THE DOOR
John 10:9
9) I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
What is a door? When we think of a door, we usually think of the opening in which you enter or exit a room. But. it’s not, the opening in a wall is the doorway, not the door.
Webster’s dictionary defines a door as:
A moveable structure for opening and closing the entrance to a building or room.
A door has two functions - it opens and it closes.
Jesus is the door to Heaven, He is the one who allows believers in.
No man can enter into Heaven unless he enters through the door. You will not get into Heaven by slipping in through a window, you will not get into Heaven by climbing the back gate, and Heaven does not have a back door. There is only one door that will allow entrance into Heaven and that door is Jesus Christ. He and he alone will allow entrance.
AND.....
Jesus is also the door that will keep sinners out of Heaven.
You see a door has two purposes, it opens and it closes.
Jesus will open the door to Heaven for born again, blood washed, saved by grace Christians... and He will close the door to paradise for those who have refused Him.
The idea among a lot of church members is that all you have to do is live a good life and you get into Heaven. But that is lie straight out of hell, living a good life will not get you into heaven, you can live as good as humanly possible and still die and split hell wide open. The Bible teaches us that all of our righteousness is as filthy rags in the sight of God, and nothing unrighteous or unclean will enter into the kingdom of Heaven. Heave is a place of perfection and Christ will not allow sin to enter into that holy place and defile it. If only one sinner was allowed to somehow sneak into Heaven it would no longer be perfect, and Christ’s death on the cross would have been in vain. So you see, Jesus Christ Himself will see to it that nothing unclean or sinful will enter into that holy city. The only ones He will open the door to Heaven to will be those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Now the question is does Jesus actually send souls to Hell? NO, He doesn‘t . Jesus has never sent anyone to Hell nor will He ever send anyone. He gave His life on Calvary to keep you from going to Hell, and if you die and go to hell it will be because you chose to go. In the gospel of Luke we can see the account of the rich man who died and went to hell,
Luke 16:22-23
22) And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23) And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Notice in vs 23 it says that he lifted up his eyes being in torments, not torment, but torments, plural, more than one torment. Some of the torments of hell are the flames, the darkness, the pain, the thirst, but you’ll also have your memory in Hell.
Luke 16:25
25) But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
You’ll remember every time that you rejected the call of the Holy Spirit, every time you sat in a church and basically told Christ that His death was in vain, you’ll remember every altar call you sat through. You’ll also be tormented by the realization that you will be in hell for all eternity only to come out one time, the Bible says that you will be judged, bound and cast into the lake of fire. Hell will be a place of eternal pain, the Bible says that there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, do you realize what it means by gnashing of teeth? It means that you’ll clench your teeth so tightly that they will break. That is some real intense pain, and it will never end. And all the while you’ll remember that Jesus Christ gave His life to provide you a way to avoid Hell and you refused His gift Salvation and chose to burn in Hell. The door to heaven can open for you or it can close to you, the choice is yours. But it’s a choice you have to make now.
For today is the day of Salvation, Choose ye this day whom ye will serve, but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.
Jesus said: I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved,
Notice He said “ I am THE door” not a door, Jesus is not a door into Heaven, He is the one and only door into heaven. Anyone who attempts to enter Heaven by any other means is a thief and a robber.
So you see no one can get into Heaven by their own merits, it doesn’t matter how good you live, it doesn’t matter how many times you are baptized, it doesn’t matter how many churches you join. All of those doors will not get you into heaven, Jesus Christ is the only door into Heaven.
There are many false religions out there today that teach it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you are sincere in your beliefs. Basically they are teaching that there are many doors to choose from, but once again, there is but one door and that door is Jesus Christ. When Adam sinned God shut the door to paradise, and when Jesus walked out of that tomb He reopened it.
There are many religions, but only one Salvation.
There are many churches, but only one true church.
There are many ways, but only one way to Heaven.
Jesus said I am the way... No man cometh to the Father, but by Me.
Salvation from sin, salvation from hell is a gift from God, and the only way to receive that gift is to walk through the door and accept it. It‘s not a free gift, it is a very expensive gift. There’s not a person in this room that can afford it’s price. For we all were born into a world of sin, we all were born sinners and the wages of sin is death.
But the good news is the price has already been paid, it was paid over 2000 years ago on a hill far, far away stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame. Jesus Christ freely gave His life on that cross to become the door to heaven, He has given you the choice of where you will spend eternity, in Heaven or in Hell, the choice is yours. You’re going to live for all eternity, the only choice is where’s it going to be, smoking or non - smoking?
