67. John 10:5-9  THE DOOR OF THE SHEEPFOLD

 

Introduction:

 

      We are involved in a study of The Parable of The

Sheepfold.  In the message last Sunday we focused our

attention on the shepherd calling the sheep out of the

sheepfold.  In the message today we will focus our attention

primarily on the door of the sheepfold.

 

I.  The sheep following the shepherd out into the fields and

      pastures

 

      V. 5, "And a stranger will they not follow, but will

flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers."

We need to make a distinction in this verse and what was

talked about earlier.  Earlier the verses were talking about

the sheep knowing the shepherd's voice when he came in the

morning to lead them out of the fold.  This verse is talking

about leading the sheep after they have been brought out of

the fold.

      When the shepherd entered the fold and started calling

for his sheep to come to him, an important factor was that

the sheep knew his voice and would not respond to any

shepherd but his own shepherd.  The sheep inside the fold

belonged to many different shepherds and all of the

shepherds would come to call out their own sheep.  Each

sheep knew the voice of his own particular shepherd and

would not come when any other shepherd called.  He would

come only to the shepherd who had brought him into the fold.

This was an important to each shepherd and insured that he

would get all of his sheep and that he would get only his

own sheep.  It was especially important because it would

mean that nobody else would get his sheep.

      However, verse five is not talking about the separation

of the sheep from the others in the fold.  It is talking

about the leading of the sheep after they are out of the

fold.  Even then, the sheep would follow no man but their

own shepherd.  The shepherd's leading of the sheep will be

discussed again beginning in verse ten and so I am going to

wait until we get to those verses to discuss the meaning of

this part of the parable.  So I will move on the next verses

 at this time.

 

II.  The explanation which Jesus gave about the door of the

      sheepfold

 

      V. 6, "This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they

understood not what things they were which he spake unto

them."  His listeners understood perfectly well about the

sheepfold and the shepherds and the sheep.  They were very

familiar with those things.  But they did not understand the

spiritual truths which Jesus was trying to illustrate by the

sheepfold.

      Therefore, Jesus began to explain what He was talking

about.  He explained, or at least partially explained, the

meaning which He wanted them to see illustrated in the

parable which He had given.  V. 7, "Then said Jesus unto

them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of

the sheep."

      Jesus first explained to them that in the parable He was

using the door of the sheepfold to illustrate Himself.  He

said, "I am the door of the sheep."  That is, "I am to the

men, what the door of the sheepfold is to the sheep."  That

is, "God's people, God's sheep, go in and out by me just as

the sheep go in and out of the sheepfold by me."

      In essence, He is saying, "If anyone wants to go to

heaven, He has to go by me.  He has to come to me and place

his faith in me.  He has to recognized that I am the Savior

of men.  He has to recognize that I am the promised Christ,

the promised Redeemer, the promised Savior.  If any man

wants his sins to be forgiven, he has to come to me and

trust in me and I will forgive his sins.  If any man wants

eternal life, he has to come by me and trust in me and I

will give him eternal life.  If any man wants to have a home

in heaven he will have to come to me and trust in me and I

will give him a home in heaven.  If any man wants to stay

out of the fires of hell, he will have to come by me and

place his faith in me and I will keep him out of hell."

      On the other hand, He is saying, "If any man will not

come by me, then he will not have his sins forgiven.  He

will not have eternal life.  He will not have a home in

heaven.  He will not stay out of the fires of hell."

 

III.  What the scribes and Pharisees taught concerning the

      door

 

      This is in direct opposition to the message that the

scribes and Pharisees had been giving the people.  Inessence

they had been telling the people:  "You have got to come by

us.  You have got to follow the plan that we present to you.

You have got to be approved by us.  You cannot heal on the

sabbath day unless we say that you can do so.  You cannot

preach or teach anything until you first have your message

approved by us.  You cannot be the Christ unless we say that

you are the Christ.  The people cannot accept you as the

Christ until we say that you are the Christ.   That man who

was blind and to whom you gave sight, cannot stay in the

synagogue unless we say that he can stay in the synagogue.

Nobody can meet the approval of God unless he first meets

our approval." In essence, they were saying, "One cannot

even go to heaven unless he comes by us.  We are the door.

One must come to us if he would enter into heaven."  They

never said it to the people in those exact same words, but

that is the message the scribes and Pharisees sought to get

across.

      Jesus contradicted that.  He said, "I am the door."  He

accused them of being thieves and robbers.  V. 8, "All that

ever came before me are thieves and robbers..."  In the

parable Jesus had already pointed out that thieves and

robbers climb the fence of the sheepfold and kill and steal

sheep.  Even so that is what the scribes and Pharisees had

done.  By their deceit and by their false teachings they

were figuratively guilty of stealing.  They stole honor and

respect that rightly belonged to God.  They stole authority

that did not belong to them.  It belonged to God.  They

robbed the people, making themselves rich at the expense of

the people.  They  robbed the people of the truths of God.

They robbed the people of their very soul's salvation by

keeping persuading the people to reject the Christ, the

Savior.  They robbed the people of heaven by making them

twofold more the children of hell than themselves.  They

robbed the people by keeping the truth of the gospel from

them.  They were thieves and robbers.

      But, thank God, there were some who were not persuaded

by the scribes and Pharisees who stood in opposition to

Jesus and tried to keep the people from trusting in Him.

There were some who accepted Jesus as the Christ and placed

their faith in Him in spite of all that the Pharisees did

and said to prevent it.  (V. 8), "...but the sheep did not

hear them."  There were some who came to Jesus and entered

in through the door by faith in Jesus Christ.  They simply

did not listen to the scribes and Pharisees.  Oh, they heard

what they said, but they did not listen in the sense of

being persuaded by what they said.

 

IV.  What Jesus said about those who entered the door being

      saved

 

      Jesus repeated His statement about being the door.  V.9,

"I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be

saved..."  Jesus directs this statement to the masses of

people who had been under the dominion of the scribes and

Pharisees.  They had allowed the scribes and Pharisees to

dominate their thinking, their beliefs and their actions.

Jesus informed them that if any man wanted to do so, he

could break free from that dominion by trusting in Him as

the Messiah, the Christ.

      If one would but come to Jesus and trust in Him, he

would enter into the door and be accepted of God.  He would

be saved.  His eternal soul would be saved.  He would be

born again.  He would be born into the family of God.  He

would be forgiven of all his sin.  He would be cleansed of

all his unrighteousness.  He would be redeemed by the Blood

of the Lamb of God.  He would stay out of the fires of hell.

He would make it into the portals of glory when he dies.  He

would get to enjoy the wonders of heaven.  Jesus is the door

and if a man trusts in Jesus that is like entering through

the door that goes to heaven.

 

V.  What Jesus said about one going out the door of the

      sheepfold

      One must be careful at this point and not misinterpret

the parable.  In this verse, Jesus speaks not only of

entering through the door, but He speaks also about going

out through the door.  If one is not careful he will jump to

the conclusion that since entering in through the door means

getting saved, then going back out through the door means

loosing one's salvation.  One could easily think that if one

enters in through the door means that one is on his way to

heaven, then going out through the door means that he is no

longer on the road to heaven.  He has backslidden.  He has

lost his salvation.

      But that is not the interpretation that Jesus, Himself,

gave to the parable.  In the parable of the sheepfold, the

sheep were brought out of the sheepfold by the shepherd,

himself, for the purpose of going into the fields and

pastures to find food and water.  They are still sheep and

they still belong to the shepherd.  They are, in fact, still

following the shepherd.  They are still with the shepherd.

He is the one who is leading the way.

      Jesus made His interpretation of the parable in that

light.  (V. 9), "...and shall go in and out, and find

pasture."  Let me paraphrase and summarize the

interpretation which Jesus has given.  Jesus said that if

any man would come to Him and place his faith in Him as the

Christ and as the Savior, then he would be saved.  That

would settle the matter as to where he will go when he dies.

If Jesus saves a man, he will go to heaven, that is that.

      But after he is saved, he will then follow the

leadership of the Shepherd and the Shepherd will lead him

into the fields of spiritual food and spiritual drink.  The

Shepherd will lead him into the fields of spiritual

blessings while he is here in this life.  In almost every

instance, a man will not go into heaven immediately after he

gets saved.  He will stay here in this world and will follow

the Shepherd into green pastures.  In the Twenty-third psalm

King David spoke of the leading him into green pastures.

David most certainly did not mean that he was lost because

he was out in the pastures.  No, not at all.  He still

belonged to the Shepherd out there in the green pastures.

Even so Jesus interprets the parable of the sheepfold to

mean that the sheep go in at the Door to get saved, and then

the come out through the Door to walk in the fields of

spiritual blessings.

 

VI.  Three basic facts and four vital questions

 

      Now let me emphasize to you the three basic facts

concerning the interpretation of the door of the sheepfold.

Important fact #1 is that Jesus Christ, Himself is the door.

He is the door of the sheepfold.  Important fact #2 is that

any person who enters the door gets saved.  Important fact

#3 is that the way to enter the door is to come to Jesus and

believe in Him.  Believe in Him as the Christ.  Believe in

Him ask the Son of God.  Believe in Him as the Savior.

Trust in Him to be your Savior.  Trust Him to save your soul

and to make sure that you get to heaven when you die.  Let

me repeat:  #1:  Jesus is the door; #2; Anyone who enters

this door gets saved;  #3:  The way to enter the door is by

trusting Jesus Christ to save your soul.

      This brings up a few very important questions:

      Question #1:  Is there anybody here who has entered that

door by trusting Jesus to be your Savior?  If so, you are

certain that you have entered that door then you can be

assured that you are saved and that you are on your way to

heaven.

      Question #2:  Is there anybody here who has not entered

that door?  You do not need to raise your hands.  Just

answer this question in your mind.  Have you or have you not

trusted Jesus as your Savior?  If you have not trusted Jesus

Christ to be your Savior then you have not entered that

door.

      Question #3:  Is there anybody here who has not entered

that door who really wants to enter it?  Do you really want

to be saved?  Do you really want to go to heaven?

      Question #4:  Is there anybody here who desires to enter

the door of the sheepfold who is ready to do so now?  If so,

then we are going to pray for you that you will have the

grace to place your faith in Jesus today without waiting

until some other time.

     

Conclusion:

     

      Is there anyone here who will come this morning who is

now saved who will come and profess Jesus Christ as your

Savior today?  Is there anyone who has never trusted Jesus

who will come and trust Him today?