That was good. Bless my heart. I have truly enjoyed being with
you folks today. I enjoyed this morning. I enjoyed lunch together. And I pray that our great God
would meet with us again this evening. If he doesn't, all we
say and do is just lip service. I pray that he would enable us
to worship him from our hearts. And only he can do that. We cannot
bring about only what God demands. Only God can give what God requires. And everything that he requires,
he's given it unto us in the person of his darling son. Every
blessing. Turn with me in your Bible this
evening to John chapter 10. John chapter 10. Verse one. Barely, barely I say
unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold,
climbeth up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber.
But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and
the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name,
and he 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 spake Jesus unto
them, but they understood not what things they were which he
spake unto them. Then Jesus saith unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, and he says it very plain, very simple,
I am the door of the sheep. Our Lord spoke very simple when
he preached, very simple terms. One place he said, I am the bread
of life. One place he said, I am the water of life. We see him
also pictured as the shepherd of the sheep. And we saw this
morning, he's like an eagle with his young, but here he's pictured
as a door. He said, I am the door of the
sheep. All that ever came before me
were 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 go in and out and find pasture. The thief
cometh not before to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am
come that they might have life, that they might have it more
abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. But he that is a hireling, and
not the shepherd who's owned the sheep or not, he seeth the
wolf coming, and he leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the wolf
catcheth them, and scareth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because
he is a hireling, and he didn't care for the sheep. I am the
good shepherd, and know my sheep, and have known of mine. As the
father knoweth me, even so know I the father, and I lay down
my life for the sheep. And of the sheep I have, which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall
hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth my father love
me, because I laid down my life, that I might take it again. No
man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself, and I have
power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This
commandment have I received of my father. I want to think about
that thought this evening where Christ said, I am the door. What is a door? Well, first of
all, a door is one with the house. You can have a wall, but in that
wall, without a place of entrance, it's useless. The door is one
with the house. What would a house be without
a door? and what would a door be without a house? Ephesians
chapter two, verse 20, and you are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly framed together
groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are
built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit. When people build a house, they
put the door in a divine place, a design place, and they put
it there on purpose. That door in the back of that
building or the front of the building, it was there when this
building was designed on purpose, on purpose. He put the door where he wanted
the door. In the tabernacle, most of y'all
saw a picture of the tabernacle in the Old Testament, it had
a door. But it basically had three. It had the first door
you come through and you see the brazen altar. Then there was
another door that entered the holy place, where the altar of
incense was and the showbread and the candle of lampstand.
That's the second door. Then the other door. was between
the holy place and the holies of holies. But that first door
that you entered in, you know where it was facing? It was facing
the east. You think that's by accident.
No, that was on purpose. This is where he said to put
the door. And there's one door. You could
only enter in that one door, that one place, the place where
God said it was to be put. And in the ark, Noah's ark, God
told him exactly how to build it, and he said, in the sight
of that ark, you are to put a door. You put it where God said put
it, and everything that entered into that ark had to enter through
that one door. But he was to put it where God
said put it. He was there on purpose and for
a reason. Christ said, I am the door. He didn't say, I am one among
many doors. I am the door. I don't know very little about
English. Very little. I guess you can tell by now.
But the word the, I think, is a definite article which says
this is the door. Which one? He's the door. I am
the door. Not one among many doors. I am
the door. I am the only door. If you're
to get into the house, you have to come through the door. And
there's only one door. One door. A door is for access into the
house. You imagine everything that God
has for a sinner is in Christ. It's all in him. And he's the
door. And inside that house, you think
about what's in your house. Well, you have a bed where you
lay down and rest. You have a table where you can eat. You have fellowship
and you have communion. You have all these things. But
there's no way of access except but by door. Everything that
God has for a sinner, you receive and you have access to it by
God's door, which is Christ. This house, it is full of fellowship.
and communion. It is by the door. John saw in
Revelations chapter four, verse one, he said he saw a door opened
in heaven. You can imagine if he looked
and the angel revealed unto John and he saw a door and it was
closed. But he said, I saw a door that
was open. Thank God that there's a door open, a door of mercy,
a door of access into everything that God has provided for a sinner.
Here he says, I am the door. Everyone, like I said, that came
into the ark, that came into Noah's ark, came by the same
door. Rich, poor, black, white, smart,
ignorant, male, female, all come by that same door. That's what
makes a lot of people mad. They're too proud to come this
way and this door. They say, let me make a door.
No, there's one door. There's one door. God said one
door. And Christ said, I am the door.
He said it very plain. He said it very simple, that
they could understand. He said, I am the door. All who come into the ark of
salvation. What a picture. What a picture
of salvation. God brought Noah into the ark
and shut him in. And all the wrath and the judgment
of God fell upon that ark. I preached on that one time and
I said that ark was basically baptized. It was submerged from
within and from without. It was covered in water and God
brought Noah and all those in the ark through that storm of
God's wrath. It protected them. It saved them.
But how did they get in? Through that door. Through that
door. A door is a place of lawful entrance. We either come through that back
door, that, why I keep calling it back door, that door or one
of these back doors tonight. And that is the law. I didn't
see anybody crawling in a window, did you? If you come to my house
at night and you knock on the door, if I come to the door and
you're asking for help or something, I'll probably help you if you
come to the door. But if you wait till I lay down and go to
sleep and I see you coming in the window, it's a different
story. You're coming in unlawfully. There is a lawful way to approach
God, and it is through the door. He said, those that come in some
other way, he said, they're what? They're thieves and they're robbers.
They want to rob God of his glory. They want to strip him of his
righteousness, and they want it all themselves. He said, let
a man come up any other way. There's only one way into the
sheepfold, and it's the door. He said, all that ever came before
me were thieves, and robbers. They said, we weren't going in
that way. We're going to come in our own way. He said, verily, I say unto you,
he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth
up some other way. And that's how they always do
it. They're trying to climb up some other way, the same as a
thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the
door is the shepherd of the sheep. A door has a twofold purpose.
It lets in. And it also keeps out. I've already
said that it gives access. It gives no access to strangers. You picture this fold. It has
one door. And that door is for who? It's
for the sheep. That's what it's for. That's
what it's for. The sheep have access to food.
shelter, and fellowship with the shepherd. Listen, Romans
5, verse 1, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we also have access by
faith into the grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope
of the glory of God. By whom, it's a person, we have
what? Access. You think about having access
to the very throne of God. Access. Who has access? All the sheep do. He laid down
his life for them. You see, and that's what makes
the world mad. They say, well, we'll just climb
up any other way. There has to be another one.
There's another way. It's whichever way you want to make it. No,
he's the way. And the only way of access to God is through the
door. That's it, the only way of access. If we're to approach God, we
come through Christ. It's like you said, praying in
his name. That's access. He said, whatsoever you ask.
Coming to God Almighty, coming with our needs and our concerns
and our cares and our troubles, we have access. Philippians 3 verse 12. He says
it again, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by
the faith of him. As I thought about that verse,
I remember years ago before we moved to West Virginia, I had
my study in the basement. And Emily, she was the only granddaughter
I had at that time. She was probably five, six, maybe
seven. And I was down there one Sunday
morning, and I heard her coming down the steps. My door in my
study was closed, but it wasn't shut, and it wasn't locked. And
what she did, she'd come and she'd push the door open, she'd
run around the desk, and she jumped up in my lap. You know
why? She had access to her papa. She had lawful right, and she
knew it, and she never thought nothing about it. Access. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 16, oh
that God would give us grace to lay hold of this verse. Let
us, now who are the us? That's the sheep. Let us, therefore,
come boldly unto the throne of grace. Not a throne of judgment,
a throne of grace that we may obtain mercy. mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. Most of the time we feel so guilty
and so unworthy because of our sin. Isn't that it? That's just
me. I'm just trying to be honest
as I can. Come boldly. That's not cocky. That's because
we have a right. It's like my granddaughter coming
and running and jumping on my lap. Why did she come? She had
the right to come. She never thought nothing about
it. She come and you know what she
did? She just jumped up on my lap and just hugged my neck.
And she had every right to do it. Sinners can now come into the
very presence of God Almighty. Why Christ has made a way of
access. That door. between the holies
of holies and the holy place. That veil that said, stay out. The only one that went through
that door was the high priest one day a year on the day of
atonement and not without blood. Nobody else went in. There was
a sign basically that said, stay out. And when the Son of God
gave His life on Calvary and shed His precious blood, when
He said, it is finished, all the lost satisfied, those types
are done away with, you know what happened to that veil? You
know what happened to that door? It was ripped and twanged from
the top to the bottom, showing that God did it. And you know
what He did? He opened up the door. He entered in once into
the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us, which
gives us the right of access to the throne of God. And we
look to Him. When we come not, it's not our
merits. It's not our works. We have no
work. It's His work. When we come,
we plead His merit, His righteousness. That's our access. What right
do you have to be in here? What right do you have to approach
God? What right do you have? I know
that's whispered in your ear a lot. What right do you have?
You dirty dog. You good-for-nothing thing. You filthy sinner. Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies.
Who is he that condemned? It's Christ that died, who is
even at the right hand of God, who makes intercession for us. That's excess. That's excess. And you know,
when we preach the gospel, we just remind you of what he's
done. Remind you. We come to the throne of Christ,
the throne of God. You remember King Uzziah? In
2 Chronicles chapter 26, he was king. And something happened
and he got lifted up with pride. It said in 2 Chronicles 26 verse
16, but when he was strong, His heart was lifted up with pride
to his destruction because he transgressed against the Lord
his God and he went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense
upon the altar incense. He has no right to burn incense.
He may be king, but he's not a priest. And what he's basically
saying is I can come on my own merits. And don't tell me I can't
come. And here's what it is. This is
what works always does. Works lifts men up with pride.
They think that I can come and approach God based upon my own
merits. I'm good enough to come. No,
you're not. And you never will be. So quit
trying. Doing is a deadly thing. Doing
ends in death. You know what the gospel says? It's
done. There is a door. King Uzziah in verse 19, when
they told him, you don't have any right being in here. He was
wroth, and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And
while he was wroth with the priest, the leprosy even rose up in his
forehead before the priest and the house of the Lord from beside
the altar of incense. God smoked this man with leprosy. And in verse 21, in Uzziah the
king was a leper until the day of his death. He's separated
now. He died a leper. And he dwelled in a several house
being a leper, for he was cut off from the house of the Lord. But he thought he had the right
to approach God He thought that was his merits. I can just approach
God on my merits. No, you can't. No, you can't. It's only through Christ. It's
not through the preacher. It's not through anybody else.
It's not through the Pope. It's not through anybody. It's
through Christ. He's the door. He's the door. This door is under
the command of the one who owns the house. What did he say? I had the keys. of hell and of
death. I can tell you whoever has the
keys either locks or unlocks the door. He has the keys. He's over the house. The door
will either let people in or it will keep people out. Listen,
Revelation 3, verse 7, And to the angel of the church of Philadelphia
write, These things saith he that is holy, he that is true,
he that hath the key of David. He has the key of what? He has
the key of David. He has the right. He bought the
sovereign right over all men. He's Lord. He has the key of
David. He that openeth and no man can
shut. Did you hear that? When he opens,
nobody can't shut it. And he shut us. And when he shuts
it, they can't nobody open it. That's sobering. Let that just
sink in. He opens and no man can shut. And he shuts and no
man can open. I know thy works and behold,
I have set before thee an open door and no man can shut it. He can open the door, or he can
shut the door. I made mention to the ark. There was one door in the ark.
God told Noah how big to make the door, and God told Noah to
come into the ark, and to have every kind of animals. And what
happened when they came in, Genesis chapter 7, verse 16, and they
that went in, went in male and female, all flesh, as God had
commanded him, and the Lord shut him in." God shut the door. Do you think about this door
that's been open ever since God told Noah to make it? He worked
on the ark for 120 years, and the whole time he preached the
gospel to those people, he said, judgment's coming. Judgment's
coming. And God brought Noah in, and
God shut that door. And when God shut that door,
that's it. There was no sign on the outside of the door that
said, smile, sinners, God loves you. There's a sign on the inside
of the ark, and Noah could get up every morning and read a sign
like that that said, smile, Noah, God loves you, because all the
love of God is in that ark. But you imagine this, when God
shut that door, when the first raindrop began to fall because
it had never rained. Never rained. There's a mist
that went up from the earth, and it begins to rain, and it
keeps raining. I can see people running to that
door, beating on that door. And Noah, even if Noah had wanted
to, Noah couldn't open the door. You imagine if that was your
uncle or your brother or something outside the door. You know what
we'd have done? We'd have went and tried to open the door. But God shut
that door and there's nobody getting in. And you know what
else? There's nobody getting out. There's two ways of looking at
it. There's no one getting in. And listen, you are so secure in
Christ. So you think about when he shut
you in Christ before the world was ever made, he shut you in,
closed you in, shut you in. When God opens the door, no one
can shut it. But that's sobering, when God
shuts the door, no one can open it. Listen, you remember, you
know the story of the wise and the foolish virgins. It says
in Matthew 25 verse six, and at midnight there was a cry made,
behold, the bridegroom cometh. Go ye out to meet him. Then all
those virgins arose and they trimmed their lamps. And the
foolish said unto the wise, give us of your oil, for our lamps
are gone out. But the wise answered saying,
not so, lest there not be enough for us and you. But go ye rather
to them that sell and buy for yourselves. And while they went
to buy, the bridegroom came. And they that were ready went
in with him to the marriage. And then the door was shut. And
afterward came also the other virgins. You know what they said?
Lord, Lord, open unto us. Not everyone that says Lord,
Lord's gonna enter in. Open to us, but he answered and
said, verily I say unto you, I know you not. What's therefore
for you know neither the day nor the hour when the Son of
Man cometh. Luke 13, 25, when once the master of the house
is risen up and has shut the door and you begin to stand without
and to knock at the door saying, Lord, Lord, open to us and he
shall answer and say unto you, I know not which you are. To me, that's sobering. While the door of grace is open,
enter the door. Remember the children of Israel
when they came out of Egypt? They wandered in the wilderness,
and they're going to send 12 spies into Canaan. They sent
one from each tribe. Ten came back with a report.
They said, that's a good land, but there's giants in the land.
We can't take it. Caleb and Joshua said, yeah,
there's giants in the land, but God's give us that land. Let
us go right now and take it. And they could have went right
then and went in. They said, no, we can't go in. But you know
what happened? They slept on it. They get up the next morning,
they said, I think we can go in and take it. And they go up. And God, he shut the door. They can't go in but for another
40 years. They thought, well, we'll go in the next day. No.
The ark didn't go up. Moses didn't go up. And God shut
the door. Do you know Paul wanted to go
preach the gospel to Asia and God wouldn't let him? In Acts
16 verse 6, now when they'd gone throughout Phrygia and the region
of Galatia and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the
word in Asia, God said, you're not going right now. But eventually he did because
all those seven churches in Revelation are the churches of what? Asia. But at one point the door was
shut. I said that day, I pray God gives
me wisdom to know when the door is open and to go through that
door and to wait on him when the door is shut for him to open
the door. It says in Proverbs 124, because
I've called and you refused. I have stretched out my hand
and no man regarded, but you have said it not all my counsels,
and with none of my reproof. I will laugh at your calamity,
I will mock when your fear cometh. Then shall they call upon me,
but I won't answer. They shall seek me early, but
they shall not find me. What are the benefits of a door? The purpose of the door is to
receive sinners. All that come unto me shall find
life. Let me find my verse. I can't find it. Where it says
all that come unto me shall be saved, they come in and in and
out and they find pasture. That's what the door's for, it's
for salvation. Then I'm just trying to present
to you who the door is. I can tell you everything about
the door. I can describe him by God's grace to a tee. And
you can stand there and admire the door. You're not saved by
admiring the door. You're saved by entering the
door. It's just like the city of refuge.
God provided six cities of refuge, and they were signs that were
clearly marked that said to the city of refuge, they cleaned
the roads up every year, made sure there was no hindrances,
no obstacles. It said to the city of refuge,
you could stand and look at the sign all day long, or you could
even run to the city itself and stand there and look at the gate
and never enter in and still perish. The question is, have
I entered the door? if I entered the door. Here it is, I'm sorry, it was
John 10 verse 9. I am the door, by me if any man
enter in, he shall be saved. He didn't say he might be saved,
he shall be saved. Listen, election is not a closed
door. If it was not for election, no one would be saved. And what
election does, it opens the door wide open. That's right. Go into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature, every man. We
proclaim Christ to everyone. And all that come to me, I will
lose none. This is what it says in Revelation 22, verse 17. And
the Spirit and the bride say, come. And let him that heareth
say, come. And let him that is athirst come.
And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. The
door is wide open. Come. Has God given you ears
to hear? Come. Are you thirsty? Come. And everybody that's thirsty
will come. I heard Henry make a statement
one time that blessed my heart. He said, how long will a man
go to a church or go to a well where there's no water? Till
he gets thirsty. And when he gets thirsty, he'll
look for water. And if you imagine a man thirsty,
not had water, not had water in days. And you say, I know
where you can find water. You go through the door. And
what he did, he had run through the door. That's what we do when
we preach the gospel. We preach it and leave it in
God's hands. And he makes men thirsty. Are you thirsty? Come. I know where water's at. It's
in him. What hinders men from entering
this door? It is their willful, unbelieved,
like Uzziah the king, it's their damnable pride. I won't come
that way. Well, if you don't come that
way, you'll just perish. I say that with a broken heart. I have
friends, I have loved ones that play religion, and they've never
come through the door. They don't even know who the
door is. I had Obe to read on purpose,
John 14, verse 6. Jesus said unto him, I am the
way, the truth and the life. No man comes into the Father
but by me. Flee to Christ, the door is open. I am just a signpost to point
you to the place of refuge. I can see Noah saying, here's
the ark. It's gonna rain. Judgment's coming.
Salvation's in this ark. Now some people say, you're crazy.
It'll never rain. You don't know what you're talking about. We
read from this book that our Lord Jesus Christ is coming back
to this world, isn't he? And he's gonna burn up everything
we see. Judgment's coming. It's appointed unto men once
to die, and after that to judgment. And their only hope is in Christ,
the door. The door. Today is the day of salvation.
Enter the door. Flee to Christ. Rest in Him. He's the way. Amen.