Dr. Steve Lawson -- John 10:7-10 “I AM the Door“

as you have your Bibles please turn with me to the Gospel of John John chapter 10 I will read the passage that will be the focus of our exposition this morning verses 7 through 10 this finds itself and what is known as the great are the Good Shepherd discourse John chapter 10 beginning in verse 7 this is God's inspired inerrant and infallible word so jesus said to them again truly truly I say to you I am the door of the Sheep all who came before me are thieves and robbers but the Sheep did not hear them I am the door if anyone enters through me he will be saved and will go in and 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 let's go to the Lord in prayer this morning I invite you again to take your Bible and turn with me to the Gospel of John John chapter 10 in previous Lord's days as I have been here at the chapel I have addressed the first the second and the fourth of the IM statements in the Gospel of John which are on the bread of life and I'm the light of the world and I am The Good Shepherd today we want to look at the third of these am statements which is found in John chapter 10 verses 7 through 10 it is I am the door of the Sheep there are many famous doors in this world that I have had the privilege to stand before one of which I've stood before twice this summer is in Vinton burg Germany in front of the front door of the church of the castle Church where Martin Luther is buried and is upon that door on October 31st 1517 that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses and started what became the Protestant Reformation that door to this very day is one of the most famous doors in all the world I have stood before the gilded doors in Florence Italy the gates of paradise and that was the birthplace of the Renaissance that preceded the Reformation these two doors took 27 years to make contain 10 panels each depicting various scenes from the Bible and these doors lead into the baptistry of Florence another door that I've stood before that it is very famous though not as well noted is in Edinburgh Scotland I stood before it a couple of weeks ago in front of the st. Andrews church on st. George's Street and it was through this door that the famed preacher Thomas Chalmers on May the 18th 1843 led some 400 ministers out of the Church of Scotland because of the compromise of the Church of Scotland to start the free Church of Scotland these doors are very famous and are well known but the most famous door in all the world is a door through which I have passed and it is a door through which many of you have passed it is the door that is found in our text it is the door of Jesus Christ himself that leads into the Kingdom of Heaven the occasion upon which our Lord makes this statement is immediately after healing the blind man and John chapter 9 and in reality there is no chapter 2 vision there should be no chapter division from Romans excuse me from John chapter nine to John chapter 10 it is a continuation of the very same scene and what we need to see here is that there is no hesitation on the part of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to speak these words to those who so desperately needed to hear them the religious leaders of Israel so as we look at verses 7 through 10 today there are five things that I want you to note from this text and I want you to note first the crowd addressed you will see that in the first words when Jesus when we read in verse 7 so jesus said to them again who is the them well the them refers to those whom Jesus was addressing at the end of Romans I've been teaching Romans you'll have to forgive me the Gospel of John chapter 9 when in doubt always say Romans so jesus said to them again you'll note in John chapter 9 and verse 40 the them refer to the Pharisees those blind leaders of the blind those religious leaders of this rail who were unregenerate and who were unconverted in verse 41 of chapter 9 they are those who cannot see their sin and they cannot see their need for salvation and as we come to chapter 10 it begins truly truly I say to you and the you refer to the Pharisees at the end of chapter 9 and as we come to verse 7 jesus said to them again as Jesus continues to address them and what we need to understand is that Jesus is not preaching to the choir Jesus is confronting those who are his greatest in as he makes these statements they are referred to in verse one as a thief and a robber because they steal glory from God and they are referred to in verse 5 as strangers because they do not know the true flock of God in order they know God in verse 8 they are the thieves and robbers in verse 10 they are the thief who seeks to kill destroy and in verse 12 they are the hired hands and in verse 13 they are the hired hands this is whom the Lord is addressing and as you have your Bible open I want you to turn back to John chapter 5 and I want to trace a reoccurring theme in the Gospel of John and those of us who are very familiar with the Gospel of John understand that there is this undercurrent of conflict and controversy that is brewing and coming to the surface because of the words that our Lord is is speaking and in John chapter 5 and in verse 16 we read for this reason the Jews and the Jews refer not to the entire populace of the nation Jews here refer to the religious leaders of this rill the Pharisees the scribes the Sadducees for this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus and in verse 18 we read the persecution had so escalated because of the preaching of the Lord Jesus that they were seeking all the more to kill him there's a death threat upon the head of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ so provocative was his preaching and I can hear the Lord Jesus as he said in Luke's Gospel woe unto you when all men speak well of you a man is known not only for by his friends but he is also known by who his enemies are and Jesus has struck a very live nerve with the Pharisees as he has come preaching the kingdom of God as we continue to look come to chapter 7 John chapter 7 and verse 1 and this is a conflict that will not go away but neither will Jesus go away either and in John chapter 7 and verse 1 it says the Jews were seeking to kill him this is more than they just want to run him out of town this is more than they simply want to remove his ministry from him this is they want to snuff out his life in verse 19 we see it yet again Jesus said why do you seek to kill me and Jesus brings it out in the open and addresses them publicly why do you seek to kill me verse 25 we see it again is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill everyone on the street knows now of this polarizing conflict that Jesus has created by the Ministry of the word that he is bringing and it speaks to how provocative the truth is and that when the light shines into the darkness the roaches begin to scatter and that is exactly what is happening here in verse 30 of chapter 7 we see it again they were seeking to seize him and the reason they were seeking to seize him and apprehend him would be that they would take his life in verse 30 and we see that they were seeking to seize him verse 44 some of them wanted to seize him this is a controversy and a conflict that just will not go away and Jesus did not tone his preaching he did not compromise the ministry of the word he remained faithful he was as bold as a lion in the face of this threat upon his life if you'll come to chapter 8 John chapter 8 and verse 37 jesus said to them straight to their face I know that you are Abraham's descendants yet you seek to kill me why he tells us why because my word has no place in you how provocative is the Word of God how divisive is the Word of God and then as we come to verse 40 verse 40 but as it is you are seeking to kill me a man who has told you the truth in verse 48 the Jews answered and said to him do we not say rightly that you are a Samaritan and and have a demon and all of this climaxes in verse 59 of chapter 8 therefore they picked up stones to throw at him and the intent was to stone him to death this is an extraordinary conflict that that Jesus has provoked and Jesus could have avoided all of this simply by keeping his mouth closed but Jesus spoke all that the father had given him to say and this continues to to build now and in verse and in chapter 9 and verse 40 the these Pharisees now are those who are addressing Jesus so the crowd addressed in John chapter 10 and verse 7 it is a hostile crowd that Jesus is addressing and I believe this speaks to us today of what a bold preacher of the Lord Jesus Christ was he was not catering to the crowd he preached the message to these religious leaders of Israel that they desperately needed to hear but they chose to harden their own hearts and to refuse to allow the words of truth to find lodging in their own heart what a provocative thing it is to be a preacher of the Word of God and to preach the full counsel of God and to unsheath the sword of the Spirit in the midst of a highly religious crowd not only the crowd addressed but I want you to know second now in verse seven I want you to see the claim announced so jesus said to them again as he addresses them now yet further truly truly I say to you Jesus could not have been more emphatic Jesus could not have been more direct great preaching gets to the you and it is as though Jesus is pointing his finger at them as he says this truly truly I say to you and when he says truly truly that literally means amen amen in other words what I have to say to you is of utmost importance everything that Jesus said was accurate was the truth he never misrepresented the truth yet there are some things that Jesus said that were not more true but more important and he would introduce those most important statements by saying truly truly I say to you if you catch anything catch this and that is exactly what Jesus is saying here in other words listen up you cannot afford to not pay attention to what I am saying to you right now truly truly I say to you and Jesus now gives what is for us in the Gospel of John the third I am statement and by this point we surely know that when Jesus says I am a go a me that he is claiming to be God truly God the Son of God he is claiming to be the second person of the Godhead he is claiming to be the voice that spoke from the burning bush in Exodus 3 and verse 14 I am Who I am this is a staggering claim that Jesus is making nothing less than claiming to be truly eternal God in human flesh God come to save sinners so he says truly truly I say to you I am the door I mean by this imagery Jesus is clearly saying to them that Jesus is the only point of entry into the kingdom of God they have made attempted to make many false doors that would lead into the kingdom of God by the keeping of their rules by the keeping of their rituals by the keeping of their religious routines that man would earn his way into the kingdom and Jesus now repudiates all of their false gospel appeals and says I am the door if anyone is to enter into the realm of grace and the sphere of salvation they must come personally to the person and work of Jesus Christ and by faith take that decisive step and enter through the door this is not the first time that Jesus has used this imagery of himself as a door and salvation necessitating that one leave where they are turn their back to the world and step through the door to enter into the kingdom of heaven in Matthew chapter 7 and verse 13 and the Sermon on the Mount perhaps the greatest sermon Jesus ever preached and perhaps the greatest sermon ever been preached on this earth Jesus concludes with this evangelistic appeal enter through the narrow gate for the way is broad and the gate is wide that leads to destruction and many are those who find it but the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life and few are those who find it and in the very next verse Matthew 7:15 he says beware of wolves in sheep's clothing and the wolves in sheep's clothing are these very Pharisees to whom Jesus is addressing they stand beside the narrow gate but they do all that they can to flag people away from the narrow gate that they would try to pursue false means of entrance into the kingdom of heaven and so Jesus here says I am the door of the Sheep and he proclaims himself to be the only way of salvation that Jesus will say later in the Upper Room discourse in John 14 verse 6 I am the way and the truth and the life no one comes to the Father but through me and that is truth that Jesus is the way and there is no life but to believe the truth and enter through this door that leads to the way so this is the claim that Jesus announced in verse 7 I am the door of the Sheep he is saying that every other door leads to destruction that this door alone leads to salvation proverbs 14 verse 12 there is a way that seems right to a man but the end thereof is the end of death there are many ways to hell there is only one way to heaven and that is through this door the door the Lord Jesus Christ and this is the extraordinary claim and as Jesus says this it is a ploy mcdhh offense of himself and it is an open evangelistic invitation to them how gracious of Jesus to preach this to his enemies how gracious of the Lord to bring clarity to the very message that they have renounced and have hardened their hearts to yet one more time Jesus extends the truth to them I want you to note third in verse eight and not not only the crowd addressed and the claim announced in verse eight The Charlatans exposed Jesus does not mince words here Jesus had never taken the norman vincent peale course on how to win friends and influence enemies jesus was a straight shooter jesus told it like it was jesus says in verse eight all who came before me are thieves and robbers those who came before him are the false spiritual leaders in Israel and not only does Jesus speak with positive words of affirmation he also speaks with negative words of rebuke and here Jesus does this you'll note the verb tense is in the present tense all who came before me are not were but are that very moment these thieves and robbers we're in the nation of Israel in fact Jesus is speaking to these thieves and robbers with these words and Jesus is not saying well we're all saying the same thing it's just a matter of semantics no Jesus exposes them publicly for what they truly are they are thieves and they are robbers it's hard to imagine more accusative words than these yet they come from the lips of our Lord and it speaks of how much he loves the sheep it speaks of how much he loves the father who has entrusted the Sheep to him it speaks of how much he loves their safety and their care to speak so directly to the false shepherds of Israel he calls them thieves because they steal with deception and he calls them robbers because they steal with violence these are virtually synonymous terms but the thief's identity means that they distort the message and steal with deception they cloud the truth and they are robbers in that they are damaging the people who receive their deceptive message there is no mistake but that this refers to the Pharisees the scribes the Sadducees the priests and what a shock it must have been for others who are standing there that day to have the religious leaders that they had been looking up to for for all of these years whom they considered to be the most religious people in in all of this rail to actually hear from the lips of Jesus Christ himself not applaud them and laud them with words that would put them on a pedestal but Jesus now denounces them as thieves and robbers as I've already mentioned they were introduced in verse 1 they are those who try to climb into the city sheepfold they are a thief and a robber they fail to meet the spiritual qualifications of a true Shepherd they look so spiritual they sound so religious and yet they are bankrupt within their own heart Jesus will describe them more fully in Matthew chapter 23 in which an entire chapter and Matthew's Gospel is devoted to the unmasking of these hypocrites and Jesus will say in Matthew 23 that they shut off the kingdom of heaven from people that they do not enter in themselves meaning Jesus says they are unconverted themselves and they do not allow others to enter into the kingdom jesus said they make others twice as much a son of hell they are blind leaders of the blind they have no idea what the truth is and they prevent others from knowing what the truth is jesus said they cleaned the outside of the cup and the dish but inside are full of robbery and self-indulgence and Jesus said they are whitewashed to on the outside but inside they are full of dead men's bones and finally Jesus said that they are so outwardly righteous but are so inwardly full of lawlessness and hypocrisy Jesus had his most had his strongest words for those who were the religious leaders of Israel for those who were trapped in the system Jesus would offer words of kindness and say your sins are forgiven sin no more Jesus would extend grace and loving words to those who had been ensnared in the false gospel that the religious leaders brought but for these leaders Jesus publicly rebuked and renounced them and called them by the worst words that they could possibly be called thieves and robbers and Sons of hell now this speaks to the seriousness of the false religious leaders who would bring eternal destruction to others you'll note the second half of verse 8 but and as Martyn lloyd-jones has said praise God for the butts in the Bible but the Sheep the Sheep are the elect of God the Sheep are those that the father chose before the foundation of the world and entrusted to the son the Sheep are those whom Jesus came into this world to lay down his life for them the Sheep are those that Jesus will extend the effectual call by his Spirit and they will be brought into saving Union with himself but the Sheep did not hear them despite how persuasive their words were despite how cunning their presentation and despite the religious trappings on the outside and how they were like con men who so easily duped the people the Sheep did not hear them because the sheep are given true ears to hear and the sheep turn away from the false shepherds this was already introduced in verse five as you will note just a couple of verses earlier a stranger referring to the false shepherds a stranger they simply will not follow they will not follow but will flee from him because they do not know the voice of strangers s Lewis Johnson said from this pulpit the voice of Brigham Young is the voice of a stranger the voice of Mohammad is the voice of a stranger the voice of the Pope and all the false prophets is the voice of a stranger and the sheep will not listen to the false teacher and the one who has sucked off by the false teacher gives evidence that they were never regenerated and they were not one of the Lord's sheep and first John 2 verse 19 clearly identifies them as those they went out from us but they were not of us for if they had been of us they would have with us dr. Johnson also gave this illustration of a Scottish traveler touring Jerusalem and up ahead he saw a shepherd leading his flock and the Scottish traveler said to the shepherd let's change our clothes let me put on your Shepherds robes and you wear mine and let me call out to the Sheep and let them follow me and so the Shepherd agreed knowing it was a plan for failure and the Scottish traveler put on the Shepherds garb such that he smelled like a shepherd he looked like a shepherd but he then called out to the sheep not a one lifted up their head to look this sheep just continued to go their way because the Scottish traveller was not their Shepherd they did not recognize his voice the sheep will recognize the voice of their Shepherd and I think one reason why God allows a Brigham Young or a Joseph Smith or a Mohammad to be allowed to function in the world of religion today is to suck out the false believers out of the church it is a means by which the church is purified and so the sheep did not hear them has God given you ears to hear is it perhaps he's given your wife ears do you sir have ears to hear the voice of the Shepherd a young people as the Lord given you ears to hear the voice of the Shepherd it's not an audible voice that we hear it's much louder it is the inner call of the Holy Spirit of God drawing the elect to the Lord Jesus Christ I want you to note in verse 9 forth the call extended Jesus now in verse 9 repeats what he had said in verse 7 regarding who he is this is to reinforce this unless there be any mistake and as he does Jesus now graciously is extending a door of mercy to these false religious leaders yet one more time and in verse 9 Jesus said I am the door if anyone and that is the free offer of the gospel and that is whosoever if anyone here is the open invitation whoever you are wherever you are if anyone enters through me this is to identify saving faith as that decisive step of faith whereby you step out of the evil world system and you come through the narrow gate and you enter into the kingdom of heaven and you entrust your soul to Jesus Christ who stands in the door this is not complicated this is not hard he says if anyone enters through me it would have been hard if Jesus had compared himself to a wall and we would have to climb up 10 storeys to get into the kingdom of heaven that would have been hard or if Jesus compared himself to a notion and in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven you'll have to swim across the Atlantic or if Jesus had compared himself to a long dark passage way in which you have to feel your way along but Jesus does not represent himself in that fashion it is so simple that a child can come into the kingdom of heaven if anyone enters through me and to enter through Jesus means to believe in him it means to entrust your soul to him to no longer trust in yourself but to give yourself to Jesus Christ as a bride would give herself to her husband it means to rely upon the Lord Jesus Christ completely through his sinless life and substitutionary death it means to look away from yourself and to look away from religion and to look to Christ by faith and believe in him throughout the Gospel of John there are many metaphors that are used for for saving faith and I think it would be well worth my taking a moment to remind you of what these metaphors are these analogies that are used in the Gospel of John that are synonymous with believing in Jesus because at the end of John chapter 2 we read that many believed in him but Jesus was not entrusting himself to them because they had a non saving faith they had a faith it was only in their head and maybe in their heart but certainly had not moved their will so what are these metaphors that are used of true saving faith well in John 1 verse 12 it is to receive Jesus as one would welcome a guest into your home to receive him into your life in John 6 in multiple verses it means to come to Jesus in verses 35 37 44 and 65 saving faith is represented as coming to Jesus where you come all the way to Jesus in John 8 and verse 12 it is referred to as following Christ and that is the most repeated gospel invitation that Jesus gave in Matthew Mark Luke and John it was to follow me and John six the metaphor in verses 51 53 54 56 57 58 were you able to write that down it is to eat Jesus to eat his flesh and the metaphor there is not cannibalism it's spiritually just like you would take a piece of bread and internalize it and take it into yourself and digest it and swallow it such that it is inside of you now so saving faith is to open your heart and to receive Christ into the very innermost being of your soul and also in John 6 it is to drink Jesus to drink of his blood in John 6 verse 54 and 56 as one would take water into into your body so you would take in Christ into your soul and then here in John 10 verse 9 it is to enter through Jesus who could not understand this who could mistake what saving faith is only someone whose mind is already made up but don't confuse me with the facts if you will enter through me Jesus says in verse 9 he will be saved and that he is emphatic he alone will be saved he and no one else will be saved and please note the certainty of it he will say not he might be could be should be he will be saved saved as a good Bible word the word saved means to be rescued to be rescued from imminent danger it means to be delivered from great harm that's what it is to be saved and to be saved here means to be saved from the final judgment an eternal condemnation an eternal hell it means to be rescued from divine wrath in John 3:16 it says the one who believes will not perish in John 5:24 the one who believes will not come into judgment and in John 3:18 the one who believes will not be judged this is the good news that we can escape what we deserve and receive what we do not deserve which is salvation he will be saved please note the next word and that's a very important word because what follows is inseparably bound to what precedes the one who will be saved will please note the word a certainty will go in and out and find pasture this does not mean that he'll come in and be saved and and go out and be lost and come back in and be saved and go back out and be lost the imagery here means the one who is saved will go in at night and find protection from the wolves and the thieves and the robbers and will go out during the day into the green pasture and beside still waters but this is saying is every out-and-out Christian will be an in-and-out Christian to go in is to come in at night into the sheepfold that the shepherd is made with the gathering of the stones and he lays down in the opening he himself becomes the door and he seals the sheep into the sheepfold and any attack or any harm would have to come through him and he is such a noble shepherd he will lay down his life for the Sheep and deliver them from the harm that would come against them they are safe inside the sheepfold but then during the day as the Sun rises the Shepherd will arise and open the opening and lead the Sheep out into green pastures and beside still waters and they will be given the greatest nourishment and refreshment and day after day and night after night they will go in and they will go out they will go in and they will go out and this is not just for some of the Sheep this is for all the sheep and if you're saved you will be protected and if you're saved you will be satisfied by his provision there is no more glorious identity that we could have than to be one of his sheep who has cared for him the last thing that I want you to note is in verse 10 the contrast made Jesus is a master teacher and master teachers know how to teach with both negative and positive they teach with negative denial and positive assertion they expose the negative they build up with a positive it's a sharp two-edged sword it cuts both ways and so we see here at the beginning of verse 10 the negative the thief comes only to steal kill and destroy then the positive I came that they might have life and have it abundantly Jesus the full council here please note he says the thief comes only this is their sole motive this is what's driving the false spiritual leaders and again I would remind you that he is speaking to them this isn't going through a second person this isn't my people will talk to your people and we never sit down and talk face-to-face my little representative will talk to your little representative so it won't have to be distasteful for either one of us no Jesus speaks directly to them mano mano the thief comes only to steal he steals what does not belong to him he steals glory from God he draws the attention to himself and he comes to kill he kills the souls of men and he comes to destroy he destroys true religion and he destroys the true gospel and now in total stark contrast jesus said I came for the very opposite I came that they referring to the Sheep may have life the false shepherds have come to take life Jesus says I have come to give life and this life is eternal life which means literally the life of the ages to come the life of God and the life of heaven has already come into the souls of men and women the moment that they enter through the narrow gate it's not that one day they will receive this light life they receive it the moment that they enter through the door who is Christ this life is unending life they will never perish and this life is divine life it is the life of God in the soul of a man and a woman and this life is new life it's unlike any life that they have experience before in fact they've never really lived they've only merely existed until the moment they enter through this door and please note the next word and and have it please notice present tense not will have not one day have but presently this moment right now this hour will have it abundantly this word abundantly means that his supply far exceeds whatever you need it means to have a surplus of something that you could never even begin to exhaust it means that which is overflowing in an extraordinary amount it means that the supply goes far beyond what is necessary and what this is saying it's for those who enter through this door and that would be you and me here today let's make this personal that Jesus will give you far more grace far more strength far more peace far more joy than you could ever experience and use in a million lifetimes Jesus is not measuring at this life with a little with an eyedropper and once a week you just get a little splash just a little drop of something just to keep your engine going it is as though you have been thrown into the Atlantic Ocean and there is more of the sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ in your life then you could ever even begin to take in to your soul sometimes someone says oh if five was ever in that trial I don't think I could ever go through that oh yes you could in the sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ you're empty he's more than full and Spurgeon gave the illustration of a little fish in the Thames River swimming downstream downriver and was scared that if the fish took in any more water that the Thames river would become dry Spurgeon said Oh little fish take in all that you need for you will never drain this river dry and I want to assure you Psalm 1 says you have been planted by streams of water not just a stream but multiple streams in multiple rivers to fill an ocean of grace and he has more than enough supply to meet every single need in your life and when you leave this sanctuary today and leave this house of worship today there should be such a renewed confidence within you that anything and everything that you will ever face in your life for the rest of your life no matter what the trial no matter what the difficulty no matter what the night no matter what the wilderness that the Lord Jesus Christ has life for you but life abundantly and his supply for everything that you will ever need north south east or west he will supply to you with such a measure you will not be able to contain it he says if any man thirst let him come unto me and drink and out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water either that's true or that's not true and when we look at ourself we suffer a paralysis of analysis but when we look to Christ our hearts are filled to overflowing so as we come to the end of this message I urge you to look to Christ don't look to men don't look to yourself don't even look to your spouse look to Jesus who is the source of everything that you need and willingly gives liberally of his fullness you will find more forgiveness than all your sins you will find more joy than all your sorrows and you will find more peace than all your storms it is all found in Jesus and if you have him you have everything you just write that down and if you don't have him you have nothing so enter through the door it's just a step of faith and trust your life to Christ and you will enter in to the sufficiency of His grace let us pray father how we thank you for the record of your word that though we were not there 2,000 years ago nevertheless we have the accurate recording of the words of our Savior and they continue to ring in our ears and they continue to renew our minds and they continue to replenish our souls would you now open the windows of heaven and pour out your blessing upon this flock and pour out to them from your abundance that all their cup would be filled to overflowing in Jesus name Amen

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Length: 53min 16sec (3196 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 17 2017