Do you know what we desperately,
desperately need? Somebody said this is a day of
prosperity and plenty. We're rich and increased with
goods. We really have need of nothing. But we know not that we're naked,
miserable, poor and blind. And what we desperately, desperately
need in this day of great religious confusion and religious prosperity, denominations
are bragging about their millions, their numbers, this day of religious competition,
intellectualism and debate, We need to hear from God again. We need to hear from God. It
doesn't take a wise man to discover that what we're hearing from
the average pulpit, and yesterday in preparing this
message, I spent much of the day not only preparing the message,
but reading the church page in the Ashland Independent. I read
the entire page, every single word. I started to say every
blessed word, but there wasn't a blessed word in it. It doesn't take a wise man to
discover that what we're reading and hearing from the average
preacher and pulpit is not of God now. It's not of God. There's
no use pretending that it is, because it's not of God. It doesn't
even sound like God. It doesn't glorify God. It's
of man. And the preachers that I hear
and read what they write are trying to be clever. That's exactly
what they're trying to be clever, to clever men. I read their bulletin
boards in front of the churches, and they're real clever. They're
trying to be witty. Preachers are funny. Did you
know that? They've always got something smart-aleck or funny
to say. They think every situation calls
for something smart and witty. God didn't call us to be clowns.
He called us to preach the gospel. And preachers are trying to be
intellectuals. They love to call themselves
doctors and masters and rabbis and theologians. And preachers today are trying
their best to be consistent with what they think people want to
hear. Did you know that? They're trying to be consistent
with what natural men already believe, not with the Word of
God. You don't know many preachers
whom you would classify as bold, brave, brazen prophets, do you? Not in this town. Because most preachers are servants
of the church. They do the will of the people.
They're servants of the denomination. They're servants of a religious
system that caught up in a rapid current. and dare not reach for
the shower. They're not prophets of God.
The church is called a non-profit organization. That's exactly
what it is. Now that's a fact. You know that's
a fact. Non-profit. And it doesn't seem like many
people are reading the Word to find out what God is saying. They're reading the Word and
teaching the Word to prove what they already believe. But the old prophets, the old
preachers, men of God, men whom God sent, men of whom it was
said, there was a man sent from God. He didn't just come and
scold people and abuse people, but he came saying,
thus saith the Lord. That's what he came saying, thus
saith the Lord. Every time he'd preach, he'd
say, now thus saith the Lord. He didn't have anything to say
except thus saith the Lord. He was afraid to say anything
else. And John wrote, this is the message
which we have heard of him, and declare we unto you. And the
voice said, cry, and Isaiah said, well, what shall I cry? What shall I cry? And he wasn't
asking the deacon board, what shall I cry? He wasn't asking
the ladies, missionary society, what shall I cry, so as not to
be offensive. He wasn't asking the Beatrice
from other places, now what shall I cry in order not to offend
you and maybe win some new members and converts. He was saying to
God, what shall I cry? Tell me, I'll cry. God says, preach, and the true
preacher looks to heaven, nowhere else, and says, what shall I
preach? And the voice comes with a twofold
message. Number one, all flesh is grass,
social, political, and religious grass. And the glory of man is
as the flower of the field, just a brief, brief bloom. The grass withereth and the flower
faded, but the word of the Lord endureth forever. Endure it forever. Cry the word
of the Lord. Endure it forever. And cry, secondly,
Behold your God. I believe I have a word from
the Lord this morning, a very plain. It's a word for our day
and a word for any day and a word for every day. a simple word
and yet profound. It's a common word and yet a
celestial, divine word. Turn to John 10 again. Here's
a word from the Master. Here's a word from the Master. In John chapter 10, verse 9,
he says, I am the door. I am the door. I am the door."
When our Lord speaks of himself, he's pleased to use words that
men can understand. Wouldn't that be a blessing today? To hear somebody preach in words
that men can understand. Our Lord said, I am the door.
I know what a door is. I know what a door is. I know
what a door is for. There's not a child in here.
Carol, you know what a door is? You know what it's for? I know this. By passing through
a door, I leave the place where I am, and I enter into a place
where I want to be. It's very simple, isn't it? But Christ spoke that way. He
said, I am the water. I tell you, water meant something
to those people in that area, with all of its drought, humidity,
and hot sun, scattered whales. He said, I'm the water. Drink
of me and never thirst. He said, I'm the bread. That
meant something to those people. Bread. Bread. Good old bread. Home-baked bread. Satisfying, gratifying bread. Bread. I'm the bread of life.
And Christ says here, I am the door. I am the door, and by Christ
the door, I pass from where I am by nature to life everlasting by that door
of Christ. I pass from death to light, from
darkness to light, from the place of condemnation to the presence
of God. I am the door. I thank God there
is a door, don't you? By birth and nature and will,
we're away from God. We're on the other side. We're on the outside, aren't
we? Away from God. And the angels have no door.
The Scripture says he took not on himself the nature of angel,
they have no door, but he took on himself the seed of Abraham.
Thank God, in his grace and in his mercy and in his love, he
gave us a door. Without a door, this would be
a veil of misery. with no hope, in darkness to
remain in darkness, in condemnation to remain in condemnation, salvation
never, damnation forever, but there's a door. There's a door. David said, oh
God, when I sit out there on the hillside while the sheep
are grazing and I look into heaven and I consider the sun and the
moon and the stars and the planets and the things you've made, I
think, what is man? That's our mind, Filipino. That
you should provide a door. A door out of darkness into light. A door out of damnation into
God's presence. A door! But watch it. There's but one door. Christ
said, I am the door. I am the door. There are not
many doors. The Ark had but one door. The tabernacle, they were playing
it while ago, the Eastern Gate, had one door. Is that right?
The tabernacle had one door. Acts 4.12 says, neither is there
salvation in any other. Now, if someone wants to go to
the tape room this morning, there's several ways you can go. There's
a door, go that way. That's shorter, but there's a
door. And you can go that way. It's
longer. And there's a door you can go
that way or that way, or you can go that way if you want to,
or that way. It all depends on how quickly you want to get there. But I'll tell you this, into
the presence of God, there's one door. That's what our Lord
is saying here. That's very simple, but it's
profound. I am the door. Other foundation can no man lay
than that which is laid. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me." That's what
he said. It's narrow, it's straight, it's
singular, it's definite. I am the door. Christ is the
door. Now listen to me just a moment,
just carefully, carefully, will you ever hear this way? Christ
said, I didn't say I'm the tunnel. I'm not a long tunnel. I'm not a long process of fears
and doubts and searching and waiting and seeking. I'm a door. One step from here to there. Huh? See what I'm talking about?
I know these religionists They want to make this thing of salvation
in Christ to be a process, the four steps. He didn't say, I'm
four steps. He said, I'm the door. Well,
you've got to be an awakened sinner, and you've got to go
through all this misery and conviction and fears and doubts and searching
and seeking. That's not what he said. I'm
the door. You want in there? Out of here?
Take one step through that door, and you're in there. You go through
that door, you're out of here, and you're in there. If you don't
take a step through that door, you're going to stay in here
and out of there. And Christ is the door. Now, you listen
to me. And if God has provided a door,
why are the religious men digging tunnels? Why are they seeking some other
way? If God has provided a door, and
declared it to be the door, and declared it to be the way to
God, why would a man seek another way? Because he's a fool, that's
why. That's the only answer you can
give. Now watch this. By me, is that
clear? I am the door? I am the door. I am the door. I am the door.
Not the church, but I'm going to join the church someday. Go
ahead. Another step backwards. He didn't say the church is the
door, the law is the door, baptism is the door. I'm going to be
baptized. Go ahead. You'll be just as lost wet as you are dry.
Go ahead, try it. Everybody wants to try something.
But I am the door. Now watch this, by me, by me,
by me, if any man enter in. My friends, Christ is saying
it's by my righteousness, not by yours. This is what I'm hearing
preached today. We just got to do this and do
that and do the other because God wants us to do this and He
has a wonderful plan for our lives and we make it work and
all this sort of thing. Christ didn't say, you're the
door, He said, I'm the door. I am the Lord by my righteousness,
by my holiness, not yours, by my sacrifice, not yours, by my
gift, by my sin offering. It's by me, by me, by me that
a man enters the presence of God. It's not by our works or
our faith or our deeds or our faithfulness. It's by His work
and His deeds and His faith and His faithfulness. I am the Lord. There's not any use if you want
to go in that room in there to go get you a hammer and a saw
and a jackhammer and a drill and come here and start boring
another hole through that wall. There's the door right there.
Use it. Use that door. I'm going to start a new denomination. Well, now you just do that. We
just got 10,000 now, you know. Somebody said, what's the greatest
body of divinity? There ain't but one, that's Christ. What church would you join if
you was me? The Lord's Church. There's just one. That's the
church which He purchased with His own blood. I am the door. Turn to Ephesians
2.18. Listen to this. Ephesians 2.18. I hope I can make this plain.
I wish I had the whole world listening to me today. Not to
me, but to the Word. In Ephesians 2.18, listen. For
through Him, Through Him, we both, Jew and Gentile, have access
by one spirit to the Father. Through Him, you see that? I am the Lord. By me, by my righteousness,
by my holiness, by my sacrifice, by my sin offering, by my blood,
there's one mediator between God and men. By me, if any man enter in. And I'll tell you this, it's
by His power and His divine aid that you enter to. Without Him, we can do nothing.
The shepherd finds the sheep, and when he finds it, he lays
it on his shoulders and bears it home. He lays it on his shoulders,
and he said, Other sheep I have, them I must bring. It's by me
that you enter in. by me. Not by your wisdom, not
by your decision. It's by Christ. My friends, God
will not speak to nor be spoken to except in Christ. God will
not deal with, have business with, or business dealings with
in this matter of spiritual things with any human being, any son
of Adam apart from Christ. That's right. By me. By me. That's what the Lord's saying.
You're not going to the Father, to the presence of the Father,
or to the communion with the Father, or to the glory of the
Father, or to the acceptance of the Father, except by and
in Me, and through Me, because of Me. And when I'm there, you're
there in Me. Christ is the head, and we're
the body. And watch this. I am the door, by Me. If any man enter in, Who is this? Any man. Any man. Now listen, the same way to God
is open to and required of any man. There's not one way for
Moses and another for me. Forget that. Just forget any. If you're a dispensationalist
or a student of dispensationalism, you're looking at it wrong when
you have more than one way to God. or more than one sacrifice
or more than one way of redemption. I know they're dispensations,
but not in the matter of saving sinners. All that are in heaven will say
unto Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.
There's not one way for Moses and another way for me. There's
not one way for the Jew and another for the Gentile. There's not
one way for today and another for the millennium. There's not
one way for the harlot and another for the There's not one way for
the preacher and another for the people. There's not one way
for the thief and another for the honest man, if any man. I am the door, by me if any man. No man cometh to the Father but
by me, any man. There's one door for the most
religious man or the most profane man. There's one door for the
politician, one door for the prisoner. There's one door for
the reformer, and there's one door for the rebel. I'll tell you this, if God's
pleased to save you, that Charles Manson, I can't
think of anybody I guess more despicable, But if God's pleased
to save him, now this is what I'm going to say. Now you think
this is the way Paul said it. I'm not going to say he'll be
saved the same way I am. There'd be a little ring of pride
in that. I'm going to say I'll be saved the same way he was.
Are you with me? Now I know what I'm saying. And
anybody here that knows anything about the grace of God knows
what I'm saying too. If you don't know what I'm saying, you better
open the book and look into it a little bit, because judgment's
coming. If that man's saved in his despicable,
wretched, rotten, corrupt, defiled condition, God may save him. I don't know. He can't. But I'm
going to be saved just like he is. That's right. Christ said, I'm going to be
saved. If you go, ah, Brother May, aren't there some good people
in this world? God says there's none good. No,
not one. You know what I mean? Yeah, I
know exactly what you mean. We haven't yet seen. It hasn't
really dawned on us, not in reality. We've got it in theology, we've
got it in creed, we've got it in our catechism, we've got it
in our books. All of sin comes short of the glory of God. We
hadn't even began to commence to get started to touch the meaning
of all have sinned. Oh, the wretchedness, oh, the
corruption, oh, the defilement, oh, the distance from God to
which man has fallen. Oh, God says you're so rotten
you can't even look in my direction and survive. I hear people say, me and Jesus
got a good thing coming. You can't even look his way without
burning up. You're so far away from God,
your sins have separated you from God. God is incomprehensible
and unapproachable for any son of fallen Adam, any daughter. I don't care how high on the
social ladder, how high on the moral ladder, how high on the
legal ladder, how high on the religious ladder, how pure you
are in your ways and means. In the flesh, no man can please
God. In the flesh, well, that's no
good thing. In the flesh, no man will see
God. That's right. You've got to don't
know that somehow, somebody, somewhere has got to reveal it
to somebody. Just how far we are away from
God now, and how impossible it is to return. Except Christ brings
us back. He's got to come out and fetch
us. He's got to come out and find us and fetch us. He's got
to come out and find us and put us on his shoulders, wounded,
weary, and bring us home and say, here he is. I washed him,
purged him, cleansed him, made him whole. Here he is. Here's
where he wants to be. See, this thing of salvation's
a complicated thing. He's got... He's not only...
Christ Jesus has not only got to do something for God in order
that God may be just and justifying in satisfying His law and justice,
but He's got to do something on behalf of us in fulfilling
that righteousness for us, and then He's got to do something
in us to make us like what we don't like and hate what we do
like. It's a, it's, it's, oh bless
your heart, it's a whole lot more than walking down here and
saying, I ain't going to drink no more. It's a whole lot more than coming
down here and saying, I love your doctrine. It's a whole lot
more than saying, I'm going to be a Baptist and not a Methodist
anymore. It's a resurrection! It's a new creation! If God acting
like He acted when He said, let there be light, it's just as
colossal and magnificent and wonderful and impossible as that. It's a new birth. It's somebody
being born that never was born before. You see what I'm saying? That's right. And that's all
done by Christ, by me. What's this now? Over in 1 John
5, it says, this is the record. God hath given us eternal life.
This life's in His Son, in Christ. And he that hath the Son hath
life, and he that hath not the Son of God. And I know, boy,
they'll spit on their hands and double up their fists and plow
into you if you insinuate. that a man, any man, woman, without
Christ, will perish. But that's what's said. Thus
saith the Lord. I've been pastor of this church
all these years, and surely I'll go to heaven, not without Christ. Yeah, but preacher, that man's
given a lot to the church, and he's Boy, he'd been there faithful
every Sunday, and see, he doesn't believe that Jesus Christ is
only Savior, you see? But he served God. He doesn't
even know God. No man knoweth the Father but
the Son. Peter and the Son will reveal it. Yeah, but this suggestion
says you are. I wouldn't question that. I wouldn't question that. Saul of Tarsus was sincere when
he was putting Christians in jail, too. They didn't know Christ. By me, by me. Any man enter in,
now watch this, enter in, enter in. Christ must be entered in.
Well, I sure believe that's the way. Well, you've not gone far
enough. You've got to walk the way. You
see, it's not enough to be aware of the door. It's not enough
to talk about the door. It's not enough to admire the
door. It's not enough to admit that that's the only door. He
said, if any man, what'd he say? Enter in. To as many as received Him, embraced
Him. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. And I'm persuaded he's able to
keep that which I've committed. I know that door's there. I've
got that much sense. And I know it's the way into
the other room. I understand that. And I know that anyone who goes
through there will be in the other room. He won't be in here
anymore, he's going to be in there. I can go all that and
still be right where I am. Just right smack dab where I've
always been. And I think that I've got some
friends who are well versed in who the door is. That fights
you for it. I think I've got some friends
that have studied the door to whether they know which way the
grain goes on it. Where the wood came from and
how it was planed and lacquered and lathered and varnished and
all that sort of stuff, how high it is and wide it is, and when
it was put there, and by whom, but they never entered in. I know whom I have believed,
and I am persuaded he and he alone is able to keep that which
I have committed. That's right, committed, committed. committed, received Christ, embraced
Christ, eaten Christ. Well, I'm the door. By me, by
my power, by my grace, by my righteousness, by my obedience,
by my blood, any man, Jew or Gentile, white or black, male
or female, enter in by committal, by receiving Christ, by laying
hold on Christ. Not just talking about Him. There's
a lot. Everybody's religious. I'll go to Jesus, though my sin
hath like a mountain rage, and I'll say to Him, I'm a sinner
undone without Your sovereign grace. I can but perish if I
go, I am resolved to try, for if I stay away, I know I must
forever die." Oh boy, I'm going to Christ. Right here, what's
this? He shall be saved. I like that. He shall be saved. What a beautiful
word. What a beautiful word. I hate
it the way folks are using it today, but the way our Lord uses
it here, it's so beautiful. I hate for some loudmouth to
come up to me, are you saved? I think the best answer to that
is tell me what you mean. Saved from drowning or saved
from the Republicans or Democrats are saved from what? What a beautiful
word. I know what he's talking about.
It's beautiful. What a definite word. He says,
Hey! S-A-V-E-D. What a permanent word. Hey! Forgiven, pardoned, justified,
redeemed, ransomed, sanctified, adopted, sons of God, whole,
not going to be, am right now. He shall be saved. He didn't
say He'd be on His way to salvation. He shall be saved. Saved from
the penalty of sin. There's no judgment to them who
are in Christ Jesus. Who is He that condemneth? Who
is He that can lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse
for us. Saved from the guilt of sin. Blessed is the man to whom God
will not charge sin. He is able to present us powerless
without blame, saved from the power of sin. Sin shall not,
God said, have dominion over you. You are a new creature.
Old things have passed away. Saved by His grace one of these
days from the very presence of sin, we shall be like Him. And
watch this, and He shall go in and out. Well, what's that talking about?
I told our Sunday school class this morning. I picked up about
four different commentaries and read that, and I came away more
confused than I was when I started reading. That's a fact. He shall
go in and out. Well, one thing I know this expresses
freedom. That is, going in and out is
free to go where he wants to go. He's not under bondage. He's not under bondage of days
and feasts and rules and regulations. He's free. He's not got any fetters
or chains on him. He moves about freely. See that,
Tom? He'd go in and out, in and out. And secondly, I know this, it's
the freedom to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. You see, those Old Testament
people used to stand outside and wring their hands. while
the priest was in. They used to stand out there
and hold their heads and wonder if there's going to have sunshine
or fire and brimstone, while the priest represented them.
But we, through Christ, can come wholly into the Holy of Holies. You don't have to stand outside
and wait for somebody to come tell you, in Christ you can enter
within the veil. Come on in. Come on in. And I know it's freedom from
ceremonial law and bondage. And then I know this. You don't
have to go in there and stay in some cave or hermitage or
isolated place in order to be protected. You can go in and
out, and you'll be safe from harm and danger, not only in
the presence of God's people only, but out there working on
your job. I'll go with you," he said. I'd
go in and out, but I don't go out alone anymore than I go in
alone. I go in by Christ, through Christ, and in Christ, and I
come out with Christ. He said, I don't pray that you
take them out of the world, but you keep them in your hand. You see, a believer doesn't have
to come to church to get religious. He walks with Christ and talks
with Christ, a long, life-narrow way. You can go down there on
the job. It's something you have to do.
Somebody says, well, I'd rather be in church. Well, he's no more
real than he is there if you know him. Hmm? That's right. We got to do what
we got to do. And while we're doing it, we
might as well be content, hadn't we? And rejoice that God's given
us the ability to do it. And the power to get gain, and
the power to support our families, and the power... That's right.
I'll go with you. He'll go in and out. And what's
he going to do? He's going to find pasture. He's
going to find pasture. That's talking about sheep and
shepherd now. That's that. And you know what he said? He's
going to find something to eat. Something to feed on. Children's
bread. Spiritual meat. The Lord is my shepherd. I'm
not going to want. I'm not going to lack. because
he makes me lie down in green pastures, and he leaves me beside
the still waters, and I go in and out, and he restores my soul,
and he leads me in paths of righteousness, for his name's sake. Listen to
me. Please listen to me. It doesn't make you any more
spiritual because... Well, Martha, let me use you
as an example. Martha's a secretary here at the church. She's here
every day, working here every day. But that will make her more
loved of God, more spiritual than you ladies as secretary
down at the bank. You understand what I'm saying?
Christ is with you. You're His child. See what I'm
saying? I'm here at the church, over
at the house in my study, and always busy and out preaching
or in a meeting or something. But I'm no more loved of God,
or nearer of God, or fed of God, or cared for by God, or more
important to God than Terry when you over there teaching your
class at the college. You got to do what you got to
do. I got to do what I got to do. And that's the freedom in
Christ, you know, is in and out and find pasture. See if we can
find some. I think a lot of men have been
driven into religious work to be near God. And I think it's
a mistake. I think a lot of fellas called
a priest because they don't want to work in public works, but
they want to be with God all the time. That's a mistake. That's
a mistake. Because my God is everywhere.
My God is everywhere. He loves His people. He loves
His sheep, where they are, in and out, and wherever they are,
they'll find His, the Good Shepherd, leading them by the still waters,
in the green passages. See that? Because we, you know, I always
get upset with these, these love children of the sixties. They
were against the establishment. They were against the workers. They were against the unions.
They were against the management. They were against the political. But they'd take them food stamps
and go down to that store, that contractor bill, and get that
food that that fella canned, that he brought in on the truck
that that fella drove, that was raised by that poor ignorant
farmer. that they slept in his field
that night, in his barn. If he hadn't had a barn, they
wouldn't have had no place to sleep. That's kind of inconsistent,
isn't it? So what I'm saying is that we're in this world,
and we've got jobs to do, and you've got things to make and
build and grow and sell and promote and produce. Be a producer! And walk with God. Walk with
Christ. Enter out. Enter out. Find pasture. Because He is my
provider. And He's my faithful friend.
And be content with what you have, who you are, and where
you are. In everything give thanks. This
is the will of God for you. This is the will of God for you.
Because you wouldn't be there if it wasn't for Him. That ought
to help.