Pray if you will with me back
to John chapter 10, John's Gospel chapter 10. Pray that God will be pleased
as a hymn I heard expressed it. Lord, draw back the curtain of
memory now and then. Show me where you brought me
from and where I could have been. Pray that God would be pleased
to do that this morning. Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 and
2, we read these words. God, who at sundry times and
in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son. Remember the main theme of the
book of Hebrews is to show the superiority of the Lord Jesus
Christ in every respect, in every comparison, He is better. How
much better is this, that God has spoken unto us by His Son,
whom He had appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made
the worlds. God spoke unto us by His Son. Now compare that to this familiar
verse in John's Gospel chapter 1, and the word That word, capitalized,
the word that was made flesh, was made flesh and dwelt among
us and we beheld His glory. The glory as the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. That eternal word,
that very expression of God Almighty, the express image of His person,
the Lord Jesus Christ, that was God's final word. He speaks unto
us by His Son. He won't be spoken to except
through His Son. And He won't speak to one except
through His Son. And that was the one of whom
God said, this is my beloved Son. I've told you before, my
daddy was old-fashioned. He didn't subscribe to the philosophy
of telling me to go stand in the corner. He would tell me
to do something. If he had to tell me a second time, he would
usually say, now son, that's final. That's final. I'm not
going to tell you again. The Lord Jesus Christ sent forth
his son made of a woman. The word made flesh and dwelt
among us. And God said, that's final. That's
final. This is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased. Hear ye him. Hear ye Him. Focus on Him. Look to Him. Brother Henry Mahan, in his commentary
on this book of the Bible, the Gospel of John, he begins it
this way. Henry wrote, each book of the
Bible has a prominent and dominant theme, which is peculiar to itself. The theme of John's gospel is
the deity of the Savior. And John introduces that in the
very first few verses in chapter one, doesn't he? Showing us that
Christ is that one by whom all things were made. He was in the
beginning with God and he himself was God. Our Lord Jesus Christ
in the Gospel of John time and time again identifies himself
as I Am. I Am. Remember? That's what he
said to Moses at the burning bush. When Moses said, when I
go to Pharaoh and tell him you demanded he let his people go,
who shall I say sent me? And Christ was that one who spoke
from that burning bush and said, you tell them that I am. I am
that I am. In other words, he was saying
I am the eternal, self-existent God. I'm that one that had no
beginning and shall have no end. Billy, try that on. Think of
that. I don't have enough gray matter
between these ears to grasp that. Had no beginning and shall have
no end. In John's gospel, Christ reveals
himself as the great, the eternal, the everlasting I AM. John chapter 6, verse 35. And Jesus said unto them, I am
the bread of life, not that I was. All these present tense. I am
the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. O well of water, ever springing! John again, John chapter 8 verse
12. Then spake Jesus again unto them,
saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall
not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. And then
we read it a moment ago, here in verse 11 of John 10. I am
the Good Shepherd, unlike the Pharisees to whom he spoke. I
am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth his
life for his sheep." And then in chapter 11, verse 25, these
words to Martha, Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and
the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live." A preacher many years ago said,
one of these days you're going to pick up the paper and look
in the obituaries. I sometimes tease Robyn because
she gets on her phone and looks at the Muncie paper where she's
from at the obituaries. I said, what are you doing that
for? Just to see if anyone in there
that I knew, and often there is. But this old preacher said,
one of these days you'll pick up the paper and turn to the
obituaries and it'll say that so and so has died, that I've
died. He said, don't you believe that?
I will never at that moment be so much alive, everlasting. Christ said, he that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And he that liveth
and believeth in me will never die. Why? Because he's the resurrection,
and he's the life. His resurrection guarantees our
resurrection, our spiritual rebirth, and when we ascend to be with
him in glory. John 14, Jesus again said, I
am the way, I am the way, singular. The truth and the life, no man,
no man cometh unto the father but by me. John 15, verse one,
I am the true vine and my father is the husband. And then here
in John chapter 10 verse 9, which is our text, our Lord declares
again, I'm not only the shepherd of the sheep, but I'm the door
into the sheepfold. I'm the door. I'm the shepherd
as well as the door. I am the door, verse 9, by me. If any man enter in, I like how
emphatically he expresses himself, don't you? I don't find any elbow
room for doubt. I don't have a hint or a suggestion
in the least that this is not so. As we sometimes say, you
can take this to the bank. And this is more sure than that.
He shall be saved. Any man that enters in by me,
the door, shall be saved. And he shall go in and out and
find pasture. That's our text. And here's the
title, Christ the Door. I am so glad I have entered in
Christ the door. And first, and only two things,
two thoughts. First, Christ is the only door,
the only door. And second, and these overlap
one another, why we need such a door. First, Christ is the
door. That's what he said. I am the
door. Not one of the doors, but the
only door there is. by me, not by anyone else, not
by the preacher. absurd. How deceiving to the
souls of the ignorant for some man, whether he call himself
a Catholic priest or a Baptist preacher, to suppose that they're
the door, that they can lead people into the kingdom of God.
Christ says not so. I am the door, not anyone else. No preacher, no priest, not yourself,
not by water, not by decision, not by religious tradition, all
but by me. enter in, you shall be saved."
People ask, well now, isn't that rather bigoted? Isn't that rather
narrow-minded? Wouldn't it be more generous
to agree with the religious world that there are other avenues,
other ways, other means to come to God? No, no, that's not gracious
at all. That's deceiving. That's damning. No, there's no other entrance.
There's no other way. There's no other way. There's
no possibility for any sinner to ever obtain mercy and grace
and salvation to come to God and find acceptance by that just
and holy God other than this one way, this one door. And Jesus
Christ says, I'm that door. I'm the door. Is there no other
entrance into the true church of God? Yeah, you can go through
doors and join up, sign up to many churches, take your pick,
they're on every corner, but to be a member of Christ's body,
which is His church, to enter into that church, the church
of the living God, Christ says there's no other way. There's
no other entrance into the eternal blessedness of heaven except
by Him. There is no other, for He says,
I am the door by Me. Me alone. If any man enter in,
I like these words, we'll come to those in a little while. He
shall be saved. No question about it. No question
about it. No other entrance into the grace
now that He gives in salvation or the glory that He's promised
hereafter. No other way to either one. Not
by self-sufficiency, not by self-righteousness, not by priests, not by rites. Now, we're not too far from the
Easter time, my soul. the rigmarole, the religious
hodgepodge, the nonsense that will go on. But not by such ceremonies,
not by anything that the will of the flesh can do, not by the
will of man can you obtain a mission to the kingdom of God. There's
a sign up to all those other ways, supposed ways, God says,
keep out. Keep out. You shall not enter
here. Oh, but concerning this door, that Christ says He Himself
is, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. And he shall go in
and out, and find sweet pasture for his weary soul. In the first
paradise, I like this statement by Richard Baxter. You may recall
it being in your bulletin some time ago. He said, in the first
paradise in Eden, there was a way to go out, but no way to get
back in. But as for the heavenly paradise,
there is a way to go in, but no way to go out. I'm thankful for that, aren't
you, John? I'm thankful that once we're His, we're His forever. There is nothing. Paul seems
to issue a challenge, doesn't he, in Romans 8? What shall separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus? Things past? Things present? things future? No. Paul said, I'm convinced,
God give me grace to be convinced too, that nothing shall separate
me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. He not only
provided a way of redemption and a way of fellowship with
the Father, He is that way. He is that way. It is by Christ
and in Christ and through Christ and with Christ that we're accepted. For Christ's sake, I've got to
preach on that. Just those few words. Sometime
soon the Lord willing. For Christ's sake. Oh, that just
gives me a warm feeling. I can just cozy up to that. I
can just wrap myself up in that. For Christ's sake. God had for
Christ's sake forgiven you. For Christ's sake he accepts
you. For Christ's sake he'll bring
you to himself. For Christ's sake he'll let you
enter into glory and be with him forever and ever. Oh yes,
if any sinner, any real sinner, when's the last time? I sometimes
ask you that. I can tell you for me, it's been
a while. It's been a while, John, since I talked to a real sinner.
I mean a real, as old Scott said, a real dead dog bonafide sinner. They're rare. The truth is, only
God can make a man a sinner. Oh, it's easy to get the preacher
off your back, like I used to do, to say, yeah, I know I'm
a sinner. Now, leave me alone, I would think under my breath.
Oh, but when God gets you lost, then you know you're the sinner. Before that, it was, well, I'm
not so bad as other men. I'm not like my neighbor over
there. Oh, after God gets you lost, you don't talk like that
anymore. You kind of change your tone, don't you? I'm the sinner. If any such sinner is that, emptied,
emptied of self, looking to Christ, desiring of life, and believes
on Christ and comes to Christ, our Lord's promise here is He
shall be eternally saved. He shall be eternally saved.
What God does, He does forever. Nothing can be added to it. Nothing
can be taken from it. He shall be eternally saved and
shall find in Christ everything that He needs. Everything that
He needs. John 14 again, Jesus said to
his disciples that night, just prior to his arrest, Jesus said
unto them, I am the way. I am the way. Was it Philip that
said, Lord, we don't know where you're going. How can we know
the way? Philip, I'm the way. I am the way, the truth, the
life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. That's the same thing Peter told
the Sanhedrin, him and John. When they were called before
the Sanhedrin for the healing of the man lame at the gate of
the temple, they called them on the carpet, the religious
elite. They looked down their nose,
there stands John and Peter in the midst, and they looked down
their religious, self-righteous noses and said, by what means
have you done this? How did this happen? How was
this impotent man made whole? And Peter says, I'm glad you
asked. If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the
impotent man, the helpless man, by what means he is made whole,
perfectly whole, given this perfect soundness, complete, lacking
nothing, be it known unto you all, and to all the people of
Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ, that name above every
name, that name at which all shall bow, that by that name,
by His authority, His power, whom you crucified, whom God
raised from the dead, even by Him, by Him, no one else could
do this, by Him does this man stand here before you whole. That's the same way that any
helpless beggar, any sinner stands before the Holy Lord God whole. because of what the Lord Jesus
Christ does. Peter went on to say, this is
the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which has become
the headstone of the corner. You couldn't stop it. You rejected
God's chief cornerstone, but God raised him up. Neither is
there salvation in any other, for there is none other name.
That's exactly what Christ said, I'm the door. No man comes to
the Father but by me. There is none other name under
heaven given among men whereby you must be saved. What about
Buddha? Won't do it. What about Confucius? Won't do it. The Lord Jesus Christ
alone. Ephesians chapter 2 again, we
read the very same thing. For he is our peace. He is our
peace, poor ignorant Preachers tell sinners, make your peace
with God. Tell me how to do that. I tried. I tried when I was seeking mercy
and finding none. I tried to make my peace with
God. I did everything these fellas told me to do. Got me a Bible,
tried to memorize verses. Grandma said, get that haircut.
I was a hippie. I got a haircut. I cleaned up
my act, and I was still lost. I still didn't have peace with
God. I still lay down in my bed at night, and I thought, I'm
lost, I'm lost, I'm lost. How can I have peace with God?
For He, the Lord Jesus Christ, He is our peace, our everlasting
peace. He's the Prince of Peace, and
He gives us the sweet peace of the forgiveness of our sins.
who have made both one, whether Jew or Gentile, and have broken
down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished
in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained
in ordinances, for the making himself of twain one new man,
so making peace, and that he might reconcile both unto God
in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby, and
came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them
that were nigh. For through Him, I am the door. Through Him, we both have access
by one Spirit unto the Father. Oh, I love, I love what we read
in Revelation chapter 4, verse 1. What John heard, what John
saw. After this, John said, I looked.
I looked and behold. John, God give us grace to behold
it with you. Behold a door. was open in heaven. A door was open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard
was, as it were, a trumpet talking with me, saying, Come up hither,
John, there's a way. There's a door. There's an entrance
for you into glory. And the great shepherd is still
calling his sheep to himself. He'll do so in time, as long
as this world stands. That's the only reason it continues
to exist. And he'll call them in eternity.
That's what he said himself, did he not? Didn't that what
he said, Billy? All that the Father gave me,
not 9 out of 10, not 99 out of 100, every one of them. Oh, thank God for such a great
shepherd. He says, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. Every one of them will come to
me. And him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. Why? Because I of the sheep I
have, verse 16 here in John 10, which are not of this foe, them
also I must bring. I must bring. His would be the
greater loss. If I, being one of his sheep,
should slip out of his hand, he would suffer the greater loss.
He would suffer the loss of his glory, the loss of his promise. That cannot be. Any man that
has come the only way that God himself has appointed, through
this one and only door, the only entrance there is to grace and
glory, Jesus Christ, he shall be saved. He shall be saved. Grace flows to needy sinners
through the one mediator. The Lord Jesus Christ. He's the
way. Nothing comes down from God to
us and nothing ascends up to God from us except it goes through
this door. The Lord Jesus Christ. Thank
God for that. Now, here's the second thing.
The need of this door. I told you these two thoughts
overlapped. The need of this door. By nature. By nature. We're told in God's Word that
by nature We're separate and far from God. Sin, like a great
wall, a great barrier, rises between us and God. The sense
of our guilt makes us afraid to approach Him. The sense of
His holiness keeps us at a distance. And this heart, this natural
heart of our fallen nature, keeps us at enmity with God. And the
longer we live in that state, the more we become alienated
from Him by practice, the longer we live. And the very first questions
that must be answered are these. How can I? How can I draw nearer
to God? People never think about that.
My wife had dinner with a friend of hers. A few years ago, this
lady's been in church for years and years and years, professes
to be a believer. And Robin asked, they were on
the subject, and Robin said, well, how can a man be just with
God? And that woman looked at her
and said, I don't know. I've never heard my pastor deal with
that question. He's never brought that up. I
don't have a clue what that means. Isn't that sad? How can I draw
near to God? How can I, a sinner, be declared
just before a holy God? How can a sinner be reconciled
to such a holy God? There's only one answer. There's
only one answer. And Jesus Christ says, I'm the
way. I'm the answer to all those questions. By His sacrifice on the cross,
He's opened the way through that great wall, that great barrier,
between a holy God and my sinful soul, and given pardon and peace
to needy sinners. For He has suffered, Peter wrote,
Christ suffered for sin, the just for the unjust, to bring
us to God. To bring us to God. righteous,
accepted by God, he takes God's hand. And being a man, a man
may liken to his brethren, he takes our hand and he brings
us together in perfect harmony. God's justice is not compromised
and my sins are not overlooked. They're brought together in perfect
unity. He's opened the way into the
holiest of all through his blood by which we draw near to God. and approach unto God without
fear. Remember how fearful you used to be of God. Remember when
God first made you aware that God is? Gave you a little understanding
of who He is and who you are? How fearful those days were?
Oh, but now I've been reconciled. I've been reconciled. I need
not fear God. He's my Father. Christ said,
go tell my disciples. I send them to my Father and
their Father, to my God and their God. Christ has opened the way
that we may approach God without fear. And now he is able to save
to the uttermost all that come unto God by him in the highest
sense that you can imagine. You can't go too far with this.
He is the door. No one can come unto the Father,
he said, but by me. I love what Brother Bruce Crabtree
wrote along this line. He said, I must approach unto
God by Christ, Jesus, because I'm unholy. God must approach
unto me by Christ Jesus, because he is holy. In Christ Jesus I,
a poor sinner, and God, a holy, heavenly Father, have an honest
and sincere communion one with another. His holiness is not
violated, and my sin is not imputed, but all is washed away. Oh, Bruce
Rode, oh, sweet fellowship. O holy union, O easy walk, what
joyous friendship, O happy me, O precious fountain that saves
from sin, I am so glad I had entered Glory to His name. If we walk in the light, John
wrote, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. And the blood of Jesus Christ,
His Son, cleanseth us from all sin. The Lord was never anything
that wasn't necessary for Him to be, whether you apply to God
or to man. In the house of mercy, can you
imagine Here's the house of mercy and inside there's washing for
the filthy. There's cleansing for the guilty. Healing for the sick. There's
food for the hungry. There's clothing for the naked.
There's water for the thirsty. But suppose there was no door
to enter in by. There's the house of mercy stands.
Everything that a sinner will ever need. Today, tomorrow, forever. But there's no door. I can't
go in. of what good would it be if there
was no way in. Suppose there were even windows
and you could look in and see all that provision, everything
prepared. You could hear the song of angels,
but there's no door in which to enter in. All the mercy of
God would have been tantalizing, just a mockery to my hunger in
a case like that. The house of mercy without a
door would have been a house of misery to us. Oh, look at
this picture. The city whose builder and maker
is God. The Father's house where there
are so many mansions. Foundations are precious stones. The twelve gates of priceless
pearls. You can hear the sound of harpers
harping with their harps as John did within that city whose streets
are pure gold. But suppose there was no door
there. no entrance where we could go
in. What hope would there be for a soul shut out from the
city of the perfect, the home of the blessed, because there's
no door of entrance? And there would not have been
any door if it had not been for Jesus Christ. Our sins, as it
were, walled up God and shut him in from us. and walled up
us and shut us out from him. Oh, but look again, look again.
Oh, child of God, look again. Look with John. Direct your gaze
toward heaven. Behold, a door was opened. A door was opened in heaven.
God has established a bridge of communication between heaven
and earth by the obedience and the blood of Jesus Christ. And
every other passage but that is blocked by the holy justice
of God. A door is something that's designed
by the owner of the house, the builder of the house. So God
appointed his son, the mediator, to be the door into his church
and the way to heaven. Jesus Christ says, there is no
salvation but by me. There is no obtaining eternal
life but by me. Except you believe on me, there's
no coming unto the Father except by me. The wise man wrote this
in Psalm 8, or rather Proverbs 8, verse 35. For whosoever findeth
me, whosoever findeth me, Christ speaking, whosoever findeth me
finds life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord. They have
found the way into the sheepfold, and will be led into green pastures. If a man enter in, Christ says
he shall be saved. Everyone who enters in, Christ
the door finds the door to peace and safety. He shall go in and
out and find pasture, find pasture. He shall find whatever his soul
needs, whatever is truly good. He shall have grace and peace
here and eternal life hereafter. Oh, what green pastures. What
green pastures. Go in and out, that is. He shall
go unto the pastures where I feed my sheep, Christ says, and be
blessed in coming out. Be blessed in going in. He'll
be blessed in lying down. He'll be blessed rising up. Oh, well of water ever springing.
But of life so rich and free, untold wealth that never faileth,
my Redeemer is to me. Green pastures, hallelujah, I
have found Him, whom my soul so long has craved. Jesus satisfies
my longings through His blood. I now am saved." Notice again,
if you will, in our text, the present tense of Christ's words.
He says, I am the door, in verse 9. He said it previously in verse
7. I am the door, not that I was,
or I will be, or I'll be for a little while. No. Always present
tense. Jesus Christ has always been
the only way to God. What about in the Old Testament?
He was the way to God then as well. In every Passover lamb
slain, in every sacrifice, In every type and shadow, before
Christ came, God saw His Son as the Lamb slain before the
foundation of the world. That's why Adam, when he sinned,
when he fell, and we fell in him, was not damned for all eternity,
and we with him. Because before Adam fell in himself,
he was preserved, chosen, accepted in Christ Jesus. Before Adam
fell, Jesus Christ stood. stood before God in that everlasting
covenant of grace and promised to fulfill every stipulation
of that covenant on the behalf of His people. This is what Paul
says in Romans 5 verse 19. For as by one man's disobedience,
Adam, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous. Before there was a sinner, there
was the Savior. Jesus Christ, I am the door,
he says. And you know a door has two sides.
That one does. Every door does. It has two sides. Our side of this door is his
humanity, Christ. Christ, bone of our bone and
flesh of our flesh. But God stands on the other side
of the door, well pleased with his Son, because in him dwelleth
all the fullness. of the Godhead bodily and the
door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved." Let's just think about that a minute or two. He
shall be saved. No question about it. Saved to
the very uttermost. I like that verse, don't you?
He is able to save unto the uttermost all those that come unto God
by him. What does that mean? Uttermost.
That's a sweet word. As much as he needs saving. Saved
from sin's penalty, saved from sin's power, and soon, very soon,
very soon, we're going to be saved from the very presence
of sin in us. We'll be saved from the very
existence of sin. I like what Brother Don said
along this line. I looked at some notes on a message
he preached. I like what he said. He said,
Christ says that any man, Don said, that's precious. Don said,
that means any man. Any man, rich or poor, male or
female, bond or free, Jew or Gentile, black or white, learned
or unlearned, upper crust, lower crust, hard crust, soft crust,
or no crust. That means me. That means you. Any man. Saved as long as this
life shall last. Saved when this life is past.
Saved today. Saved tomorrow. Saved forever. Because Christ is the door. And
when time shall be no more. And when the dead, as we read
in Revelation, The dead, the small and the great stand before
God, and the books are being opened. And the sea is giving
up the dead which were in it. And death and hell are delivering
up the dead which were in them. And they're being judged every
man according to those things written in the book. And death
and hell are being cast into the lake of fire. Through the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall still be saved. We shall
still be saved. Christ is the door. What's the
main purpose of the door? It's to give a mission to the
house. To give a mission to the house. Then shall the king say
unto them on his right hand, come ye blessed of my father,
enter into the kingdom, prepared for you from the foundation of
the world, and will pass into heaven, into glory, into everlasting
bliss through Christ the door. Let me close by sharing a few
lines from a couple of old Puritans. Thomas Brooks wrote this, God
has in himself all power to defend you, all wisdom to direct you,
all mercy to pardon you, all grace to enrich you, all righteousness
to clothe you, all goodness to supply you, and all happiness
to crown you. Thomas Adams wrote, my sins brought
Christ to me and brought me to Christ. I have a great need of
Christ, and I have a great Christ for my need." I like that, don't
you? I have a great need of Christ,
and I have a great Christ for my need. And the reason for that
is because Christ is all, and we are complete in Him. Matthew
Henry said, by the light of nature we see God as a God above us.
By the light of the law, we see Him as a God against us. But
by the light of the gospel, we see Him as Immanuel, God with
us. God with us. Jesus Christ is
Immanuel. He's God with us. With us in
our nature, in our sorrow, in our life's work, in our punishment,
in our grave. And we with Him in resurrection,
in ascension, in triumph, in second advent splendor. And so
shall we ever be with the Lord. In John Rippon's hymn, How Firm
a Foundation is Included in His Hymnbook, there is a verse that
goes like this. It's not in our version of it,
but it says, Even down to old age my people shall prove my
sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love. And when hoary hairs shall
their temples adorn, like lambs they shall still in my bosom
be born. Christ says, I lay down my life
for my sheep. I love my sheep. Nobody can pluck
them out of my hand. The believer, John Gill wrote,
the believer, perceiving his desolation, his death, drawing
nigh, espoused deliverance from it through Jesus Christ. This confidence and peace arises
from a comfortable view of the free, full forgiveness of sins
through the blood of Christ. and of his justification before
God and acceptance with him through his pure and perfect righteousness. John Gill, when he was dying,
said to a friend standing by, I have nothing to make me uneasy. I like that, don't you? He's
dying and he looks at his friend and says, I have nothing to make
me uneasy. Christ is the door that shuts
us in. When Noah entered the ark, we
read that the Lord shut him in. And once we've entered into the
ark of God, Christ the door, he shuts us in. We're his forever. I give them eternal life, and
they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out
of my hand. Blessed is the man, O Lord. that
stays himself on thee, who wait for thy salvation, Lord, shall
thy salvation see." May God be pleased to give us a fresh appreciation
of Jesus Christ, our Lord. God bless you.