Our text will be taken from verse
nine. Just these four words, Christ
said, I am the door. I am the door. Verse one of John
10, verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by
the door into the sheepfold, but 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 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 they 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 said Jesus unto them again,
verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All
that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the
sheep did not hear them. I am the door. By me, if any
man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find
pasture. The thief cometh not but for
to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come that they might have
life and that they might have it more abundantly. In verses 1 and 2, Christ speaks
of the door to the sheep. The door to the sheep. the door
for the shepherd to enter to the sheep. He whom the sheep
belong to, as he said, his own sheep. The porter opens to him
because he has a right to enter. But in verses 7 and 9, he speaks
of the door not to the sheep, but the door for the sheep. Not the door for the shepherd,
but the door for the sheep, and he says that door, that entrance
into the fold, is himself. He says very plainly, I am the
door. I am the door. Years ago, a man
by the name of George Adam Smith was on a tour in the Far East,
and he came upon one of these sheepfolds. And there was a shepherd
nearby. So he asked the shepherd, is
that a sheepfold? And the shepherd said, yes, it
is. And Smith said, I see only one way in. And the shepherd
said, yes, pointing at the opening in the sheepfold. He said, yes,
that's the door. And Smith said, but there's no
door there. It's just an opening. It's just
an opening. There's no door there. And the
shepherd said to him, I am the door. And he said, I don't understand,
what do you mean you're the door? And the shepherd said, the sheep
go inside, and after they're in, I come and lie down across
the opening. And no sheep can get out, except
they come over my body. And no wolf can get in, except
it come over my body. I am the door. And this is what
our Lord said. And remember the context of these
words when he says, I am the door. And first of all, I want
to emphasize that one word, I. I am the door. Remember when
he spoke these words, who he was talking to? The Pharisees. The Pharisees. Look at verse
40 of chapter 9. And some of the Pharisees which
heard him, which were with him rather, heard these words and
said unto him, Are we blind also? You remember they had excommunicated
that blind man that our Lord had healed of his blindness,
just as they said they would do, just as they had threatened
everyone that they would do. If anybody claims that this carpenter's
son Is the Messiah? If we hear that kind of talk
out of anybody's mouth, we're going to boot you out of the
synagogue. We're going to excommunicate
you. And that's exactly what they
did. You're familiar with the story, but look at verse 22 of
chapter 9. These words spake his parents.
The Pharisees, the Sanhedrin, they'd already interrogated the
blind man. They didn't like his answers,
so they asked his parents. Perhaps he wasn't born blind
after all. Perhaps he's faking. So they
called his parents. These words spake his parents
because they feared the Jews. The parents had said, you ask
him. Don't put us on the spot. For the Jews had agreed already
that if any man did confess that he was the Christ, he should
be put out of the synagogue. Now look down at verse 30 of
chapter 9. They called the man back in.
The man answered and said unto them, Why, herein is a marvelous
thing, that ye know not from whence he is, that is, Christ,
and yet he hath opened mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth
not sinners, but if any man be a worshiper of God, and doeth
his will, him he heareth. Since the world began, was it
not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born
blind? If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. They
answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins. Remember when they passed this
blind man, said he? The disciples asked him, Lord,
was this man, is he blind because of his sin or his parents' sin?
But they answered, verse 34, and said unto him, Thou wast
altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they
cast him out. They excommunicated him. They
expelled him from the synagogue. They said, leave. Get out. We warned you and we warned everybody. If they confess, if we hear that
kind of foolish talk that this carpenter's son, this Jesus,
is the Messiah, that he's the Son of God, you're through. You're
out of here. And that's what they did. And
this blind man, this former blind man, would soon thank God for
that. He would soon look back at that
and thank God that they had kicked him out. I remember talking to
Don one time, my pastor, Mr. Fortner. He was telling me about
a pastor whom God had taught some things, and he began to
preach, began to cause some disturbance in the congregation. That's what
the gospel does in our day, in every day. So he asked Don if
he would come down and help him out, if Don would come down and
hold some services and help him out. And Don told him, yeah,
I'll help you out, or help your plumb out. And that's what happened. It helped him plumb out. They
showed him the door. And that's what happened to this
blind man. When he confessed it, who had opened his eyes?
But Christ found him. But Christ found him. Why? Because he's the great shepherd
of the sheep. Look at verse 35 of chapter 9.
Jesus heard that they had cast him out. And when he had found
him, when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe
on the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is
he, Lord, that I may believe on him? And Jesus said unto him,
Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.
And he said, Lord, I believe, I believe. And he worshipped
Now, the Pharisees are around. They're watching all this. And
this is to whom our Lord is speaking these words. They said, leave
us. And Christ said, that's all right.
Come unto me. They cast him out of their false
way. their worldly religion, their
man-made traditions. Don't touch this. Don't taste
that. Don't go here. Don't wear certain
things. They cast him out. Best thing
that ever happened to him. And Christ found him. They said,
we won't have you. Well, theirs was a false way
anyway and a false hope. But he that is the only way to
God found him. He who said, I'm the way and
the truth and the life. No man can come to God except
through me. He found him. They showed him
the door. I know a little bit about that. Don't bump the door on your way
out. They showed him the door. But
Christ who said, I am the door, you come unto me. Come unto me,
I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved. And this blind man proved that,
didn't he? He found out that was so. When
Christ said, I that speak unto you am he. I'm the Son of God.
I'm the Messiah. That man bowed before him and
said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. Christ
said, I am the door. And this man found it to be so. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. That's why I'm sure that this
man would thank God after this that they had booted him out. We just sang it a moment ago,
didn't we? Now my heart condemns me not. Hmm? How can that be? How can
any sinner truthfully sing those words and they be so? How is
that so? Now my heart condemns me not,
pure before the law I stand. How can that be? How can that
be? He who cleansed me from all spot
satisfied its last demand. That's the only way. Christ receiveth
sinful men, even me with all my sin, purged from every spot
and stain, heaven with him I enter in." Oh, to the Pharisee he says,
I am what you falsely claim to be. I really am. You claim to be the way to God,
but you're not. You claim to be the door, but
you're not. You say that no man can know
God except you bind him with all your rules and traditions
and regulations, but you're not the true shepherd. That's who
he's talking to. You claim to be the shepherd,
but you're not. I am. You claim to be the way
to God, but you're not. I am. Remember what he said to
them on another occasion? He said, you bind heavy burdens
on men, and you won't lift a finger to relieve them. He said, woe
unto you, Pharisees. Great is your damnation. Greater
is your damnation. He said, you won't enter in to
the kingdom of God yourself. You won't come through the door.
You will not come to me. And those that will come to me,
you hinder. You hinder from entering. Christ says, be that as it may,
I'm still the door. I am the door. Now notice those
two words, the door. the door. Notice, Christ doesn't say, I'm
a door. I'm a door. He says, I'm the
door. The only one there is. The sheepfold. God's flock. To enter that, there's
only one entrance. You can walk through that door.
That doesn't mean you walk into the church of God. You may walk
into a building. But oh, Christ says, to come
into the sheepfold of God, to be a true believer, you must
come through the door. There's only one entrance, like
that shepherd said. Like he told George Smith, I
am the door. And Christ told these men, I
am the door. I'm the only entrance. I'm the
only way to God. The only way for mercy. Now, I know we live in what is
called a politically correct society. People hear this and
they'll say, well, he's a bigot. I've been called that a lot of
times. He's narrow-minded. I've been called that by loved
ones. Be that as it may, Christ says,
I am the way. No man comes to God. No man ever
has come to God. People say, well, isn't there
many avenues to God? You've heard this. that think they're smarter than
God, say, well, you know, I believe all religions are basically the
same. You know, the Muslims, they're
going to God. And the Buddhists and all these
people, they're just taking different avenues, you know, different
roads, but they're all going to end up in the same place,
in heaven, with God. Christ said, that's not true.
That's a lie. That's a lie. He said there's
only one entrance into the fold of God. There's only one way
to find God's mercy. There's only one way to be saved. Whatever that involves, whatever
that includes, whatever that requires, Christ says, I'm that. I'm all that. Whatever involves
a sinner being declared righteous by a holy God, it can only be
found through and because of and pronounced upon any sinner
through Jesus Christ. Nobody else can. That's not the
work of a preacher or a priest or the pope or the church. It's
the work of Jesus Christ alone. Salvation is of the Lord. Turn, if you will, to Exodus
chapter 14. Exodus chapter 14, there's a good picture of what
I'm saying here. We'll just read the conclusion of how these Jews learned, at least
for a little bit, that salvation was of the Lord. In Exodus chapter
14, the children of Israel have crossed the Red Sea on dry land. You know the story. But look
at verse 29. But the children of Israel walked
upon dry land in the midst of the sea and the waters were a
wall unto them on their right hand and on their left. Thus
the Lord saved Israel that day. Thus the Lord saved Israel that
day. out of the hand of the Egyptians
and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore and Israel
saw that great work which they helped God do. No, no, no. Israel saw that great work where
God did a part and they did a part. No, no, no. Israel saw that great
work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians and the people
feared the Lord and they believed the Lord and his servant Moses
and then they sing this song of praise to the Lord. To him
be the glory. Why? Because he did it. Thus,
God saved Israel. God did it all. He saved them. What did they do? They went to
Moses and said, well, we knew better. We knew this would happen.
Well, I just had a feeling this was going to happen. You know,
we should have stayed down there in Egypt. I mean, they came to
the Red Sea, mountains on both sides, Pharaoh with his mighty
army behind, the sea in front, and they said, this is just exactly
what we thought would happen. We should have stayed, we were
better off in Egypt. Why did we listen to you? Why
did we come out here? There was enough land in Egypt
to bury us. We didn't have to come out here
and be slaughtered. And what did the Lord say? Moses, tell
them to stand still. Tell them to shut up, stand still,
be quiet, and they'll see the salvation of the Lord. And they did. Because salvation,
everything about it, Everything included in it. All of it. It's
all of the Lord. Every bit of it. Nothing. Not
faith, not repentance, not your willingness to come. None of
it resorts from you. It's a gift of God. Everything
about salvation, any aspect of it, justification, sanctification,
regeneration, Calling, perseverance, eternal glory. It's all of the
Lord. That's what that means when we
read, salvation is of the Lord. I remember being in a service,
I think a conference in Danville years ago, and Brother Jack Shanks,
who's now in glory, was preaching. And he was emphasizing this.
The only good news there is to sinners, salvation's of the Lord. And he said, can you imagine
When Jonah was in the belly of that great fish, some preacher
getting in a rowboat and rowing out to where Jonah was and saying,
Jonah, why don't you come out of there? And Jack said, Jonah
said, What do you mean? Well, Jonah, if you're just willing,
you can come out. And Jonah said, My will's what
got me in here. It's going to take God to get
me out. And he said, Salvation's of the Lord. And what happened?
The fish Spit him out. Salvations of the Lord. God saved Israel that day. It
was all His doing. Turn, if you will, to Psalm 77.
So many of the Psalms refer to this time, refer to what God
did for the children of Israel at the Red Sea as a picture of
salvation by grace alone. In Psalm 77, verse 13, Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary. Who is so great a God as our
God? Who is so great a God as our
God? Thou art the God that doeth wonders. Thou hast declared thy strength
among the people. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed
thy people. You did it. They couldn't redeem
themselves. You redeemed them. The sons of
Jacob and Joseph, Selah, look down at verse 19. Thy way is
in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps
are not known. Thou leadest thy people like
a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. at the Red Sea. Between myself and God, between
myself and God, and every sinner, there stands this mountain of
my sins. David prayed, God, my sins are
ever before me. Ever before me. There stood the
mountain of my sins on the one hand, and there stands Mount
Sinai on the other. thundering in my ear, according
to God's own laws, saying, The soul that sinneth, it shall die. Remember what we read earlier
from Genesis? Noah, I'm going to destroy all
men off the earth. All men. All men. That's not
a fairy tale. That's not a fable. That's not
a storybook riddle. Oh, no. And God says, I'll do
it again. He's going to do it again. The
soul that sinneth, it shall die. And before me, there's the sea
of everlasting damnation. Before me, there's the lake of
fire and a mountain of sin. And I
can't remove it. I can't. There's nothing I can
do to remove that mountain of my sin between myself and God. I can't go over it. I can't go
around it. I can't go through it. And the
sword of justice is right over my head saying, you're going
to die. He that believeth not is condemned already. Look! What a sight! Look. Listen. Look. There stands the Son of God saying,
I am the door. I am the door. I am the way to
God. I am the way and the truth and
the life. Look unto me and be ye saved
for I am God and there is none else. Oh, bless His holy name. There's a way for me, a guilty
sinner, to be declared righteous. by a holy God. Bless His name. Bless His holy name. Oh, what
a dear Savior. What a precious Savior. There
is a mediator between man and God. It's the man Christ Jesus. There's a door, the door, but
only one. And those that enter into that
door, every one of them, Every one of them taught no exceptions. No failures. He said they shall
be saved They'll be saved to the uttermost. They're going
to be saved so thoroughly and so completely that in that day
when I bring them around the throne of my Heavenly Father
that gave them to me, there won't be any trace of sin in any one
of them. Bless His name. My soul, what
a Savior. What a Savior! What a mighty
God and Savior He is. All those that come unto God
by Him, they find this. In Ephesians chapter 2, this
is what Paul wrote. When we enter into that door,
verse 14, For He is our peace, Ephesians 2 and 14. This is speaking
of Christ. He is our peace, who hath made
both one, and hath 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 to make it
himself of twain one new man, so making peace. and that he
might reconcile both unto God in one body by the flesh, having
slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached peace to you,
which are afar off, and to them that were nigh, Jew and Gentile,
through him, for through him we both have access He's the
door. He's the door. He's the way to
God. For through him, we both have
access by one spirit unto the Father. Unto God. The ark that we read about, that
God told Noah to build, was the only refuge, wasn't it? There
wasn't another. The only refuge was the one that
God himself provided. And there was only one door to
that ark. Only one way of entrance. In
Genesis we read, and the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and
all thy house into the ark. I like that, don't you? He didn't
say go into the ark. He said, Noah, come into the
ark. I'm in here. Come unto me. Come unto me. Now, not go, but
come. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself, and Christ, the only mediator, the only door,
says, come. Come to me, folks. And I did the same thing. It's just human nature. Went
to the churches, went to preachers, went to professing Christians,
and Christ said, no, no, no. Come unto me. Come unto me. Look unto me, Larry Criss. Look
unto me, and you'll be saved. I'm the door. And bless God,
His sweet, constraining grace brought this sinner to the cross. Lord, aren't you glad he wouldn't
let you go? Aren't you glad he wouldn't let
you have your way? People say, oh, what about my
free will? What about my will? You better
hope and pray God doesn't leave you to your will. You better
hope he crosses your will with his mighty will and brings you
to the footstool of his sovereign grace. Oh, he brought this sinner
to the cross. Mr. Newton said, well, I'll tell
you what, I don't know what words to use. I don't know
how to express it. The best I can say is, it's just
amazing grace. It's just amazing grace that
saved a wretch like me. Scoot over, Newton. Scoot over. It's amazing grace that saved
a wretch like me. The ark was 100 years in the
building of it, and Noah worked, and he preached, and he prayed,
and then after it was completed, we read, after the ark was completed,
It stood seven days more with the door wide open. And that generation that Noah
had preached to all those years, and even after the ark was completed,
seven days it stood before the rain descended. And Noah went
in, and his family, and the people said, look at poor crazy Noah.
Poor deluded Noah. He's in his coffin now. He's
buried away now with his family. But remember that last verse
we read? And God shut him in. God shut the door. Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. Everybody perished except those
who were in the ark. And that's the only reason they
didn't perish. They were in the ark. The rain beat down upon
the ark. The waves crashed against the
ark. But those in the ark, it didn't
touch. Christ, the wrath of God, beat
down on him. The waves of divine justice rolled
over his head. until there was no more, until
it was satisfied. And he'd cry, it's finished. It's finished. And bless God, his wrath won't
fall on me. That just wouldn't be right.
It wouldn't be just. And God's right. He's just. If He punished Christ for my
sins, He's not going to turn around and punish me for those
sins. No, no, no. I'm in the ark. There's no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus. He told that mob that night when
they came to the garden to arrest Him, if it's me, you see, let
these go their way. If you want me, take me. But
you can't have me and my sheep, too. You can't have it both ways. And God said, Awake, O sword,
against my shepherd and against the man that is my fellow, saith
the Lord of hosts, smite the shepherd. Smite the shepherd. And he did. He did. And the result of that Look,
if you will, in Romans chapter 4. I know you know these verses
very well. Oh, but the result of that is this. The certain
outcome of that is this. In Romans chapter 4, verse 25,
the last verse, we read this. who was delivered, that is Christ,
who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for or because
of our justification. He was delivered because of our
offenses, but he was raised again because of our justification. He bore our sins away. Therefore,
being justified by faith, we had peace with God through the
door. Our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom
also we have access. Again, he's the door. By faith
into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the
glory of God. And God shut him in. Which side of the door Are you
on this morning? Shut in or shut out? In Luke chapter 13, our Lord
was going through the villages and preaching the gospel and
someone asked Him, are there a few that be saved? Are there
a few that be saved? And He said, strive to enter
in at the straight gate. Because if you follow the popular
way, the wide way, it leads to destruction. The way to me is
narrow. It's narrow because I'm the only
way. I'm the only door. He said, once the master of the
house rises up and shuts the door, you won't enter in. You can't enter in. I said earlier, even after the
ark was completed for seven days, it stood wide open. And then
God shut the door. The door is open now. Oh, bless
His name. The door of mercy and grace is
open now. He says, I am the door. Why won't
you enter? Why won't you come? If you haven't,
don't blame God. Don't try to blame election.
No, no, no. That's not stopping you. The
only reason you don't come is because you will not. It's all your fault. It's not
God's. It's not God's. Christ says,
come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest. Look unto me and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth, cause I am God and there is none else. If I'm saved, it's all God's
doing. But if I'm lost, it's all my
fault. That's exactly right. That's
what the book teaches. Exactly right. I've probably
used this illustration before. Maybe it'll get your attention. Years ago, I saw on the news,
one evening, or the Saturday night before, some parents went
out and left their children at home. Children, six or seven
children, from the ages of two, every, like steps, to 12 or 14. And while they were out at a
bar, the house caught fire. They were interviewing the firemen.
He said, we got there, but sorry, the house was engulfed in flames. I could hear the children crying,
but I couldn't get to them. And he said, I stood at the door. and screamed out, follow my voice,
follow my voice, come at it, come, come to the door. And he'd heard the sound of footsteps. But none of them made it. None
of them got to the door. Christ says, I'm the door. By me, if any man enters in,
he shall be saved. but he's the only door. He says,
I am. I am. Let me wrap this up. Present
tense. He always has been the only way
to God. The only way to grace and glory.
He says, by me, if any man enters in, he shall be saved. Shall
be saved. Oh, there's no question about
his ability to say. His willingness to say. He says,
oh, if you enter in, you shall be. And you'll go in and out
and find pasture. that has the idea of just being
at home, brothers and sisters. The sheep just go in and out
of the fold. They're not lost. They're at
home. They're at home. They have this
freedom. Freedom. Access to God. When you are at home, the house
is not locked up. to keep you out, is it? No, you're at home. You come
and go. The psalmist said, the Lord is
my shepherd. I shall not want. I won't like
anything. He makes me to lie down in green
pastures. Christ said he shall go in and
out and find pasture. In him, I have everything I need. Here's a sufficient feast of
God's mercy and grace. He has made God, Christ, ready
to be unto me, wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And if
I'm in him, I'm complete. Paul said, you're complete in
him. Why wouldn't I be? Why wouldn't I be, Lonnie? If
I'm in him and I'm not complete, something's wrong with him? Oh,
no. Oh, no. No, I'm complete. I'm complete. Look, if you will,
in chapter 14 of John. Our Lord made this statement
to his disciples. In chapter 14, verse 23. He said, if any man love me,
this is just before they went to the garden and he was arrested.
He said, if any man love me, He will keep my words and my
father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode
with him. You know what the word there
is? Abode. Home. Home. We'll make our abode
with him. Our home. Moses said, You've been our home,
our dwelling place in all generations. You'll go in and out and find
pasture. You'll be at home. Soon, literally,
here I know he spoke about the coming of the Holy Spirit. But
soon, literally, we'll be with him where he is, at home. After the floods and the water
subsided, in Genesis 8, we read that Noah went forth from the
ark into a different world and a new life. And one of these
days, behold, John said, a door was opened in heaven, and the
first voice I heard was as of a trumpet talking with me, which
said, Come up hither. Come up hither. and they'll be
my redeemer." And he's going to say, welcome
home. Welcome home. Come in. All this is for you. Come into
the joy prepared for you from before the foundation of the
world. I'm going home to see my Savior who shed for me His
precious blood. I'm just going over yonder. I'm
just going over home. I am the door. I am the door. Have you entered? Have you entered? God bless you.