The Motivated Father
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
We are now in the third message of our seven-part series on The Basic Necessities of Life. But we’re not talking about the physical necessities—things like food, water, shelter, and clothing that sustain our mortal bodies.
No, what we’re studying is something far greater: the necessities of eternal life—that immortal, unending life that God offers to all who believe in His Son. As John 3:15 says
“Whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
So far, we’ve discovered that just as physical life requires nourishment and light, so does eternal life. And we’ve seen that both are found solely—in Jesus Christ.
· He said, “I am the bread of life…”
· And, “I am the light of the world…”
This morning, we come to a third necessity. To experience eternal life, we need a way to enter it—a door, a passage, a portal.
That’s not unlike our physical life. We all entered this world through an entrance, birth.
None of us chose it; we simply entered this world.
But when it comes to eternal life, there is a birth as well—a new birth, and this one involves a choice.
Jesus told Nicodemus,
“Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
So the entrance to eternal life is not something we stumble into—it’s a Door or an entranceway we must choose to walk through.
I don’t remember choosing to be born into this world—I didn’t pick my parents, my birthplace, or my timing.
But I do remember the moment I chose to be born again.
It was during a revival service, when I responded to the call of Jesus and gave Him my life. That moment, by His grace, I entered eternal life—I walked through the Door.
And that brings us to today’s message:
“The Door, the Thief, and the Choice.”
Because Jesus isn’t the only one in this passage. There is also a thief that Jesus warns of—one who wants to steal, kill, and destroy.
So the question we’re facing today is this:
Will you follow the voice of the thief… or walk through the Door to life?
So let’s begin by looking at the Door—the One who stands open before us today, offering salvation, freedom, and fullness of life.
In John 10:9 Jesus makes a powerful promise:
I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
Let’s take a closer look at what Jesus is offering when He calls Himself the Door.
The Door - Jesus Offers Life
The Door - Jesus Offers Life
In just about every public building that you go in, there is always one door that is marked with big red illuminated letters EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY. You see them in our schools, in the mall while shopping, and even on airplanes when flying. Let me suggest that before you run through the one on the airplane either first ensure that the plane is landed or make sure you have securely fastened a parachute to your back.
But in our schools, the mall, and any other building, we may walk by the door a dozen times and never give it a second thought … until there is an emergence, a fire, some form of a threat. In that moment, that door becomes the most important one in the entire building.
There may be several other doors around you, but only this door will lead you to safety, to freedom, to life.
But here is the thing – you still have to choose to go through it.
Jesus is telling us here in verse 9:
I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved,
Jesus is the Door that offers salvation
The Door That Offers Salvation
The Door That Offers Salvation
Salvation is only found in Jesus, no where else, The Bible says:
Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Aw there are other doors that people attempt to enter through:
· The Door of Religion
If I just do enough good things, attend church, pray, give money, I’ll be okay”
· The Door of the Good Person
I try not to hurt anyone, I live a good life, don’t drink, cuss, or smoke or date girls that do.
· The Door of Tradition
I was raised in church. My parents are Christians, I’ve been baptized, confirmed or whatever.
But let me tell you right now, these doors do not lead to salvation. They all lead right out into the wilderness where there will be weeping and gnashing of the teeth.
There is only one door, one entranceway, one portal, that leads to salvation and that is through Jesus Christ.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Jesus is THE DOOR, not a door, not some door, THE DOOR!
Jesus is the door that offers salvation and Jesus is the door that offers freedom
The Door That Offers Freedom
The Door That Offers Freedom
So many times when I give my testimony to someone about how Jesus reached down and saved me, they will ask, “Saved you from what?” To which I reply, “From my sin debt that I was not able to pay. He has saved me from death. Promising me that if I live and believe in Him that I shall never die, but that I will have eternal life (John 11:26).
Listen, when you come to Jesus and accept Him as your Lord and Savior, He does not only act as the entranceway into eternal salvation, but He is the entrance into freedom, freedom to come and go and be who He has created us to be.
He says in John 10:9
I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out
In the very beginning when God created Adam and Eve, He placed them in the garden of Eden. A Paradise that provided for all their needs. And God blessed them and gave them dominion over all of His creation. But then the fall came, Adam and Eve sinned against God and were cast out of the garden and the earth no longer provided for them, they became chained to a land cursed with sin with no escape.
But through Jesus we now can enjoy freedom, freedom from the curse of death and bondage in sin.
Jesus said that whoever commits sin is a slave to sin, but if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
Through Jesus you have salvation, freedom, and life.
The Door That Offers Life
The Door That Offers Life
The last part of verse 9 says, “and he will find pasture.”
Jesus is the entrance to life and not just life but life as you have never known before.
One of Satan’s greatest lies is that all this religion stuff, all this Jesus stuff will only keep you from doing the things that you enjoy,
Keep you from living the “High Life” promised by one of the major brands of beer.
Satan wants you to believe that Jesus will bind you, you will be like little angels sitting on a cloud playing a little harp.
Pfff. Here’s the first thing that you must know, SATAN IS A LIAR AND THE FATHER OF ALL LIES. HE WAS A LIAR FROM THE BEGINNING AND NO TRUTH CAN BE FOUND IN HIM!
Jesus said,
I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
And that takes us right to the next point.
Jesus doesn’t stop with an invitation. He also gives a warning.
In verse 10, He contrasts Himself with a thief—one who doesn’t give life, but takes it.
In John 10:10, He says:
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
Let’s take a moment to understand who this thief is, what he does, and how he still operates today.
The Thief - Satan Steals Life
The Thief - Satan Steals Life
Verse 8 talks about thieves and robbers and here in verse 10 Jesus says they have come to steal, kill and destroy.
Now there are differences between a thief and a robber.
The Thief
The Thief
Thieves are those who steal from others. Judas was a thief because he took from the money bag that the disciples and Jesus lived on and was to be used for their ministry. He did it secretly with no physical harm to anyone.
False teachers are metaphorically used as thieves.
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
We have many false teachers among us today that want to steal away your peace, joy, and hope in Christ Jesus.
There are those who want to teach you that the Son and the Father are not one even though the scriptures plainly say, “I and the Father are one.”
These false teachers, who may even come to your door today, want to tell you that Jesus was a created being, who was named Michael in the Old Testament, He is not God.
False teachers who want nothing more than to steal away your salvation in Christ Jesus.
Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
The Robber
The Robber
Now there are also robbers. Robbers come and take things from you by force and violence like the man who was taken by robbers in the story of the good Samaritan.
They come at you to kill and to destroy.
When God created man He created Him in His Image and in His likeness.
When man sinned against God, that image was marred, it wasn’t lost or taken away, but no longer complete in the way it was supposed to be.
Sin left a hole in the image, in our hearts. We are left with a desire for something we just do not know what it is that we desire. It is a void in our lives.
And the enemy comes and tries to fill that void with his lies.
Sex is what you need for happiness.
Alcohol and drugs will soothe your pain and emptiness.
Money, work hard and save lots of money. The mighty dollar the only thing that can by happiness.
These are the robbers. Not only do they steal away from us but they kill and destroy.
Promising all the happiness there is in the world, but only delivering loneliness, sadness, and pain.
Sin will take you farther than you want to go,
Slowly, but wholly, taking control,
Sin will leave you longer than you want to stay,
Sin will cost you far more than you want to pay.
So with pleasure and promises, Sin took control,
Leaving me dying, with nothing to show,
Gone were my loved ones, and my dearest friends.
(“Sin Will Take You Farther” The Cathedrals)
So now we’ve seen both sides: the Door that leads to life, and the thief that leads to destruction.
Jesus closes this part of His teaching with a promise and a call:
I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
And that brings us to the heart of today’s message - the choice.
Which voice are you listening to? Whose invitation will you accept?
The Choice - Which Voice Will You Follow?
The Choice - Which Voice Will You Follow?
In verses 3 through 5 Jesus explains that “The sheep hear His voice; and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out… a stranger they will not follow, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”
Everyone in this room this morning is listening to and following a voice. You may not realize it; you may deny it.
You may believe that you are living your own life doing just what you want to do having a grand ole time.
No one is telling you what to do.
But the truth is either you are being led about by a voice, either the voice of the good shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ or the enemy who has come to steal, kill, and to destroy.
The question is not “Are you listening?”
The question is “Whose voice are you following?”
1. The voice of the thief – that subtle, persuasive, and deceptive voice that whispers in your ear, “This is the easier door, this is the door everyone else is going to.” You don’t need Jesus, all are going to end up at the same destination.
2. The voice of the culture that surrounds you – the voice that says that there is no truth. What may be true to some doesn’t make it true for you.
These are all doors – but they are doors that lead to dead ends.
Proverbs 14:12 says,
There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
The Voice of the Shepherd
The Voice of the Shepherd
There is another voice that is speaking to you right now this morning. A gentle, soft voice speaking to you and calling you by name. It is saying, “I am the door. If you will come and enter through Me, you will be saved.”
It is the voice that leads to life.
The voice that offers hope, forgiveness, peace, and eternal life.
Yesterday, Kim and I took our daughter, Cherish back to the airport in Dulles to catch a flight back home. And if you have ever been to Dulles airport you know that it is a huge and busy airport. People of all nationalities are there catching planes to somewhere. Families excitedly waiting for loved ones to arrive and come through the terminal hugging and kissing one another. Others, like ourselves, sending loved ones back home or to somewhere else.
And as we were in that airport I couldn’t help but notice that there were voices all around me. None of them meant anything to me, some of the voices where even in a language that I could not understand. All of the just noises without meaning. But then one voice cut through them all like it was the only sound in the busy airport. It called out my name, Bobby, and I knew the voice, it was Kim’s voice, I recognized it immediately and I immediately responded.
This is what Jesus is saying here in John 10,
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”
The door is open, the entrance into eternal life is beckoning you “come” But you must respond.
Jesus loves you, He came and gave His life for you sins, but He will not force you to enter life through Him, He wants you to choose to love Him as He has loved you.
You cannot follow every voice.
You cannot walk through every door.
You must choose one.
Maybe you have never heard the voice of Jesus before. Maybe today is the first time that you have heard Him call to you Come to Me.
The thief has had you long enough. Today you can walk through the Door and be saved.
Maybe you are here as a believer, you have responded to the call and have received the free gift of salvation, but you have stopped listening to the voice of the shepherd.
You have become distracted by the cares of the world and have wandered.
Make today the day that you come back to the One who laid sown His life for you. Jesus who gave all so that you may receive from Him the gift of salvation, freedom, and life.
Turn back to Him today.
There is a Door…
There is a Thief…
And there is a Choice.
Jesus says, “I am the Door.”
Will you follow His voice today?
If you would like to receive this free gift of salvation through Christ Jesus who is the Door to salvation, freedom, and life.
May I ask that you bow your head and pray this prayer after me:
“Lord Jesus, I hear Your voice today, and I believe You are the only Door to eternal life.
I confess that I’ve gone through the wrong doors and followed the wrong voices.
I’ve sinned against You, and I need Your forgiveness.
Thank You for dying on the cross for me.
I believe You rose again, and I receive You now as my Lord and Savior.
Come into my life, forgive me of my sins, and help me to follow You all my days.
Thank You for saving me. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.”
Greta is going to come up and lead us in our hymn of invitation, Hymn #285 “Wherever He Leads I’ll Go.”
And if you prayed that prayer or if maybe you desire to recommit your life to Jesus this morning, please come up front and let me pray with you.
