I invite your attention to the
10th chapter of the gospel according to John. John chapter 10. during the days of his incarnation
and ministry on this earth, set forth on a number of occasions
various things that he is. We speak of these as the I Ams
of Jesus Christ. In John 8, 12, he says, I am
the light. In John 6.48, he says, I am the
bread. In John 15.1, he says, I am the
true vine. In John 10.7, in our text for
the night, he says, I am the dower. In this same 10th chapter,
verse 11, he says, I am the good shepherd. In John 14, verse 6,
he says, I am the way and I am the truth and I am the life. In John 11, 25, he says, I am
the resurrection. And in John 8, verse 58, the
10th thing he here says he is, he simply says, I am. Am what? I am. what I am. I am when I need to
be. I am what you need. I am everything that is worth
being. I am self-existent. Tonight, we're looking at this 10th chapter, verse seven, where
the Lord says, I am the door. He begins in verse number one,
saying, 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. 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. All that ever came before me
are thieves and robbers. but the sheep did not hear them. I am the doer. By me, if any man enters 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 may have
life and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the doer. If there is a need for a doer,
there must of necessity be some barrier keeping you from some
place in which you need to be or in some place where there's
something that you want. That's why we put up doors. If you need to get into your
house, you need a door. If you want to keep someone out,
you put up a door. If you need groceries, you go
to the store, but you have to find a door. You go to the airport
and take an airplane trip, only one way into that plane, it's
by the door. A door is a means of access by
which we get into a place in which we need to be or in which
there is something that we desire to have, adore. Here, we need fellowship with
God, salvation. We need righteousness and holiness. We need peace with God. We need happiness. We need spiritual
blessings, but they are far from us. And
there is a barrier between us and them, and that barrier was
raised by our sin. We, in our rebellion in the Garden
of Eden, raised a barrier between us and God, a barrier that puts
us far from Him And we in our sin are so unsightly before God
that he cannot look upon us in our sin. There is a barrier. Adam enjoyed fellowship with
God. There was no barrier between
him and God until he sinned. And when he sinned, that barrier
was raised. We were born dead in trespasses
and sins. We were born estranged from God. We were born in need of salvation
and righteousness, holiness and glory. We are born in need of
all those things, but they are on another side of a barrier
from us, and therefore we need a door. Else we cannot enter
into the fellowship with God and enjoy the blessings. There
must be a door opened for us into that place. And Jesus Christ
declares, I am the door. Many years ago, I heard a pastor
tell of going to the state of Israel, taking a tour of what
some people call the Holy Land. But during this tour, he told
us that come evening time, and he saw a shepherd leading sheep
from a pasture, bringing them back into a fold. And so he led
his sheep into the fold, and the sheep went into the fold
and began to bed down for the night. And then the shepherd
lay down between the two doorposts. Other than that, there was nothing
else there but the shepherd. And so this man who was telling
me the story said, I walked up to the shepherd who was lying
on the ground there in that open space of the sheepfold. And I asked him, where's the
doer? And the shepherd said, I am the
doer. And sure enough, he was going
to spend the night sleeping between those two posts. Nothing came
in unless it came across him. Nothing came out unless it came
across him. The only means of access either
into or from that fold was through him. He was the door. Christ
himself is the door that we need. He says, I am the door and sure
enough, No one goes in to the presence of God and to the blessings
we need except through Him. No one goes out to find pasture
except through Him. He's the doer. I want you to
see, first of all, that He is a doer made available to all. Our Lord says, if anyone enters
by Me, I realize there are some who would tell us that before
the foundation of the world that God chose some for salvation,
and he did, and God chose some for damnation, but he didn't.
But they would have us to believe that God made this double choice.
God simply said, I'm going to choose to save you, and I'm going
to choose to damn you, I'm choosing you to damnation, and then they
say, They would have us to believe that some of these chosen to
damnation may want to be saved, but they cannot because God said,
no, I chose you for damnation. I want you to see that our Lord
here has indeed chosen the people for salvation. The choice to
damnation was made by ourselves. That's our choice in rebelling
against God. We make this choice to rebel
against God and to go our own ways. But our Lord has indeed
chosen a people under salvation. And here is salvation made available
to them. If anyone, anyone. Will he take one of my skin color? If anyone enters by me, will
he take one of my race? If anyone enters by me, our Lord
says, I put up a barrier to no man. If anyone enters by me,
he shall be saved. I delight in preaching a gospel
in which my shepherd says, go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature and anyone who enters by me shall
be saved. I say to you, there is nothing
preventing our fellowship with God and his Christ except our
own rebellion. If anyone enters by me, he shall
be saved. Second, I want you to see that
Jesus Christ is the door entered only by the sheep. Notice this. He says in verse seven, I am
the door of the sheep. All mankind is divided into two
groups. Our Lord speaks of the sheep
on his right hand and goats on the left. And every one of us is in one
of those groups, either of the sheep or the goats. None but
the sheep will enter this door. I am the door of the sheep, our
Lord says. We have a lot of sheep and goats
in the Caribbean. Mutton, sheep and goat is a favorite
meal for many of us. And you can go out into the fields
and you can see them grazing together. And to the untrained
eye, you may not spot the difference. They look very much alike. If you are of an untrained eye
and you would like to know which are the sheep and which are the
goats, Here's a way to tell. When the shepherd goes out and
calls for the sheep, he walks and they follow along behind
him. If they walk behind their owner, they're sheep. But if
he's got to go out there and start driving them around and
driving them toward him, they're goats. So that's how you spot
the difference. Our Lord is the door of the sheep.
Furthermore, he's the shepherd of the sheep. He goes into the
world seeking his sheep, those that are lost, and he comes leading
them back in, and here they come following him. Everyone who follows
the Lord into the sheepfold is a sheep. And they'll all come
in through him who is the door. I am the door of the sheep, he
says. Furthermore, he is the only door in verse number 7 and
also verses 8 and 10. He says, I am the door of the
sheep. And I'm the only one. I'm the
only one. Men will tell us, well, the door
to salvation is found in the baptistry. Some say it's found
in the law of Moses. Some say it's found in the Sabbath
of a certain day of the week. Some say it's found in a certain
church. And all around us, we can hear
people talking about some door to fellowship. Some will say
it's found in the god of that nation or the god of the other
nation. Our Lord says, I am the door. He does not say, I am a
door. He says, I am the door, and I'm
the only one Do we not read in Scripture that there is one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus? Jesus Christ therefore
declares, I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life,
and no one comes to the Father except through me. And I say
to you that if you desire fellowship with God, inside the fold of
the sheep. If you desire the blessings that
God has for his sheep, the only way to enjoy them is through
Jesus Christ because he's the only door. Now sectarians and
religions come along and they may paint a door on the fold.
They may make it look like there is one, but there's no access
except through Jesus Christ. My friend, that's why we preach
Christ. That's why we preach Christ alone. He is the only door. Furthermore, fourth, Jesus Christ
is the door to salvation. He says in verse nine, if anyone
enters by me, he will be saved. He will be saved. Now, God is
too holy to even look upon sin, according to Habakkuk 113. They who would approach God,
therefore, must be forgiven of their sins. And this forgiveness
is obtained only through faith in Jesus Christ and his redeeming
blood. This is a door leading to salvation. The only way to have salvation
is to enter by Jesus Christ, and you enter through faith in
him. In believing in him, you have
entered into the fold of God. the door leading to salvation.
Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other
name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Bear with me. I've got an allergy
or something tonight that has hit me, and we're going to get
through it one way or another. Just bear with me, if you will.
But a door to salvation is what he is. Fifth, I want you to see
that Jesus Christ is the door to liberty. Look in verse 9. If anyone enters by me, he will
go in and out. He will go in and out. When will he go in? When the
shepherd leads him in. When will he go out? When the
shepherd leads him out. Why would he go out? To find
pasture. To find water. Define the blessings
of God. This is a door to liberty. It
is a liberty to go in and out. Jesus Christ provides perfect
freedom from all harm and danger to sinners enslaved by their
fears and doubts. Liberty. His sheep, therefore,
can say. through this freedom that we
have. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Your rod and your
staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me
in the presence of mine enemies. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. Do you see the liberty? When
one enters into religion, when one joins a sect, when one follows
the teaching of a false preacher, what's one of the first things
happens to him? Put some chains on him. Put him
in bondage. Give him a bunch of laws. And
tell him you can't be a good member of our sect unless you
don't do this and don't do that and do this and do the other.
And they put a bunch of rules and regulations on them. Now
notice this. The liberty that we have in Christ
is a liberty to go in and out. It is always in his will. It
is never to go away from Him, but always to follow Him. He's
not driving us anywhere. He's not putting us into bondage
anywhere. He does not bring His sheep into the fold and then
tie them up. No! They go in and out. And they always do so with perfect
liberty. Perfect liberty then number six
observed that this is the door to provision Jesus Christ is
a door to provision If anyone enters by me in verse
9 He will find pasture He will find pasture now. That's another
thing that you will not find in religion Jerry noticed that
People in religion are always looking for something new. Do
you ever notice that people in religion flip around from this
church to that church looking for something new? And just look
down through the ages at the different movements that have
come along and people flock to it for a while and then the movement
dies out. You can look back, let's see,
religion, well, even from the 1900s. Remember the fervor about
premillennialism and, you know, the people started talking their
dispensationalism and all this talk. And then it came back around
a little bit later. I remember in the 70s. And people
were telling us, you know, that, well, you know, Israel became
a state in 1948 and the generation that saw that will see the coming
of the Lord. That meant that the Lord had to come back by
1988. Seven year tribulation started seven years, uh, eight,
1981. And what happened? I agree. What happened? So they go looking
for something else. Why do you think there is a charismatic
movement? Why do you think there are all
these things coming along? It's because religion is always
looking for something new. When we enter the sheepfold,
we find Christ and that's all we need. That's all we need. All our provision is in Him. If anyone enters by me, he will
find pasture. God ascertains that all his sheep
are well fed and nourished. His sheep can say, Christ is
my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me
to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still
waters. Observe. He makes me to lie down
in green pastures. People in religion are always
running from that clump of grass to that clump of grass in a bare
and desert place trying to find some place of nourishment and
the Lord takes his sheep into his pasture and they lie down
to eat because the grass is going all around them. He makes me
to lie down in green pasture. He leads me beside the still
water. People in religion are running
from mud hole to mud hole and from dry cistern to dry cistern
trying to find some kind of nourishment. And the Lord brings his sheep
down to still water. I'm told that sheep will not
drink water if it's rippling, so the Lord says, I'll make it
calm. By his grace, he does. He leads me beside the still
water. My friend, if Christ is your
doer, you've got your needs met. He makes me to lie down in green
pasture. Number seven and last, Jesus
Christ is the door to abundant life. He says in verse 10, the thief
does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have
life and that they may have it more abundantly. The thief. Now, who's he? The false religionist. The thief. He's the person going to come
to you and say, well, you know, it's good that you believe in
Jesus Christ, but, you know, that's really not enough. Christ is not enough. Who has the audacity to say that
anyway? Christ is not enough. Well, no, you know, and they'll
go through what else you need. Jesus Christ says the thief comes
and that's what he's doing. He's going to make merchandise
of your soul. He's going to try to tempt you
away to his sect, his church, his kingdom. He wants you to
be his follower. He's the thief. He's the thief. Mr. Baptismal Salvationist comes
along and says, it's good you believe in Christ, but it's not
enough. You need baptism. Mr. Sabbatarian comes along and
says, it's good you believe in Christ, but that's not enough.
And he tries to steal your way with trying to get you to worship
one day of the week. Mr. Sabbatarian is the eldest
son of Mr. Legalist. And Mr. Legalist will
say, Christ is good, but Moses is better. And it's good that
you believe in Christ, but you need to keep Moses' law. And
on and on we go, you see. And what are they doing? What
are they doing other than making merchandise of men's souls? Stealing,
killing, and destroying. Jesus says, I have come that
they may have life. And our door is the life. He is the way into life, from
death into life, because He is the life. I am the life. And then He says that they may
have it more abundantly. It's not merely life, folks.
It is abundant life. All who follow the false shepherd
shall suffer the final end of the false shepherd. The false
shepherd, the hireling, It's told by our Lord that I will
say to you in that day, I never knew you. Depart from me, you
who practice lawlessness. Here is our Lord telling us that
I'll give you life and give it to you abundantly. I'll give
you everything you need. I'll answer all your prayers.
Ask whatever you will. I'll give it to you. Moose, you're telling me the
Lord gives you everything you ask for? Yeah. What do you ask for? Ah, now,
there's the difference. If you ask people in the world,
what would you pray for? If you wanted God to give you
something, what would you pray for? Some of us are old enough
to remember the 60s. And, uh, You may remember a prayer written
by a very popular singer back then. She sang this prayer and then
I think she got stoned and drowned just a few days afterward. But
such it is in the world. What was it? Oh, Lord, won't
you buy me a Mercedes Benz? My friends all drive Porsches
and I must make amends. And that was her prayer. That's
what she wanted. Oh Lord, won't you buy me a color
TV? Dialing for dollars is trying
to reach me. All right. Now that's what the
world prays for. That's the prayer she prayed. Oh Lord, won't you
buy me a night on the town? See, that's what she prayed for.
Children of God don't pray for those things. But children of
God have their prayers answered. Now, for what do we pray in this
abundant life? For what do we pray that our
Lord says I'll answer? All right. I pray for this. Thy will be done on earth as
it is in heaven. And you know what? The Lord's
answering. Forgive me of my sins. He's doing that to answer prayer. You see, forgive us our transgressions,
Lord. Give me my daily bread. By that,
I mean everything I need for the day. Well, folks, it's been
many years and every day the Lord has answered that prayer
never has failed. to answer that prayer. I have
never had a day in my life since coming in through this door in
which my prayers have not been answered. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. And you know
what? The Lord's answering every prayer
I pray. Every prayer. Yes. From time to time, I have
asked selfishly. And then the Lord showed me the
wisdom I'm not answering that prayer and showing me how I should
pray and then giving the answer to that. Abundant life. All that I need. Roof over my
head. Clothing on my back. Food in
my stomach. And Christ in my life. Now, what
else does a man need? I will give them Abundant life. I give them eternal life and
they shall never perish. Neither shall anyone snatch them
out of my hand. So you show me the man who says
I believe you can be saved today and lost tomorrow. And I'll show
you a man who refuses to enter by this door. I'll just show
you one. It's abundant life. It's life
that never ends. And it's all found through Jesus
Christ. He says, I am the door. Here
is a door made available to all, entered only by the sheep. The
only door, the door to salvation, the door to liberty, the door
to provision and the door to abundant life. That's my door. Is he yours?