Now turn in your Bibles again
to the 10th chapter of John. I want you to listen this morning
as carefully, as carefully and prayerfully as you can, while
I deal with this most important portion of God's Word. I began this past week writing
the Sunday school lessons, the commentary, on the tenth chapter
of John, and I realized that you teachers will be teaching
this next Sunday, but I could not resist preaching from it
today. I enjoy the study of God's Word,
I enjoy writing these commentaries which are being printed, and
they have already assured me that the one we're writing on
John, will also be printed. I enjoy writing them. I've enjoyed this word-by-word,
verse-by-verse study. But I don't know when I've enjoyed
preparing two Sunday school lessons quite like these from John chapter
10. Now there are two reasons why
preachers and teachers have difficulty with this portion of God's Word.
There are two reasons. The first of which is this, they
do not take into consideration unto whom our Lord is speaking
in John 10, the first 19 verses. You see, in verse 1, chapter
10, he says, barely, barely, I say unto you. He's talking
to somebody. He's talking to somebody. In
verse 6 says, this parable spake Jesus unto them. He's talking
to somebody. And they didn't understand it,
Mike, the parable. They didn't understand it. Whoever he was speaking to didn't
understand what he was saying. That's the first problem. We're
going to deal with that. Then the second problem in trying
to interpret this scripture is the average person doesn't distinguish
between the three doors. There are three doors here in
these first few verses. there's the door of the sheepfold. And down here in verse 7, there's
the door of the sheep. You see it? And then in verse
9, there's the door of salvation. I am the door, by me if any man
enter in. Now here's another problem. There's
no division between chapter 9 and chapter 10. There shouldn't be. You see, in chapter 9, our Lord,
on the Sabbath day, had healed a blind man. Blind from birth. Our Lord healed him, and it was
noise abroad. And the Pharisees, now you need
to know who they were. They were the elite of religion. They were the powers that be.
They were the teachers, guides, and leaders of the people. They
were the moral leaders of that day. They were the guides of
religion. They were men who ministered
about the feast, the tabernacle, the temple, other places. But
they cared more for their religious ceremonies than they did for
God. They cared more for their Sabbath day than they did the
Lord of the Sabbath. Our Lord had healed other people
on the Sabbath day. And when they found out he'd
healed this blind man, or word came to them of that effect,
when they found out he'd healed this blind man on the Sabbath
day, they were angry. And they were trying to discredit
him. They didn't believe on Christ. They didn't believe he was the
Son of God. They didn't believe he was sent of God. And so they
found the man and they began to question him. And they didn't
believe him, and they found his parents and questioned them.
And they were afraid of these religious leaders, and his parents
said to the religious leaders, well, we know he's our son, and
number two, we know he was born blind, and number three, we know
he can now see. But how and by what means, and
who made him see, we don't know. Ask him, he's full grown. So
they asked him again, they said, how did he do it? And by what
manner did he make you to see? And the blind man said, I told
you already, would you be his disciple? Well, they said, you're
his disciple, we're Moses' disciples. He said, here's a marvelous thing.
Here's an amazing thing. Here you are, leaders of religion.
Here you are, students of the scriptures. Here you are, Moses'
disciples. Here you are, gods of the Jews.
Here's a marvelous thing that a man has made me see, I've been
blind all my life and he made me see and you don't know who
he is. Why he said since the world began,
it's never been heard that any man received his sight who was
born blind. Abraham never made anybody see
that was blind. Moses never made anybody see
that was blind. Isaiah never made anybody see
that was blind. Here's a marvelous thing that
I've been made to see and it's never been heard of before in
the history of man and you don't know who he is. He said he has
to be of God because you say he's an imposter but God doesn't
hear imposters. You say he's a blasphemer, but
God doesn't do his work through blasphemy. God does not hear a blasphemer
or an impostor. If this man were not of God,
he could do nothing. And these Pharisees became so
infuriated, so angry. Here they were graduates of schools
of theology. They were graduates of their
Jewish seminaries. They were men of high position
and great degrees and great learning. ever learning, but never coming
to knowledge of the truth. Here they were teachers themselves
of religion, keepers of the feast, observers of the Sabbath day.
Here they were the highest officers in the land, the descendants
of Aaron, the descendants of Moses, by nature. And here was
a man that was a A poor beggar, just a day ago he was sitting
there on the street in dirt and filth and rags with a tin cup
begging. He had never been to school.
And they looked at him and they said, Do you teach us? Do you? Why, you were altogether born
in sin. Who do you think you are teaching
us? Well, I'll tell you what the
Lord Jesus said. He said, He's hid these things from the wise
and prudent the scholarly and the worldly wise and reveal them
to babes. He said he uses the foolish to
bring to naught the wise and the despised to bring to naught
the things that are. Let no flesh and glory in his
presence. You see, divine truth comes by
divine revelation. He said to Peter, flesh and blood
didn't reveal this to you but my Father which is in heaven.
You can learn the things of the earth by study. and by education,
you learn the things of God by spiritual revelation. And a man's
training doesn't have anything to do with his spiritual knowledge.
He's taught by the Spirit of God. And these people were angry,
and so they threw him out of the synagogue. They excommunicated
him. Now, to the Jew, there was just
one thing worse than excommunication from the temple, and that was
death. You see, when they cast him out of the synagogue, he
wasn't allowed back in. He had no praise before God. He had no sacrifice. He had no
atonement. He had no mediator. They cast
him out. But he didn't care. He had Christ. And he knew that Christ was a
prophet of God. He didn't know that he was that
prophet. He didn't know he was that king and that priest, but
he knew he was God's prophet and he was going to learn from
Christ. These fellows hadn't taught him anything. They had
taught him nothing of God. He knew by their conduct and
by their attitude, they didn't know God. He said, it's a marvelous
thing. He said, I'm a poor, ignorant, blind beggar who's been made
to see, but I know more than you fellows do. And when our Lord heard that
the excommunicated him from the temple, he found him. He heard
it as a man, he knew it as God. But he found him and he said
to him, do you believe on the Son of God? Do you believe on
the Son of God, the Messiah, the Redeemer, the Anointed One? And he said, well Lord, who is
he? You see, Paul wrote years later, you can't believe in him
of whom you've not heard. You can't believe in him of whom
you've not heard. He knew Jesus Christ was a great prophet. He
knew Jesus Christ spoke the words of God. He knew Jesus Christ,
by the miracles he did, was sent of God. But he didn't know he
was that prophet, priest, and king. But he knew a Messiah was
coming because the whole Old Testament told him a Messiah
was coming. He'd been taught that as he stood
as a blind boy at the knee of his father. He'd been taught
that the Messiah was coming. And he said, well, who is he,
Lord? Tell me who he is. That I might believe. And our
Lord said to him, as he did to the woman at the well, I that
speak to thee. You're looking at him. It is
he that made you to see. It is Christ that made you hope.
And the scripture said that he fell down and worshipped him.
He said, I believe. Now look at verse 39 of John
9. Now here, this is important. John chapter 9, verse 39. And Jesus said, for judgment,
to divide, to judge, to separate, I am come into this world that
they which see not might see. Those that don't see, they're
in darkness, they're in spiritual blindness, They don't understand,
and they know it. Because nobody knows he's blind
quite like a blind man. He knows he can't see. He doesn't
see. He can't see. He has no ability
to give himself sight, and he knows it. And he desires above
all things to be able to see. And Christ said, I've come that
he might see. The man who can't give himself
sight, the man who knows he's blind, he knows he's ignorant,
he knows he's in darkness, I've come that he might see. See what? See the glory of God in the face
of Christ Jesus. See the wisdom of God, the justice
of God, the righteousness of God, all fulfilled in Christ. I've come that he might see.
Now watch the next line. And that they which see might
be made blind. But we're all by birth blind,
we're all by nature blind, we're all spiritually blind. He said
they have eyes but they can't see. But these people think they
can see. That's these Pharisees, you see. These Pharisees said, we see,
you don't teach us, we know, we're Moses' disciples. And that
blind man said, now you know this is a strange thing. This
is a marvelous thing. You people claim to believe Moses,
and yet Moses wrote of him. Yes, you know Moses' writing
by tradition, you know his writings by ceremony, you know his writings
in your intellect, but you don't know his message. Moses wrote
of Christ. And these fellows said, we see,
but they didn't. We're smart, but they weren't.
We understand, but they didn't. And Christ said, I've come that
those who won't admit their darkness and won't admit their inability
and won't admit their sin, I've come that they might be even
judicially blinded. Not only to condemn them, but
to add to their condemnation. To add to their darkness. And
he said this, if that light which is in you is darkness, in other
words, if all the light you have is error, how great is that darkness. How double died is that error.
If a fellow knows, but he knows wrong, that's a terrible state
to be in. A man who doesn't know and knows
he doesn't know, there's possibility for him. But a man who doesn't
know and thinks he knows, there's no hope for him. He has a double condemnation.
And this is what our Lord said. And then the Pharisees, verse
40, they said to him, they knew he was talking to them, They
knew it. Some of the Pharisees which were
with him heard these words and said, Are we blind also? Are
you talking to me? A fellow came to me one time. I got a little personal in a
message. He said, Were you talking to me? I said, Were you there? He said, Yes, I was talking to
you. I'm not speaking to the walls. Friends, Romans, and countrymen,
lend me your ears. And they said, you talking to
us? Are you talking to us? Look at verse 41, and Jesus said,
if you were really blind and in darkness, if you really were,
if you really knew it, if you'd really throw up your hand like
the public and say, God be merciful to me a sinner, if you'd really
cry like the thief on the cross, I'm getting what I deserve, Lord
remember me when you come in your kingdom. If you just face
the fact that you're not so smart after all, That you're just a
child and you need to be taught. He said, you'd see. Yes, you
would. You'd have no sin. I'd pardon
your sin, take it away. But now you say, what do they
say? We understand. We see. We know. We got the handle on this thing. We got the handle. Don't teach
us. Don't try to show us anything we know. We're Baptist, we're
Catholic, we're Methodist, we're Presbyterian, we're something
else. We don't need to be taught by you. He said, therefore you
remain in your sins. Can't be taught. And in the same
breath, verse 1 of chapter 10, verily, verily, I say unto you. See that? He's talking to them. He's talking to these zealous,
enthusiastic, religious teachers. I say unto you. that he that
entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up
some way, the same as a thief and a robber." Now, in 1985 in
Ashland, Kentucky, where coal meets iron and steel, we don't
know what a sheepfold is. There are not a half dozen people
here who know what a sheepfold is. But you see, in this agricultural
country, country of farming and herdsmen, in town there was a
sheepfold. See, each shepherd had his flock.
He may have ten sheep, fifteen, twenty, fifty, or a hundred.
And they grazed out in the pasture. And at night, in the evening,
all these shepherds would bring their sheep into the town, or
into the village. And they had a sheepfold that
had high walls, gills said ten or twelve feet high, around that
sheepfold. And all these shepherds, it'd
be John and Joe and Bill and Bob and Dan and Fred and They'd
all bring their sheep, and they'd put them right there in their
same fold. Just put them in the fold. Had one door. Completely
surrounded by a wall, but there was one door through which all
the sheep went. And they didn't put them in stalls,
they just all stayed in there together. There was John's sheep
and Fred's sheep and Bill's sheep, they were all together in there,
and there was a porter who shut the door and stood outside the
door all night, and these shepherds would go find lodging. They'd
go find lodging. Next morning, Fred would come
down from wherever he stayed. He'd walk up to the porter. The
porter knew Fred. He was a shepherd. He owned some
sheep. And he'd open the door to Fred, and Fred would call
his sheep. And every blessed one of them, wherever they were,
they'd come to him. And Fred would lead them out.
He'd go before them, and they'd all follow him. Now Bob's sheep
wouldn't follow Fred. They'd wait in their own barn.
And John's sheep wouldn't follow Fred. They stayed right in the
sheepfold. And the porter wouldn't let anybody else in. But those
fellas that owned the sheep. And our Lord is saying this.
He said there's one sheepfold. And I don't know what that sheepfold
is. I read a half a dozen fellas. Some of them say it was a Jewish
church and some of them say it was a Jewish nation. Some of
them say it was a law and the bondage and justice of God. God's
the porter, I do know that. It ain't John the Baptist. God's
the porter. And our Lord Jesus Christ said,
there's one door of the sheepfold. God's the porter. And there's
some sheep in there, he said, that belong to me. And he said,
that door, that door, you know what that door is? That door,
first of all, to the sheepfold is the door of perfect righteousness. That door of the sheepfold is
the door of the honored law. That door of the sheepfold is
the door of satisfied justice. Bill, that's exactly what it
is. Almighty God is not going to let through that door to possess
those sheep, and to call those sheep, and to own those sheep,
except one who has honored the law, satisfied divine justice,
and wrought out a perfect righteousness on behalf of those sheep. Now
he said, all that came before me, he's not talking about Moses
and Abraham, because they're pointing to Christ. He's not
talking about Isaiah and Jeremiah, they're pointing to Christ. But
he's talking about these who come before, who don't come to
the door of righteousness and the door of justice and the door
of the honored law and the door that enables God to be just and
justify. They come up some other way.
They seek to save men by works, by Sabbath days, by deeds. You see that? What is the door
of the sheepfold? The door of the sheepfold is
that which honors God. And that which God himself has
designated and ordained and appointed. And that is the way of redemption
only through Christ. That's the door. And he's talking
to these fellows. He said, you're thieves and robbers.
Because you will not preach and own the door by which God has
ordained that men be saved. You're trying to come up some
other way and get the sheep. And you're thieves and robbers.
Look here at verse 4, verse 3. To him, the owner of the sheep,
to him who comes by the right door, that's Christ, to him who's
the shepherd of the sheep, the porter opens. And the sheep hear
his voice, they hear his gospel, they hear his word, they hear
his call. And he calls his own sheep, they're
his, the Father gave them to him. And one of the Pharisees
came to him one time and said, now if you be the Christ, tell
us plainly. He said, I told you. But you didn't believe me. You
didn't believe me because you're not of my sheep. My sheep, everyone,
hear my gospel. They hear my voice. Paul said,
you know how I know you're the elect of God? Because our gospel
came to you, not in word only, but in power, in authority, in
much assurance that you may know. He said, my sheep hear my voice. He calls his sheep, now watch
this, he leads them out. out of Judaism, out of the bondage
of the law, out of the bondage of justice, he leads them out.
And he puts forth his own sheep, and he goes before them. He doesn't
drive them. He doesn't stand behind them
with a whip and drive them. You see, his sheep are there,
in whatever captivity we're talking about. And he comes by the right
door. That's the door of justice and
righteousness and holiness and sacrifice and atonement. The
door of God Almighty is ordained and the porter opens to him,
the only shepherd. He calls his sheep. He calls
them with the gospel. And they hear it. And he goes
before them. They follow him. They follow. And he leads them out. Now watch
where it's time. And a stranger, they will not follow. God's people
will not hear error, they'll not believe error, and they'll
not support error. They'll not follow a stranger to grace. Why
won't they follow a stranger? They'll rather flee from him,
they know not the voice of a stranger. Now do you see that? There's the sheepfold. Our Lord
said there's one door. And that's the door by which
the Heavenly Father stands, the porter of the sheep. He stands
there. He has a people there. But they're
not going to be given into the hands of anyone except the one
that comes by the right door. The way of righteousness, the
way of atonement, the way of justice, the way of truth, and
that shepherds Christ. And he has a people there among
all the Jews and Gentiles of tribes, kindred, nation, and
tongues unto heaven. And our Lord comes there and
God the Father opens to him. opens to him. Who is this King
of Glory? The Lord of Hosts. He's the King
of Glory. He's the only one. And the Father opens to him and
he calls his sheep with the gospel. And they follow him. And he leads
them out. And they're not going to hear
a stranger or follow a stranger. They're going to follow Christ.
Alright, what's the second door here now? Verse 7. Then said
Jesus unto them, again, same people. Verily, verily, truly,
truly, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep." Now Christ Jesus didn't only
come the right way. He came the right way. He is
the Redeemer. You see, He died according to
the Scriptures. He rose again according to the
Scriptures. He ascended to heaven according
to the Scriptures. There's a way of salvation that
the Father has established. The way of justice and righteousness
must be met. And Christ did come that way. He came in the fulfillment of
every requirement of the law, of every requirement of justice,
of every requirement of heaven, of every requirement of God.
And he met that way as a man and fulfilled it, imputing to
us, charging to us a perfect righteousness so that God the
Father may really open to us. He may really open to us. He
may really accept us in the beloved and still be God. But my friends,
Christ didn't only fulfill all that the way required, get this
now, he himself is the way. He not only came to the door
which God ordained, he not only had opened to him the door over
which God is deported, he not only fulfilled all requirements
in order to release his sheep from the bondage of the law and
the guilt of sin and the curse of the law and the justice of
God, But actually, He Himself is the way, He is the door. It
is in Him, by Him, through Him, because of Him, in a union with
Him that God accepts us. God accepts Christ and us in
Him. And this is the very area where
most religionists are flat missing it. There's a song, Jesus made
a way somehow. Well, no he didn't. He is the
way. He said, I am the way. I myself
am the way. I am the truth. You don't learn
truth apart from Christ because he is the truth. He said, no
man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to whom the Son reveals
him. How does he reveal him? By revealing
himself. When you know Christ, you know
the Father. He's not on the way to God, he is God. Let me give
you this, listen. Christ didn't come to change
the Sabbath observance from Saturday to Sunday. He is our Sabbath. A lot of people got this thing
all messed up. They say the Sabbath used to
be Saturday, seventh day of the week, and everybody observed
it in Kephi. Now Sunday is the Christian Sabbath, and we observe
and keep it. Christ didn't come to change
the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday and make us a bunch of
ceremonial Jews. He is our Sabbath. I wish we
could get hold of that. We ceased from our labor and
entered His rest seven days a week. Christ didn't come to destroy
the law, but to fulfill it. He didn't come to cut the corners
off God's law, or take the edge off God's law, or bring it down
in any respect. He is our righteousness. In that divine union with Christ,
I'm as holy as He is. Is that right? It better be right. We are holy in Christ. Perfectly
righteous. He is my righteousness. He doesn't
lead me to sanctification, He is my sanctification. Nearer
so near to God, nearer I cannot be in the person of His Son,
I'm as near as He. We've made this thing complicated for people
who want to hear and who want to see. We've got little rituals. They've got to be like us. They've
got to be peculiar like us, and strange like us, and odd like
us, and way out in left field like us, or holier than thou.
We've got a sternness about us that doesn't attract them. Salvation
is not to know you, it's to know Christ. Salvation is not to be
like you, it's to be like Christ. Salvation is not to do things
your way in your time, it's to do things His way. And I'm weary
of religionists. Sick, I'm up to here with them. Our Lord Jesus Christ didn't
come to destroy the law or to twist it around in the Baptist
interpretation of it. He came to fulfill it. And whoever
I am and wherever I am, He is my righteousness. He is my sanctification. He is my redemption. He is my
wisdom. And don't you judge me in meats
and drinks and days and holy days. Christ is my Lord. And
I'm not like you, and you're not like me. But that doesn't
mean I don't love Him. He had several disciples. He
had the quiet, loving, affectionate John who leaned on his chest.
He had the impulsive Peter that always drew his sword and wouldn't
whip somebody. But they both loved him, and
he loved them. And he had old Thomas that never
could get things straightened out, you know. When the disciples
met in the upper room, he was absent. When they saw the Lord,
he wasn't there. And they tried to tell him, he
said, I don't believe that. You got to show me, I'm Missouri.
Well, God still loved him. And he loved Christ. And he wasn't
like Peter, and Peter wasn't like John, and John wasn't like
Thomas. But they were trying to be like Christ. Do you see
what I'm saying? So let's quit getting together
our little odd organizations. There's an organization called
the Oddfellas. That ought to be put on every
church I know anything about, the Oddfellas. They want everybody
to be like them. Christ is our righteousness.
Don't go around mad all the time. Don't be mad at everybody. They're
just sons of Adam. That's all. They're born that
way. They're going to stay that way until Christ makes them holy. And then He not only came to
provide an atonement, He is the atonement. He is the tabernacle. You can't figure this out. This
has to be taught by God. But He's the tabernacle, and
He's the priest. And He's the Holy of Holies,
and He's the Ark, and He's the Mercy Seat. And he's the atonement,
and he's the blood. And he's the one that offers
it, and he's the one to whom it's offered. Now, I can't explain
that, but that's every bit so. We're accepted in Him. We're
chosen in Him. We're complete in Him. He has
all things to us. He said to Mary, or to Martha. Martha said, now, she said, I
know if you'd been here, Lazarus wouldn't have died. But now that
you're here, I know you can make him live. And I know he'll rise
at the judgment." She had her catechism all lined out, A, B,
C, D. And Christ looked at her and
he said, Martha, I am the resurrection and I'm the life. And whether
a man's in the ground or on top of the ground, I'm his life.
Now you believe that? And that's what I'm trying to
say. Christ Jesus said, I came to the door. I came to the door
of righteousness, and the Father let me in, because I fulfilled
all that he required." But he said, not only did I come to
the door to lead a sheep out of the door, I myself am the
door. I'm the way, the truth, and the
life. You see, I am. My confidence is not in a principle,
but in a person. Not in a profession, but in a
person. Not in a doctrine, but in a person. Here's the third
one now. The third door, verse 9, I am
the door. I am the door. I am the right
way and I am the way. By me, by me, through me, because
of me, depending on me, looking at me, if any man, I don't care,
I can walk up to those natives in San Pedro, or San Sandra,
or over here in Gognio, or Abidjan, or in England, or Darlington,
or Ashland, or Florida, or wherever, and I can say, I don't care who
you are, Jew or Gentile, white or black, rich or poor, old or
young, learned or ignorant, if you will believe on Christ, thou
shalt be saved. People will do anything else
you tell them to do to find favor with God. You can tell them to
give a tenth of their income, they'll do that, to win heaven.
You tell them to walk down an aisle and shake a preacher's
hand, they'll do that. You tell them to pray the sinner's prayer,
they'll do that. You tell them to be baptized,
they'll do that. You tell them to eat the whey from the wine,
they'll do that. You tell them to keep the commandments, they'll
take a shot at that. Lie about it. If you tell them to walk
a mile, they'll do that. You tell them to dress in a funny
looking outfit, they'll do that. Tell them to put on a square
hat and throw away their electricity and their automobiles and their
tractors and plow by hand again and be like the old Puritans,
they'll do that. But they won't just believe on Christ. That's
the hardest thing a man ever had to do. Just shut his mouth
and look to Christ. and just lay hold on him. The
smartest people on earth, you're going to have to come to Christ.
Like Don Bell says, those that are dumb as a box of rocks are
going to have to come to Christ. These little children here, they're
just going to have to look to Christ. And us old wives, granddaddies,
I think we are, going to have to look to Christ. He said if
any man Any man, by me if any man, will enter in. Will you
enter in? Enter into what? Into the favor
of God. Into the presence of God, into
the Holy of Holies, into the throne room wherein our great
forerunner has entered and occupied. He'll be saved, eternally, effectually
saved. And not only that, but he'll
have a freedom and go in and out. And he'll find provision. He said, I've come not to kill
and destroy like the thieves and robbers that tell you to
be saved some other way, but I've come that they might have
life and have it abundantly. Abundantly. I hear people say,
well, religion would interfere with my life. Christ doesn't
interfere with life. He brings life. He brings life. He is life. Real life, satisfying
life, happy life, joyful life. and a hope for eternal life.
You can know God and be a doctor. You can know God and be a plumber.
You can know God and be a soldier. You can know God and be a wife
or a husband. You can know God, rest in Him.
And to know God is to know Christ, because He reveals Christ. The
disciples said, well, show us God. Show us the Father. He said,
you're looking at Him. He's the same as the same God.
You see, I'm the shepherd who came to the door. And all of
that, I'm the door. I'm the door. I'm the way. I
provide all that's required. I myself. But I'll tell you this,
if you would enter into the favor of God, I'm the door into that
favor. Do you understand it? I know you do. That's what it
says. Alright, let's sing a song, number 226. Mike, come and lead
us in number 226. My Savior. Notice the words of
this hymn while we sing. I am not skilled to understand
God's God and will, God's God and plan I only know that it's
right then This one who is my Saviour I thank Him at His word indeed,
Christ died for sinners this I read, For in my heart I find
the need of Him to be my Savior. That he should leave his place
on high And come for sinful men to die To count his strength,
so watch did I Before I knew my Savior