Let us turn again to God's Word
in that portion of Scripture we were reading, John chapter
10. I'm directing you for a while
to the words that we have here at verse 9. John 10, 9, I am
the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. I am the door, by me if any man
enter in he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find
pasture." In the former part of the chapter
we are told how the Lord is speaking unto them by parables. We read
the opening verses Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth
not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way,
the same is 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. And when he putteth forth his
own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice. And a stranger will they not
follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of
strangers. And then this parable spake Jesus unto them, but they
understood not what things they were which he spake unto them."
We know that much of the Lord's ministry was parabolic, but in
a way what we have here in our authorized version is somewhat
misleading because what we have in this passage is not a parable the word that's used more literally
means an allegory as I say Christ does use parables we can think
for example of a chapter like Matthew 13 which is full of parables
and aren't we there in that chapter reminded of the significance
of that form of teaching Matthew 13 Verse 13, Therefore says Christ,
Speak I to them in parables, because they seeing, see not,
and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. The Lord
quite deliberately uses that form of teaching in order to
conceal truth from some, whilst truth is being revealed to others. But that's not what we have here
in this 10th chapter of John. It's not a parable. It's the
use of similes really. You can think of a book like
Pilgrim's, Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. And on the title page
of that book we have the text of Osea 12.10, I have used similitudes. And surely this is what the Lord
is doing here. He is using this figure of the
shepherds and his sheep and all that's associated with the care
of the sheep to teach lessons to his disciples concerning himself
and his own ministry. On other occasions the Lord uses
a simile. We might say that that's the
case when he comes to the Lord's supper where he takes the the
bread and he takes the cup and he speaks in terms of his own
sufferings for his people. This is my body, he says, and
he takes the bread and breaks the bread. And then this cup
is the New Testament in my blood. We don't understand that in an
illiterate sense. We know that the Roman Catholic
Church greatly abuses the words of the Lord Jesus and builds
around those words the doctrine of transubstantiation and says
that the Romish priest is actually reenacting the very sacrifice
of Christ, that by the words that are spoken there by the
priest there is a sense in which whilst it is still bread, it's
a wafer, yet in substance it's the body and blood, the soul
and divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, the doctrine of transubstantiation,
but in the words of the Reformed Church of England, we would say
that that is a dangerous deceit, it's a blasphemous fable. The
Lord is simply using a figure of speech. And so also when we
come to the words that we have before us tonight, when Christ
declares, I am the door, He is not a literal door. but we have here an allegory,
a similitude. Well, as we come to consider
these words in the text, I divide what I'm going to say into some
three parts. First of all, to consider the shepherd, the deity
of the shepherd. Who is it that speaks these words?
It is none other than Him who is God, manifest in the flesh,
that great mystery. of godliness, the incarnation,
that one who is the image of the invisible gods. Consider
then the deity of the shepherd, and then to look at the particular
figure that we have, he speaks of the door, and it's the door
of salvation that he is really speaking of. And then finally,
to say something with regards to the pasture of the sheep,
They go in and out of the door and they find pasture, their
feds, their provided for. Those three points then as we
come to try to unload the content of this remarkable statement
of the Lord Jesus. First of all, the deity of the
shepherd. We have these various I am statements
scattered throughout John's Gospel. And here of course Christ doesn't
just declare himself to be the door, I am the door. He says
also at verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth
his life for the sheep. Again at verse 14, I am the good
shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine. And what is
it that we have here? It's the accomplishment of that
great promise that God had given back in the Old Testament. Remember
Ezekiel 34, that chapter in which God, through his servant, the
prophet, rebukes the shepherds in Israel. God had made provision
for his ancient covenant people, that typical people, the children
of Israel, he would provide priests, the Aaronic priesthood. They
were there to serve God in the tabernacle and the temple to
serve the people. They were the priests and then
God would raise up various men as prophets to speak to the nation
the word of God and also God made provision of the kingly
office. There were those who were princes
in Israel who were to have the care of the people. But how time
and again these men failed. And Ezekiel 34 is a very solemn
chapter addressed to the unfaithful shepherds amongst God's people.
Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy
and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds,
Woe be to the shepherds of Israel. that do feed themselves should
not the shepherds feed the flocks. And so it's a chapter full of
reproofs and terrible woes being pronounced upon these unfaithful
men who should have been the shepherds of God's people. But
then there's also the promise, God makes a gracious promise
at verse 23, I will set up one shepherd over them. And he shall
feed them, even my servant David, he shall feed them. And he shall
be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their
God. And my servant David, a prince among them, I, the Lord, have
spoken." There's the promise that God will provide one who
is the faithful shepherd, the fulfillment of all those offices.
One who will come as the priest, as the prophet, as the King,
and who is this one? Well, it's the Lord Jesus Christ.
I am the Good Shepherd, he says. The Good Shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. He doesn't feed himself of the
sheep, but he feeds the sheep. I am the Good Shepherd and know
my sheep, he says, and am known of mine. Oh, there are so many
of these statements, as we said here in this Gospel. His remarkable
I Am passages. He takes us back to what the
Lord God said to His servant Moses in Exodus chapter 3 at
the burning bush when he received his commission. Who shall I say
sent me? And the Lord God declares Himself
I Am that I Am. He is the great Jehovah. And so we have these tremendous
statements time and again Think of the words in the next chapter.
Chapter 11, verse 25, Jesus says to Martha there at the grave
of Lazarus, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Or do we really believe these
great truths that are declared here? by Him who is the Good
Shepherd, Him who is God, manifest in the flesh, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Do we believe that He is the
resurrection and the life, that whoever liveth and believes in
Him shall never die? Or when we know Him, we know
that life that passes through death, eternal life. I give unto
them eternal life, He says, they shall never perish. the great
Jehovah Jesus and we have those remarkable statements in the
eighth chapter of this gospel where the Lord is speaking to
the Jews at verse 24 he says if you believe not that I am
he you shall perish in your sins. Do you remember there in that
verse the pronoun is in italics Literally, John 8.24 reads, if
ye believe not that I am, ye shall perish in your sins. All we have to believe that He
is God. Again, at the end of that chapter, verily, verily,
before Abraham was, I am, says the Lord Jesus. He is God. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The sign was
in the beginning with God. And the Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Oh, what remarkable words they
are. and now time and again as he declares himself he is the
image of the invisible God he has come as that one who will
reveal God but how he offends these Jews time and time again
here at the end of the chapter verse 32 Jesus says many good
works have I showed you from my father for which of those
works do you stone me? the Jews answered him saying
for a good work we stone thee not but for blasphemy And because
of thou being a man, make us thyself gods, Jesus answered
them. Is it not written in your law,
I said, ye are gods? If ye call them gods, unto whom
the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken, say
ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the
world, thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God. Oh, they understood when he said,
I am the Son of God, he was declaring himself to be equal to the Father. He is that one who is truly the
great I am that I am. He is God's manifest in the flesh. He is the Good Shepherd and He
is the Saviour of sinners. Isaiah 43, 11, Even I am the
Lord, and beside me there is no Saviour. No Saviour beside
this One. What does David say in the familiar
words of Psalm 23? The Lord is my Shepherd. All Jehovah is my Shepherd. And this is the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself. And now how He speaks with great
authority as He declares His truths. Verse 7, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. Time and again,
of course, here in John, the Lord will prefix His teaching
with a double, verily, literally, Amen, Amen. So be it. So be it. That's what it means. Truly,
truly. I say unto you, I am the door
of the sheep. Why he speaks with such authority. He is the Amen. He is the faithful
and true witness. And back in chapter 7 we read
of those officers who were sent by the Pharisees and the Scribes
to question Jesus of Nazareth. And what did those officers say?
Never man spake like this man. Or never man spake like this
man. Why? He spake with authority. When
he comes to the end of the Sermon on the Mount, we're told when
Jesus has ended all these sayings, they were astonished. Why? Because he spoke with authority,
not just as scribes and as the Pharisees. He speaks with all
the authority of God because he is the I Am. I Am the Door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. we see safety as well as salvation. First of all, it is clear that
he speaks of salvation. I am the door, by me, if any
man enter in, he shall be saved. And as I said, there are so many
of these statements scattered throughout the Gospel. In chapter
14, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto
the Father but by me. He only is the Saviour of sinners,
there is none other. Neither is there salvation in
any other. There is none other name under
heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved. That was the
message of the apostles there in the Acts. Neither is there
salvation anywhere else, no other person. Remember the words of the apostle
to Timothy, There is one God, says Paul, and one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Or there is none other, any who
came before they were false, any who have come after they
are false. Isn't that what the Lord is saying here? 7 Verily,
verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All
that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the
sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door by me. If any man enter in, he shall
be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture. 10 Oh, here is the truth, you
see, there is but one who is the Saviour of sinners. And the
hymn writer reminds us, venture on him, venture wholly. Let no
other trust in truth, none but Jesus can do helpless sinners
good. Or there is none other. It's
none but Jesus. And he says helpless sinners.
And doesn't the Lord deal with us in such a manner as to show
us how helpless we are? Or he turns man to destruction.
He brings us to the end of ourselves, and shows us that there is no
other way of salvation. Thou turnest man to destruction
and sayest, Return, ye children of men. Oh, this is that one
then, who is the only Savior, the only way of salvation. I am the Good Shepherd. the Good
Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." There's salvation.
He is good. We have it twice. He is good.
And what does he do? He gives. He is good and he gives. Doesn't the Psalmist in the 119th
Psalm address God in that fashion? Is that what? Good. and thou
doest good God is a good God and where do we see the goodness
of God in that he does not withhold his son even his only begotten
son but in the fullness of the time he sends him in the fullness
of the time the son offers himself up for sinners what we have here of course in
this 11th verse this goodness it's seen in that great sin atoning
death that he dies. He giveth his life to the sheep. Oh, having loved his own which
were in the world, he loves them unto the end. He loves them to
the end. And what was the end? It all
terminates in the cross, terminates in that great sacrifice that
he must make. where he dies the just for the
unjust God's justice must be satisfied God can by no means
clear the guilty but here is Christ the shepherd who comes
to give himself and to die for his sheep and it's a voluntary
sacrifice it's a willing sacrifice what a tremendous truth it is
verse 17 therefore does my father love me he says 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. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again, this commandment have I received
of My Father." And how we see Him as that One who will indeed,
willingly and voluntarily lay that life down, Remember when
they come to arrest him, there in the garden, chapter 18, verse 4, Jesus, therefore, knowing
all things that should come upon him, went forth and said unto
them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said unto them, I am he.
And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. As soon
then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward and
fell to the ground. Then I see them again who seek
ye, and they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have told you
that I am he. If therefore ye seek me, let
these go their way. Now, you hardly need me to remind
you of the significance of what we have in these verses, these
I am statements. where each time the pronoun he
is added in the translation. Literally, what does the Lord
say? Who are they seeking? They say Jesus of Nazareth. Verse
5, Jesus says, I am. And Judas also, which betrayed
him, stood with him. As soon then as he had said unto
them, I am, they went backward and fell to the ground. Or they
fall back, they cannot touch him, they cannot come near to
him. Then I said to them again, Whom
seek you? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered,
I have told you that I am. Therefore, if therefore you seek
me, let these go their way. No man was able to take his life.
He gave himself, willingly and voluntarily, He comes to make
this great sin-atoning sacrifice for sins. What is it that the
Lord is doing? It's the great antidote to sin. As He says at verse 10, I am
come that they might have life, and that they might have it more
abundantly. All sin brings the curse. Sin
brings death, the soul that sinneth it shall die. That is ever always
the consequence. God made that plain from the
very beginning. In the day that thou eatest thereof,
says God to Adam concerning that forbidden fruit, in the day that
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. All sin has that
consequence, the curse, death. as many as are of the works of
the Lord are under the curse what is written cursed is everyone
that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law
to do them and if a man keeps the whole law and defends in
one point James tells us he's guilty of all there's no salvation
there in the law it's that ministration of condemnation that ministration
of death that Christ gives life and blessing. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for
it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Oh, He
has made that sin-atoning sacrifice. He has borne the curse. I am
come that they might have life, He says, and that they might
have it more abundantly. here is the door, it's the door
of salvation and that salvation in Christ in His great sin atoning
death but also here there is their safety, their security they are saved and they are saved
forever once in Him in Him forever thus the eternal covenant stands 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. He goes in, he goes out. Now, what is the going out? What
is the going out? Well, some might like to suggest
that it means that there's that possibility of falling from grace.
You can be in Christ today and outside of Christ tomorrow. That's
what the Armenian teaches, no perseverance of the saints. You
might lose your salvation. Well, I like Calvin's simple
comment on this verse, going in and out. Calvin says, it intends
all the activities of life. It's as simple as that. It's
all the activities of life. What is our life? We go in and
out. all the time. We live our lives. But the Lord watches over His
people continually. Think of the language of the
Samis, that travelers' psalm as some call it, Psalm 121. And
what do we see at the end of that psalm? How the Lord God
is continually watching over His people and continually preserving
His people. 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 and even for evermore. Let us be wise and let Scripture
interpret itself. The Lord is clearly mindful of
that psalm in the words that we have in the text concerning
the safety of those who are in himself They say they go in and
out. And we have it here, the Lord
shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time
forth even for evermore. Isn't the Protestant Reformer
quite right in that remark? Calvin says it intends all the
activities of life. The Lord watches over his people.
The way of man is not in himself. it is not in man that walketh
to direct his steps we are poor dependents and we are poor dependents
always upon the grace of God or the shepherd you see he is
the door to the sheepfold when he speaks here we are to
remember what the practice would have been with those eastern
shepherds we are not to think of the fold as an enclosure that
has a door on hinges and you can open the door and let the
sheep in or open the door and let the sheep out. No, that was
not the way. There'd simply be an opening
in the fort and the shepherd himself would lie in that opening. That's the figure that we have.
The shepherd would be always there Remember when Jesus was
born, there were shepherds in the fields keeping watch over
their flocks by night. They were not leaving the sheep
to scatter about the fields, but they would gather them into
the sheepfold, and then they would settle down and make their
bed in the opening. They were the door. They were
ever always on hand to protect their flocks. And David, of course,
was such a shepherd boy. and he would watch over his sheep
and he would be there to protect the sheep when those various
animals of prey came along. Remember when he's seeking to
commend himself, I suppose, to King Saul as he's one who's fit
to go out against Goliath, the great champion of the Philistines. Here is Goliath taunting the
armies of Israel and David arrives And David will go and David will
confront the giants. And you know the account as we
have it there in 1 Samuel 17. What does David do? Verse 34,
David says to Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep. And
there came a lion and a bear and took a lamb out of the flock.
And they went out after him and smote him. and delivered it out
of his mouth. And when he arose against me,
I caught him by his beard and smote him and slew him. Thy servant
slew both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine
shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of
the living God. David said, Moreover the Lord
that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the
paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go,
and the Lord be with them. saves His people, yes, but He
secures them safe and sound forever. I give unto them eternal life,
He says here at verse 28. 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 Oh, why? Oh, they're secure in the hand
of God the Father, in the hand of Christ God the Son. They're
secure, they're safe. They're safe. Think of the promise, the great
promise that we find in Hebrews 13, the end of that epistle Paul
refers back to the promise that was given to Joshua. in Joshua
chapter 1 and verse 5 Moses of course he delivered the children
of Israel out of the bondage that was Egypt, he led them 40
years through the wilderness but Moses was not to enter into
the promised land Joshua must see them over the river Jordan
into the land and into the possession of the land and God gives him
promise And it's that promise that is repeated by the Apostle
there in Hebrews 13, 5. I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee. I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee. In fact, there are five negatives,
really, in that verse, in the original. And it's brought out
in that lovely hymn 329, Our firmer foundation, ye saints
of the Lord. is laid for your faith in his
excellent words. You know the hymn. It's a well-known
hymn. But there in... I think it's the last verse,
isn't it? And those five negatives are brought out by the hymn writer.
I'll never, no, never, no, never forsake. That really brings out
the force of the promise of God in in Joshua 1.5 and again in
Hebrews 13.5 I'll never no never no never forsake and surely five
negatives is the most emphatic negative there's no forsaking
there's no forsaking they're kept and they're kept by the
power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed
in the last time they're kept to the end, they're kept forever. This is what the Lord is saying,
you see, He is the grace, I am, 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, thirdly, let us consider
the pasture, the pasture of the sheep, the pasture of the sheep. What is this pasture? And again
we go back to the familiar words of the 23rd Psalm. He maketh
me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. What are the green pastures?
What are the still waters? Are we not to think in terms
of the great truths of the Word of God? the great doctrines of
the gospel of the grace of God. And where do all the doctrines
of the gospel center? They center in a person. It's
the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It's His gospel.
It concerns an individual, a man, even the man Christ Jesus. And what does the Lord feed us
with? He feeds us with Himself. He
feeds us with Himself. Isn't that what we're told here
in the sixth chapter? We've referred to it many a time.
It's so significant when we come to think of observing the Lord's
Supper. We deny the blasphemies of Rome,
the doctrine of transubstantiation, but we... or we come to feed
at the Lord's Supper. Who do we feed on? Do we just
feed on the bread and the cup? No, we feed on Christ. And again, see how the Lord here
in chapter 6 begins with a double verily. Oh, what a truth is this! Verily, verily, I say unto you,
except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood hath eternal life. and I will raise him up at the
last day for my flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink
indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood dwelleth in me and I in him. It's union you see. How are we united with Christ?
We feed upon Christ. He is that food that sustains
us. He is the life of his people. What is it to feed upon him? It's not cannibalism. It's a
spiritual feeding. And it's that precious doctrine,
isn't it? The doctrine of the person of Christ, or the wonder
of it. Without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world. received up into glory. Well, there are truths that we
should be thinking upon, meditating upon. It's doctrine. Luther says
doctrine is heaven. I know many despise doctrine. Many despise doctrine, but doctrine
is the doctrine of Christ. Now we should seek that we might
understand something of it. It's a mystery. We'll never fathom
it. How is it possible that there
could be this person, Jesus of Nazareth, and he is a man, And
yet, though a man, he is never anything less than God. He's
always God. He's the God-man. All the wonder
of it. But all to meditate upon it,
to think upon Him. And isn't that what we're to
do when we come to the Lord's Supper? This do, he says, in
remembrance of me. Oh, it's me. It's Him. It's the Lord Jesus that we're
to think upon and to meditate upon. in his person, but also
in his works. Not only the green pastures,
but the still waters. Oh, what do those still waters
remind us of? Well, think of the well of Bethlehem.
Oh, how David longed for the water of the well of Bethlehem. And what is that? Well, it's
the wells of salvation. And what refreshment When we
come to understand something of what Christ has done, His
work, His work, how we were in that state of alienation, we
were enemies, we were far off, and He brings us nigh by His
precious blood. He satisfies all the demands
of God's Holy Lord. He satisfied that Lord in His
life. He obeyed every commandment.
He wrought a righteousness for His people. And that righteousness
is the one with our clothed in their justification. He is the
Lord, our righteousness. But then that righteous one dies
as if he were the sinner. That's the exchange. He gives
his righteousness, he takes the sins of his people, nails them
all to the cross. And what of that cross? Why,
there's a fountain there, open for sin and uncleanness. Here are waters, you see, we
can lay our foul bodies in, in that precious fountain that's
been opened to cleanse us from all the filth, all the guilt
of our sins. All the Lord, you see, makes
provision for His people. There are pastures, there's waters. But I was struck by A remark
of Rabbi Duncan on the end of this verse, shall go in and out
and find pasture. Rabbi Duncan was a remarkable
man. He was called Rabbi not because he was Jewish, he was
a Scottish minister. But he had a great learning,
he was a great Hebrewist. But not just learned in the Hebrew
scriptures, he also had a great love for the Jews. At one stage
he was a missionary amongst them in Budapest. This is back in
the 19th century, John Duncan, Rabbi Duncan. But he makes this
observation. He says, we shall not find much
pasture except we go out as well as in. It made me think. We shall not find much pasture
except we go out as well as in. Think of what the psalmist says
concerning the ungodly, Psalm 55, Because they have no changes,
therefore they fear not God. What is the life of the Christian?
It's such a strange in-out sort of a life, an up-and-down sort
of a life. Oh yes, we trust we're walking
in that narrow way, but at times it's a trying way. And doesn't
Bunyan paint the picture time and again, of course, in Pilgrim's
Progress? A Christian man is never long
at ease. When one trial is gone, another
doth him seize, says dear Bunyan. It is that sort of a life. Woe
to them that are at ease, he says. at ease in Zion. We're not to be at ease. Moab
has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his lease
and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel. All the Lord's
ways, you see, are strange and mysterious ways. The whole life
of the Christian is so paradoxical, in and out, up and down. We must,
through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of heaven says
the word of God and so besides that coming in being as it were
indulged and feeling ourselves so very very near to God there
might be those times when we go out when we lose something
of our comforts and it seems to be a bitter experience and
yet how necessary these experiences are doesn't doesn't that bitter
experience sharpen the appetite? the wise man tells us in the
book of Proverbs the full soul loatheth the honeycomb but to
every hungry soul to the hungry soul
every bitter thing is sweet or the bitter It's necessary. We can't live on sweetmeats all
the time. But what does the bitter do?
Why? It gives a relish for the sweet things. The paschal lamb
back in Exodus 12, it was to be eaten with bitter herbs. Isn't there a lesson in all of
this? We need the ministry of the Spirit of God to help us
to understand the mystery of the ways of the Lord, the way
He deals with us at times. And so we're not always up on
the mountaintop, sometimes we find ourselves in the very depths.
And yet all our steps we trust be in order, continually directed
by the Lord. I think of the hymn we sing it
sometimes, 251, you can read it through. But I think of the last verse
of that hymn. More frequent let thy visits
be, or let them longer last. I can do nothing without thee.
Make haste, O God, make haste. We want to know that God is near,
that our God is close at hand. We might feel that we're in great
danger, but remember the The shepherd is ever always the door
of the sheepfold. He's constantly there to ensure
the complete safety of his sheep. And that truth is emphasized
here in this portion tonight because we have it twice. Twice
the Lord says that he is the door. Verily, Verily I say unto
you, I am the door of the sheep. Verse 7. And then again here
in verse 9, I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. Does it not teach us that initially
we're those who are outside? We're outside, we have to first
of all come in. We have to be brought in. And
we can only enter by Him who is the door. All that ever came
before are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. Oh, but what does He say? 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. O God, grant
that we might be those friends who know what it is to enter
in at that straight gate, and by the grace of God to walk in
that narrow way that leads to life. Amen.