My lesson this morning is about Christ the Door. The Door. Studying here in John
chapter 10. I gave you the parable that He
delivered to them last week, declaring Himself to be the Shepherd.
His sheep to be in the sheepfolds where He put them. And He Himself
goes and rightfully calls them out. And when He does, they come
out. They come out. He didn't leave
any of His sheep in the fold. They all came out. They all followed
Him. They all rejoiced with Him. Now,
this morning I want to talk about Christ at the door. He says down
here in Verse 7, 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. He shall. He shall. Now, the Bible declares in very
simple and very plain language that God has chosen a people
out of the great mass of Adam's children, Adam's And we're told
that they were chosen unto salvation. I hear this all the time, that
man, election doesn't have anything to do with salvation. Election
has to do with the possibility of salvation. Election means
that he elected Christ to die on the cross and elects all those
that choose him. And they try to apply this thing
to man's will and all this type of nonsense. what the scripture
says, and that's all I'm interested in. I can't argue with a man
who wants to argue on reasoning and argue on what seems right
to him in his fallen sense of fairness and judgment and righteousness. I have no argument for that.
You can just, if you're going to use what seems right or your
thoughts or another man's thoughts, then we have nothing. You see
what I'm saying? It's not that I'm unwilling to
tell you the truth, it's just that we've got no basis, I've
got no foundation to even begin to declare to you the truth.
Because you refuse to be shut up to the Word of God and you
go back to what your reasoning and what mama said and what grandpa
said and somebody else said. And opinions, somebody said,
are like noses. Everybody has one. So it's an
endless thing. It's a waste of time. When you
talk to your neighbors and that, and you're talking to them about
things of God, and they run off to there, you're better off just
to shut up. Just shut up. I can't say anything to you until
you agree to go to this book. And what this book says about
election is this, over in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13, he tells us that
God has from the beginning chosen us unto salvation. Now that's what the book says. That's what the book says. Chosen
to be blessed, Ephesians 1, 3 and 4. Chosen to be sons, Ephesians
1, verse 5. Chosen to obtain the glory of
Christ, 2 Thessalonians 2.14. And no intelligent man can take
Ephesians chapter 1 verses 3 through 12 and apply these statements
to a nation. Now you can't do it. It won't
make sense. You substitute election for Israel
there and see if it makes any sense to you. It can't possibly
be talking about a nation. No man with any knowledge of
the Word can take Romans 9, verses 11 through 24 and twist it into
the possibility of salvation, an opportunity of salvation made
possible by the free will of man. He says in those verses,
it is not of him that willeth. Well, what about a man striving?
It is not of him that runneth. It's of God who shall with mercy.
Now that's how it comes. No honest reader of the Scripture
can explain away 2 Thessalonians 2 verses 13 and 14 to mean anything
except that out of chaos and deception, God has chosen us
unto salvation through sanctification of spirit and belief of the truth,
and He called you by His gospel. That's what it says. You want
to argue, argue with God. Argue with Him. Peter begins
a general epistle. Have you ever noticed, you go
over there to 1 John, it's the first general epistle of John. And you go over there to the
books of Peter, it says the first general epistle of Peter. And
he's writing there to people scattered all over. He's not
writing to a particular church. He's not writing to a particular
pastor. It's a general epistle. It's
a general letter. It's to be sent out to all these
little groups scattered all over the place. He said they were
strangers scattered in Pontus and Galatia and Cappadocia and
Asia and Bithynia. And immediately after he says
that, He describes and qualifies to whom he is writing, and he
says, "...elect according to the foreknowledge of God, through
sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and the sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus Christ." Now that's what it says. Now,
you may not believe what I say about election. But you, brother,
you better believe in election because it's a scriptural term
and it's said many, many, many times. And you'd be wise to go
to the scriptures before you form your opinions about doctrines.
But if I'm to teach you the scriptures and be honest before God and
true to His Word and true to the souls of men, I must begin
where He begins, with Himself. Salvation is of the Lord. You don't start with you and
try to find Him. You start with Him and try to
find you. And to be true to you, I must
do that. I must do that. Because that's
where it begins. If I start looking somewhere
in time or somewhere in an event or to any group or denomination,
I'm going to wind up on the wrong road. I'm never going to come
to the knowledge of the truth. You see, those Jews and things,
they look to Abraham. They look back there to Abraham,
the beginning of their nation. He was the father of their nation.
And Abraham begat Isaac. And Isaac, Jacob. And Jacob,
Joseph. And Joseph, the twelve patriarchs,
the twelve tribes of Israel. And they look back there, and
to them that was the beginning of everything. And then in time,
God gave to Israel a law, and they looked to Moses, because
that was another beginning of these things. And they started
back there with Abraham and continued on, and between Abraham and Moses,
they formed their opinions of God. But they didn't begin with
God. They began with Abraham. You
see what I'm trying to tell you? This whole thing begins in God. God called Abraham. Abraham didn't
just appear and become something of himself. God called him. He said, Look unto me, and be
ye saved, all ye ends of the earth, for I am God, and there
is none else. It's his work, it's his design,
it's his purpose, it's his will, and his counsel. And it's not
ours to tamper with, it's not ours to season to the taste of
fallen man, and it's not ours to compromise to reach some falling
goal that we have, to fill the church building, or build a great
work, or reform Genoa, or whatever. It's not ours to tamper with.
It's His. It's His. And no matter what
I do concerning this salvation, I've got to go back and read
it, consider it, in the light of who He is. Everything I do. And the Word of God says God
began His work with a mediator. That's where it all began. Everything
that has to do with time. Everything that has to do with
man and creation and heaven and hell and all these things, it
all began with the work of God concerning a mediator. He appointed
a man, Christ Jesus. It's an eternal begatting in
the mind and purpose of God of this chosen substitute, this
great high priest. And in him God charges and makes
with Him an everlasting covenant concerning this salvation and
concerning those who will receive this salvation and all things. They are all trusted to Him.
We are chosen in Him, Paul said. Predestinated unto the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ. Accepted in the Beloved. Redemption
through His blood. The mystery of God's will made
known in Him. And even the great gathering
of all things together, it says there in Ephesians chapter 1,
will be gathered together in one in Him. All things in Him. And these things are done, Ephesians
1, verse 12, that we should be to the praise of God's glory
who first trusted in Christ. That's the purpose. Here's the
beginning. God purposes to do all these things and He trusts
them to be accomplished to His Son. Everything. Everything. All of God. All of
his promises, all of his pictures and types and all of his prophecies,
they all point to his coming into this world as a man to accomplish
the will of God. And he said in John chapter 6
verse 37, he said, All that the Father giveth me shall come to
me. Ain't that what he said? And
him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. For I came
down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him
that sent me. His coming into this world was
in perfect harmony with the will of God and the word of God. Verse
39, And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that
of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but raise
it up again at the last day. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth
on him, may have everlasting life, and I'll raise him up at
the last day." That's the will of God. Well, why should I preach? If I know God has predestinated
all things, that God has elected a people, that God is sovereign
and sits on His throne, why do I preach to people? Because I'm
plainly told that's the will of God. I don't preach because I want
something, although I do. But it's the will of God. Now
I'll tell you, if you view this crowd sitting in here this morning,
I might try to be tempted to argue with you, or tempted to
get you to do something, or tempted to try to convince you, or sit
down one-on-one with this book and say, look here, what it says
right here, and appeal to your understanding and your intelligence.
But if I look out, the way this book describes natural man in
his spiritual death, dead, dry bones. Do you even think the
possibility of argument entered into Ezekiel's mind when he saw
those dead, dry bones? Can these bones live? He said,
I don't know. I don't know. Preach to them. What am I going
to tell them? Whoo! Live. That's what he tells. The Word of God tells me in Romans
chapter 3 that there's none righteous, none that understandeth, none
that seeketh after God, and none good. Those are all quotes from
Psalm chapter 14. And then on down in Romans chapter
3 verse 23, he tells us that all have sinned, Come short of
the glory of God? In Galatians chapter 3, Paul
tells us about the beauty and righteousness of the law. Now
I want you to hear me here. I haven't left my subject. He
said if it had been possible for men to be reformed, if the
possibility was there, this law that God gave to Moses, would
qualify in righteousness to get the job done. If there was the
slightest possibility that man could be reformed, that
man could, by his doing, could be made righteous and acceptable
before God, this law had the righteousness to get her done.
But he says it's not possible. Not possible. And therefore,
God concluded all to be under sin. He's not talking about all
of His law. He's talking about all men who
try to obey the law. They can't because they're sinners.
And a sinful man cannot produce a righteousness. Paul didn't conclude those things.
He said the Scripture concluded. all to be under sin. And it did
so that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given
to all that believe. God is holy and righteous and
just, and man is altogether vanity. And even his righteousness, as
Isaiah said, are filthy rags. But God has determined to save
a people for His glory. How can they get from where they
are to where He is? How will he make them known? Alright, preacher, you got me
convinced. God has an elect. I see that
in the Scripture. God has chosen a people. I see
that in the Scripture. Now, how can a man know if he
is elect? He hears his voice. He hears
his voice. He hears His voice. How will those He purposed to
save be distinguished from all other fallen sons of Adam? They're
the same by nature. They've got the same cursed mind,
the same unwillingness to bow, the same spiritual death. How
will God make known His sheep? When a man or a woman, a boy
or a girl begins to see reality in the Word of God, see things
as they're declared to be, this is going to be the all-consuming
question. I've been there. This is what you're going to
want to know. Somebody comes to me and they
say, you know, those 70 weeks over at Daniel, what do you think
that means? You ain't interested to know
what the Bible says. This is just something that fascinated
you just like watching The Wild Kingdom or something. When you
get interested, when God makes His children, He's going to give
them a willingness, He's going to give them a hunger and an
appetite to know because He's going to convince them of sin.
And there's only one thing you're going to want to know. How do
I know if I'm one of His elect? How am I going to know? The all-important
question. How do I know if I'm one for
whom He died? And if I am, how can I get from
where I am into the faith of God's elect? And this is the
only answer I can find anywhere in the Word of God, the only
answer that Christ gave to these Pharisees and gave to this multitude. He said, I am the door. You can't
go out and you can't come in except by me. I am the door. This is how my sheep got into
the fold to start with. They come through the door. This
is how my sheep are going to be called out. Through the door. He said, I'm the door. I'm the
shepherd and I'm the door. I'm the door. Man hears the gospel of God's
sovereign grace that God has chosen a people. Blessed them
above even the angels in heaven. Predestinated their adoption
to sons. Put away their sins. Provided
them with a perfect righteousness. Purpose to give them eternal
life. Says, no man will pluck them
out of my hand or out of my Father's hand. No man. Give them everlasting
life, happiness, rest, peace and joy. Oh, under God, how can
I get this? How can I have this? That's what
I want to know. He said, I'm the door. Now listen
to me. He said, buy me if any man. Can you fit in there? Any man. Any man. White, black, yellow,
red, Jew, Gentile, male, female, any man. Any man. Hall said bond or free. In jail
or out. Servant or the master. Any man. By me, if any man, in or in. Go through the door. Go through the door. You know
why we had that door? So you can come in and you can
go out. That's why it's there. That's
what doors are for. Doors have to do with passage.
In and out. In the book of Revelation, the
Lord spoke to John and he used all types of symbols and different
kinds of language. Most people read Revelation,
they don't understand that it's a revelation of Jesus Christ
and they just fold the book up, put it up. They don't understand
it. But in that book, he uses on occasion this word door. I found this to be interesting. In the Lord's words to the pastor
at the Church of Philadelphia, evidently this was a little church,
a poor church, very few members, very poor. But they were faithful. That's what he tells them. You
were in little strength. That's all you had. But you were
faithful. And they were a faithful church. As near as I can tell
by reading church history, they were a faithful church clear
up into the 800th year. They were still a faithful church.
Little church. Just like this. Just a little
band of believers. Couldn't do much. But here's what he told them.
He said, He that is holy And he that is true, and who holds
the key of David, and can open and can shut, he can do either
one. He can close the door, he can
open the door. He's got the keys. He has the
keys. And no man can hinder. And he
said, he hath set before you an open door. Now, I'm sure I've read enough
on this and I believe they've got the right consensus of what
it's saying. This has to do with an open door
of utterance. They had occasion to preach this
gospel in power and in the Holy Spirit. That's what he's talking
about here. I've sent in you. You've been
faithful to me. And because of that, I've sent
in you this open door of utterance. And you can preach this gospel,
and I'll give you the words and the power to accompany it." And
he did, clear to the year 800 and something, this tiny little
church. God used him to call out his
elect. But what I want you to see here
this morning is that those who would be faithful to this gospel
and give it Their preeminence in the worship services. They
don't relegate it to the scrap heap and put in its place music
and entertainment and all that type of thing. That group that
will give this gospel the preeminence are faithful to Him. Their goal
is not to build a big building. It's not to reform the whole
neighborhood. Their goal is to find God's elect and preach this
gospel. And that's what they support.
That's what makes them happy. That's what they're all about.
They want this gospel to go out. He'll be faithful to you and
he'll sit before you and open the door. Open. Open. You can't open it. He can. Christ is an open door to his
elect. And then secondly, he speaks
to the Laodicean pastors, and he rebukes him for his lack of
faithfulness. And they had gifts and talents
and riches and numbers and buildings, and they didn't need anything,
but he said, what you don't understand is you're poor and naked and
blind and miserable. And you're too self-righteous
to see it. You're just too self-righteous
to see it. But he said, as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous therefore and repent.
Revelation 3, verse 20. He said, behold, I stand at the
door and knock. What on earth is he talking about?
Stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and
open the door, he said, I'll come in to him and I'll sup with
him and he with me. What I see here is that the only
thing God will use in the ministry of reconciliation is the person
and work of Christ by whom He reconciles guilty sinners to
Himself. He's not going to knock at your
heart's door until He puts a door there to knock on. That's what
I'm trying to say. He's going to give you a door.
And when He gives you the door, you'll see it. And you'll open
it up. But you can't open up what's
not there. And there's no door in the natural man. He has to
put it there. He has to put it there. And that's
what he tells this church, who would begin to be proud and glory
in their own works and glory in their own abilities and glory
in their own righteousness. He said, let me tell you where
true happiness is. when God puts the door and knocks on it. And
he said, when He does, you open it up. And when you open it up,
he said, I'll come in. I'll come in and I'll sup with
you. And then thirdly, over here in
Revelation chapter 4, John said he saw a door in heaven open.
And he said, I heard a voice and it said, come up hither and
I'll show you things that must shortly come to pass. What I
see here is this door is a heavenly door. What does that mean, pastor? That means those who pass through
this door enter into the abode of God. That's what that means.
It's a heavenly door. Those who pass through this door
are made to understand what others cannot see. John came up, he
was on the Isle of Patmos. He was totally exiled. He didn't
even have a friend with him. was in the Spirit on the Lord's
Day and began to worship God. And God opened a door for him
in heaven. And he passed through that door
and he saw what no other man could see. That's what happens
when you pass through this door. You pass through this door and
the light floods the room, floods the mind. You begin to see what
you never saw. You begin to see God's glory. You don't want to go back through
the door. You want to stay where you're at. It's a heavenly door. Heavenly door. They're permitted
to be partakers. I tell you, those who pass through
this door are made to understand what others cannot see. Those
who pass through this door have access to the blessings and favors
of God. They are permitted to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints. permitted to walk and commune
with the Savior, see His throne, acknowledge His glory, and fellowship
with His saints. In Hebrews chapter 12, Paul said
we run this race looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith. We have not come to that earthly
mountain that Moses came to, that so much as a beast run up
to it, he was shot through with a dart, and that blackness and
darkness of smoke that filled the heaven, that's not where
we've come. But we've come unto Mount Sinai and unto the city
of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable
company of angels, to the general assembly of the firstborn which
are written in heaven, to the God, the Judge of all. and to the spirits of just men
made perfect. That's what you find when you
enter that door. And to pass through this door is to enter
by faith into the treasure house of mercy and grace, love and
kindness and peace and blessing. Hebrews 10, verse 19, he said,
having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter in. You know when you're
going to have boldness to enter into the presence of God? When
you see the door. When you see the door. When you
see your sins, you're going to see no possibility. No possibility. I'm going to show you that here
in a little bit. No possibility. But when you see the door, you
see a way into the holiest of all. Right into the throne of God,
by a new and living way which He hath consecrated for us through
the veil, that is to say, His flesh. Now, he said, let us draw
near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having our
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed
with pure water. Christ said, I am the door. By
me, if any man enter in. Would you enter? Go through that
door. Go through that door. The door
is how he came to the sheepfold. The door is where He called His
redeemed. Called His sheep. And the door
is how they are released into this gracious liberty of the
sons of God. And the door is how they're preserved.
That's how they're preserved. We're preserved, it said. Ain't
that what Jude said in Jesus Christ? Preserved. I tell you, I can almost picture
all Israel huddling down there in Egypt, God Himself coming
through in a darkness that could even be felt, moving through Egypt. Those people
huddled inside their homes with their children and their wives, and they had That blood on the
door. He said, I'm the door. I'm the
door. I'm the door. I hope the Lord will give you
an understanding of those things, what that means. He is the door.
Everything, everything that God has for fallen sinners can be
had if you pass through the door.