The Door

In John 10, we are reminded that Jesus is both the Good Shepherd who leads and the One Door who saves. This message calls us to recognize His voice, resist the enemy’s deception, and embrace the abundant life found only in Jesus.

Transcript

Of John is where we're going to be. We are celebrating with Pastor Marshall as he graduated with his master's in philosophy. He said it took four years. You can imagine the amount of time that he would have to pull late nights. And you can imagine the amount of time that Jessica was taking care of things so he could study.

So, so four years. We do want to celebrate that. And today is his birthday and of course he wanted to be here, but we understood you only get to graduate for that degree one time. So let's turn our attention. I wanted to just kind of recap Last week we were in the Gospel of Luke and we talked about there were two disciples.

We know the name of one, we don't know the name of the other. These two disciples are journeying away from Jerusalem. They're sad, they're disappointed. Jesus has been crucified and for the way it looks, he is dead in a tomb. And they decide to leave.

And Jesus comes and he walks with them and he keeps them from being able to see them at first he listens, he asks them questions, he talks to them and he leads them and then shows them all the way through the Old Testament. How all of the Old Testament was pointing to Jesus. How the Old Testament prophets said this must take place. And then he took the bread and he blessed it and he broke it and he gave it to them. And when he gave them the bread, their eyes were opened.

They realized that it was Jesus. They journeyed back to Jerusalem to say he has risen indeed is what they proclaimed. It is amazing to us that Jesus would go out of his way to come and walk and teach and lead these two individuals. One, a disciple that we don't even know his name. These weren't the VIP disciples.

This was not the well known apostles. He came for the ones that we don't even know who they are. And I find that maybe Jesus didn't give us the name of that second disciple so we could put our name there. That just like this unknown disciple, he still comes to us. Those who are slow of heart, it's said to believe.

Those of us Bradycardia when it comes to believing who he is and he teaches us and our hearts begin to burn. Aren't you grateful for a God who makes Himself known? Aren't you grateful for conviction, that feeling of knowing I need to repent? Aren't you grateful for provenient grace, that grace that goes before, even before we choose to believe in Him. He makes it possible for us to understand and receive Him.

If it wasn't for Jesus, where would we be today? We're going to look at a passage that explains with an illustration more about knowing him, knowing our Savior, knowing the great Shepherd, Will you stand with me? As we read from the Gospel of John, verses 1 through 10, Jesus said, very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in by another way, is a thief and a bandit. Say, bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out. And when he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers. Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So again Jesus said to them, very truly, I tell you, I am the gate. I am the door for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits. But the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate.

I am the door. Whoever enters by me will be saved, say will be, will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. Jesus, thank you for the word of God.

Come and teach us. We invite you. Have your way within us and through us. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

And you may be seated. This picture of God as the shepherd is not new to the New Testament. In Psalm, in the Book of Psalms, chapter 80, it says, Hear us, shepherd of Israel. He calls out to the shepherd Israel. In Isaiah 40, this is what it says.

He tends his flock like a shepherd. He gathers the lambs in his arms and and he carries them, look at this, close to his heart. He gathers them and he carries them close to his heart. Also God in the Old Testament he chooses pastors, or under shepherds, if you will, to lead his flock. The word in the Greek or in the Hebrew for shepherd and pastor is the same word in Jeremiah.

He says, woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture. This is what the Lord says, the God of Israel. He says to these shepherds, the ones that he has chosen to lead his people. He says, because you have scattered my flock and driven them away, and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done, declares the Lord. I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I've driven them and will bring them back to their pasture where they will be fruitful and increase in number.

I will place shepherds over them who will tend them. And they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing. Declares the Lord. God is serious about the role of pastoring. He is serious about the ones he has called to lead his flock doing it in the manner which he calls them to do it.

The Pharisees believe they were the pastors. The Pharisees believed they were the ones to lead the flock. Second Samuel, chapter five. David is chosen, and this is what it says. And the Lord said to you, you will shepherd my people Israel.

You will become their ruler. Isn't it interesting that God would choose David, who was a shepherd, to become a shepherd over the nation? And it is through the line of David that the great shepherd came, Jesus Christ.

I want to describe briefly this idea of the sheep pen. Now, some of you may be sheep farmers, but that is not me. And so some of us may not be familiar with why God would use this picture of a shepherd and the sheep. Us in the body of Christ, we're the sheep. But to them, to the Jewish people, they were so familiar with the idea of shepherding that he's using something familiar to.

To illustrate a divine truth. We still do that today with giving illustrations of us being sheep. Sheep are defenseless. Sheep do not bite or bark. Sheep do not run very fast.

Anybody else in here? Sheep are patient. Sheep are useful. Sheep are social.

The sheep were most vulnerable at night. They were vulnerable to predators. They were vulnerable to thieves. And so a shepherd would build a sheep pen. Now, he might, if they're out traveling and there's a cave, he could get them all in the cave and he could lay down at the entrance to protect them.

But if not, he would build a sheep pen with big stones. You may see where it's a circle and they have stones. Or they would use branches, and they would layer the branches up 8 to 10ft to make a wall. And then they would put briars at the top to try to prevent predators from coming in. To get these sheep, there would only be one entrance.

They didn't really have a door. So some translations say door or gate. But there's only one way to enter the sheep pen. And so at night, the shepherd would take and lay himself there in the doorway to be the protector of all of the sheep. This idea of God being our shepherd and Us being the sheep here together, we are the sheepfold gathered together today at harvest point.

When I was turning my attention to this text, God said, he gave me three points. One is encouragement, one is a warning, and one is an invitation. One is encouragement, one is a warning, and one is an invitation. Number one, the privilege of being shepherded. The privilege of being shepherded.

Have you considered the privilege it is to have a shepherd?

Have you considered the privilege of having a shepherd? Friends, I spent some time this week on YouTube learning about shepherds in Judea. And can I tell you that these shepherds in Judea, it is not what from the farms in Alabama. We are dirt and sand. We are rocks.

It's not a picture of just lush pasture. Okay? The idea of being a shepherd, you're leading these sheep on terrain that is unstable. You are leading these sheep to areas where they can find food and water. Interesting.

I learned that sheep are afraid of moving water. They get a little skittish. So that's why Psalms 23, he leads me beside still water. He knows our fears. It's injured.

When you look at this picture of Judea, there would be stones and one little thing of grass coming up. The idea is it doesn't rain a lot, but there would be moisture and humidity near that stone. And so the sheep long and get one little mouthful and keep traveling and get one little mouthful. And I thought, isn't that interesting? Jesus gives us our daily bread.

He leads us, oh, well, we don't need pasture. He's like, keep trusting me. I'm going to take care of you. I'll lead you to the next place where you're going to eat. It's a beautiful picture of meeting a shepherd.

And as I looked at it and I learned, I said, you know what? These sheep would die if it was not for their shepherd. They would not make it. Friends, we will not make it without a shepherd. We need a shepherd to survive.

It is a privilege, number one, to hear his voice. Do you know the voice of the shepherd? It is a privilege to get to hear his voice. In this text. He never says, the sheep see the shepherd and he does a little motion, and they follow him.

Not says they hear his voice. He never emphasizes sight because we walk by faith, not by yes. And so he talks to them, and they know his voice. We learn the voice of our Father by spending time with him. He says, I am the gate.

I am the door. Friends, there are doors that open upon proximity. They are automatic doors. But if you don't get close enough, guess What? That door stays close, but when you walk up and you get close and personal, the door opens.

We learn by spending time with him. You learn his voice by reading his word. The voice of God is the word of God. We learn the voice of our Father by spending time in his word. Also, notice you were called by name.

Isn't that personal?

When I was a little girl, I get so tickled at my mama when she would get so excited and she's calling us, and she's like, adam, Emily. And she would call everybody's name in the house before she landed on the right person. Does anybody else remember? And then. And I thought, how silly.

I kind of chuckled to myself, like, she. I'm obviously not Adam. And then I became a mama. And all of a sudden, it happened. I caught that.

I got it genetically. And all of a sudden, I'm calling Eli Carter Ryan. And what's funny is, now I even say my dog's name. Has anybody ever called their kid by their dog? I'm like.

All of a sudden, I'm like, hershey, stop. And Carter's looking at me like, really? Did you just call me Hershey? Now, Hershey is a dor, by the way. But I can tell you that God knows your name, and he doesn't call you by someone else's name.

He doesn't call you by what the world calls you. He doesn't call you by a label that you may have given yourself. He knows your name, and he calls you by name individually. It also says that we're led by Him. We listen and we follow.

Right foot, left foot. We learn this beautiful picture of a dance, if you will, with Jesus. You turn, I turn. We're moving together, following the step of the shepherd. He leads.

I learned that the shepherd is leading from the front. Isn't that interesting? Some of us would prefer if he had a prod and he was coming behind us. Would you go? Would you go, April?

I said go. And we want him to. And he says, you know what? No, I'm going to just call you from the front and lead you and invite you to come. And it's up to us whether we follow or not.

We. We need to lead and not get distracted. How often do we get off the path of the shepherd because we get distracted? Maybe the enemy is calling us and we're looking to the right or to the left. Maybe we think, you know what?

I'm a little hungry, but I see that there might be better grass over there. So maybe I'm just going to step off the path. Jesus. And I know, but I'm really wanting that grass over there. Anybody else?

And he says, no. You followed the voice of your shepherd, my grandpa, when he was driving, as he got older, maybe he shouldn't have been driving no more. But I digress. He was driving. And if he looked to the right or to the left, all of a sudden we're going towards it.

If he sees Bojangles and he's looking at. All of a sudden we're driving toward Bojles. Grandpa. Eyes front, baby. Eyes front.

We got to go forward and we got to keep our eyes on Jesus, the great shepherd. We hear his voice. He calls us by name. We're led by him. He goes ahead of us.

Now, this excites me. He goes ahead of us into all things. There is not one thing you went into last week if you're following the shepherd, that he didn't go forward before you. Not one thing. That means if anything gets to me, any struggle, any weakness, if I come into contact with anything, it first came through shepherd.

It first came through the shepherd because he knows what is best for us. He knows what is needed for our growth. It goes through him first. And as a mama, as a daddy, doesn't it bring you peace to know that as your baby leaves the house, as they go off to college, he is leading them from the front. He is leading them.

We have a great shepherd who goes before us. And he says, then you come in and you go out and you find pasture. Come in and go out. That means you live your life every day, all the moments of your day in under the provision of the shepherd. All of the moments.

As we live our life under the protection of our shepherd, we find pasture. We find what is needed for our provision by the shepherd. We get so concerned by wanting to make our own way trying to help Jesus fix this situation. God, I need to know that this. I need to do this.

Let me help you with this. And God is saying, I am the shepherd and I am good at my job. I am the shepherd. God is the shepherd. And he is good at it.

He is good at it. So today you can know his voice. He calls you by name. He leads you from the front. He leads you into all things.

And you can live your life and. And have life exceedingly under the shelter and the provision of a shepherd. It is a privilege. It is an encouragement to know you have a shepherd. But number two, there is a warning for his sheep.

There is a warning, he says, anybody who enters the sheepfold by the Anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in by another way is a thief and a robber. The other translation I said, a thief and a bandit. Two different. Now, in order for us to understand what we're talking about in John 10, you have to know what happened in John chapter 9. If we look back into John chapter 9, and I will try to recap just briefly, but I love this story.

That's the man that's healed who was born blind. Jesus is walking. And the disciples said, hey, who sinned? Him or his parents? Since he was born that way, they believed that if something happened and someone's blind, they must have done something wrong.

And Jesus said, no, it wasn't him that sinned. It wasn't his parents that sinned. It said, but this happened so the works of God might be displayed in him. And I paused and I thought, how many times in our life do we go through something that we wouldn't have chosen for ourselves? But.

But God looks on that situation and says, I did that so my works could be displayed in you. My works can be displayed in you. And then he stands before a man who was born blind. We don't know how old he was, has never seen anything his whole life. And you know what Jesus says?

Jesus says, I am the light of the world. And I thought to myself, you. You just called yourself by something that the man has never seen. You are depicting yourself by something that the man has never seen before. I am the light of the world.

And then you know the story. Jesus reaches down and gets some dirt, remember? And he spits in it. And he makes that little. And he puts it on his eyes and he tells the blind man to go and watch.

Pool of Shalom. Now, it's interesting because you've got a blind man, then Jesus has given him direction. Does anybody else think that's interesting? Of all the times you heal somebody, sometimes Jesus just healed them with just talking to him or touching them. But this time, Jesus goes and makes this and puts it and then gives a blind man directions.

I thought to myself, jesus, how much faith did it take for this man who has never seen light, has never seen anything, to follow in his blindedness to a pull to be cleansed? And the Holy Spirit said, how much faith does it take for people who are blinded, who have never experienced the light of God, to come forward and put their faith in me? How much faith we know how much faith it takes. Just a mustard seed this man went and he was healed. And he came back.

And his Neighbor said, he, that ain't the man. It looks like him, but that ain't him. How oftentimes does God do a transformation in our life? And we'll say, oh, that's not really her. That's not really him.

It's just somebody that looks like him. No, there's going to be people that doubt. And the man said, no, it's me. I was blind. Now I can see the neighbors.

Take them to the Pharisees. Now, the Pharisees are supposed to be the pastors. The Pharisees are supposed to be shepherding. The Pharisees are supposed to be the ones that who were taking care of the sheep. They got a man who has never seen anything his whole life, and now he can see.

Do you think they celebrated? Do you think they had a party? Do you think some sort. No, nothing. They didn't even say, well, praise God, you can see.

They said, who did that? Because today is the Sabbath day. He said, you know what? Making mud to put on your face is like kneading and supply. That would be a sin, because that's doing action on the Lord's Day.

They said, who? Who did this? He said, they call him Jesus. He doesn't even know him. They call him Jesus.

Pharisees get mad. They say, this man must be a sinner. He's got to be a sinner for healing on the Lord's day. Fast forward, they bring the parents. The parents are scared.

The parents said, I don't want to be cast out. Execut. Communicated. So all we can tell you is, that's our son. He was blind.

Now he sees. I don't know who did it. I can't ask that. I can't speak to that. And the man says, he must be a prophet.

And the Pharisees get in this little debate. And I'm trying to fast forward here, but the Pharisees say, go ahead and just say that this man is a sinner and must be a liar. And he says, I can't tell you if he's a sinner or not. But one thing I know. I was blind and now I see.

And isn't that the picture of salvation? I can't tell you all the things. I don't know how many books of the Bible there are. I can't tell you who wrote what. All I can tell you is, I was blind, but now I see.

That's salvation. And that was enough for the Pharisees. They said, you're excommunicated, meaning you can never come and worship in the temple again, you're cast out. The man is cast out, but he can see. And the text says that Jesus found him.

Aren't you glad he finds us? Just like he went and found the two disciples walking. He goes and finds this man whose eyes have now been open. It should make you think of last week. He goes and he finds this man.

And he says, do you believe? And the man said, lord, I believe. And he fell and he worshiped him. The idea, if you look up, that word worshiped has to do with posture. He's falling on his knees in worship before Jesus, who can never come into the temple to worship again, is at the feet of his Savior, worshiping.

And Jesus receives that worship. And to that point, the Pharisees said, what are we blind to? Remember that dialogue Pastor Marshall preached on that text not long ago. What are we blind to? And basically, Jesus says, yes, you say you can see, but you refuse to believe in me.

And on the tail of that, he says chapter 10. Very truly, I tell you, the Pharisees are still listening here as he goes into this confrontation where he says, if anybody tries to enter the sheepfold, climbing, working for your salvation, trying to earn it by your good works, if you're trying to go over and enter the sheepfold a different way, guess that I'm calling you a thief and a robber. The Pharisees are the thieves and robbers. The false teachers are the thieves and robbers. Two words, they're very unique.

Thief and robber. Both have similar goals, but different strategies. Okay, when you think about thief, think about manipulation.

It's stealing by being deceiving. One of the words that described it was a pilferer. The idea of taking something from you, very insignificant, that you don't even notice it's missing until you're looking for for it. A thief. And then a robber is taken by strength, by force.

So a thief by stealth, sly. A robber by force, by strength, by violence. Sometimes two different ways. And Pharisees are attempting to steal the hearts of God's people. Climbing a wall.

Shepherd enters by the gate. Jesus clarifies the difference between a shepherd and someone who's stealing. A thief and a robber, by the way they had enter. The shepherd enters by the gate because he is the rightful owner. He enters by authority.

Everyone else is trying to climb and steal and manage their way in a different way. I want you to know that the enemy will go to great lengths to try to distract you and distill you from the fold. You have a real enemy. Today there is a Real enemy that wants to kill, steal and destroy. And he still tries to enter into the gathering of his people.

He still tries to gather into the sheepfold. He says, the voice of strangers. My sheep will not follow the voice of a stranger, but will run from him because they don't know his voice. It's this idea of, I'm not listening to you because I don't recognize your voice. I know the voice of the shepherd.

We don't have to spend time studying the voice of the enemy. If you know the real thing, you'll know the fake. You hear what I'm saying? If you know the voice of God. And the false teaching shows itself.

Run from the voice of strangers. Matthew 7:15 says, Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. This idea is, listen closely, because sometimes it can smell like a sheep and it can look like a sheep. Listen to the voice.

Listen to the voice. Know the voice of the shepherd. So then when you hear the voice of the enemy, it says, run, flee. This does not mean you nonchalantly walk away from the enemy. No, I am running away.

It's dangerous. Why do we spend so much time listening to the voice of the enemy? How much time this past week did we enter and listen to the voice of the enemy or read the. The voice of strangers is dangerous. Flee.

He says, run. Fathers, hear the word of the Lord. Today there is a danger that wants to steal, kill and destroy your family. Know the voice of God. Mamas.

Know the voice of God. There is an enemy. But we have a great shepherd. Know his voice.

I want you to know there is a privilege of being shepherded. There is a warning for the sheep. And thirdly, there is one door. There is only one door. The text says Jesus used this picture of a shepherd as a figure of speech.

But they just didn't get it. They didn't understand. So he starts again and says, very truly. Now, this idea, very truly, it's unique to the Gospel of John. If you want to do some homework this week, look after every time the Gospel of John says the words very truly or very verily, verily, very, very.

Whenever that's used, look and see what he's trying to get you to pay attention to. He says, very truly. I tell you, I. I am the gate. I am the door for the sheep. Whoever say whoever.

Whoever enters by me will be saved. What does whoever mean?

Everybody. Whoever will enter by him will be saved. There is only one entrance, friends. There is only one. One gate.

There is only one door for salvation, and that is through Jesus Christ. Any other religion that says you can come to know and have salvation through any other means is not true. There is only one way to be saved and that is through the blood of Jesus Christ, Jesus and Jesus alone. First Timothy 2. 5 says, for there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man, Christ Jesus.

There is no alternative route to the Father, but by the Son. John 14:6 says, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me, except through Jesus. One door to salvation, and that is through Jesus Christ. And he says, you enter the door, you enter into life itself.

Enter by me and be saved. The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. But I came that they, the sheep may have life and have it abundantly. You look up, that word means life, exceedingly life, abundantly life, rejoicingly life to the fullest. That is the life that we have in Jesus Christ.

And friends, the way we live that life is by knowing Jesus. There is no other way except through Jesus Christ. How do we attempt to enter the sheepfold? Have you ever known yourself to try to climb? Have you ever been like the Pharisees, trying to earn your way through good works, man?

Didn't that wear you out? Doesn't it wear you out? And we think, if only I could keep this list. Anybody else a list taker? If only I could do these things, I could gain God's favor.

God says, no, there's one door and guess what? It's open. The door is open. It's not about earning our way. It's not about being hypocritical, wanting fellowship with sheep without having a change of heart.

That's not going to work. You have to enter the door sometimes we want the benefits of being a sheep without being born again. Nope.

There is one way, and that's through Jesus. We're going to be shepherded. We have to come through the door. We have to come through Jesus Christ. There is no spiritual trespassing there.

You can't earn your way climbing over the gate, trying to go around. No, no, no. No spiritual trespassing. You have to come through the one way, which is Jesus Christ. The thief is coming to steal.

He wants to steal the heart. He wants to steal your affections. If I asked you today and you look back over this last week, what did you spend the most time on?

You think about this. You think about last week. What had your mind? What were you focused on all week? What Was that thought that kept going over and over on your mind?

How much time did you spend listening to the voice of God by reading his word or communicating with him in prayer versus how much time you spent with strangers?

The thief wants to steal your affection. He wants to steal. He wants to distract you. But the shepherd gives life. Aren't you thankful that we can have life exceedingly today?

Aren't you thankful that we can have life today? Yes, this is eternal life. Yes, this is living with him forever. But we enter into eternal life now. Now we get to experience life with Jesus.

We get to experience being shepherded in the relationship now. And how more beautiful is it going to be when we get to heaven and we see him face to face, The One who has been shepherding us our whole life. We have relationship and we live that life through community. How can I be born again? I have to enter the door.

No other way to do it. Jesus says, there is one way, and that is through me. And the door is open today. You may be sitting here today. And you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior.

Never. Your whole life you haven't known him that way. He says, I am the door. Come to me. There's an invitation.

Jesus is calling your name. He knows your name.

Let that speak to your heart. God the Father knows your name. He speaks your name and he calls you to follow him. And whether that is today, for the first time, you've never known him. You've never entered into the sheepfold.

He says, today you can be saved. Today I can give you a clean heart. Today you can know me as your shepherd. Or maybe you've been walking with him a long time, but you realize that you've got your eyes off of the shepherd. You've been distracted by the world, or you've been listening to the voice of strangers.

And he calls you by name and says, follow me. Follow me. It is for your good to follow the shepherd. It is for your good. He invites us to know him.

It's a privilege of knowing him. And life itself is found in him. Friends, have you entered through the door?

He says, behold, I stand at the door and knock. He is calling us. Are you listening? Are you being shepherded? Will you stand to your feet?