome these problems by ourselves. 25:13 Maybe we can go see a psychologist 25:15 or even a psychiatrist for help. 25:17 But we don't realize the actual help 25:21 is right here. 25:22 It's right here in the Bible. 25:23 And it's available to us free of charge each and every day. 25:30 Mrs. E.G. White writes this 25:33 " If you will seek the Lord " 25:34 "and be converted every day, " 25:37 "if you will of your own free choice " 25:40 "be joyous and free in God " 25:42 "if with gladsome consent of heart to His gracious call " 25:46 "you come wearing the yoke of Christ " 25:49 "the yoke of obedience and service " 25:52 "all your murmurings will be stilled. " 25:56 "All your difficulties will be removed. " 25:59 "All the perplexing problems that now confront you " 26:02 "will be solved. " 26:04 That is a promise that has been given to me and you. 26:08 Seek the Lord while He may be found. 26:12 Everything that you are dealing with now 26:15 Everything He can help you with. 26:18 If you've lost your house 26:20 If you've lost a mother, a father, a brother, a sister 26:23 a son or a daughter 26:25 He knows your pain. 26:27 He's been there. 26:28 He was absent from His Father, 26:31 He died on the cross. 26:33 He endured the sins of this world 26:36 He took then to the cross because He loves you! 26:40 And friend, He promised us, if you let him in 26:45 He will come again. 26:48 We are assured that in John. 26:50 John tells us, He has gone to prepare a place for us. 26:54 And if He's gone to prepare a place for us 26:56 He will come again that where He is now we may be also. 27:01 The question I want to ask you one more time 27:05 "Knock, Knock. " "Who's there. " 27:09 "Jesus, come in. " 27:11 "Clean up my house. " 27:13 "Clean up my heart. " 27:15 Jesus is wanting to be there. 27:18 He wants to be the Lord of your life. 27:20 I want Him to be the Lord of my life. 27:22 How about you? 27:24 Let's pray... 27:27 Heavenly Father, we indeed need You. 27:31 Amidst all the stuff, all the noise of this world, 27:35 Oh Lord, we need You to clean up our house for us. 27:38 We need you to clean up our hearts. 27:40 Lord we want you to enter into our hearts 27:43 Cleanse our hearts from all unrighteousness. 27:45 Make our hearts pure. 27:48 Because we're promised if they're pure we will see you. 27:51 Thank you in Jesus Name, Amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17