I'm gonna ask you to take your
Bibles and turn with me to the gospel according to John. John
chapter 10. I had prepared a message out
of Proverbs. I just feel that this is where
I need to go today. John chapter 10. I wanna read the first three
verses of John chapter 10, then I'm gonna go back and look at
a few verses in chapter nine. I've entitled this message, The
Door of the Sheep, The Door of the Sheep. In John chapter 10,
verse one, two, three, the Lord said, verily, verily, I say unto
you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold,
but climbeth up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the
door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and
the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name.
and leadeth them out. Now, our Lord, in chapter nine
of John, the scripture says, I wanna read the first seven
verses of John nine. And as Jesus passed by, he saw
a man which was blind from his birth. Now, immediately I just,
I read that and I think, okay, now here's a man blind from his
birth, spiritually speaking. Let's just get the picture here.
The Lord passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin,
this man or his parents, that he was born blind? And Jesus
answered, neither hath this man sin, nor his parents, but that
the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work
the works of him that sent me. While it is day, the night cometh
when no man can work. As long as I'm in the world,
I am the light of the world. When he had thus spoken, he spat
on the ground and made clay of the spittle. And he anointed
the eyes of the blind man with the clay and said unto him, go
wash in the pool of Siloam, which is by interpretation, scent.
He went his way, therefore, and washed, and came seeing. Now here's a man born blind. And the Lord passed by, the Lord
saw him, and the Lord was pleased to heal this man. The Lord, the
scripture said, he spit, he spit on the ground, he made some clay,
He put it on this man's eyes. He told him, he said, you go
wash in the pool of Siloam, which by interpretation is scent. And
the man did it. And he came seeing. There the Lord set forth in picture
and type. He made some mud. He spit on the ground, made some
spittle, stuck it in the man's. I might say that's repulsive. That's just something that you
would reject. That's despised. There's a picture
of our Lord's humanity. He that was sent. And that's
how that man saw, by the grace of God. He saw. Now, the remainder
of this chapter nine, the Lord is talking to some Pharisees. about how this man was healed,
and the man's response about him being healed. In verse 10
of chapter 9, it said, these Pharisees asked him, some people
saw him, and they said, therefore said they unto him, how were
thine eyes opened? How did he do that? And then
at 15, then again, the Pharisees also ask him how he had received
his sight. And he said unto them, he put
clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see. This is how he did
it. He spit on the ground, he put
the spittle on my eyes, and I went and washed and pulled the spittle
on, and now I can see. And then it says in verse 19,
and they ask him saying, Concerning this man's parents, is this your
son, who you say was born blind? How then doth he see? How does he do this? Verse 26, and they said to him
again, what did he to thee? How opened he thine eye? Just over and over and over. How did he do that? The man said,
listen, I don't know how he did it. Other than to tell you, he
spit on the ground, he put it on my eyes, I watched and I could
see. Is this your son? Yeah, that's
my son. How did he see? Ask him, ask
him. Now the Lord, speaking to the
healed man, the man, He called him, healed him. The Lord said in John chapter
nine, in verse 39, the man in verse 38 had told the Lord, he
said, I believe you, I believe you. He worshiped him. In verse
39, and Jesus said unto this man that was healed of his blindness,
for judgment, I am come into this world. that they which see
not might see, and that they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which
were with him heard these words and said unto him, are we blind
also? Jesus said unto them, if you were blind, you should have
no sin, but now you say we see, therefore your sin remaineth.
Now, the Lord came into this world He said, I came into the
world for judgment. I'm coming to the world. He said,
I have come into this world to reveal God's choice. Judgment. I'm coming to this
world to reveal God's mercy and compassion to his people. That's why I've come. Now, the
Pharisees knew that the Lord made reference to them when he
was talking. Are we blind? Are you saying
that we're blind? He said, if you were blind, if
you knew by the grace of God of your spiritual blindness,
if you knew about that, if you knew that blindness, spiritual
blindness is from Adam's fault, then you should have no sin.
But now you say, we see. And he said, your sin remains. You don't see yourself as needy.
You don't see yourself needing salvation by the grace of God.
Now that conversation right there, it continued on into chapter
10. And the Lord now, I wanted to
bring us up to where we were in chapter 10 so we'd know what
was going on here. And the Lord said, verses one,
two, Verily, verily, amen, amen is speaking here. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold,
but climbeth up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber,
but he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. We've got to understand something.
The Lord is rebuking some Pharisees who had set themselves up as
being shepherds. They saw themselves as deliverers,
guides. They saw themselves as being
qualified leaders to be able to teach and to give instruction
concerning life, life eternal. And when this healed Blind, formerly
blind man stood, stood his ground by the grace of God and said
to these Pharisees, he said in verse 33 of chapter 9, he said,
if this man were not of God, he could do nothing. They answered
in verse 34 of chapter 9, they answered and said unto him, thou
wast altogether born in sin, and dost thou teach us? They
cast him out. Well, where do they think they
were born? Are you trying to instruct us? Do you realize who
we are? We're Pharisees. Qualified. We know what's going
on. Here they're saying to this blind,
formerly blind, I keep saying blind, formerly blind man, you
were born in every degree in sin. Now, the Lord is going to teach
them something concerning how God saves his people. Now, I want us to do something
this morning. I want us to just, let's just at least say we've
never heard anything about how God calls his people out of darkness,
spiritual darkness. Let's just say we've never heard
anything about it. And what I'd like to do this
morning in this message and the next one, I want to just listen
to what God has to say and let God be true and let every man
be a liar. All right, now here we are. Let's just say we're a blank
slate, just a white piece of paper. And I pray that God Almighty
be pleased to write something to our hearts and tell us something. and look at what God has to say. Now, the foundation, the Lord's
gonna use an illustration. He's gonna use an illustration
that they all are familiar with. He's gonna talk about a sheepfold. Now, in every village, there
was a sheepfold. And just common property. And at night, all the different
shepherds, they had their sheep, all these shepherds would lead
their sheep into this sheepfold. And all the flocks, they're just
out there running around, you know, they're just out there
grazing and stuff, and they're all mixed up. They'd leave them
in the care of a porter, a porter. Now this was somebody that was
hired to kind of stay at the door, had one way in, one way
out. And this porter would stand at
the door, and he would kind of guard. He would kind of, that
was his job. He's just gonna guard the door,
the opening. And his job was to protect the
sheep that's in there from wild animals, thieves, robbers, And
from allowing the sheep just to get out, he just didn't leave
the door just unguarded, he just, there was a porter, there was
a porter there. And in the morning, the different
shepherds, they would return, and the porter who saw them bringing
the sheep, the porter recognized who came in, and he was, he satisfied,
he'd allow the shepherds to go in, enter the sheepfold and go
through the door that they might call their sheep out and lead
their sheep out into pasture. And the sheep of each of the
shepherds, they heard and followed their shepherd. Now, to understand
what our Lord is saying spiritually to these Pharisees, He's talking
to them. If you notice, That chapter 10
just went right in from chapter nine. They were sitting there
questioning him. How'd you do this? Who are you? How'd he do this? Is that boy? And the Lord begins to teach
him. Now to understand that the Lord is gonna teach us something. He's talking to these Pharisees,
but he's talking to us. And when he speaks of this sheepfold
and shepherds leading the sheep. Now let's listen. Blank sheets
right here. This sheepfold, verily, verily,
I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold.
Now, here's my first question. What does this sheepfold right
here refer to? He that entereth not by the door
into the sheepfold. Well, I can tell you this, it
doesn't refer to heaven, because heaven is not entered in by thieves
and robbers. They don't get in that way. He
that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth
up some other way. Well, there's gonna be some,
some of these shepherds They get into this sheepfold, but
they get in some other way beside the door. So I know that. Doesn't
mean heaven. And I can tell you this, this
sheepfold does not refer to the church. Verse three, to him the porter
openeth, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own
sheep by name, and leadeth them out. So it's not talking about
the church. The Lord doesn't lead his sheep
out of the church. Body. The sheepfold, I looked
this up, now here we are now, and you can write this down on
your blank sheet of paper. That word sheepfold, right there,
41 times that word is used, and 41 times it means any four-footed
tame animal. That's what it means, sheepfold.
Look it up, that's what the word means, any. One time in scripture,
one time scripture right here, this word right here. It means
the courtyard. The yard. This word right here is a reference
to this, to this world. This word right here, verily,
verily, I say to you, he that entereth not by the door into
the courtyard. Now we're living in a world,
and it's got in this world, there's all kind. These shepherds would
come in at night, they'd all bring the sheep. How many came
in? I don't know, maybe hundreds
of them. I don't know how many's in there, and they're all mixed
up. Just sheep, sheep. There's people,
there's sheep that are found among the tares in this world.
There, it was actual sheep, but they belonged to somebody else.
They didn't all belong to the same person. And this sheepfold
contained all kinds of flock, just like the world does, but
found in the yard, in the courtyard. Look it up, that's what it means.
Strong's number 833, I remember the number. 833, courtyard. Found in the yard of this world. All mixed up. God has a people. God's got a flock. And he's gonna
rescue them out of the courtyard. They're in there. Now the scripture
says, he that entereth not. Look that word up now. For the purpose of being a deliverer,
he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth
up some other way, some other way, he that doesn't come the
lawful way by the door, the same as a thief and he's a robber,
there's one way in, that God's gonna come in and he's gonna
rescue his people, gonna deliver them. God's got a sheep fold. He's got a flock in this yard
that we're all living in. Here's a courtyard. And so this
place where they are, it's a common area. I'm living in, you are
too, in the same world. And in this world, I know according
to Revelation, Revelation 5. Every nation, kindred, tribe,
and tongue, God's people are all over this place. I know He's
got a people. He says He's got a people. He
chose them in Christ before the foundation. I know they're here,
I know it. But how are they going to be rescued? How are they going
to be led out of this yard? and into that place that Bear
just read about. He leadeth me beside the still
water. He leadeth me. How they gonna
get out? Well, our next question is this. Scripture says, he that entereth
not by the door. All right, there's a door, there's
something, there's only one way out of this sheepfold, out of
this courtyard. So what does the door and the
porter, what does that mean? I can tell you this, in that
sheepfold there with all the sheep were, humanly speaking,
that porter had to be satisfied before any of the sheep could
get out. Somebody just couldn't come up there and just say, I
tell you what, I'd like a couple of sheep if you don't mind. Oh,
we can go in there and get you a couple, uh-uh. No, sir. That
porter was gonna have to be satisfied. It was his job to keep guard
over those sheep. I'll tell you exactly what, spiritually
speaking, that this door and this porter refers to. The law
of God. The law of God. Almighty God
has got a people in this world. But do you know what's going
to have to happen before these sheep can be delivered? The law of God is going to have
to be satisfied. We've broken the law. In Adam's
transgression, we all failed. We failed in Adam. The scripture
says, Galatians 3.23, before faith came, we were kept under
the law. Shut up! unto the faith which
should afterwards be revealed." We're not going to be rescued.
Something's going to have to happen. The law of God's going
to have to be satisfied because we're dead in trespassing and
sins. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
going to have to do something for us that we can't do. You
say, well, just exercise your free will. Adam already tried
that. And it didn't go well. Adam transgressed against God. And when Adam sinned against
God, all mankind died spiritually. And listen to me as you're writing
on your blank sheet. If you're dead, and I'm dead,
born dead in trespasses and sins, dead spiritually, you can't do
anything. Never makes sense to me. People
will say, now listen, I know the scripture says we're dead
and trespasses in all of sin and come short of the glory of
God, but all you've got to do, how are you gonna do that? You
can't do that. Why? Because you have no ability. Crown of your head, sole of your
foot. You're nothing but putrefying
sword. Me too, that's all we are. And the Lord's got a people
in this courtyard, and they're His. They were chosen in him
before the foundation of the world. He's always stood as their
surety. And he's going to rescue them.
What's he got to do? He that entereth not by the door
into the sheepfold, climbs up some other way. This law is going
to have to be satisfied. The porter, the door, is going
to have to be satisfied. or the sheep ain't coming out.
They're there until the Lord Jesus Christ fulfills God's law. No hope. We're in a courtyard
and we're here because the fiery law of God's truth and justice
demands obedience, demands righteousness before anybody. going to have
any hope. We could not get out. I just walk out the door. No,
you're not. No, you're not. Adam sinned against God. What
did God do? What did He do to Adam and Eve?
He put them out. Put them out of the garden. He
put cherubims there with a flaming sword to guard the way to the
tree of life. He said, I'll just do it. No,
you won't. that porter's gonna have to be satisfied. Verse two,
he, but he that entereth in by the door, he that satisfies that door,
he that satisfies that porter is the shepherd of the sheep. You know, to proclaim that one
can be delivered out of the courtyard of this world into the freedom
of God's pasture, Salvation. To climb in some other way. He
that says you can climb in some other way except the law of God
be satisfied. You're a thief. You're trying
to steal God's glory. You're a robber. You're making
merchandise of men's souls. You're lying to people. I'm telling
you right now. There's one way that there's
going to be any freedom, and it's going to be in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The scripture says, he that entereth
in by the door. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
this world. He was made of a woman. He was
made under the law. answerable to the law, answerable
to the law, answerable to the law, to redeem them that were
under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. What did he have to do? He had
to come and satisfy his own law as a man, the God-man, mediator. He did something. He did something. He satisfied God's demand for
obedience and righteousness. The Lord of glory entered into
this sheepfold. He entered into this courtyard,
the courtyard of this world. And by divine commission and
authority as God's prophet and God's priest and God's king,
and He came to fulfill all the righteousness obedience demanded
by God Almighty and His law for His people. It was by His perfect
life, His perfect sacrificial death, the putting away of the
sins of God's people, that's how He entered in. God saw Him
slain from before the foundation of the world, came into this
world in time. All others are in or not by the
door, climbing some other way. You can get out of here by, A,
B, C, D, E, F, speaking in tongues. You can get out of here by being
baptized. You can get out of here by exercising your free
will. You can get out of here by being a good church member.
You can get out of here by, they're thieves, they're robbers, they're
liars, they're liars. Only the Lord Jesus Christ came
in by the door. All others are charlatans, promising
men salvation by their own deeds, telling men that are hopelessly
in themselves, lost sinners, that they can be led out by their
own ability, by their own will. The scripture says in verse three,
while we're writing on this blank piece of paper, verse three, to him the porter
openeth. He goes into this courtyard,
satisfied the door, satisfied the porter, satisfied the law
of God. He's got the right, he's got the right, he's got the power. You got the ability, you got
the power, you got the right. To him the porter openeth, and
the sheep, the sheep, the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth
his own sheep by name. He leads them out, leads them,
leads them. Only to him who has pleased God
satisfied God's demand for righteousness, put away the guilt, the sins
of his people being made sin for them, that they might be
made the righteousness of Christ. Only to him does a porter open,
nobody else, nobody else. I prophesied in his name, I cast
out devils in his name, and I've done many marvelous works in
his name, and I never knew you, I never knew you. Depart, depart
from me. Depart from me, you workers of
iniquity. He alone came lawfully, lawfully into the sheepfold,
knowing his sheep. He knew who they were. They were
his sheep. And he called them by name. He called them by his power and
grace. And he gave them ears to hear and eyes to see. And when he speaks, he said,
my sheep, hear my voice. I know them. And they follow
me. Follow me. Now, in conclusion,
now this is the way God calls his people out of this courtyard.
We're in a courtyard. Bound up in this courtyard. And
there's only one way out. One way out. Here's all these flocks all over
the place, and the Lord legitimately enters in, Lord of glory, made
himself subject to what they owed. With that mass of people
all over this world, he himself called his own. Now I'm gonna
just read a few verses. I'm gonna read a few more verses
and this all, Lord willing, makes sense. And here's what's happened. Here's what happened. God's got
a people in his courtyard. And the only way they're coming
out is if he himself answers the demand of that law. That's
the door. That's the door. I want you to
listen to what it says. Verse four, and when he put forth
his own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow him,
for they know his voice. A stranger will they not follow? God gives a man a woman new eyes,
new ears to hear. They hear a liar or charlatan?
Nuh-uh, I don't believe him. I want to tell you something,
there's something very beautiful right here. A stranger will they
not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice
of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto
them, but they understood not what things They were which he
spake to them. Now, you know, I just said something. There was a door that he had
to come into. He had to satisfy that door.
He had to satisfy the law of God. That was the door. But listen to this next verse.
Verse seven. Then said Jesus unto them, again,
verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. He
had to enter in by satisfying God's law to get in here before
he could remove them legitimately. Now he's the door for the sheep. He satisfied God's law. We couldn't. And now he's our
door. He's the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me,
thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am
the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. The
thief cometh not but for to steal, to kill, to destroy. I am come
that they might have life, that they might have it more abundantly.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep, but he that is a hireling, and not the shepherd,
whose own the sheep are not, seeeth the wolf coming, and leaveth
the sheep, and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth
the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he's a hireling, and
careth not for the sheep. I'm the good shepherd, and know
my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep,
And other sheep I have, which are not of this foal, them also
I must bring, they shall hear my voice. There shall be one
foal, one shepherd, therefore doth my father love me, because
I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No man taketh
it from me, but I lay it down on myself. I have power to lay
it down. I have power to take it again.
This commandment I have received from my father. And there was
a division, therefore, again, among the Jews for these sayings.
And many of them said, he hath the devil, He's mad, why hear
you him? Others said, these are not the
words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of
the blind? And it was at Jerusalem, the
feast of the dedication, it was winter, Jesus walked in the temple.
In Solomon's porch then came the Jews round about him and
said unto him, how long dost thou make us to die? If thou
be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you,
and you believe not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness to me. You believe not, because you're
not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give
them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any
man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all, and no man's able to pluck them out of my
Father's hand. I and my Father or one, then the Jews took up
stones again to stone him. Beloved, we're in a courtyard, we're born
in a courtyard. And it's one way out of this
courtyard. The door's gonna have to be satisfied. The law of God
is not gonna be bypassed. You're not going to bypass the
satisfaction of the law of God by doing something that you think
you can do to satisfy God. We're rebels. We're born rebels
against God. And almighty God is going to
have to reconcile his people unto himself and does it one
way. The person of his blessed son. His son came into this world. He came into this world to save
his people. He said, I laid down my life for the sheep. The Pharisee
said, how long you gonna keep us in suspense here? Why don't
you tell us plain? He said, I told you and you don't
believe me because you're not my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know
them and they're gonna follow me. Beloved, salvation is by
the grace of God. It has nothing to do with our
works. God Almighty saves His people, and He tells them about
it. May the Lord bless these words
to our heart. Amen. All right, let's take a quick
break and look.