INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• Doors, they are one of the most common things in the world.
• There are so many kinds and types of doors.
• There are ornate doors of cathedrals, steel doors to vaults in a bank, canvas doors to tents, large and small doors in all kinds of vehicles, glass doors to greenhouses, and every other kind imaginable in homes throughout the world.
• They can be expensive or inexpensive, strong or weak, beautiful or unattractive, but they have one thing in common they are doors!
• As in a bank vault the door is designed not for beauty but for strength. Doors for our homes are a combination of beauty and strength, a combination of being inviting yet offering a level of security.
• In John 10, Jesus has a discussion with His disciples. He shares a parable in verses 1-5. Let’s look at it.
• SLIDE #2
• John 10:1-6(ESV) 1“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
• This seems like a simple parable, but the disciples did not understand, so Jesus decided to spell it out in very plain terms for them.
• Most of the sheepfolds to be found in Middle East countries have no door; they have a doorway-the shepherd becomes the door, and entrance is only possible when he permits it.
• In this passage Jesus is saying He is the door to the sheep. The sheep pen is a reference to the church.
• The religious leaders were trying to make rules for people. They were acting as if they were the door. Jesus was trying to explain to the disciples that there were others who came before Him who were not the true door to heaven.
Jesus is the door to the body, so Jesus sets the standards for that. We cannot change His standards, neither making entrance into the family of God easier or harder than the Lord.
A door is just one of the many metaphors Jesus used to describe Himself.
• I want to look at what a door does for us so that we can see what Jesus can do for us as “The Door.”
• SLIDE #3
• John 10:7(ESV) 7So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
• SLIDE #4
SERMON
I. A door provides an invitation to enter.
• If we want to enter a place as a wanted invitee, we usually enter through a door. A door is the way invited guests enter into a home or a place of business.
• We are all invited to enter the kingdom of Heaven, but if we are going to enter the kingdom or the body of Christ, we must enter through the door.
• Jesus tells us that HE IS the door to the sheep!
• In Jesus’ metaphor He is the door through which the sheep enter the safety of God’s fold and go out to the rich pasture of His blessing. It is through Him that lost sinners can approach the Father.
• Jesus invites us to enter through Him! This is a re-occurring theme that we saw in John 14:6
• In Bible times, the shepherd would lead his sheep to a place, sometimes a cave, where he could lay across the entrance making it impossible to go in or out of the fold without going through the shepherd.
• Look at what Jesus says concerning the gate or door to heaven in Matthew 7:13-14
• SLIDE #5
• Matthew 7:13-14(ESV) 13“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
• Jesus says unless you go through Him, you will not be a part of the family of God.
• When we make it harder to enter the body of Christ than Jesus, we are a false teacher. When we make it easier to enter the body of Christ to the church than Jesus does, this makes us a false teacher.
• SLIDE #6
• Galatians 3:26-27 (ESV) 26for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
• There are many churches and many religions but only one savior!
• SLIDE #7
• Acts 4:12(ESV) 12And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
• The thing we need to understand is that God desires all to be saved, the door is open to everyone, but the question you have to ask yourself, is are you willing to walk through the door that Jesus has opened for you?
• There was only one entrance into Noah’s Ark, there is only one door to heaven. There are no secret entrances, no trap doors, only Jesus!
• Are you willing to walk through the door that Jesus has invited you to walk through?
• Let’s look at verse 8.
• SLIDE #8
• John 10:8-9(ESV) 8All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
• SLIDE #9
II. A door provides a way of separation.
• There were those who tried to come into the fold without coming through the door, they were to be ignored.
• Although we buy doors that look nice, we buy doors to separate us from unwelcome company.
• WE use doors to only allow those we want into our homes to come in. We get to separate whom we want to enter and who we do not want to enter.
• To be on one side of a closed door means to be separated, or cut off, from those on the other side.
• We seldom use a door as an ornament. Jesus is not just an ornament for us either. He is the one that separates us from the world.
• SLIDE #10
• Matthew 25:31-33(ESV) 31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
• There is a vast difference between being inside and outside, when the door is closed, it is not possible to be on both sides at once.
• You cannot be on both of the inside and outside of a closed door.
• WE have a parable in Matthew 25, the parable of the 10 virgins. Basically there was going to be a wedding and 5 of the virgins were prepared and 5 were foolishly not prepared.
• The bridegroom was late and the virgins fell asleep. At midnight the bridegroom arrived and the 5 wise virgins trimmed their lamps but the foolish ones realized they did not bring enough oil to get them through the night.
• They asked the wise ones for some oil and were turned down.
• The foolish ones were forced to leave and buy some more oil, but while they were gone the bridegroom took the party inside with those who were there.
• SLIDE #11
• Matthew 25:10-13(ESV) 10And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
• The foolish virgins were not ready for the party because they did not properly prepare.
• Once the door was closed, they were excluded from the party!
• If you are on the wrong side of the door when it closes, it will be too late for you. You will not be able to open the door and it will not be open just for you.
• When the doors of the Ark closed, it was over for the people. Moses preached to them for 120 years, but they ignored him, they did not get a second chance, once the doors were closed, they perished.
• The bible tells us that we do not know the hour of the time that the door to heaven will be closed, we do not know when the Lord is going to return nor do we know when our life on this earth will end.
• Jesus tells us in Matthew 12:30
• SLIDE #12
• Matthew 12:30(ESV) 30Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
• You do not want to be caught on the outside looking in, do you have the willingness to walk through the door?
• Let’s look at verses 9-10
• SLIDE #13
• John 10:9-10(ESV) 9I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
• SLIDE #14
III. A door provides a means of safety.
• Notice in verse 9 that Jesus says if we will enter through Him we can go in and out and find pasture. Sheep need pasture for nourishment
• The shepherd was the means of protection for the sheep in the fold. The shepherd kept the wolves, thieves and robbers away from the sheep.
• The door of you house keeps people from just wandering into your house, it helps keep robbers and thieves out of your house.
• A door can help keep your house comfortable also. Keep the cold and excess heat out of the house.
• During bible times, a city was only as strong as its walls and gate. If the gates and walls were weak, the city would fall.
• When Jesus called Himself the door, He was offering protection for the lost, a place of refuge for those who need a Savior.
• Let me tell you, we need to take verse 10 seriously!
• The thief only comes to KILL, DESTROY AND STEAL.
• He is a liar and he gives you what you think you need, but the price you pay is your soul!
• He does not love you he does not want to protect you and he does not want you to enjoy eternal life.
• Jesus came to give you life and to have it ABUNDANTLY!
• Jesus can give you what you really want and what you really need. He does not want to steal anything from you, He wants you to have an joyful blessed life!
• What do you want? Heartache, sorrow, stress or a joyful abundant life in Jesus!
• I so wish I would have walked with the Lord my whole life, it would have saved me and others a lot of heartache!
• What do you want?
CONCLUSION
• On what side of the door are you on? If you die today, or if Jesus comes back today, you are in the house, if you are not, then you are on the outside, you are risking being on the outside when the door closes.
• Jesus has the door open for you, but it will not always be open, the door closes for you when you die or whenever Jesus returns.
• SLIDE #15
• Revelation 3:20-21(ESV) 20Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.
• Are you willing to walk through the door Jesus has opened for you, you are welcome to come in. Do you have the courage and trust to walk through the door to salvation?
