The Door of the Sheep (2)
Notes
Transcript
1. Jesus is the only gate for the sheep, the only way to God (vv.7–8).
2. Jesus is the only gate that leads to salvation (v.9).
3. Jesus is the only gate that leads to abundant life (v.10).
Jenn said thats the fourth time you have went back for dessert doesnt it embarrass you?
No i keep telling them its for you
What kind of bee can’t make up its mind? A may-bee
Me (Orientation):
I remember back in the day…. A/G… test… classes… tried to get myself to be part of the clique… I wanted in… I wanted to be cool… I was doing whatever it took… I couldn’t be a part of the club unless I did it their way..
Anytime there was a need I wanted to make sure I gave, I DID IT ALL
Don’t get me wrong, thats not to say that any of these things are bad, we should be trying to do them, but I was doing them for the simple fact that I wanted to be better, not because I was compelled by God to help people, but to help myself, I was trying to make my own way there.
We (Identification/Creation of Tension):
Have you ever tried to be a part of a club? You know you gotta go through specific things…. some of you may have had to do some things because you wanted to be part of a frat…sor..
The best clubs of all… pay for a membership...
Travis was a member of a country club..
Pastor, I like your stories, maybe you don’t, but why are you telling me this story right now? What does this have to do with me?
GOD
Because this morning, our scripture says this,
7 So Jesus again said to them, “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 listen to them.
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
And that’s what its all about, its about how e can get into the sheepfold of Jesus, and some of us have taken an approach that we want to be a part of the club of christianity, we want a way to get to Heaven…
But what we are missing out on is now Jesus speaks of the second type of sheep pen that was found in the area, remember last week we talked a bit about him being the real shepherd who can go and call his sheep from the sheepfold. This is the other type, this would have been a sheep pen out in the field… this one would not have been as fancy as the one in town that was kept and watched by the gatekeeper… instead this would have been out in the field for those days the shepherd didnt want to bring the sheep back or they were moving further distances… this sheep pen would have been piled rocks making walls all the way around, and then there would have just been a hole in the wall for the door.
I love the story of Old Testament scholar Sir George Adam Smith, who travelled to Palestine and ran into a shepherd with his sheep. WHile they were talking the shepherd showed him the sheep pen where he would keep his sheep at night, and just like those of Jesus day it was four walls with a hole, and Sir George told the man, there is no door. and the shepherd replied,
“When the light is gone, and all the sheep are inside, I lie in the open space, and no sheep ever goes out but across my body, and no wolf comes in unless he crosses my body; I am the door.”
I think if we are being honest however, we hear Jesus saying that he is the door, he is the means, but what we try to do is get in any way we can…we’ve tried to make a way to Heaven on our own. Listen, we live in a world that even our Christian society makes ways to get to Heaven completely separate of Jesus.
Don’t believe me? Just think back and listen to those conversations you’ve had in the last few years. Tons of people tell you they are Christians, but how many times have you heard the name Jesus come out of their lips…
We think we can enter the gate through different methods, we try to get there through two different ways..
Comm Service
We think that the more we do in the community the more God has to love us, so for some of us its not about really loving Jesus that compels us to do good works, but its about us trying to manipulate Jesus to get good works.
God Service...
This is where we do all the good stuff, we read the bible, we pray we fast… we get it all laid out there...
And it is with all of this in the background that Jesus says .
Jesus is the only way in to the sheepfold; the only way to God.
7 So Jesus again said to them, “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 listen to them.
And so he is claiming he is the only way to God… we cant do it through Community service, we can;t do it through God service…
Jesus starts here with Truly, truly and what this means is he is about to say something that is of the upmost importance to the people who are listening, he wants them to turn their ears on and really hear what he is about to say, not just allow the words to hit their ears, but really allow it to hit their minds and spirits…
and he says I am the door.
And he is wanting them to know that he is the only way into the sheepfold, and they would have understood this in light of the shepherd that we had just talked about… they know that he was the one allowing those in and keeping others out… and when he is talking about the sheepfold he is talking about our being able to be close to the father…
He is allowing us into God Presence…
This will become even more apparent in John 14:6
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Or Eph 2:18
18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
We should also remember, that here in our text when Jesus is making this claim, he is using the claim to be God as he says I AM the door.
8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
It is important to note here that Jesus not only saying he is the door, but he also claims that there have been some that have come before him that claim they have the knowledge and the right way to God, but those people are nothing but thieves and liars… it would be the same thing he would say to us today… anyone claiming they can get to God through anything but Jesus is a thieve and a liar. We have to be clear and understand this is the truth we learn from Jesus, there is no one today that is teaching truth that will get us there, so we must be sure that if someone is teaching a way to the father through anything other than Jesus, they are a liar. Their message isn’t true and they are intentionally trying to lead people astray. Their intention is to steal sheep from the sheepfold and make them their own.
Note: Jesus used the clear claim to deity: “I Am.” This gives additional stress to His claim to be the only Door to God. Now note two points.
What I find interesting here, and we see from the picture of the door, and knowing how it really worked in their context is that the door is a person, and they would have understood that, but much like last week we realize the sheep would hear the voice of the door. Those under their shepherd should know the voice of their door and they wouldn’t hear the voice of some false door calling out to them, they would immediately know the door calling them is false and not true.
14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
What we also see is that Jesus is the only door that leads to salvation
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
Jesus says if anyone enters by me he will be saved… listen folks, we can say this time and time again, but there is no other door by which you enter that can get you saved. No matter how much we would like to believe there are other ways that lead to an eternal life, Jesus does not leave that as an option. There is no modern day way we can live or believe that will save us.
Look at the words of Peter in acts
11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
or the words of Paul in
9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
or the writer of Hebrews
28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
b. Not only is he the only door that leads to salvation, but he is the only door that allows us to have peace and security.
Understand Jesus said the sheep can go in and out this shows how secure the sheep feel with the shepherd. If the sheep felt any sense of danger they would not go in and out, they would hide away from the trouble. This saying was a common phrase in the Jewish culture… if a man could go in and out they understood that to mean that he was safe and secure. So Jesus is telling the people that if they enter through his door they will have safety, they will have security and they will have peace… This is Jesus promising his hearers something that most people are seeking after. Peace and security..
Look at how he will repeat this idea in John 16:33
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
I love that this idea was familiar to the people he was speaking to even through the prophet Is 41:10
10 fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
c. Jesus here says not only is he the only door that leads to salvation, peace, and security, but he is the only door that leads to nourishment.
He says we can go in and out and find pasture these people would have known that meant it would lead them to nourishment. They would be able to get what they need through going through his door. We can realize through his word that his pasture is the only pasture that can satisfy our souls…
9 For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
11 And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
Not only is his pasture the only one that can satisfy the soul, but his pasture is the only one that can restore our soul..2) His pasture alone can restore the soul.
Look at what we learn in Psalm 23:2-3
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
And we will look a little more at this when we see in a few weeks about Jesus giving us abundant life…
We also know it is his pasture alone that can give life and give it forever.
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
His pasture alone can feed and give us knowledge and understanding.
15 “ ‘And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
So the question this morning, is What side of the door are you on today?
Have you made him your gate? Its time to enter through Jesus….
Membership...
isn’t enough..
Today is the day, we all choose Jesus, how different would this world be if we realized there were no good works to get us there, but just a person, a king, thats the only thing that can make it happen...