All right, if you'll take your
Bibles and turn with me to John chapter 10. John chapter 10. And we'll read the first seven
verses. I'm going to take my text from
verse 7. The Lord Jesus says, 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. This parable Jesus spake unto
them, but they understood not what things they were. which
he spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep."
The door of the sheep. We're going to see each part
of this statement that the Lord makes concerning Himself. And the first thing we see in
this verse here, this announcement, this declaration
of who he is, he says, I am. I am. Here he says, I am the
door. He says, I am the vine. I am
the good shepherd. These two words are very important,
especially during this Jewish a culture, because they knew
what those words meant. They knew that those words meant,
He is God. He is God. In Exodus, that's
how God revealed Himself to Moses and to Israel. He said, Tell
them, I Am hath sent thee. The Lord Jesus Christ is God,
a very God. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
God. He is our God. He is our God who has manifest
Himself in the flesh and become man, a very man. The Lord Jesus
Christ, when He united Himself with His humanity, He is still,
this night, tonight, in heaven, united, His deity and His humanity. He is a man in heaven. But I'll
tell you this, He is God in heaven. He is God in heaven. And all other gods All other
mediators, all other saviors, all who profess to be God, Jesus
said, all that came before me are thieves and robbers. Thieves. Thieves and robbers
of what? The glory of God. That's what
Adam robbed God of. That's what he sought to rob
God of was the glory of God. Jesus here is testifying of His
holy person, both God and man. The scripture plainly teaches
us that God, that one man, that by one man, Adam. One man. Just one, Adam. By one man, sin
entered into the world, and death by sin. That sin that started
in the heart of Adam and was brought out by his defiance against
God. He was a thief and a robber. He took what belonged only to
God. And when he died, he brought death to all men. One man. One man brought death. To all men. One man. Our Father, Adam. So in Adam,
all died, the Scripture says. All are born dead in sins and
blind to anything spiritual. That's what it means to be born
dead in sins. It means to be blind to all spiritual
things. The only thing a man can perceive
is carnal, is physical, emotional. That's all a man can do. He cannot
see the things of God because they are carnal. Scripture says the carnal mind
is enmity. See, it doesn't become enmity.
You see, we don't start out as little children loving God and
then we turn into mean adults hating God. No, we start out
hating God. We start out hating God. The natural man, this is what
God says, the natural man receiveth not the things of God. Because he's spiritually discerned.
He's spiritually depraved. He's spiritually dead. And not
one of us, not one of us would have ever chosen to be saved
by grace. Not one of us. Not one of us
would have ever sought mercy. Not one of us would have ever
thought. Look at the nation of Israel
who was given God's Word and then look at all the other nations.
Did anybody else come up with what they got? No. They didn't. Out of all those
centuries, nobody ever came up with the truth. Nobody but God's
people. We would have never wanted to
be saved by grace, always wanted to be a thief and a robber. We
would rob God of His glory. We would try to take some part,
some part of salvation to ourselves. That's our nature. And this sin entered by one man,
but praise God that life also comes by one man. Life comes
by one man. And Jesus said, I am. I am that
man. I am that God who gives life. I am. He is. Behold, Jesus of Nazareth, a
man approved of God to be the only mediator between God and
man. The only one. Let's go over to
Job. Job chapter 9. Job is lamenting here of his
troubles, his trials. And these, his friends, so-called,
were trying to accuse him. And then
Job answered and says, I know it is so of a truth. But how should a man be just
with God? Is that not a great question?
That is the greatest question that any man could ever ask.
How is it that a man can be just with God. Look at verse 32. He said, For
he is not a man as I am, that I should answer him, and that
we should come together in judgment. Who hath been the counselor of
the Lord? Who counseled God as to how to
save men? God is His own counselor. God
took counsel with Himself in eternity as to plan and purpose
salvation and accomplish it. Neither is there any daysman. That word daysman means mediator,
umpire. You see, as of yet, Christ had
not come in the flesh. He said, how is it that a man
can be just with a God who is spirit, who is holy, who is righteous,
infinitely holy and righteous? Who's going to stand between
me and Him? Who's going to stand there? Friends, how much higher is God
than man? Let me give you just a little
taste. This is only something that I
can't put my mind to it, and I don't imagine you can wrap
your mind around it either, but here it goes. God says, as the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my thoughts and ways higher
than yours. My wisdom, my strength, my holiness,
my everything is higher than yours, just as much as the heavens
are higher than the earth. Now, how high is that? I'll give you a man's estimate,
because this is all we've got. This is it. One light year, light
years do not measure time, they measure distance. And one light
year is 5.8 billion miles, one light year. 5.8 billion miles
is one light year. They estimate the edge of the
universe that they can see at 13 to 14 million light years
away. I don't even have a calculator
that long. I couldn't fit that many zeros in this building.
How much higher is that? Whatever we thought that is,
it's infinitely higher than that. That's just an analogy. God just
using something earthly so we can get a little grasp as to
how high He is. There must be a days, my friends. He is so high. And as high as
He is, that's as low as we are. Go in the opposite direction
of God and you've got man. You've got sinful man. There must be someone. Job was
saying, there must be someone who can touch me and touch God. Someone who can reconcile me
to God. Therefore, God sent His only
begotten Son. He sent the Lord Jesus Christ
from heaven. Where he shared in God's glory
for eternity. He shared in that great and infinite
glory of holiness forever. And yet he became a man and suffered. Suffered things that we could
not even begin to understand. I'll tell you what, you want
to knock me for a loop, if you took away everything I had and
put me out in the street, that would be a drop. I know that
I'm blessed. I know that God has blessed us
with many physical things. But if God were to take those
things, how low do you think we would be? We would be really
low. We would think that the world went out from underneath
us. How low did Christ come? How far did He condescend? to
be made a man who was God, who is God. And he came for this
reason, that by one man, life should come. That by him, by
only him, should he save his people from their sins. Romans
5.18, therefore, by the offense of one, Judgment came upon all
men to condemnation. Even so, by the righteousness
of one man, the free gift came upon all men unto justification
of life." This man is the creator of all
the world. When Jesus said, I am, I want
you to understand that he was testifying of who he was, God,
manifest in the flesh. The only mediator between God
and man. Let us worship the God-man. The
days-man. Let us see Christ, who is the
ladder that appeared before Jacob in the dream, who touched earth
and reached all the way into heaven. And there's only one way we'll
ever come to God. And that's by this man, the God-man. Well, number two, he says, I
am the door. The door. Very simply, what is
a door for? Well, it opens and closes. That's
the two functions it's got. Very simple. It's not a complicated
analogy, is it? We go in and out of doors every
day. A door is very simple. It opens, it closes, it keeps
in and it shuts out. It allows people to come in,
allows people to go out, and it allows, it keeps safe, keeps
people safe inside. And when the door is open, you
can go in. But when the door is closed,
you can't. Is that simple enough? Has anybody
walked through a door lately? I've walked into several, but
I've never walked through one. So, no. It's very simple. We can see it. If the door's
open, you go in. If it's closed, you can't go
through the door unless it's open. Friends, Jesus Christ is,
at this moment, the open door. The only open door. He said, I am the door. If any
man enter in, he shall be saved. and shall go in and out and find
pasture." Behold, the door of life has
been opened by the hand of God. And only the person on the inside
can open the door. If the door's locked and you're
trying to open the door, if you don't have a key, you're locked
out. And only the person who controls
the keys controls the door. And God is the controller of
the door. And He has opened the door. He has opened the way into His
very presence. Go to Isaiah chapter 22. Look
at this with me. Isaiah chapter 22, verse 22. This analogy is used many times
in Scripture concerning a door. If you think about the Old Testament
when the high priest went into the Passover, that veil was a
door. It was a blockage. You couldn't
go in. It wasn't made clear. But when
Christ died, what happened to the veil? It was open. The way
into the holies was open. Look at verse 22 of chapter 22. The scripture says, and the key
of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder. Well, this is Christ. So he shall
open and none shall shut. And he shall shut and none shall
open. And I will fasten him as a nail
in a sure place. And he shall be for a glorious
throne to his father's house. And they shall hang upon him
all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the
issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups even
to all the vessels of flagons." The Lord Jesus Christ has come
with the keys of God, the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And
He has opened the door. He's opened it. The door is open. He has come to open the door
to heaven itself. Jesus has opened the door by
His own righteousness. By His own righteousness. Why
couldn't man approach God? Because he doesn't have righteousness.
And Jesus Christ, this man, He has provided righteousness. What then could keep us out if
we have this righteousness? Nothing. The door is open. The
door is open to the righteous. And He has opened this door.
This key is upon His shoulders. And He's also seen as a nail
in a sure place. I'll tell you what, I've hit
some nails in some unsure places. You put a coat on it, it would
fall, I'm sure. But this man, Christ, He is a
nail in a sure place. And God has hung on Him all the
sins of His people. God has nailed Him to a tree. And God hung all the sins of
His people on Christ, and He bore them. He bore them all on
His shoulders. God has appointed Him prophet,
priest, and king of all who were loved of God
from eternity. But because we were sinners born
in sin, hating God, we could not enter the presence of God So Jesus Christ came with the
key to open the door. He is the door. And He's open. Is that not simple
enough? No man comes unto the Father
but by Me. Plainer words have never been
said. Well, I want to come by Jesus
and my work. No, you ain't coming to God that
way. You won't come by any works of
yourself. You must come only through this
door. And friends, He's opened this
door and people have tried to shut this door for generations,
haven't they? What's happened to everyone who's
tried to shut this door? They've been destroyed. They've
been crushed. You think about that mighty Roman
Empire. That was a mighty empire. What
turned it upside down? What caused it to fall apart?
Believers in Christ. Twelve men who turned the world
upside down. Isn't that something? Jesus Christ has opened this
door. He is the door alone, He is the sure place by which men come and lay the
weight of their sins on Him. He bore all my sins in His own
body on the tree. This word, small and great vessels,
This word vessels means tools to work or weapons of war. If
we come in the door, we must surrender all working tools and
weapons. You must surrender everything
to come into this door. Everything. Who fought my battle
against my sins? It's hung on Christ. All those vessels are hung on
Him. All my works and merit to enter
in to this door is hung on Him. And so then, if any man will
come to Him and lay down their arms I like that when he said, Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou me? Why do you kick so hard against
the pricks? I had a kid one time, it was
a disabled kid, and he just could not help but hit his head against
the wall. That is exactly how man is. Why would you hit your head against
the wall? The wall's not going to give. Yet men try and try to come in
some other way. Some other way. Thieves and robbers. You must lay all down and come
by Him and enter in unto God. Sinner, the door of salvation
is open. Christ has opened the way. And he's come with the authority
of God, not as a thief and a robber,
but as one appointed of God. Jesus has come to open the door,
declaring the gospel and fulfilling all the promises of God. How many thieves and robbers
have gone before, but one thing is true, this door of grace and
mercy for sinners will be open. Until he shuts it. When is that? I don't know. Tonight? Is that not what happened in
the days of Noah? There wasn't a big thing going
on. Everybody was eating and drinking and marrying and giving
in marriage. There was nothing different about
that day. That day was just like any other
day. And when this door shuts, it'll be just like any other
day. And what happened when the door
was shut on the ark? It was shut. All their screaming
and crying could not open the door. It was shut. Note the urgency of this, friends.
It's urgent. This matter of the gospel is
urgent. It's not something to be waited on and contended with.
It is something to be declared simply and plainly. Jesus Christ
is the door. He's open. Come in. That's it. There's the message. And if you
want a message for a dying man, that's it. That's it. Lay down
your arms and come in. Get rid of your works. Trust
Christ. Come in and hang everything on
Him. What good is a door if you don't enter it? What good is
an open door if you don't come in? If you were standing outside
and it was freezing, and you were naked and you had no food,
and you had no clothes, And I opened the door and I said, come in.
Come in and warm yourself. Come in and eat until you're
full. Now, I'll tell you this. You
can stand there and you can measure that door all you want to. You
can admire that door all you want to. You can tell me how
beautiful that door is. But if you don't enter in, you're
not going to be warm and filled. You must. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ alone. That's what it is to enter in.
It is to believe on Christ. It is to trust Him. How many people are just measuring
the door? How many people are just admiring
the door without actually coming in? And what excuse will they ever
have to blame God? The door is open. But you will
not come. Now, Jesus said, I am the door.
And He said, if any man come in, he shall be saved. Now, is
that not wonderful? Is that just simple enough? Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not talking about an imposter.
I'm talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. And you shall be saved. And you shall go in and out and
find pasture. What does that mean? Does a man
go in in salvation and go out of salvation? Absolutely not.
That means they go in and out among each other and find pasture. Isn't that what we do here? When
we come here, we go in and out among each other and we find
food. The Word of God. We feed. Our
souls feed. Our flesh profits nothing. Our
souls feed on the Gospel. Number three, he said, I am the
door of the sheep. Jesus is the only God-man mediator,
the only door that is open, the only way to God, and all who
enter in shall be saved. But who will enter in the door?
This door is for only His sheep. This door is a sheep door. is the door of the sheepfold.
And His sheep are His. His sheep are His. Now, how can you own sheep? Well,
you can own sheep by a gift. You can own sheep by a purchase.
And you can own sheep when you find them. That's exactly how
He owns us, all three. We are a gift of God the Father
to the Son. We are His sheep. All who enter
in, we are His sheep. How do I know that? Because only
sheep enter in. Only sheep come in. And Jesus Christ owns us because
He's purchased us. He's bought us. Know you not
that you are not your own? Have you realized that you're
a slave yet? That you don't belong to you? But you were bought with a price.
The precious blood of the Son of God has bought you. And you
see, the sheep are glad to be bought because they were bought
out of death. They were bought out from under
the justice of God. And friends, He is our shepherd
because He has found us. People think that Jesus is lost
and you've got to find Him. That's not the way it works.
We're lost and He must find us. And friends, He will find His
sheep. If he's got 99 in the fold and
there's one left, he'll go find him. Jesus said, I came to seek and
to save that which was lost. See, if you've never been lost,
then you've never been found. You've got to be lost to be found.
I was lost and He found me. Look at verses 14. In our text
here, John 10, verse 14, Jesus said, I am the good shepherd,
and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth
me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the
sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold. This
is talking about you. He's talking about me. I thought
about this when I read it, and I said, you know, he was thinking
about me. Isn't that something? He was thinking about us. when
He said this. Of course, there's never been
a time He didn't think about us. There's never been a time
He didn't love us. He said, Them I must bring. He must bring. He's bought us. God gave us to Him. He must find
us. And He will find us. Every one
of His sheep will be found and not one is lost. And John 6 said, All the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. Are you His? Have you come in
the door? Then you're His sheep. You see, you're protected by
the shepherd and nothing Though the gates of hell rage against
you, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Have you heard His voice? Because
only the sheep hear His voice. Only the sheep follow Him. And He knows us by name. That's something. He knows us by name. Calls us
by name. Sinner. Is that your name? That's my name. Sinner! Come. Yes, Master. He is the door for the sheep.
And add through this door, we have perfect access to God. Isn't
that something that you can approach the throne of God like that? Imagine the grace it takes. When he holds forth the scepter
and he says, come son, come and welcome Let your request be made
known to me." How do you talk to God when you pray? I heard this from some other
pastor. He said this. He said, you know, when I went
to my father, I didn't say, O thou wast and thou o'erstar distant. You only speak to him as a father. Come as a child would come. This is the door to the sheep
and not of the goats. Even though there are some goats
in and out of the herd, in and out of the flock, there'll always
be goats among the sheep, and they love to eat the same thing
as sheep. They love to eat grass, but they
also like to eat everything else. Goats like to eat grass, but
if there's no grass, they'll eat trash. And that's the way it is with
goats. They'll eat anything. See, sheep, they won't eat anything. How do you know if you're a goat?
Well, if a man loves grace and works, he's a goat. If he can
sit and hear the gospel in this place and then go and sit and
hear a false gospel in another place, it's because he'll eat
anything. God's people won't just eat anything.
have the gospel. They must be led of Christ in
and out to find pasture. God says to his sheep, love one
another as I have loved you. Goats like to butt. But what
about this guy? This guy, you don't know that
guy. How in the world could I possibly love? But I can't love that guy."
Well, because you're a goat. It's not grievous for me to love
you. It's not grievous for me to love
you because I know He loves me. And that's a whole lot harder
than me loving you. God's people are told to forgive. even as Christ forgave. Well,
you don't know what He did to me. If you know how much you've been
forgiven, it should be easy to forgive anybody anything else. That song of the goats, I don't
know why it's got in my head. I'll do anything for love, but
I won't do that. That's what they do. They'll
do anything for Jesus, but this. But love. But forgive. But take
offense. Christ's sheep hear His voice
and love to obey His commands. They are not grievous to Him. And friends, this door will soon
close. Jesus gave the parable of the
ten wise virgins and the ten foolish virgins. And they all were virgins. They
all had lamps. The only difference was the oil. The wise virgins had the oil
which is the Spirit of God. How many people say, Well, I'll
just wait until I'm older. You know, not many people believe
on Christ when they're older. That's not common. It's not common
for a person to go through his whole life hating the gospel
and then believe in the end. That's very uncommon. It happens, but it's uncommon. The foolish virgins waited to
the last minute. And they tried to go get some
oil. But when they came back, the door was shut. The wise virgins
had already entered in. How many people will cry to Christ when it's
too late? I love Him. I'm so thankful that
He is God. And I'm so thankful He knows
what it is to be a man. I'm so thankful that He infinitely
knows more concerning my own sin than I do. Because He bore it in His own
body. A righteous man buries sin in his own body? That's my door. I enter in by faith to Christ. And I have access to God. And
nobody will take me outside that door. Nobody. I'm safe in the fold. Safe. When that firstborn was in the house, where
was the blood? It was on the outside of the
door. He couldn't see the blood. I'm sure there's some question.
Dad, did you put the blood on the door? Are you sure you got
the blood on the door? Friends, no matter how he worried,
he was safe. The blood was on the door, son. The blood's been
applied, son. How many times you need to hear
that? Because I need to hear that every single day of my life.
The blood has already been applied. You're safe inside. Is that not wonderful? I pray
that God will bless this to your hearts. Let's stand and we'll
be dismissed in prayer.