A Study of the Book of John
“That You May Believe”
Sermon # 28
“Jesus Is The Door”
John 10:7-10
In John chapter ten Jesus makes two “I AM” Statements in which He clearly states for the people in general and the Pharisees in particular what a “true” Good Shepherd should look like. He states that “I AM The Door of the Sheep” (v. 10) and “I AM the Good Shepherd” (v.11). This morning we want to just examine his statement that He is the door of the sheep, and leave the examin-ation of the Good Shepherd for next week.
“Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. (8) All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. (9) I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. (10) The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
You may remember early in chapter nine when the blind man was confronted by Jesus Christ, that Christ became the deciding factor and the turning point in the blind man’s life. In the process of being healed the blind man believed and worshiped Jesus Christ. He had discovered that Jesus Christ was the doorway into eternal life.
Jesus begins his conversation with the solemn words “most assuredly” or “truly truly” or “verily verily” in KJV which emphasizes what he is about to say is really serious.
Today some two thousand years after Jesus delivered the words in John chapter 10 they still as hard for some to accept as his original audience. The message of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone was hard for them too.
When Jesus heard that the rulers of the temple had kicked the blind man out of the temple because he would not denounce Jesus, Jesus came to him. And this is where the story picks up in Chapter ten. Jesus now stood with the former blind man who had been driven from one fold and received him into another.
I what to share with you today three truths…
First, He Presents An Exclusive Claim (10:7) “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.”
The whole point of this story is that there are two kinds of sheepfolds – the first type was large enough to hold several flocks, it was fairly substantially built, and was cared for by a porter or gate keeper. The second kind was often little more than a rough circle of stone and the shepherd himself lay down across he opening and entrance into the sheepfold. The shepherd was the door. No sheep could get out and no enemy could come in except over his body. In a very literal sense, the shepherd was the door. There was no way in or out except through him.
Exclusiveness of the Door
There is a certain exclusiveness about “the door.” In our world it is not politically correct to maintain that there is but one door into the kingdom of heaven. The world does not like these words of Jesus that say, “You must enter my way or say outside! You cannot just demand another door!”
Jesus is not suggesting the there are several doors to salvation and that he is but one of them. He says that he is “the” door. We are not to think of many ways of coming to God. Jesus is saying He is the one way, the door by which all the sheep enter.
There is only one door. There are many things that men may think are the door to the kingdom of heaven. But no matter what men may think religion is not that door. Baptism is not that door. Works is not that door.
This point is evident from the very nature of the sheepfold that Jesus had in mind if it had more than one door it would have been useless.
Verse eight says, “All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.” Jesus tells us that you can tell a lot about a man’s business by how the way he gets into such an enclosure as the sheepfold.
Some members of the congregation may not be aware of where my wife, Debbie and I live but we live just north of the church. We do not have a large place, just eight acres, but we do live on the edge of someone else’s much greater acreage. In fact the allure is pretty hard for some hunters to resist. Right at the bottom of the hill on which our house sits is the gate giving access to all of this vast property. Now I want to let you in on a little secret, if I come down the hill and someone is dismantling the gate or tearing down the fence I can generally conduced that they have not gained the property owners permission. By the same token Jesus is saying, if the man does not use the door, but climbs over the fence or the wall then he has no right to be there.
The church in every age has had to deal with those who try to crawl over the fence to take over the flock, claim to be the door or to be a guide to the door. In our day of confusion and absolute toleration we confront everything from the Unification Church of Rev Moon to New Age movement gurus; they are all false prophets promising life, but in the end bringing only death and destruction.
First, He Not Only Presents An Exclusive Claim but ….
Second, He Makes A Glorious Offer (v.9)
“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”
There is a problem in that we are separated from God by a wide chasm filled by our sin. The situation can be also be pictured as a wall or fence separating God and man. If there is no way over the wall then our only hope is for some way through the wall, in other words, a door.
As Hershel Ford says, “A Door is a direct contrast to a wall. It is hard to climb a wall. It is easy to go through a door. Anyone who wants to get to God doesn’t have to climb. He just takes a step. A preacher preached a sermon on the text, Him that cometh to me. I will in no wise case out,’ After the service a young woman said to him, ‘Is that all I have to do, just come to God through Christ?’ Just come as I am – just come this instant?’ ‘Yes.’ Answered the preacher. The young woman fell on her knees and said, ‘Lord I do come. I accept You promise to take me.’ The joy of salvation flooded her soul and later on she said, ‘For years I have been stumbling because I didn’t know how simple it was. I didn’t know that you just had to come to God through Christ.” [W. Hershel Ford. Sermons You Can Preach On John. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1958) pp. 216-217]
But a door is only a helpful thing if it is used. The second part of that verse says, “if any one enters….” Christ forces no one to enter.
What wonderful things await you on the other side of that door! It will open to any one who will turn their back on their sins and walk in. And oh what marvelous things await you on the other side of that door. Can you say, “Christ is my Savior!” The word “my” expresses a beautiful relationship. “My wife” sets her apart from all other women. “My child” what wonderful sweetness in wrapped up in that phrase. But to be able to say “My Savior” surpasses them all. Is He your Savior today?
Your response Jesus Christ as the Door determines your eternal destiny!
Second, Not Only Does He Make A Glorious Offer but …
Third, He Extends Unsurpassed Benefits
(vv.9-10) “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. (10) The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
These verses offer a three-fold benefit package.
First, Jesus, says that anyone who enters will be saved. As we have already said Jesus is of course telling one how to be saved. But being saved is a lot like being married. When a young couple gets married, they have a wedding day that has a lot of excitement and celebration associated with it. Next Saturday, Chad and Laci, are going to have that kind of day of celebration when they get married. But that wedding day is not the last day! It is only the beginning. If that were the last day. It would be a sad story, if that were the last day. There were the case there would not be many couples signing up for weddings. But it is the days the follow that, which are bright and rich and full of promise as they live with each other and grow to know each other and love each other more deeply that make the wedding day so important. So is it is with salvation. When we get saved it is but the beginning. We now get to know the Lord better, we grow to know the Lord more intimately, we grow to love the Lord more deeply. That is what it means to be saved!
Secondly, Jesus promises that anyone who enters will be safe. He says that through Him we “..will go in and out..” He is not saying that we “go in and out” of salvation. But rather this is the old Hebrew way of describing life without fear. It represents security, liberty, and free activity.
Christian liberty is where you have a group of people all of whom believe alike on the plan of salvation but have the freedom to have differing convictions on matters of not having bearing on the fundamentals of the faith. Christian liberty means that we have the liberty to live under the Lordship of Christ with out being judged by other the standards of other Christians.
The story is told that Charles V that he was determined to compel all his subjects to adopt his way of thinking about religion. Thousands died rather than conform. Weary after a long reign, Charles abdicated his throne in 1556, and retired to a monastery, were he amused himself by trying to make a dozen clocks run absolutely together.
When he failed, he exclaimed, “How foolish I have been to think that I could make all men believe alike about religion when I cannot make two clocks run together.”
Third, He also promised that they would be satisfied. Through this door we find the bounty of His provision. This of course is the same thing that the Apostle Paul wrote of when he wrote and told the Philippian believers “But my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (4:19).
Conclusion
One cannot enter the fold through baptism, church membership, good works, or through human relationships. There is but one way to enter the fold; through repentance and receiving Jesus Christ as your Savior.
