We possess the mysterious and awful power of shutting God out of these
hearts. And faith, which in one aspect is our means of entrance into
the Kingdom of God, is, in another, the means of God's entrance into
us. The Psalm, which invokes the divine presence in the Temple, calls
on the 'everlasting doors' to be 'lifted up,' and promises that then
'the King of Glory will come in.' And the voice of the ascended Christ,
the King of Glory, knocking at the closed door, calls on us with our
own hands to open the door, and promises that He 'will come in.'
Paul prayed for the Ephesian Christians 'that Christ may dwell in your
hearts through faith,' and there is no other way by which His
indwelling is possible. Faith is not constituted the condition of that
divine indwelling by any arbitrary appointment, as a sovereign might
determine that he would enter a city by a certain route, chosen without
any special reason from amongst many, but in the nature of things it is
necessary that trust, and love which follows trust, and longing which
follows love should be active in a soul if Christ is to enter in and
abide there.