Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20050619.htm

CHRIST'S PROPHETIC MESSAGE TO CONTEMPORARY EVANGELICALS
Part IV: Christ's All-Sufficiency Offered To Wean Us From Evangelicalism's Two Factions To Himself
B. Christ's Great-Cross-Before-The-Crown Solution Detailed And Applied
3. Christ's Offer To Use The Effects Of Past Persecution By The Factions To Position Us For The Crown
a. Christ's Offer To Use Persecution's COST To Give "Fellowship" For Victory Over The Sin Nature
(Revelation 3:20)
  1. Introduction
    1. In offering His cross-before-the-crown solution to Evangelicals, Christ calls pastors ask Him to arrange for them to be persecuted by other Evangelicals so they will be weaned from Evangelicalism's corruption.
    2. Yet, being thus weaned is COSTLY in terms of job security, for it pulls pastors away from the shelter of the Evangelical establishment itself , and THAT tempts them to sin in unbelief re: God's material supply!
    3. Rev. 3:20 resumes with Christ's solution to this trial for pastors weaned from BOTH Evangelical wings:
  2. Christ's Offer To Use Persecution's COST To Give "Fellowship" For Victory Over The Sin Nature.
    1. As a pastor heeds Christ's offer in Rev. 3:18-19 to let persecution trials arise from both Calvinist and Arminian wings of Evangelicalism to yield for him faith in God (gold), preservation in ministry holiness (white garments) and spiritual insight (eyesalve), three of his five needs named in Rev. 3:17 are thus met.
    2. We also learned in Part III, B, 2, a of our series that the word, "wretched" (KJV) critiques both Calvinist and Arminian views of depravity, an error that has led many Evangelicals to live via their sin natures.
    3. Well, in Rev. 3:20a, Christ tells how He meets the fourth (Rev. 3:17) need -- victory over the sin nature:
      1. Christ's words, "Behold! I stand at the door . . . " point to the only other N. T. passage where He does this, to James 5:1-9 (Moul. & Ged., Con. to the Grk. Test., p. 469-471); there a laborer's pay is wrongly withheld by his employer, so he is tempted by his sin nature to murmur versus wait on God to judge!
      2. That passage's broad context (James 4:13-17) tells us NOT to get another job apart from God's will!
      3. The phrase, "at the door" uses the prep. epi ("on") to refer to Christ's immanent arrival elsewhere in the N. T. only at Matt. 24:33 and Mk. 13:29; there, as one SEES prophecy being fulfilled in the arrival of the Tribulation era trials he experiences, GOD expects him to keep doing His will in VIEW of this INSIGHT and REGARDLESS OF the TRIALS until Christ returns and rewards him, Ibid., p. 464.
      4. The words, "and knock" recall Lk. 12:36, the only other N. T. verse where a superior knocks to gain entry from subordinates, Ibid., p. 563. That verse's context shows we must note our accountability to God and wait for Him to meet our material needs versus faithlessly vying against others for it.
      5. Christ's call of " . . . hear My voice" recalls Heb. 3:15-4:7 that cites Ps. 95:11 (Ryr. St. Bib., KJV, ftn. to Heb. 3:7-11); both passages call us to cease our own works and to heed and trust God instead!
      6. The section with the words, " . . . If any man (or, "he that") [ean tis] . . . I will come in . . ." allude to John 14:23 (U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966 ed., p. 845, ftn.; p. 389); there Christ promises regular blessed involvement in one's life for exhibiting love for Christ through heeding His Word!
      7. As a pastor heeds Rev. 3:18-19 and stands against the Evangelical establishment's errors, some in the church still holding to such errors oppose his stands and leave, threatening his salary; well, since this pastor critiques the Evangelical establishment's errors, he can not look to that establishment for a job, so he is tempted to press his hearers to give more or take another job or even leave the pastorate!
      8. Yet, if he notices this crisis was prophetically predicted in Rev. 3:17-19, 20a and so looks to Christ in faith for His intervention in it, Jesus offers to solve it in a wonderful way as follows (Rev. 3:20b):
        1. Re: "dining" (deipneo), only at Rev. 19:9, 17-18 in the book of the Revelation is even a derivative of deipneo found -- the noun, deipnon; it is used of Christ's dining. As He there speaks a word, Christ's foes fall and His (bird) guests dine on the fallen. Some who fall are those who left doing good works to join antichrist, Rev. 16:12-16; 19:8, Arndt & Ging., Grk.-Eng. Lex. of N.T., p. 172!
        2. Thus, (a) if a pastor in this crisis trusts Christ, (b) Christ marvelously leads him in his ministry of the Word to dismantle errant Evangelicalism and its ecumenical associates so he can "feed" both his own soul and those of his hearers, and Christ will vicariously "sup" through his hearers on this information, John 14:21, 23; Acts 9:4]! (c) Christ then materially equips and motivates receptive hearers (Jn. 10:27) to meet this pastor's material needs so he can "sup" with Christ (1 Cor. 9:14)!
Lesson: May we ALL heed and trust Christ that HE may meet all of our spiritual and material needs!