In verse 20 the Lord also said that, after He comes in to him who opens the door, He will dine with him and he with Him. According to the Greek, the word dine signifies the principal meal of the day at evening. To dine is not merely to eat one item of food, but to partake of the riches of a meal. This may imply the fulfillment of the type of the children of Israel eating the rich produce of the good land of Canaan (Josh. 5:10-12). The dining promised here is not only for the future but also for today. If you are an overcomer, when the Lord comes in the kingdom, you will have the special privilege of eating with Him. Before that day, however, you may enjoy His dining with you.
Many Christians borrow verse 20 for preaching the gospel in an inadequate way. They tell the sinners that Christ is knocking at the door of their heart and that if they open the door, He will come in. This is all they say. Have you ever heard a message telling you that, if you open the door, Christ will come in to you and dine with you?
If we have an overall view of the seven epistles in Revelation 2 and 3, we shall see that the Lord exalts the eating of Himself, the taking in of Himself as our life supply, that we may grow, be transformed, and be the same as He is. This is absolutely a matter of eating Jesus as the tree of life, the manna, and as the biggest meal of the day. As the Lord exalts the eating of Himself, He simultaneously repudiates four kinds of teaching: the teaching of Balaam (2:14), the teaching of the Nicolaitans (2:15), the teaching of Jezebel (2:20), and the teaching of the depths of Satan (2:24). If you do not have the ability to discern counterfeit currency from genuine currency, it is better not to accept any currency at all; rather, accept only genuine gold. Likewise, it is better not to accept teachings, but only to take the living Christ.
In the Old Testament, we see three stages of the eating of Christ: the tree of life in the garden, the manna in the wilderness, and the rich produce of the good land. We have been in these stages. We were created in the garden. Then, due to the fall, we found ourselves in Egypt. After we were saved, we made our exodus out of the world and were on our way to meet the Lord. As we were journeying to meet the Lord, we were in the wilderness where there was manna. Recall that the promise of the hidden manna is given to the overcomers in the worldly church, indicating that Pergamos had returned to Egypt. Manna was not available in Egypt; it was only in the wilderness, and the hidden manna was only found within the Holy of Holies. The church in Pergamos became a worldly church, a church in Egypt where there was no manna. If we would eat manna, whether open or hidden manna, we must come out of Egypt. We must escape from that place where Satan dwells and where his throne is and go out into the wilderness where we may firstly eat the open manna and then come forward into the Holy of Holies and dive into the ark to eat the hidden manna. It seems that eventually the seven epistles bring us into the good land, which is Christ. Here, in the good land, we feast on Christ. During the yearly feasts, the children of Israel feasted with God and God feasted with them. This may be a type of the promise to the overcomer in Laodicea. The Lord’s promise to dine with whomever opened to Him may imply the thought of enjoying the rich produce of the good land of Canaan during the annual feasts. Hence, the epistle to the church in Ephesus refers to the eating of the tree of life, the epistle to the church in Pergamos points to the eating of the hidden manna outside of the world, and the epistle to the church in Laodicea alludes to the enjoyment of the rich produce of the good land of Canaan at the time of the yearly feasts. Whenever the Israelites had a feast, they ate with God, offering what they were eating to God and letting God eat with them. In like manner, the Lord says that He will dine with us and that we shall dine with Him. If we have this overview, then we shall know what we must emphasize today. We are not for teachings—we are for the full enjoyment of Christ as the tree of life, as the manna, and as the rich produce of the good land.
In verse 21 the Lord said, “He who overcomes, to him I will give to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” To sit with the Lord on His throne will be a prize to the overcomer that he may participate in the Lord’s authority in the coming millennial kingdom. This means that the overcomers will be co-kings with Christ ruling over the whole earth. Once again I say that, strictly speaking, all the promises in these seven epistles concern the coming kingdom. Any negative word regarding loss or suffering refers to a loss during the coming kingdom, and any positive word regarding gain or enjoyment refers to the enjoyment of Christ as our special portion during the age of the kingdom. We must have the insight to understand these promises in a proper way. Nevertheless, in principle, these promises may also be applied today and we may pre-taste them now. There is no need to wait until we enter into the kingdom age to enjoy all these special portions. Today in the church life we are privileged to enjoy the kingdom. Praise the Lord for the church life!
The lukewarm church is filled with cooling knowledge, but lacks the burning Spirit. She desperately needs the speaking of the living Spirit; she no longer needs dead knowledge. If she forgets all her dead knowledge and listens to the speaking of the living Spirit, she will be delivered from her degraded condition.
As we have seen, the seven churches not only signify prophetically the progress of the church in seven ages, but also symbolize the seven kinds of churches in church history: the initial church, the suffering church, the worldly church, the apostate church, the reformed church, the recovered church, and the degraded recovered church. The initial church had its continuation in the suffering church; the suffering church turned into the worldly church; and the worldly church became the apostate church. Hence, the first four churches eventually issued in one kind of church, that is, the apostate church, the Roman Catholic Church. Then, as a reaction to the apostate church, the reformed church came into existence as another kind of church, a church not fully recovered. Following this, the recovered church was raised up as a full recovery of the proper church life. This may be considered the third kind of church. By the degradation of the recovered church, the degraded recovered church came into being. This may be counted as the fourth kind of church. All these four kinds of churches will remain until the Lord comes back. Undoubtedly, only the recovered church can fulfill God’s eternal purpose, and only she is what the Lord is after. We must take the Lord’s choice.