I am the Door John 10:1-10
Notes
Transcript
Introduction: (What is a door) Pictures--
A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a doorway or portal. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide security by controlling access to the doorway (portal). Conventionally, it is a panel that fits into the doorway of a building, room, or vehicle. Doors are generally made of a material suited to the door's task. They are commonly attached by hinges, but can move by other means, such as slides or counterbalancing. Many doors incorporate locking mechanisms to ensure that only some people can open them (such as with a key). Doors may have devices such as knockers or doorbells by which people outside announce their presence.
This is the everyday item which Jesus used in a parable to metaphorically point to a particular part of what He does as the son of God. A doorway and the door which provides security for passage through would have been a well known part of everyday life for those who listened to Him. Just as it is for us today.
The big difference is how He used the idea in the parable. This idea was probably commonly known for His listeners but not necessarily for disciples reading the bible today. Here is the parable which Jesus actually places Himself into as a part of the drama.
1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.
2 “But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep.
3 “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4 “When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
5 “A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
6 This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.
7 So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
8 “All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
9 “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
Transitional sentence: So, whoever would like to leave the darkness of this world and enter the kingdom of light must pass through the door.
The foreshadowing: (The Ark)
What is foreshadowing or a type-
Numbers 21:8-9 (Get a picture of this.)
8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.”
9 And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.
John 3:14-15 (Get a picture of this.)
14 “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;
15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
Each of the seven I am statements has a foreshadowing from the old testament, something that points to Jesus from the past.
b. This foreshadowing: Enter through the door and be saved. Genesis 7:13-16 (A picture of the Ark?)
13 On the very same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark,
14 they and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, all sorts of birds.
15 So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life.
16 Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the Lord closed it behind him.
9 “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
2. How is Jesus the Door? He places himself in a parable.
a. The sheepfold has rock walls or is an enclosure created by shrubbery. It is designed to protect the sheep in the dark of the night from thieves and wild animals. (Explain) (photo of an ancient sheepfold)
1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.
b. The shepherd enters by the door.
2 “But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep.
3 “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4 “When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
5 “A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
The only right way is to enter by the door. The sheep don’t listen to those who are not the shepherd. Even when there is more than one flock. Each flock listens to it’s own shepherd.
c. Jesus is the door.
7 So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
8 “All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
9 “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
The sheep who pass through the door of the sheepfold can have protection and pasture inside and go out again to have pasture and all that is needed.
The point is that Jesus is the only way for the sheep to enter the sheepfold and be with the Father. Just as when the flood came upon the earth the only way to be saved was to enter the Ark through the door. So, enter in through the door, don’t try to climb over the fence, there are consequences for that business.
3. What does all of this mean for us?
a. Remind them about the dark room from last week.
Flip it to make it a big welcoming house that’s all lite up in the darkness. There is a wedding banquet in progress. The parable Jesus used to illustrate this is Matthew 22:1-14
11 “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes,
12 and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless.
13 “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
The only way to get into this wedding feast is through the front door. If you enter another way you won’t be properly dressed for the wedding banquet. You won’t be dressed in the clean whites robes that were washed in the blood of Jesus. So, you have to go through the front door. When you go through that door you will get the proper clothing from Jesus. He will give you the robe that has been washed in His blood. He will forgive you of your sins and give you the right to be called a child of God. He will admit you into the wedding banquet.
b. When you pass through the door: what happens?
Darkness to light Ephesians 5:8
8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light
Dominion of satan to God Acts 26:18
18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’
You are not a people to being the people of God 1 Peter 2:9-10
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
10 for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Death to Eternal life Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
c. So, surrender to love...
To enter the door you must surrender to love. Inside the house of light, the kingdom of God, is love. Complete and unconditional love because God is love. You can’t truly live in the kingdom of God and stay just the way you are so, you must surrender. Your sinfulness and selfishness will get in the way. That stuff isn’t welcome in God’s house. That sinfulness and selfishness are the old clothes you were wearing when you walked up to the door to join the wedding banquet. They have to go. You won’t be welcome at the wedding banquet in those clothes. You have to get those new robes, the ones washed in the blood of Jesus otherwise into darkness you will go.
In surrendering to love you must die to yourself. Luke 9:23-24
23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
24 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.
So, pick up that cross and lose your life. Stop trying to live the life you want to live and obey Christ Jesus. Remember that Greek word akoloutheo - obey. Christ Jesus will give you a whole new life. He will give you a life full of love. Only by going through The Door, Christ Jesus, can you have life and have it abundantly. A life that will never end, eternal life.
9 “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
Exit: A door is a barrier that protects a passageway from one thing to another. You can go from inside, to outside, from one room to another room, from a cold space to a warm space, or a warm space to a cold space or a dark space to a light space. What you do with a door is totally dependent upon which side of the door you are on.
Jesus is the door. He is not a door to help you from one place to another. He is the door that will help you go from spiritual death to spiritual life. He is the door that will allow you to go from eternal death to eternal life. He is the door that will allow you to become a child of God. If you enter through Him you will be saved.
If you haven’t opened that door then now is the time. Open that door and enter into His kingdom. Open that door and become a child of God. It’s as easy as A-B-C. Admit you are a sinner, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and Confess Him as Lord and you will be admitted to the wedding banquet and will be wearing the proper clothes when the Lord of the Banquet comes.
Pray!
