our text, I am the door, by me
if any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and
out and find pasture. Well, I believe that the scripture
certainly certifies, verifies, and assures us that the program,
the purpose of God Almighty is that he has a people. Here in
this world, in what we refer to as time, he has a people,
and those people are referred to as his sheep. Now, there are
several things that are said about the shepherd and the sheep
here, and by way of introduction to this ninth verse as our text,
just let me call your attention to a few things here. Now, where
did he get the sheep? If God has a sheep, where did
he get them? Well, of course, you know and
I know that the Father gave him the sheep. In verse 29, it says,
My Father which gave them me, my Father which gave." My Father
gave them me and my Father gave the sheep to me. Over in John
chapter 17 it says this, I'll read it real quick, John chapter
17 and verse number 2, "...as thou hast given him power," or
authority, "...over all flesh, that he should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given him. Now, certainly there is
a people who are referred to in the Bible as the sheep of
God. And the sheep of God were given
to the Lord Jesus Christ by the Father before time ever was. And in verse 14, he said, I know
them. Look at that. I am the good shepherd
And I know My sheep. I know who they are. You remember
in another place our Lord said that He would not commit Himself
unto these men because He knew what was in them. Our Lord Jesus
Christ certainly is the reader of hearts and the reader of minds
and the reader of thoughts. And He says, I know My sheep. I know them. I know them. I know
their names. I know their background. I know
where they live. I know the street. I know the
number of the house. I know the situation. I know
the circumstance. I know them. I know my sheep. Now, if you want to bet on something,
you can bet on this this morning, that if there's one thing about
us, if there's one thing about us that you can be sure of is
this, that God knows us if we are His sheep. He knows us. Of
course, that's not to say that God does not know all men. God knows all men. He knows all
things, even before they take place. But in particular, we're
talking about the sheep of God here this morning, and the shepherd,
the great shepherd of the sheep. He said, I know my sheep. And verse number 11, look at
that. I am the good shepherd, and the
good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep. That is, he gave
his life for his sheep. Now, understand that he did not
try to give his life for his sheep, but he did give his life
for his sheep. Salvation through the Lord Jesus
Christ is not something that God made possible through him. That is, many folks, and I think
maybe it's because of the lack of a positive study in this matter
that brings expressions like this out, but I've heard lots
of good brethren say that the Lord Jesus Christ died in order
to make salvation possible. But Christ did not die to make
salvation possible. He gave His life. He didn't try to. He died in
order to make salvation certain and sure. For who? For His sheep. I know my sheep. So, the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ, by Him giving His life, He did to make salvation sure
and certain for His sheep. He doesn't try to do anything,
he does things. And then in verse 16, he says
that other sheep I have which are not of this fold. them also
I must bring. I must bring these, and they
shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd,
that is, out of every nation, out of every tribe, out of every
tongue, out of every color, out of every part of this known world,
there are some that belong to him by the Father's gift, and
he said, I must bring them. I'll bring them. There's just
one shepherd, there's just one substitute, and there's just
one fold made up of Gentiles and Jewish people, and there's
some out there, he said, I will bring. I must bring. And then
in verse 26, look at this now. He says, But you believe not,
because ye are not of my sheep. None but his sheep will believe. Now you can just mark that down.
None but his sheep will believe. Now where did he get his sheep?
The Father gave him these sheep before time ever was. He knows
He knows them. He knows them by name. He knows
where they are at. And other sheep which are not
of this fold, He will bring them out of all nations and tribes
and tongues and what have you. But none but His sheep will believe. None. Now look at verse 28 now. And He says this about His sheep.
He said, And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall
never perish. My sheep I give eternal life
to. I give it to them. You remember
I told you here the other day that salvation was not an offer. The salvation of God to His sheep
is not an offer. accept me or will you reject
me? I hold myself out here as a present. Now, will you take this present
that I offer you? Now it's up to you, will you
take this present? Salvation is not an offer. Salvation is a gift. That's what
he says here. And I give unto them. He gives it unto them. Now, what
I'm saying is that the Lord Jesus Christ is not yonder somewhere
wringing his hands and worried about whether he will be accepted
by certain individuals here in time. He's not up for vote or he's
not up for election, he's already been accepted. And salvation
is a gift. The wages of sin is death. But the gift, the gift of eternal
life is Jesus Christ, God's Son. That's the gift of eternal life.
And when God gives the Lord Jesus Christ to a poor sinner, a poor
sinner does not reject the gift. He does not reject the gift as
it comes from God's hand, but he receives the gift. Nobody
rejects A gift that comes from the hand of God. None but His
sheep, now keep that in mind, none but His sheep will believe. None will believe. And those
that believe are His sheep. And those that believe who are
His sheep, He gives unto them eternal life. And they shall
never perish. Look over here in John 6 and
37. You are familiar with this. All
that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh
to me I will in no wise cast out. All that the Father gives to
me, he gave unto him a certain number out of this fallen race,
And he calls them his sheep. And he said, all of these that
the Father give to him shall come to him, shall come to him,
and they're never going to perish. These that the Father give to
him, that comes to him, now we'll get to that in a little bit,
they're going to come in the door. And when they come in the
door, God's going to shut the door and the floods from beneath
will never harm them. They shall never perish. And
him that comes to me, I'll never cast him out. Read on now. For I come down from heaven not
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. Now
what is the will of Him that sent me? This is the Father's
will which has sent me, that of all which He hath given me,
I should lose nothing. All that the Father has given
Him. He said, I will not lose one
single solitary individual. I won't lose one of them. Not
one of them will go astray and get out from underneath my authority
and my protection and my rule and my command. Not one of them.
Not one of them. I will not lose nothing. I should
lose nothing. But I'll tell you what I will
do. I but should raise it up. All those that the Father give
me, I should raise it up again at the last day. That is, in
the day of the resurrection, everyone for whom the Lord Jesus
Christ came here and stood in their place and room and stand
and bore their penalty, and everyone for whom He hath made accepted
in the Beloved by Him through His righteousness, He shall resurrect
them at that day. They'll be resurrected. And this
is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone which seeth
the Son," now who's going to see the Son? "...everyone which
seeth the Son are the sheep which the Father hath given him." Now,
everyone which sees the Son and believes on Him may have everlasting
life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Now, this certainly
is the program of God. This is the eternal purpose of
God. As a matter of fact, this is
the gospel of God. Whatever takes place, those that
are in the fold shall never perish. That's what I've said thus far.
No man can come to me except the Father drawing. And the man
that comes, and the man that the Father draws, and the man
that goes through the door, the man who is the sheep of God,
and the man for whom the shepherd laid down his life, he shall
never perish, regardless of whatever else happens in this life, to
this world, or to individuals, whatever happens. Regardless,
he said, these shall never perish. Now, this is the important question
right here. How is it, how can I become,
or how can I gain an interest in the shepherd? How can I enter
into this place of refuge, this place of safety, this place of
eternal bliss and comfort and rest and peace. Now, how can
I enter into the sheepfold? How can I get there? Well, in
verse number 9 is our text. Look at it there. I, that's the
Lord Jesus Christ, now I am the door. I am the door. Now, you don't get into the fold
by birthright. Now, I certainly appreciate parents'
concern for their children. I appreciate that. We ought to
be concerned about our children. But nobody is a sheep of God
because Their parents were sheep of God. Nobody, just because
a man has been brought into the sheepfold by the grace of God,
does not entitle his children to be sheep of God. You're not
a sheep of God by birth. Let me read something to you.
Is it in John chapter Where is that? John chapter 3. What am
I looking for? Not by blood. John chapter 1, I guess it is.
John chapter 1. Verse 13, look at that. He said,
I am the door. I am the door. This is the entrance
into the sheepfold, and I'm saying that you don't get into the fold
because your parents are Christians. You're not a Christian simply
because your parents are Christians. Listen to what he said. But as
many as received him, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, he
came unto his own. He came unto his own as a nation,
and his own people received him not. We will not have this man
to reign over us. But as many as received Him. But there were some that did
receive Him. There were some that did bow
to His rule. There were some that did say,
He is Lord. There were some that said, He
is Savior. As many as received Him. gave he power to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name. Now listen, which
were born not of blood, not of blood. They didn't inherit, they
didn't inherit Christianity from their parents. They didn't enter
into the sheepfold simply because mother and father were Christians.
which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man, but of God, but of God. So, brethren,
some seem to think, and there's a whole lot of people like this,
they seem to think that they're under a spatial protection. because their mother and fathers
are Christians. Somehow it's a family inheritance. They are spatially protected
because of the relationship of their mother and father to God
in Christ. But that's not so. If I'm ever
If I'm ever to be a sheep of God, I must be brought to a personal
conviction of sin. In other words, I've got to be
concerned for myself. My mother and father might be
concerned about my soul, and certainly they ought to be, but
when it comes to a relationship to God in Christ, It comes through
a personal conviction in my own soul in regard to this matter
of sin and rebellion against God. Now listen, you take a godly
man and he reads this Bible and he prays and he is attentive
to the Word of God. He's concerned, and as a matter
of fact, he really takes this business of salvation in Christ
serious. He loves the Savior. He loves
his family, and he loves his friends and his brethren, but
he loves his Savior more. And he's looked upon by others
as a serious man. He's a serious Christian. And
he gives a good testimony, not so much of what he says, but
what he is, what he is, what is manifested outwardly in his
life. Well, there are many men like
that, and their wives sometimes think that because their man
is such a good man, and because of his relationship to God in
Christ, that somehow that they, too, are going to merit eternal
salvation because of their husbands. Well, what I'm saying is here,
brethren, is that it must be of a personal interest. To women
who, and I don't know that we've got any here, probably we do,
but I don't have anybody in mind, I just haven't set out to shoot
somebody here this morning, that's not the idea, but to women who
believe because their husbands are good men that they see to
it that they read the Bible and they study and that they're in
church and all of that and they give of their money and they
give of their time and the wife just kind of tags along and she
goes along with and she doesn't devote her time to reading the
Bible and to praying and to living like she ought to. She just feels
that somehow I'm going to My husband's a good man, and I'm
kind of going in on his coattails. Well, if there's anybody here
like that, now there's a three-word sermon that our Lord Jesus Christ
gave, three words for women who believe that they can neglect
the Word of God and neglect living a Christian life and go into
heaven on their husband's merit, and that three-word sermon that
our Lord gave is this, Remember Lot's Wife. Remember Lot's Wife. Now this is serious business.
Remember Lot's Wife. What do you want me to remember
about Lot's Wife? Well, she was married to a man
who knew God. Lot knew God Almighty. He knew Him. I know a lot of
folks say, well, Lot lost his witness, he was a poor testimony
and all that, but that's not what the Bible says. The Bible
says that Lot's righteous soul was vexed and tormented by the
awful condition and the carrying on of those people in Sodom and
Gomorrah. His righteous soul was vexed. Now, he knew God. He knew God,
but his wife, She missed the Lord Jesus Christ. She missed
Him. Well, you know, brethren, that lots of women that I know
of have entertained preachers in their homes. They've had preachers,
the choicest of God's preachers in there. They have been privileged
to cook the meals and bring them in and set them before these
choicest men, highly favored men. But I want to tell you this,
this woman entertained angels in her home. This woman who missed
Christ, she entertained angels in her home. And I'll tell you
another thing about this woman. She was obedient to her husband. I mean obedient. Lot told her
what the angel had told him, to escape from this city And
Lot said, well, that's what we're going to do. So he turned to
his wife, I'm sure, and he said, now you begin to pack up. Pack
up! And we're going to get out of
here. She did not say, well, what about
the grandchildren? I've got my grandchildren. And
you mean we've lived here for 25 years, Lot? We've lived here
for 40 years, Lot. We own our home. We have a vast
We have a vast farmland here. We've got cattle and camels and
we've got this and we've got that. And spatially, Lot, we've
got our grandchildren here with the darlings of our bosom. I can't leave my grandchildren."
She didn't talk like that. Lot said, pack the bags, we've
got to get out of here. And she who entertained angels
in her home, she who was obedient to her husband, She missed the
Lord Jesus Christ. She missed Him. She missed Him.
That's what I'm trying to say here this morning. I'm trying
to say that if you ever get into the sheepfold, you'll have to
come in. You can't come in that sheepfold
just because your husband's in there. You're not going to come
in through his merit, through his good works. You've got to
come in for yourself. You see what I'm talking about? You can't do it. You can't do
it. It's not by birthright. It's not by blood. It's got to
be something that you become involved in. You see, when Lot's
wife, as they left that town, she was following Lot, and the angel had said, don't
even look back. that don't look back, that God's
going to rain fire and brimstone on that city and destroy that
wicked sin. Don't you even look back! This
was the wife of a godly man. This was a wife who probably
listened to Lot pray, and listened to Lot read the Bible, and attended
church if there was such a thing then. There was some sort of
religious service. And she attended with lot. She
wasn't an out and out visible rebel of the things of God. Don't look back. But she looked
back. She looked back and the end result
was that she turned into a pillar of salt. In other words, Her body was here, but her heart
was back there. Her body was out of that city,
but her heart wasn't out of that city. She looked back and she
turned into a pillar of salt. I remember being at a meeting
here not too long ago, I forget where it was at, but anyhow,
one of the speakers said this, he said, He was talking along
this line and he made mention of the fact that because your
daddy is a preacher, doesn't necessarily entitle you to the
inheritance of the saint, just because your dad's a preacher.
And he had this all prepared to say this before before he
ever came to the building. But there happened to be a preacher's
son in the congregation. And it made that preacher's son
angry. And at the close of the service,
he went to this preacher and he said, Listen, if you've got
anything to say to me, say it to me personally. It made him
mad. It made him mad. Well, the preacher
And he said, Well, I already had this prepared. And he said,
I did say it to you personally. He said, I was standing right
up here and you were sitting right back there. And he said,
I said it to you personally. Well, I heard a fellow say one
time to another fellow, he said, Brother,
I hope you've got enough faith for me and you both because I
haven't got any. Well, the fellow said, I haven't got enough faith
for myself, let alone you. What I'm trying to say is it's
got to be a personal thing with me and with God. It can't be
through father, mother, brother, sister, or anybody else. As close
as that union is with husband and wife, twain, they become
one flesh. One flesh. They think alike. They walk alike. As a matter
of fact, sometimes they even look alike. They have the same
attitude and all that, but as close as this relationship is,
it cannot be that close that one can go in because of the
other. It's got to be a personal thing
with me. It's got to be a personal thing
with my wife. It's got to be something personal
with my children. They can't go in because I'm
the preacher. I can't go in because of the
godliness of my children or my wife. That's what I'm trying
to say. Listen, this is a great danger,
I think, in particular among believers' families. We need
to, we need, every one of us need to examine ourselves. We're
alone in this matter. alone, absolutely alone in this
matter. Husband and father and mother
and brother and sister can't do anything for us. There's a
danger of the members of a Christian's family growing indifferent and
careless in this respect. Well, you don't get into the
sheep enfold by birthright. I've made myself clear. I think
it's the Episcopalians and some of the Presbyterians. I believe
in this covenant salvation, this protection afforded to their
children and to their babies because of the mother and father's
relationship to God in Christ. Well, that's not so. I don't
care how educated they are and I don't care what their position
is. It's just not so. It's not so.
It's got to be a personal relationship. It's got to be. If any man, Jesus
said, I am the door. I'm the door. If any man enter
in, he's got to enter in. Not entering in because father
and mother entered in. You've got to enter in. It's
got to be a personal confrontation with God in Christ yourself. It's got to be a personal conviction
of sin. It's got to be a personal opening
of the eyes that you see the Lord Jesus Christ as your substitute. You've got to enter in. You've
got to trust in. You've got to rest in Christ.
I can't do it for you, you can't do it for me. You see what I'm
talking about? You don't come into the fold
by the ordinances of the church, and certainly there's not many
that I know of that is outward, visible ordinances as we understand
them, such as baptism in the Lord's Supper. Listen, the ordinances
of the church can be summed up in one sentence for the believer. The ordinance for the believer
is this, it's a declaration of his or her faith. That's what
it is. When you're baptized, you know
what you're doing? You're declaring unto this world
your faith in a risen Savior as your substitute. That's what confession was in
New Testament days. The way a man made his confession
of the Lord Jesus Christ was that he openly, visibly, before
everybody, made his declaration by baptism. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. That was the declaration of a
man's faith. For instance here, David Bland and his wife. Now,
I married them about thirty-five years ago. Forty years ago, was
it, David? About twenty-five years ago.
It's been a long time ago. I married
them. Now, I don't think that... Old David might have, but I don't
think so. I don't think that he said, now, Carrie Lou, We
love one another and we're falling to one another and I don't think
there's no need to go and talk to the preacher about this. I
don't think that there's any need of us going to the courthouse
and getting enlightened. Let's just disregard the preacher. Let's disregard
the church. Let's disregard the rules and
laws of society by going to buy a license. We don't need all
this. We don't need this ceremony.
We don't need it. We don't need no license. Let's
just get us a place and we'll move into it and live together.
We're married. We're married. We love one another.
Let's do that. Well, I don't think that he said
that, but if he had said that, I'm sure that Carrie Lou would
have said no. We're not going to do that. We're
going to let somebody know about this. We love one another and
we're going to get married but we're going to declare our love. We're going to declare it and
let people know about it and we're going to go over to the
courthouse and we're going to talk to the preacher and we're
going to the courthouse and we're going to get a license and we're
going to go either to the church or to somebody's house and we're
going to have some people there and we're going to let people
know about what we're going to do. We're going to declare our love
one to another before this world. Now that is the same thing that
a believer does in baptism. He declares! He confesses! that the Lord Jesus Christ raised
him, who was a dead sinner before God, who gave him life, opened
his eyes that he might see the Son, and that he might openly
declare and avow before this world that his trust His dependence
is in a risen substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ, so He's going
to be baptized. We're going to tell somebody
who we're married to, I'm married to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
no secret, I'm married to Him. And I openly, openly declared
unto this world that I was married to another, married to another,
even the Lord Jesus Christ. Then there's the Lord's Supper.
You don't get into this by being baptized or you don't get into
it by the Lord's Supper. That's the reason that when we
have the Lord's Supper, we don't offer the Supper to those that
are not believers. We don't say, well, here you
partake of the bread and you partake of the wine. We don't
ask them to do it. I'll tell you why. Because the
Scriptures say, as often as you do this, ye show forth the Lord's
death till he come again. And the Scriptures say, this
do in remembrance of me. And no unbeliever can do that
because he doesn't know the Lord Jesus Christ. He can't remember
somebody that he doesn't know. You see what I'm talking about?
So, you can't enter into the sheepfold by the ordinances,
by baptism, or by the Lord's suffering. This do in remembrance
of me. You don't get into the Lord's
sheepfold by simply professing it. This is what I mean by that. By simply saying, I'm in. That's not the way you get in.
You don't become wise just because you say, I'm wise. You don't
become rich just because you say, I'm rich. No, sir. I don't repent simply because
I say I do repent. That's not repentance. but only when there is a godly
sorrow for sin in my heart and an outward manifestation of that
godly sorrow in my life. That's when I repent. Not when
I say I repent, but when it happens. When there is a sorrow in my
heart. When there is a turning from
self to the living God. That's repentance. When there
is grief in my heart for my sinful condition and my awful and terrible
rebellion against God, oh, well then, preacher, how do you enter
into this sheepfold? This is the most important thing
that, well, what could, by way of comparisons, could I say was
to impress upon us the importance of entering in? I don't know
of anything. I don't know of anything that
would take precedence over this. I'm the door. I'm the door. By
me, if any man enter in, how can I enter in? How? Well, you
know what a door is, don't you? I'm the door. You know what a
door is? When you got up this morning, you come out of the
bedroom, probably you opened the door. When you came to the
kitchen, You opened a door on one of the cabinets to get a
cup. To get some cream for your coffee, you went to the refrigerator
and you did what? You opened the door. When you
went to the bathroom, you opened the door. When you went down
to the basement, you opened the door. When you got out of, when
you came to get out of the house to come to the car, you opened
the door. When you got to the car, you
opened the door. When you got here, you opened
the door. When you came to the church building, you opened the
door. You know what a door is? A door is an entrance into something. That's what a door is. Jesus
said, I am the door. Now the reason that he says,
I am the door, I think the reason he uses language like this is
because he puts it in language that we can understand. Because
everybody can understand what a door is. He doesn't use... Now I get some publications magazines
and periodicals that declares religious truths, newspapers
and so forth. And to be honest with you, there's
a whole lot of them that I don't understand. As a matter of fact,
there's some of them that I can't even read. Much less understand
them, I can't even pronounce some of the things they're saying.
Well, you say, well, I really like that. I like for preachers
to use big words and to continually tell you what the Greek says
and the Latin and the Hebrew. Well, you may like that. I don't
know. Maybe that's what you feed upon. I don't know. But I do
know this. The Lord Jesus Christ, when He
spoke, people understood what He said. They understood Him. He said, Hold the door. You understand
what that is? You understand what that is,
don't you? He didn't say, I am this and that and then be gone
over here to say, well, now this is the rabbi and the Hebrew said
this and the Greek this and that and so forth. He said, I'm the
door! I'm the bread of life! You know what bread is, don't
you? Everybody knows what, even a baby knows what bread is. Even
a little old Ben back there is just a few years or just a year
old. He knows what bread is. Hey,
he'll go around and pick up the crumbs. The crumbs laying on
the coffee tables. And you'll see him fooling around
there, struggling along. He'll pick it up and put it in
his mouth and eat it. He knows what bread is. Even babies know. They know what water is. Jesus
said, I am the door. I am the bread of life. I am
the water of life. We know what that is. We understand
that. We know what water, we know what
bread, and we know what the door is. Well, you see, Here's a house
of mercy right here. And there's cleansing and washing
inside. This is a house of mercy. Cleansing
and washing inside. And here I am, I'm on the outside
and I'm filthy. I'm filthy. And I need to be
washed. I'm sick. I'm full of disease. corruption and there is healing
and there is cleansing on the inside of the house of mercy. There is forgiveness on the inside
of the house of mercy and I need to be forgiven. I need it. There is clothes inside the house
of mercy for those that are naked and I am naked. I need to be
clothed. But, listen to me now, that house
of mercy would be a house of torment if there is no door.
If all of that was offered, healing, cleansing, forgiveness, righteousness,
wisdom, sanctification, truth, rest, peace, hope, safety, security. All of that was offered or was
in this house of mercy. It was all there, but there's
no door. There's no door. And here comes a fellow up and
he said, I'm sick and I need to be healed. I'm naked and I
need to be clothed. I'm wretched and undone and ashamed
and guilty and I need help! Well, I can't help you. Why can't
you help me? Because there's no door! There's
no way in. There's no door. No door. None
whatsoever. Well, brethren, here's the door. Here's the house. And this house
of mercy that has cleansing and healing in it has a door. And
Jesus said, I am that door. Notice, THE door. And that THE
is a definite article. He is not one of many doors. He is THE door. Now, you say,
well, you are kind of dogmatic there. You mean to tell me that
religious people They're good, kind, tender-hearted
people, and they're religious, but they've never surrendered. They've never bowed to the Lord
Jesus Christ. They've never entered into that
door that you're talking about, but they're good people. They're good people.
They believe in God. You don't think that they're
going to be all right. No, they're not going to be all right. They're
not going to be all right, because they've got to come into the
door. You see, the Jews believed in
God. They believed in God. They believed
in the God of their father, the God of Abraham, and the God of
Jacob, and the God of Isaac. They believed that. But our Lord
Jesus Christ said this hypocrite. These Pharisees, they believed
in God. They believed in God A whole
lot stronger than some of you and I believe in God. They believed
in God to the extent they went out and prayed I don't know how
many times every day. They tithed of everything that
they had and they wore their religion on their sleeves. You
could see their religion. Everything they done was religious
and yet God said they was lost. The Lord Jesus Christ said, unless
you repent, unless you repent, unless you turn, unless you be
converted, you cannot come where I am. I'm the door, the door, the door. Oh yes, just one door, the door,
not a door, but the door. I said these Pharisees prayed
on the street corners, wore their religious garments and so forth,
and there's no hope for them. What about here in the last year
we've seen on the television time and time again these over in Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Middle
East. Thousands and thousands and thousands
of them. You can just look out and it
looks like maybe a hundred acres out there. And there's just a
sea of people on their knees. They're down there on their knees.
And they're praying to Allah. They're praying to their God.
They're sincere about it. You don't think they're sincere
about their religion? I'll tell you this, they'll kill you for
their religion. That's how sincere they are. They are so sincere
about what they believe, they'll stick a knife in you and kill
you. That's right. Well, they're not ashamed. They're
not ashamed. Would you this morning, if I
would go with you, and I probably wouldn't, but would you go out
here in front of the flowerbed We're out here in the parking
lot and we'll all just bow down. We'll just all bow down on our
knees. Out here, all seven, there's 70 of us here this morning, all
70 of us, we'll move them cars up in the parking lot and we'll
bow down. We wouldn't do that, would we?
I don't think we would. I don't know that it's required.
But what I'm saying is that these Muslims, they do it. They do
it. They're very religious. They
chant, and they shout, and they pray unto God, not just for two
or three minutes, but upon the hour. They pray, and they pray,
and they pray. Well, they'll kill you for that
religion. Jesus said, I am the door. He
didn't make a door or provide a door, but He is the door. He is our righteousness and our
wisdom. Now you listen to me now. When
He says He is the door, He is our righteousness and He's our
wisdom and He's all that God requires and He's all that justice
demands and He's all that I need. when He says, I'm the door. I'm
the door. And I've got to touch Him. I've
got to become involved in Him. I've got to be confronted with
the Lord Jesus Christ because He's the door. And I can't get
inside, I can't get inside where the cleansing and the healing
and all of that is in the house of mercy until I personally come
to this door. Well, let me tell you about the
benefit, just a few seconds here and I'll quit, about the benefits
of entering in. What about, you remember reading
over in the Old Testament and the New Testament too about the
cities of refuge. They were important. They were
important. I forget how many of those cities,
maybe either four or eight cities in Israel. And the priest made
it mandatory upon all the citizens that these various roads that
led to the cities of refuge not be obstructed with anything,
but kept clear. They kept clear at all times. Because if a man had need to
use these roads, to enter into the city of refuge, they didn't
want anything in the way that would hinder him or obstruct
him from gaining entrance into the city. Well, it says that
if a man, say there's two men out here working in the fields,
and one of them was swinging the
mattock or the hoe or the axe or whatever instrument he might
be using, and accidentally hit the other one in the head or
below the heart or in the back. Hit him with such a blow that
it killed him. But it was an accident. He didn't
mean to do it. He didn't do it on purpose. He's
out here with his friend and they're doing some work and somehow,
somehow, not intentionally, he hit the other fellow and it killed
him. And there's no witnesses there to prove that he did it
unintentionally. Nobody to stand by him and say,
well, now I was there. I was there and it was an accident. He didn't do that. The handle
or the end of the axe head flew off of the handle and hit him
in the head. There was nobody there, no witnesses.
Now the fellow that did this, what's he going to do if he didn't
have no witness? Only one thing he can do, and that's run if
he wants to live. Because the next of kin to the
dead man, he can avenge the death of his kinsman. And he's out
to get him. And he's got no proof. He's got
no proof that It was an accident. So the only thing that he can
do is to find that road and head out to the city of refuge. Because
if he gets in the city of refuge, he's safe! The avenger of his
blood can't harm him if he gets into that city. Now, he gets
down on the road and he says, I found the road! And he sets
down alongside the road and says, I'll rest a little bit here.
I found the road. Do you think he would? No. Well, he kept going for 300 or
400 yards and he sees a sign that says, City of Refuge in
this direction. Do you suppose that he takes
refuge under that sign and says, well, okay, I'll just sit under
this sign and just wait a while. No, no. He knows that there was
no protection for him sitting alongside that road. He knows
that there was no safety or protection for him sitting underneath that
sign. But he runs as hard as he can and finally he sees the
city and he sees the gate to that city. So he runs up to the
gate of that city and he begins to lean upon the gate or upon
the wall and says, well, I finally made it. He doesn't do that.
He knows that he cannot be safe until he gets inside. Brother, sister, I believe that
that fellow, that who unintentionally killed his friend, never ceases
to stop his running until he goes through the gate, because
he knows that once he's inside the gate, there's safety there. The avenger of his blood can't
touch him. He's got to get into that city.
And so he hurries and goes as fast as he can. Well, I'm going
to tell you this. I never killed nobody by accident.
Did you? I never did. But I've killed
a few people on purpose. And that makes a difference. You ever kill anybody? I've killed
a few of them. As a matter of fact, I've killed
a whole lot of them. People. People. I'm talking about killing
people. I'm talking about murder. You
ever murder anybody? Every one of us is guilty. He
that hates his brother or hath hated his brother is what? He's
a murderer. And you did it on purpose. It
wasn't no accident. You did it on purpose. You did
it on purpose. I want to tell you about this
fella that run in that city. This fella that run in that city
He's got to stay inside that city. He can't come back out.
He's safe as long as he stays in that city. He can't come back
out. As long as he stays there, the avenger of blood can't get
him. He's safe. He's safe. He's safe. Oh, brethren,
there's no protection in the door. There's no protection in
the signpost. You've got to lay hold of the
inside of that city of refuge and get in there. Well, listen,
one more time. What about old Noah? He went
into the door. You remember that ark that was
built there in Old Testament times? Well, the ark was built
by Noah to preserve Noah and his family from a great flood.
Now, it could not be said that Noah was saved until he had entered
into the ark. It couldn't be said. Couldn't
be saved. The ark was built to preserve
Noah and his family and the animals. But Noah could not be saved,
nor could anyone say that Noah was saved until he went up the
ramp and through the door and got on the inside. Then he was
saved from the great flood. Well, when he had done this,
When Noah had went up the ramp and went in the door, when he
had done this, there was a divine hand that was unseen, shut the
door. That's what the Scripture says.
Shut the door, and Noah heard it shut. And when he heard it
shut, he knew that the Lord had shut him in, and he is safe.
Now, if God shuts us in, If we enter into the ark of safety,
if we enter in the door, if we enter in the city of refuge,
if God shuts us in, then the floods from beneath can't drown
us. The moment that a man, woman,
or boy or girl trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ depends upon
the Lord Jesus Christ. then God shuts the door. And he must be safe whom God
shuts in. He must be. Have you entered
in? Are you safe this morning? Listen,
your life hangs upon a thread. It's a very thin thread. If snapped,
ruined, eternal ruin is sure and certain. Oh, it's a great
mercy to me. To me it is a great mercy to
see young people, that they are willing to come, willing to come
on Sunday morning, willing to come on Sunday night, willing
to come on Wednesday night to hear the Word of God. But I ask
you this question, have you really heard with inward ears? Have you heard with the ears
of your heart? Have you really heard? Have you
depended upon Him? Do you really trust in Him, the
Lord Jesus Christ? Have you entered in that door? Jesus said, I am the door. By me! By me! Listen. By me! I am the door! By me,
if any man enter in. You see, the law stops. outside of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There's no claim. on you. Once you have entered
in, the law stops. I told you, that fellow that
killed the man accidentally, he better stay in that city.
He's protected while he's on the inside, but he's not protected
on the outside. But you and I, when we enter
in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are protected before the law
because He gives us a righteousness that meets the demands of God's
almighty justice, and the law has no claims on it. And we're
what? We're free. We're free. And that's
what he's saying. If any man enter in, he shall
be. Not maybe, not might be, not
I hope he will be, but he says he shall be. I know this. I may
miss out on it. I don't know. I may miss it all
together. But I know this, and I'll be dogmatic on this. If any man enters into the sheepfold
through the Lord Jesus Christ, that man shall be saved. He shall
be. Now, whether I miss out on it
or not, I'm not saying, but I know that if a man enters in, he shall
be saved. He'll be saved! No doubt about
that. No doubt about that. All right?
He shall be saved and He shall do what? He shall go in and out. Now what does that? Most people
think, or a lot of people think, that when they enter in to the
sheepfold, when they're saved, that the house of mercy is kind
of a prison for them. It's a prison! It binds them! It puts them under this and it
puts them under that! It binds them down! But not so! Not so! When a man enters in,
this sheepfold through the Lord Jesus Christ, the law satisfied. Ever a jot and tittle of that
law satisfied? Ever a claim that justice has
upon him is satisfied and he has liberty and freedom in Christ
to go in and out? I can go out of here today. I
go out of here today and go home and I have the freedom on my
way home to believe that if a car strikes me and smashes me to
pieces, that the Lord Jesus Christ is with me. I've got that freedom,
I've got that right, I've got that inheritance. And I can go
in and out, I can go to the job tomorrow, take the Lord Jesus
Christ with me. I can go to Texas here this weekend
and if the airplane explodes, I've got Christ with me! He'll
never leave me nor forsake me. In and out. If any man, I'm the
door. If any man, I'm the door by me. If any man enter in, he shall
be saved and shall go in and out in liberty and do what? And
find pasture. That's what you're finding this
morning. Pasture. Pasture. Green pasture. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. He maketh me to lie down in green
pasture. I shall not want. That's the
reason. That's the reason we're here this morning. Because we
need something. We need some food. We need some
food for our soul. I've got some food here this
morning. I don't know whether you've got any, but just to talk
about the cities of refuge. Now, I can think about that for
three or four days. I can dwell on that for the biggest
part of this week, that the Lord Jesus Christ is my city of refuge. And if I get inside, I'm saved.
That noise is a type of Christ knowing that ark. And if I can
get in that ark, God shuts the door. That's pasture. That's food. That's the best
of children's bread. You got to have it. You got to
have it. You got to have it. That's the reason we're here.
If you're here this morning, if you're here this morning,
you say, well, I'd rather be someplace else. I'd rather be
someplace else. But I got to be here.