Let us turn then to God's Word
here in the tenth chapter of the Gospel according to St. John. And I'll read the portion from
verse 7 through 9. John 10, 7 through 9. Then said Jesus unto them again,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. all that ever came before me
are 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 saying something then tonight
with regards to the door of salvation Twice the Lord makes his declaration,
I am the door. And then again in verse nine,
I am the door. And we know that every word of
God is a pure word. There's no vain repetition. When the Lord himself speaks,
He tells us that men are to give an answer for all their idle
words. He spoke no idle words. And so when there's repetition
we do well to take account. We observed this morning how
the Lord also repeats that statement concerning Himself as the Good
Shepherd. In verse 11, I am the Good Shepherd.
And then again in verse 14, I am the Good Shepherd. And this morning
I sought to say something with regards to our knowledge of that
Good Shepherd, what it is to know Him. The language that we
have there in verse 14, it says, I am the Good Shepherd and know
my sheep. and am known of mine as he knows the sheep so the
sheep also know him and they know him of course as Jehovah
Jesus they acknowledge him, they confess him as the great I am
we have these I am statements as we said earlier scattered
throughout this particular gospel and there's significance in that
and does he not say back in chapter 8 addressing the Jews if you
believe not that I am you shall perish in your sins I know there
in that 24th verse of that 8th chapter we have the pronoun he
in the verse but it's in italics and indicating to us of course
that that's a word that's been introduced in the translation
it's not there in the in the original it's been introduced
brought in by the translators and so literally the Lord is
saying that he is the I am and if we don't acknowledge that
and believe in him in him as Jehovah Jesus we shall perish
in our sins he is the God of Abraham He is the God of Isaac. He is the God of Jake. He is the God of all those patriarchs
and saints of the Old Testament Scriptures. He says again, doesn't
he, in that 8th chapter, verse 58, Verily, verily, before Abram
was I. or we're to believe in this one
then as Jehovah, God, manifest in the flesh. Now this morning
I remarked that there's a connection of course between what we have
in chapter 10 and what has gone before in chapter 9. Sometimes
I think because of the chapter breaks we fail to make the connection. we think that the chapter is
introducing some new theme whereas in fact what we have in the 10th
chapter flows from what was said in chapter 9 and we see that
quite clearly the Lord there is one who has given sight to
the man who was born blind what a remarkable thing it was that
the Lord had done to perform such a miracle. It was never
heard that a man born blind should receive his sight. And when we
come to the end of that chapter we see the result of the miracle
that this man will give the glory to the Lord Jesus Christ and
the Jews had agreed that if any man confessed Christ he must
be put out of the synagogue, he must be excommunicated, and
so they cast him out. And there we are told in verse
35 of that chapter, Jesus heard that they had cast him out. And
when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on
the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is
he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him,
Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe,
and worshipped him. or worship only God. And this
man worships the Lord Jesus because he recognizes who He is. He believes in Him as the Son
of God, the Eternal Son of the Eternal Father. He is that one
then who is truly God manifest in the flesh. Remember the words
of the Lord Himself. He says, No man knoweth his son
but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son,
and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. How can we know
God? It is life eternal to know Thee,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. He says here at verse 15, As
the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father. Oh, he is
one with the Father. Does he not go on to say as much?
I and my Father are one, he declares in verse 13. And later we see
how he answers Philip. And his disciples were only by
degrees coming to understand who this man really was, Jesus
of Nazareth. In chapter 14, remember the language
that we have there, Verse 8, Philip says, To him, Lord, show
us the Father, and it is a fight as us. Jesus said unto him, Have
I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me,
Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. And I say
also, Then show us the Father. Believe also not that I am in
the Father. And the Father in me, the Word
that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself, but the Father
that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." All the union between
the Lord Jesus as the Son of God and God the Father and we
might say God the Holy Ghost also. Or there is a blessed unity
of course in the doctrine of the Godhead. one God in three
blessed persons. And here we see the Lord Jesus
Christ in us, that One who is God, He is Almighty. And His
words carries all authority. His voice is a powerful voice.
He declares in verse 27, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them,
and they follow me, and I give unto 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 is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." And then
he goes on, of course, to speak of that union, I and my Father
are one. His voice carries weight, carries
authority. Oh, every word of God, as we
have it here before us tonight, it's the word of the Lord Jesus
Christ, because it's God's word from Genesis right through Revelation. And how is it that the Lord works
in the day of grace? How is His voice heard today?
He comes, does He not, by and through that gracious working
of the Holy Ghost? In the outworking of the eternal
covenant, the Father has sent the Son, and the Son has accomplished
His work. And now the Son, having fulfilled
all righteousness by making that one great sacrifice for sins
forever, risen from the dead, ascended on high, He sends forth
the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost. And the Spirit comes
in as that one who is the Spirit of Christ. And we see it again
in the words that the Lord speaks here in this Gospel. The language
that we have later in chapter 16. In verse 13, Christ says,
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide
you into all truth. For he shall not speak of himself,
but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak. and He will
show you things to come speaking to His disciples He shall glorify
me for He shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you all
things that the Father hath are mine therefore said I that He
shall take of mine and shall show it unto you as the Son comes
to do the will of the Father and so in a sense when we see
him in his mediatorial office he is subject to the will of
the father he must be about his father's business he must do
the will of him who has sent him and finish his work and so
when the spirit comes so he is equal to the father and equal
to the son yet In the outworking of the covenant he comes as the
Spirit of Christ. His ministry, as we see it there
in that passage from the 16th chapter, is so self-effacing. And when the Spirit works, when
the Spirit teaches, what is the outcome? Well, he opens the heart
of the sinner, and the sinner then seeks to approach God through
that door, that door of salvation of which the Lord is speaking
here in our text this evening. Here is the consequence. Christ
says, I am the door, by me if any man enter in he shall be
saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. And then we're told, aren't we,
This parable spake Jesus unto them, but they understood not
what things they were which he spake unto them. Again, remember
the context here. Who is he speaking to in chapter
10? Well, he's speaking to the same
people that he's speaking to at the end of chapter 9. The
Pharisees, when they heard what the Lord says. He says in verse
39 there, I, for judgment I am coming to the world, that they
which see not might see, and that they which see might be
made blind. And when the Pharisees hear these
words, as they're offended, are we blind also, they ask. Jesus
says unto them, if ye were blind ye should have no sin, but now
ye say, we see, therefore your sin remaineth. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold,
but cometh up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. The Lord is still addressing
these men, these blind Pharisees, full of themselves, full of their
own religion, these self-righteous men. These are the ones that
the Lord is speaking to. And so we read these words in
verse 6, This parable spake Jesus unto them, but they understood
not, what things they were which he spake unto them. Now, it's
interesting because the margin indicates that the word parable
is really a word that has the idea of a figure of speech. It's really an allegory that
the Lord is using here. There is a word for parable,
and of course it is used many times because so much of the
Lord's ministry was parabolic. We know that from what we have
recorded in a chapter like Matthew 13, which is full of parables. And we'll come to that presently,
but strictly speaking this word is not the same word as we have
there in Matthew 13. As I said, it's a word that really
indicates that Christ is introducing an allegory, a figure of speech. We can think of a book like The
Pilgrim's Progress. It's an allegory. It's interesting
also because on the title page of that very well-known book,
The Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan puts a text of scripture from
Hosea 12.10, I have used similitudes, a simile, a figure. And that's
what we have here. And yet, I can understand in
a sense why the translators of our authorized version have decided
to use the word parable because Although he's an allegory, it's
the same effect that's being had as is the case with regards
to parables. Verse 6 says, This parable spake
Jesus unto them, but they understood not what things they were which
he spake unto them. And isn't that really the purpose
of the parables? And the Lord makes that very
clear. in Matthew 13 people often misunderstand the
purpose of the parables they're not to reveal things to everyone people
say well they're sort of earthly stories illustrating heavenly
truths and the Lord uses his form of speech so that the people
will understand, but that's the very opposite of what the purpose
of Christ is. And that's stated quite clearly
there in Matthew 13, in verse 13. Therefore speak I to them
in parables, says Christ, because they seeing see not, and hearing
they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled
the prophecy of Esaias which said, by hearing ye shall hear
and shall not understand and seeing ye shall see and shall
not perceive for this people's heart is wax gross and their
ears are dull of hearing and their eyes they have closed lest
at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their
ears and should understand with their heart and should be converted
and they should heal their And so we see the same effect here
with regards to what the Lord is doing in chapter 10 concerning
these blind men, these blind leaders of the blind. The end
of chapter 9 Jesus says, if you were blind you should have no
sin. But now you say we see. Oh they're so full of themselves
and their own religion. Therefore your sin remaineth. This parable spake Jesus unto
them, and they understood not what things they were which he
spake unto them. Well, we need then to know that
gracious ministry of the Holy Spirit if we're going to understand
what the Lord is saying in this chapter concerning Himself, concerning
who He is, as that One who is the Good Shepherd, The Good Shepherd
who giveth his life for the sheep. And those words that we were
considering earlier. That Good Shepherd that knows
his sheep and is known of his sheep. Only the Holy Spirit can
give us that true knowledge, that saving knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ. But as I said I want us tonight
to come to this other particular figure that the Lord uses where
he speaks in particular in verse 9 of the door of salvation. I am the door, by me if any man
enter in he shall be saved and he shall go in and out and find
pasture. First of all then to say something
with regards to the door of salvation. And think of salvation in contrast
with sin. What does sin do? Well, sin separates
between the transgressor and God. Well, sins have separated
between you and your God and your transgressions have hid
His face from you, says the prophet. But sin doesn't only separate,
sin also shuts out. We see it so clearly when we
read the awful account of the entrance of sin into the world,
there in Genesis chapter 3, how there was such blessed communion
between the Creator and His creature. God would come into the garden
in the cool of the day and commune with the man and with the woman.
But then, when the transgression comes, what is the outcome of
that? Well, they are driven out of
the garden, aren't they? They are driven out of paradise.
The end of that third chapter. We're told how God drove out
the man and he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden cherubims
and the flaming sword which turned every way to keep man, as it were, from
entering into that place and partaking of the tree. of life. That's what it says, to keep
the way of the tree of life. Sin has cut him off from that
tree of life. He's partaken of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil. He's sinned against God, unless
he should seek of himself to come and partake of that tree
of life. God has cast him out. There's
no entrance now into the paradise of God. Know the Lord Jesus Christ. is the only way of salvation
as he goes on to say later in chapter 14 and verse 6 I am the
way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the Father but
by me and here in the text this evening it's stated so plainly that he is the door of salvation
By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. Neither is there
salvation in any other. There is none other name under
heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved. or there is
something so sure and so certain with regards to this salvation. Why? Because, as we've said,
this one who is speaking is none other than God himself, and speaks
with the voice that is the voice of God, and carries therefore
all the authority of God. One God, and one mediator between
God and man, the man Christ Jesus. This is the door of salvation.
And look at what the Lord is saying in this passage. From verse 7, verily, verily,
how He prefixes the statement He's going to make with the double
Amen. Truly, truly, I say unto you,
I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me
are thieves and robbers. And he's speaking, of course,
to these Pharisees, these self-righteous men amongst those who had come
before him. All that came before me are 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, says the Lord. And here we see something of
the the freeness of the gospel who are those who enter in it
says, if any man if any man whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved, it's any man it's whosoever you know
that's the wonderful freeness of the gospel We're not to look
for any qualification in ourselves at all. The Gospel is altogether
free and it's full, because it centers in the person and work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. What does the Him writer say?
Venture on Him, venture wholly, let no other trust intrude. None but Jesus. None but Jesus. can do helpless sinners good. Or do we feel that we are helpless?
What can we do? Well, the Lord says concerning
this door, that if any man enter in, it's by me, by me that is,
by him in his person, by him in the work that he has accomplished.
If any man enter in, He shall be saved. Is He not the shows
and the wills of the gospel of the grace of God? All those promises
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Doesn't Paul say that? All yea
and amen to the glory of God by us. God is glorified by the
salvation of sinners in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, we were looking, weren't
we, earlier at Christ is the Good Shepherd. And those words
in verse 11, I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. He's good. He's good. He's God. That's what we're told
concerning God, isn't it? Psalm 119 and verse 68, David
says, Thou art good and thou doest good. That's God. God does good. And here is one
who is the good shepherd. And what is the good that the
good shepherd does? He gives his life. He gives his
life for the sheep. And he gives himself willingly
and voluntarily. that's what he says in verse
17 therefore doth my father love me because I lay down my life
that I might take it again no man taketh it from me but I lay
it down of myself it's a voluntary sacrifice this
good shepherd he gives himself he says he has power, he has
authority to lay it down. He has power to take it again. He says this commandment have
I received of my father. Well that was what he was commanded
to do in terms of the covenant and he has answered all the terms
of that covenant. He has obeyed all the will of
God even obedient to the death of the cross. and that sacrifice
it's a great antidote of sin it's the antidote of sin if sin
shuts up the way to God why Christ opens the door to God that's
what the Lord Jesus Christ has done if sin brings the curse
and death and that's what sin does as many as are of the works
of the law are under the curse for cursed is everyone that continueth
not in all things written in the book of the law to do them
what the law does it brings out the awful consequence of sin,
the transgression of the law if a man is to keep all the law
of God and yet offend in one point he is guilty of all The
law requires such a full, such a perfect obedience. And those
who are of the works of the law, they're under the curse because
they're transgressors. We're all transgressors. Isn't
that the ministration of the law? Whatsoever things the law
says, it says to them who are under the law that every mouth
may be stopped. And all the world's made guilty
before God. It stops our mouths. It curses. It brings nothing but death. But then, here is the antidote,
you see. Sin brings death and the
curse. Christ gives life and blessing. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law, it says, being made a curse for us. For it is
written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. He has
borne that curse. This is the salvation that the
Lord is speaking of in the text. He is the door, I am the door,
by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved. It's the salvation
of God that we see there in the Lord Jesus Christ. What does
he go on to say, verse 10? I am come that they might have
life, and that they might have Him more abundantly. Oh, He is the door to salvation.
But He's not only the door to salvation, He's also the door
to complete safety and security. He goes on here in verse 9 and
says, concerning those who are saved, that man shall go in and
out. He goes in, he goes out. Now
what is it to go out? Well he's not speaking here of
any possibility of falling from grace. that cannot be because what does
the Lord go on to say verse 28 I give unto 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 no
man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand I and my
father are one there's no possibility of them falling away there's
no possibility of apostasy here. They cannot fall from grace when
he speaks of them going out. We're not to think that today
they're in the sanctuary as it were, they've gone through the
door, they're saved, but tomorrow they might go out and lose their
salvation. The Arminian might say that,
that it's possible to fall from grace. The Bible doesn't say
that. The Lord Jesus clearly declares
in those words we just read in verse 28 following that they
are secure for all eternity. They have eternal life. And if
eternal life is there, that's a life that can never be lost. What does it mean then when it
says here that they go in and they're saved, but then they
go in and out? Well, John Calvey makes a very
simple comment, quite profound really. He said, he says it intends
all the activities of life. That's what it means. All the
activities of life. Doesn't life entail us going
hither and thither, doing this and that? Think of the language
of the Samist. how he looks to God and trusts
in God and God watches over him in all his activities in life Psalm 121 some call it the the traveler's psalm behold he
that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep the Lord is
thy keeper the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand the sun shall
not smite thee by day nor the moon by night the Lord shall
preserve thee from all evil he shall preserve thy soul the Lord
shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time
forth even for evermore the Lord preserves his people as they
are engaged in the normal lawful activities of this life And yet
it's a sinful world that they're living in. The world lies in
wickedness, or lies in the wicked one. He's the prince of the power
of the air. Believers are in the enemy's
country when they're living their lives in this world. But God
keeps them. They're safe. As well as being
saved, they're safe and secure. As the mountains are round about
Jerusalem, the psalmist says, so is the Lord round about his
people from henceforth even for evermore. Or as Jerusalem there,
surrounded by the mountains, there's a figure, you see, of
the way in which God is keeping his people. They're kept, and
they're kept by the power of God. unto salvation, ready to
be revealed in the last time. In that last time they will be
revealed, they're the sheep. And they're the ones who will
be put on the Lord's right hand when He comes to make that final
judgment and the final separation. Or they're kept by His power
unto that great day of salvation. They're out of indication when
the Lord Himself returns in power and glory. So it's a door. It's a door of salvation, but
it's also a door of safety. But then also here we're reminded
that the Lord provides pasture for the sheep. Because it says
as much, they find pasture. I am the door by me if any man
enter in he shall be saved and shall go in and out and finds
pasture well what does this mean? how do they find pasture? well
I like the remark the simple remark of that great Scots minister
John Duncan Rabbi Duncan as he was known because of his great
Hebrew learning and his great love for the Jewish people. At one stage he was a missionary
amongst the Jews in Budapest, but then called back to Scotland. He was one of the professors
in the Free Church College in Edinburgh, a great Hebraist. He had a love for the Jews, he
had a wonderful understanding of the Hebrew language, so they
called him Rabbi Duncan. Dr. Duncan, he says, we shall
not find much pasture except we go out as well as in. We shall
not find much pasture except we go out as well as in. I think in a sense that introduces
the idea of the mystery of the ways of God. Of course when we're
thinking of the figure here, well, when the shepherd is caring
for his sheep. He's not going to keep them in
the sheepfold all the time. There will be those periods when
he'll take them out into the meadows. They need to be fed. They need fresh pasture land
and so forth. But I think the good Dr Duncan
is saying something more than that. He's speaking of how the
believer finds his food, his pasture. He has to go out as
well as in the mystery of God's ways, the strange changing life
of the people of God. Remember what the psalmist says
concerning the ungodly man. Because they have no changes,
therefore they fear not God. But what do they know of that
mysterious life of faith? It's a blank to them, they don't
know what faith is, saving faith. Of course, John Bunyan, we've
referred to the Pilgrim's Progress, that remarkable book, that allegory. And Bunyan says there in the
book, doesn't he, you know, at times you get little verses from
Bunyan, he says of the Christian man, a Christian man is never
long at ease. When one trial is gone, another
doth he receive. Oh, his life is a patchwork,
you see. He's in, he's out. He's up, he's
down. That's his life. It's a strange, mysterious life.
He's never at ease. The prophet Amos says, well,
to them the direty is in Zion. If life is easy, you see, we
need to be wary. Is that really the life of the
child of God? The Lord Jesus says, in the world
you shall have tribulation. Be of good cheer. I have overcome
the world. In the midst of our tribulations,
why should we be more and more cast upon the Lord? And what
the Lord says is echoed, isn't it, by the Apostle? We must, He says, through much
tribulation, enter into the Kingdom of God. Certainly when we first
entering through the door isn't there tribulation there
when we're when the Lord first begins to deal with us when we're
brought under that sense of our real state when we know something
of the conviction of our sins it's a trouble trouble as time
when the Lord begins to deal with us and we begin to feel
what we are as those who are dead in trespasses and sins how
strange is that that we are made to feel our deadness and that
impossibility really of faith we are so impotent we have no
power, we have no ability, we can do nothing that's how we
enter into the kingdom through tribulation, through
trouble. We must, through much tribulation, enter into the Kingdom
of God. But once we've gone through that
door, the door of salvation, and once we're found in the right
way, the way that leads to life, we discover it's a narrow way.
It's a narrow way. Do you know, in a sense, that's
what the word tribulation really suggests. We're sort of enclosed
on every side. It's such a narrow way that we're
walking in. It's not an easy path. Adèle
Bunyan paints a picture so wonderfully there in The Pilgrim's Progress. You see, we have to go in and
out all the time, all our days. There will be occasions when
the Lord does come and He indulges His children. Or we feel that
He's very near to us and our communion seems to be so real. But then there are those other
occasions when we seem to lose our comforts. We go out, as it
were. the strange experiences that
are the lot of those who are the saved of the Lord they go
in and out and by going in and out they find pasture, they find
food that's what happens you see, the bitter experience
the trial, the trouble doesn't it sharpen the appetite? Does it make us more hungry for
the Lord? The wise man says, the full soul
loatheth the honeycomb, but to the hungry soul every bitter
thing is sweet. Oh, the Lord even sweetens our
bitter cups to us sometimes, because we know the Lord's in
it, the Lord's dealing with us. How were the children of Israel
to eat that paschal lamb when they were coming out of the bondage
which was Egypt? We know the Paschal Lamb is a
wonderful type of the Lord Jesus. Even Christ our Passover, our
Paschal Lamb is sacrificed for us. But what did they have to
eat the Paschal Lamb with? It must be eaten with bitter
herbs. It was eaten with bitter herbs.
And the bitter herbs, you see, they made that meat so sweet
to feed upon Christ. These are the experiences of
the people of God. This is how we find our food,
our spiritual food, our pasture. This is the Lord's way with His
children. We have to learn to feed, as it were, in an experimental
way on the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what
has God given to us whereby we can come and feed on Him? Well,
He has appointed the means of grace. That's why when we come
together, we come to worship God. That's the prime object
of our gathering, surely, is to render to God that worship
that is His due. but how good God is because he
sets his word before us and we hear the reading of the word
and the preaching of the word but you know the means of grace
are not the pasture are they? the means of grace that's the
field that field where the pasture grows or to use another figure
we could say that the means of grace are not the water of life
but the means of grace are the wells of salvation from where
we are able to draw the waters of life but what do we need if
we are going to be profited then when we come under the word of
God we need that gracious ministry all the time of the Holy Spirit
or the Holy Spirit must show us these things it's the Holy
Spirit of course who must in the first place constrain us
to come through the door we cannot come of ourselves what
does the Spirit do? well you remember what we are
told concerning Lydia how the Lord opened her heart The Lord opens our heart. Our
hearts have to be opened. Opened by the Spirit of God.
And then we receive the Word of God. And then as we receive
the Word of God, we enter through the door, into the folds. And we come into that place of
safety, that place of security. What lives they are that we live,
what are we? of ourselves we are poor dependent
creatures we are silly sheep so often and we need that gracious
ministry then of God the Holy Spirit and he must come to us
time and time again as the Spirit of Christ and even when we come
and read the word and read such a familiar passage as we have
before us today here in this 10th chapter and we need the
Spirit to make that blessed application to us. For Christ tells us, verily,
verily, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before
me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them,
nor they know not the voice of strangers. They know the voice
of the Good Shepherd, The sheep did not hear them,
he says, I am the door. By me if any man enter in, he
shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. Oh God, grant that we might know
what it is then to eat the flesh, to drink the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and to feed our souls on that great salvation
that is found only in Him. May the Lord bless to us His
word. Amen.