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Jason Chislom
Disciple Makers Academy •Sugar Creek Church of Christ • March 18, 2011
The Hermeneutical topic at hand comes from the book of Revelation chapter three
and verse twenty. The question is, What is meant by the phrase, “I stand at the
door and knock”? My task is to briefly explain what this passage is trying to
As I began this hermeneutical journey, I first took a moment to pray to God for his
book to study. Secondly, I needed to understand a few key things so that I could
set the stage for my study and get a clear picture of what it is that is taking place
The who or who(s) in the case of this particular book would be The apostle John,
who was the Author of the book of Revelation and Jesus Christ who was speaking
in this particular passage. John writes this to the seven churches in asia and
Christ and give a message of warning and hope to believers everywhere. It is said
that John was writing the book of Revelation during a time of persecution for the
seven churches of asia by the Emperor Domitian. In the first three chapters Jesus
Jason Chislom
addresses the different churches of asia with a specific message for each. In the
passages preceding verse twenty, Christ begins to speak to the church of Laodicea.
He speaks of The Church being neither hot nor cold but lukewarm. Historical
studies show that Laodicea was known for it’s wealth and jesus tells them of their
position. Jesus implores the church at Laodicea to buy their gold from him and
anoint their eyes with salve so that they can see the light and truly be rich. This
references heavenly riches over earthly riches. Finally, the story moves into verse
twenty, where Jesus said “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.” In this verse as the Laodiceans are enjoying all of their earthly pleasures and
living without God, Jesus is knocking on the door of their hearts waiting for an
invitation to come in. The Laodiceans felt self -satisfied, but they did not have the
presence of Christ among them. This Scripture can certainly draw an even parallel
trappings of this world and begin to get complacent when it comes to Gods word.
Just like the Laodaceans, we become self-satisfied and self-serving Leaving God
powerful message to Christians then and now. That message is, that God is
secondly, all of the riches in the world have no comparison to the riches offered to
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