Supper with the Lord

"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." Revelation 3:20

This is the call of our Lord, Jesus Christ today. He said this in the context of talking to a lukewarm church who thought that they were "rich and had need of nothing." But yet, they were and are "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked". Revelation 3:17 It's a church as we have today. One man described this type of church perfectly several years ago and it fits directly with today.

Ye are neither heathens nor Christians-neither good nor evil-neither led away by false doctrine, nor thoroughly addicted to that which is true. In a word, they were listless and indifferent, and seemed to care little whether heathenism or Christianity prevailed. Though they felt little zeal either for the salvation of their own souls or that of others, yet they had such a general conviction of the truth and importance of Christianity, that they could not readily give it up. I would thou wert cold or hot¥ That is, ye should be decided; adopt some part or other, and be in earnest in your attachment to it. If ever the words of Mr. Erskine, in his Gospel Sonnets, were true, they were true of this Church:— 'To good and evil equal bent, I'm both a devil and a saint." They were too good to go to hell, too bad to go to heaven. Like Ephraim and Judah, Hosea 6:4: O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it passeth away. They had good dispositions which were captivated by evil ones, and they had evil dispositions which in their turn yielded to those that were good; and the Divine justice and mercy seem puzzled to know what to do to or with them. Adam Clark

This is why many works start out well but end in confusion while others start in a sense of confusion but seem to end up well. We are caught in this cycle and live in a day of lukewarmness. This is the reason that Jesus is now looking at individuals specifically and not to whole bodies of believers as he has before. Oh yes, I know salvation is an individual experience and always has been, but through the history of the church, God has raised up movements to accomplish his purposes. Now in these very last days, he is looking straight at us, you and I. This does not mean that we should stay out of the church as we know it. Definitely not! When studying the life of Christ, he always followed the protocol of that day so long as it did not involve sin. An example is when he healed the ten lepers and told them to "Go shew yourselves unto the priests." Luke 17:13 While he was the one that did the healing, he told them to go show themselves to the priest so the priest could give them their certificate of healing which allowed them to again circulate among society. See Luke 17:13-19 and Leviticus 13:2-3. But we can't look to the ills in the church and claim that as an excuse for not living for Christ or having fellowship with him or those in the church. However, God has many people and we are not the only ones. Be thankful for that. I will say that if the Bible is not being preached consistently in the church you are in, than you should go where it is preached and lived.

But after this, we must then look to the Lamb of God who wants to "sup" with us. The word "sup" means to have supper and when you partake of the evening meal with someone, you enjoy the tasty meal as well as conversation. When the meal is completed at the end of the day, if the meal was good and the company pleasant, you arise from your chair refreshed and uplifted. That is the communication that is needed with Christ. It is health for our body and soul. Unfortunately, most families now days don't even take the time to sit down in the evening to enjoy a meal and conversation together, much less take time with the Master. If you claim to be a believer, he wants your fellowship and your attention. You and I need his as well. Abide with him and he'll abide with you.