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So hey, welcome once again, so glad that you're here. Maybe you caught the news story that happened last month, I think June the 10th. made international news. There was a Pakistani International Airlines, it was a Boeing 777, about 400 people on board. The flight path of this plane was to go from England all the way to Pakistan. Well, one of the passengers decided to ignore the stay in your seat while the fasten the seatbelt sign is lit, and she got up out of her seat and walked back to the back of the plane going to use the bathroom. I have to believe she had to be shocked when she pulled on the bathroom door and realized that she had actually opened the airplane's emergency exit door. Now the good news is the plane was still on the ground in Manchester, England. But the bad news is, is that when she opened that emergency exit door, the massive inflatable slide was deployed that went out and the plane was seven hours delayed. I am convinced she was not voted the most popular passenger on the flight that day in any way, shape or form. Hey, we've all done that. You know, we've tugged on a door and is it the right door? Is it the wrong door? We've all probably walked into some places we wish we hadn't walked into. Life is really, you gotta pick the right door. And she did not do that. What about you and what about me? All of us in this room, we choose doors all the time. We went in and out of them all the time. And some of them are more serious than others. What door, because you have and I have too, what door have you chosen to have hope? Isn't that what it comes down to, really, in your heart, peace and hope, regardless? You've chosen a door to bring hope into your life, and you're walking through it. I've done the same thing. What is that door you've chosen? And even another level beyond this life, what door have you chosen to get you into heaven? Jesus shared an incredible truth. He said, I am the door. And today, live stream radio, those of you in this room, God in his love and grace, and I mean this absolutely, God in his love and grace is putting in front of every one of us an open door of love. Whatever you're facing, wherever you're at in your life, God is putting in front of us today an open door of love. Will you enter it? Or will you walk away? This is a day of a huge choice, a choice we'll all make. There's no neutral here. When there's a door, you either go through it or you don't. And today I pray you're gonna respond to the love of God and let him just do some great things in your heart and life by walking through the door. This summer series is called Who He Is and we are so excited that Jesus wants us to know him more. He wants us to know him in a greater way. And so what we're doing in this series, we're looking at seven times in John's gospel where Jesus uses the phrase I am. In using the phrase, I am, it's pretty wild. He makes himself the topic. Now, there's a lot of times in life we make ourselves the topic of conversations. Jesus' motivation in doing this is not because he's like, you know, selfish or something like that. He's making himself the topic because he wants to bring glory to his father. He's making himself the topic because he knows more than anything in this world, we need to know who he is. In His own words, which again is just really cool, it's not some person trying to describe Him to us. He in His own words tells us who He is. Remember the seven times he uses the phrase, I am, in John's gospel? All have great meaning. In Exodus 3, God said, I am. Jesus is declaring himself to be God when he says, I am. He's the Messiah. Every one of these seven I am's have a corresponding miracle. He not only says, I am God, he proves it through a miracle. I'm not going to look at the miracle about Jesus being the door, but it's in John chapter 5. There's the sheep gate, or the door to the sheep. And he heals a man there. showing that he is the healer. He does it by the door of the sheep. And also, which is really cool about these seven, they're all metaphorical, because we couldn't begin in our minds to try to comprehend who Jesus really is. We need some major help, and Jesus gives that to us. He picks common, ordinary, everyday objects that we all understand. It doesn't get any easier than a door. I mean, it's that simple. Jesus made it simple for guys like me with my brain. He made it simple, saying, I am the door. He's saying, if you understand what a door is and what it's about, you're going to understand who I am, more about me. We've already talked about, I mean, bread, light, those two things already. This is our third message. Being a vine, we're going to look at Him being the resurrection, how He is the way or the road. In this same chapter, John chapter 10, next week, he declares himself to be the shepherd. When Jesus gives a self-description, again, it demands a decision. There's no neutrality here. To think about it, to say I'm not, is to make a decision. When Jesus says, this is who I am, I respond by saying, I'm going to embrace that, receive that, and live for you. Or I'm going to say, well, that's really good, and that's nice, and it makes me feel fuzzy inside, but I'm going to keep doing my thing. I'm going to reject that, and I'm going to live my own life. Getting to know Jesus better causes us to have a deeper awareness of who He is. You and I can never really know who we are until we first know who He is. A deeper appreciation of His mission, our life mission, why we're here, and just to fall deeper in love with Him. Understanding who He is can absolutely change our lives. I'm going to ask you to open your copy of God's Word to John chapter 10. If your Bible is on your phone, open your Bible app if you would, please. Livestream, I think you can pull it up on your computer screen. We're going to look at John chapter 10. There's even Bibles in the back of the pews. If you'd like to look at those two John chapter 10 is a passage that we looked at not too long ago But we're gonna dive into it again today for some of you will be new truth for others of you May we're going to reemphasize some truth that we've talked about before before recently We looked at verse 10, but didn't really cover verses 7 through 9 we're gonna look at verses 7 through 10 this morning where Jesus is in a very easy to understand way, says, I'm the door. And what that means, and the hope, and the joy, and the peace that brings. There are hearts in this room, we need to hear today that Jesus is the door, and what that means. It's such a blessing. There is no pressure to do this, but if you are physically able, would you stand, and we're gonna read God's word together. John chapter 10, verses seven through 10. Verse 7, Jesus said to them, again, most assuredly, most assuredly means without a doubt, he's saying there is zero doubt what I'm about to tell you. Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. Remember the miracle in John 5, by the sheep door, he healed a guy. All, in verse 8, all who ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. He says it again in verse 9, I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, to kill, and to destroy. He says, but I have come that they may have life, and that word life there is reflecting on eternal life, and they may have it talking about life here today. more abundantly. Lord Jesus, we are so grateful that Your Word is living and active and that we can understand more about You. We want to understand who You are. And Lord, thank You for putting in Your grace and mercy, all for Your glory, a door in front of all of us today. And whatever our life situation is, thank you that we can respond by walking through the door of love. We love you and we ask it in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you so much for that. There are two things in these verses about Jesus being the door that I believe he wants us to chew on together. The first one is this, eternal life is found by entering the door. He's teaching us that eternal life is found by entering the door. Jesus says, this is who I am. I'm the door of eternal life. If you enter this door, you can know eternal life. Again, we look at verses 7 and verse 9. He says, most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. Then in verse 10, he says, I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved. Again, could there be anything more common in life than a door? We are constantly in and out of doors all day long. We're so used to them, we don't even think about them unless they're locked or don't work or something like that. I mean, think about just if you were to count this morning how many doors you came through to be in this building today. A bedroom door, a bathroom door, a front door to the house, maybe a garage door, a car door, a door to get into this building, a door to get into this room. I mean, we are constantly in our lives. To go to school, you walk through a door. To go to work, you walk through a door. To shop, to go to the doctor's office, we are just constantly walking through doors. Think of all the doors in our life. I pray that the most comforting door in your life is when you walk through the front door of your home. Most would probably say, what's the most powerful door in the world? It's probably the Oval Office. What's the most valuable door in the world? Well, it's gotta be the door that opens up into Fort Knox with all the gold. What's the most common or used door in all the world? It's gotta be the refrigerator. I mean, there's gotta be no close second to that. Doors are really, I realize this isn't like the world's deepest stuff in the world, but what do doors do? It's pretty simple. All doors have these in common. Doors open to give us access. You open the door so you can walk into a room. You open a door so you can get inside your car. Doors closed to give us security. We lock our doors and shut our doors at night. And the key to using a door is that we must go through it. These doors in this auditorium to get out of this room, you've got to go through the door. You've got to use the door. Jesus is the most extraordinary Indescribable beautiful wonderful door of all doors that's ever existed and these things apply to him Jesus is the door that opens up access to abundant life and a meaningful life in this world and eternal life when this life is over Once we know Jesus as our Savior, Jesus closes the door behind us. Because once we come to Christ, heaven is a lock. There is a security in our salvation in Jesus Christ. And the key to using Jesus as the door is you've got to go through the door. If you look at verse 9, He said, if a choice, if anyone. I'm so glad that Jesus has a wide worldwide open door policy For whosoever will come to the Lord see sometimes we envision God like this door He's like got his shoulders against it and we've he's against us. He doesn't love us. He's not for us and we We've gotta somehow try to push or squirm our way in. Many people believe that God's got like the door to eternal life and the door to a life of meaning in heaven, but there's like some secret key that only you can gain if you work really hard and you're really religious and you clean up your life and you're better than most people, then that will be the key to open the door. That's not it at all. In his grace, in his mercy, in his love, all for his glory, the door is wide open and Jesus is saying, come on in. Anyone can do that but notice he said that I am the door in verse 9, but in verse 7 He said I am the door to the sheep What does it mean that he's the door to the sheep? We will not fully understand what Jesus is teaching us here unless we understand what he meant when he said I am the door to the sheep Now, in that day, with all the shepherds and sheep and all that stuff, because John 10 is called the shepherd's discourse. John 10 is all about sheep and shepherds and sheep pens. That world that day, they instantly know what he was talking about. They didn't even have to think about it. But if you're like me, probably your closest connection to sheep is wool socks or a wool sweater. We don't hang out with sheep all the time. So we need to understand what he's meaning here. In that day, there were two types of pens that shepherds would use for their sheep. There was what was called the community or the village pen. And this would be all the sheep from all the different shepherds and all the different flocks. They would all be mixed into this big, massive pen inside of a city. And when it was time to take your sheep out to lunch, the shepherd would call them and the sheep would hear that shepherd's voice. They wouldn't follow any other shepherds, but that shepherd and they would leave all the other flocks and go out into the field to eat. and do whatever. That's where the verse Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice, they follow me, but that's another sermon for another time. The second type of sheep pen that was in the days of Jesus is what he's talking about here in John 10. It was called a wilderness pen. It wasn't a community pen. It was one shepherd with one flock and one pen. And these wilderness pens were made just exclusively for him. Now, sometimes they would put the sheep in a cave, but this is typically what a wilderness pen that Jesus is talking about in John 10 would look like. They would build these walls up with rocks and they would take thorn bushes and put them all over the top of the rocks to make it kind of like razor wire. So no thief could crawl in, no wolf or lion, whatever could get in with the sheep. What I want you to notice, The doorway. There's only one doorway into that pen. When Jesus said, I am the door of the sheep, this is what everyone he was listening to would have thought. That picture right there would have went in their head. It didn't go in your head or my head, because we're not used to it. But get that picture in your head. What Jesus is saying, because what the shepherd would do, he would put all of his sheep inside that pen. There was one doorway. The shepherd became a human door. He would literally lay his body in that doorway all night long. Nothing got out and nothing got in without going through the shepherd. So Jesus says, I am the door of the sheep. He is declaring this. I am the only door of satisfaction. I am the only door of security. I am the only door of salvation, I'm the door. Just like a sheep pen has one door, I'm that one door. All this is pointing to the cross. All this is his loving the good news, the gospel of God, that God in his love and his grace for us, how he wants us and for his eternal glory, he wants to have a relationship with him. But we, of course, are not perfect people. We're flawed, we fail, we disobey God, and we're separated from God because of that. But Jesus came and he died on the cross and he arose from the grave and he was buried to pay the price for us. And then on Easter morning, the greatest door opening that's ever happened is when the tomb was opened. And it wasn't the tomb was open, not so Jesus could get out, but so we could look in and see that he's alive. And what Jesus is telling us here, he's saying that I am that door, I am the only door of salvation. In our current culture that we live in, good old United States 2019, you can say that Jesus is your Savior, whatever, you can say the Savior, but if you claim the exclusivity of Christ, if you say that Jesus Christ is the only way, There's no other way to be right with God. There's no other way to have your sin and your past forgiven. There's no other way to go to heaven when this life is over except through the Lord Jesus Christ. You absolutely, in our culture today, will be looked upon as you're a bigot, as you're hateful. How could you say that about all these people who don't believe in Jesus, who are good people, nice people? How can you say that they're not a door or they're not our other doors? How can you say he is the only door? Man, hear me, I mean this in love on July 21st, 2019. I don't want there to be stuttering. I don't want you to be like talking out of the sides of my mouth. Let me be crystal clear. Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven, salvation, forgiveness. He is the only door. There is none other. He's telling us this here. That's what He's saying to us in these verses. In verse nine, where he says, I am the door, in the Greek language, he's almost repeating Isaiah 43, 11. He's literally saying, I, even I, am the door. Isaiah 43, 11 says, I, even I, am the Lord, and besides me, there is no Savior. If you really, if you believe the Bible, and you believe that Jesus is the Savior, you have to believe in exclusivity of Christ. If you believe there are many other ways besides Jesus, the God you believe in is not the God I believe in. I'm not saying you don't believe in God, but I'm telling you, we don't believe in the same God. Our God is exclusive. And he says, if anyone enters by me, that is emphatic. In the Greek language, he is like, I mean, putting an explanation, saying, listen, I am the only door. I, even I, only I, only me, I am the only door. that you can enter. Jesus is the exclusive door of eternal life. As the door, Jesus is the only one, he's open to everyone. This isn't the first time where Jesus teaches us or the Bible teaches us that he's the only door. The greatest sermon ever, the Sermon on the Mount in chapter seven, he said, enter by the narrow door. That word gate means door. Enter by the narrow door, the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction. Any way outside of Jesus is the broad way. The way of destruction. And there are many, many who go in by it. Because narrow is the door, narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way that leads to life, and there are few that find it. I mean, Jesus, the gentle, loving Jesus, man, he radically draws a line in the sand. He clearly is teaching, there is only one path to heaven, and I am that path, and there is only one door to get on that path, and I am the only door, and that makes us uncomfortable in our culture today, but that is clearly what he is teaching. It is so serious, these two verses teach one of the most sobering truths in the Bible, that there's more people going to hell than going to heaven, and there's a lot of people who are going to heaven who are not. I'm the door. Do you remember recently we went through the life of Noah and the ark? We had like a six or seven-part series on Noah and the ark, and the world was going to be flooded, the world was going to be destroyed. Only way of salvation was the ark, and the only group of people who would come to experience salvation were those not outside the ark, not those looking at the ark, but those inside the ark. You know how many doors there were to get in the ark? There's only one. That picture that's weirding you out right now, that's not what we're talking about. I'll bring it up in a minute. Hang on to that thought, okay? It's all good. How many pictures you're saying, wow, it's a picture of the ark. You know how many doors were there in the ark? One. Genesis 6, 16 says there is one door into the ark. Religion is not the door to eternal life. Regardless of how sincere and serious it is in religious rituals and stand-ups, sit down, lean to the left, lean to the right, fight, fight, fight, all that stuff. Regardless of how sincere it is, religion is not the door to heaven. Self-righteousness of saying, I love my kids, I'm a good person, I'm a good citizen, I keep my yard mowed, I vote. I give blood, I care about my neighbors, as wonderful as that is, that is not the door to heaven. Believing that God intellectually is real and trying to do good and be good is not a door to heaven. There are so many people who see the door to heaven being, I've got to be this self-righteous person or this good person. And if I do enough good things one of these days, maybe God will let me open that door and go in. It's not that at all. Jesus is saying, in my grace and my goodness, I died, I arose. The door is standing wide open. I've done the work. You don't have to do the work. All you've got to do is walk through the door by faith. You've got to come to him as Lord and Savior. He is the absolute only, only door. There is none other. Just knowing He is the door is not enough. You gotta enter the door. Again, knowing that these doors in here work is not enough, we have to actually walk through the doors. We're gonna be in this room the rest of our lives unless you can run through the wall or something. And what does it say? What did Jesus say? Look, you've got to enter. Doors are made to go through, to enter. He said in Matthew 7, verses 13, enter. You've gotta enter by the narrow gate. Noah and the ark, what happened with Noah? They could believe that the ark would save them. They could believe that it was the only way, but they had to actually walk through the door. They had to go through the door. Jesus uses that same concept again. We just read it in verse nine. I am the door. If a choice, anyone, it's open to everyone. If anyone enters, if anyone enters the door. He wants us to enter the door. That's what they're made for. Eighty million tourists a year make France the number one tourist destination in all the world. Eighty million people go to France to see the Eiffel Tower. Eighty million people go to France to see a tourist attraction like the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Eighty million people do not go to France to see a tourist attraction called the Museum of Doors. There is a museum in France called the Museum of Doors. You ask, what is it? I'll tell you, it's a museum of doors. You go in the Museum of Doors, you go into rooms that are filled with doors, historical doors, special doors. You walk down the hallways and they're lined with doors. There are glass cases, yep, you guessed it, filled with doors. Doesn't sound like, hmm, do we wanna go to Disney or the Museum of Doors? Look at grandma sitting by that door. Isn't that a great photo? I mean, who wants to go to the museum? Takes you an hour to go through it. Here's the thing about the Museum of Doors, unless you're really into it, I guess, none of the doors work. None of the doors in the Museum of Doors. It's a museum of doors. They don't work. You never enter one of the doors in the Museum of Doors. You just stare at them, admire them, and then go on with your life. Jesus is not the door in this Sunday morning, 75-minute religious museum that we just admire Him and stare at Him and then leave and go on with our life. He says, no, I am the door that you interact with. I am the door that by faith you're involved with. I am the door that you enter. He is saying very clearly, I am the door. I am the only door. Enter by the door. Now, entering a door is really, it takes a lot of study and a lot of research and understanding different phrases of verbs and all these sort of things. But here's how you enter a door. This is deep, I'm telling you. You take a step. Man, it breaks my heart that there may be people in this room, you believe God's real. But yet you've never taken that simple step of faith of receiving John 112, Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord. You've just never taken that step to make it personal and real. It's 100% locked in your head. that you've never humbled yourself and surrendered and admitted sin and turned to Jesus, risen from the grave as the only Savior to receive him. But the good news is today you can. Some of you knows, man, I've never walked through that door. I've never come to Christ as my personal Savior. I have doubts. I wake up in the middle of the night. Today is the day to walk through His door of grace and love and settle it once and forever. I shared this in our last hour. I didn't even get it out. I didn't even really start the invitation. A lady got up and just came forward. She wanted to walk through the door. She didn't want to wait. Eternal life is not found by entering a door of a church, but entering the door of Christ. My daughter's best friend works in Jasper, Alabama. There's a medical center. I forget the name of it. It's the Subwestern. I want to give you the right name here, because some of you will Google and not listen to me. It's the Walker County Medical Center. Walker County Medical Center. In 1983, a patient in that hospital was lying in their hospital bed. You know, if you've ever been to the hospital before, you count the ceiling tiles, stare at the walls. And she was staring at the wooden door. And in that wooden door, she thought, in the wood grain, she saw an image of the face of Jesus. And she had her family start moving the door on the hinge back and forth, and it enhanced what she said was the image of the face of Jesus. Now, that's the picture we put up just a moment ago. Put it up here for you again. I see Bigfoot looking through cedar trees to me, but anyway, she saw the face or the image of Jesus in that door, in that wood grain. Well, it spread around Jasper, Alabama, and people started coming into the hospital to go look at the door. The administrators had to respond to that. You can have a bunch of people traipse up and down through the hallways of the hospital to look at a door. So they took the door off its hinges and covered it with plexiglass and put it as the door to the chapel or the prayer room of the hospital. And next time you're in Jasper, Alabama, and you go to the Walker County Medical Center, if you walk into the main lobby, you're gonna see a glass case, and this door is now mounted in a glass case inside the lobby of that hospital. And I read that story and thought, you know, hospitals are places where people are afraid, and they're hurting, and they're going through difficult times. And just the thought of seeing the face, an image of the face of Jesus in the wood grain of a door was enough to give some people hope. Man, Jesus is not a face on a door, church. He is the door. He is the actual door. He's the one that can heal our hurts. He's the one that can bring hope to our broken hearts. He's the only one that can give us eternal life. Eternal life is found by entering the door. What about those of us who have entered the door? What's Jesus teaching us? Those who know Christ as our Savior. That's our second lesson for living. Abundant life is found inside the door. Eternal life is found by entering the door. Our final truth is that abundant life is found inside the door. Verses eight through 10, all whoever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved. We'll go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, to kill and destroy. I have come that they might have life and might have it more abundantly, he teaches here. You know, there is, what Jesus is teaching here is really cool. there is a vast difference in life depending on which side of a door you're on. Just imagine this last week. I hope your AC has been working well at your home or your apartment, whatever. Think about what life is like inside the door where the air conditioning is working versus what life is like on the other side of the door outside the door where it's about 4,000 degrees outside. It's a different world depending which side of a door you're on. A door makes all that difference. I was thinking about that and about yesterday as we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the lunar landing, of walking on the moon, Neil Armstrong, and think about the door on that lunar lander, that little spacecraft sitting on the moon. You talk about a different world depending on which side of the door you're on. If you are inside the door of that lunar lander, I mean, you've got warmth, you've got oxygen, you've got life. You know what it's like? I mean, it's a door. Just on the other side of the door, it is a radically different world. It's a world where it can get as hot as 280 degrees and as cold as minus 260 degrees, where the only oxygen is found in rocks and minerals with no atmosphere and very little gravity, where you can't survive. Isn't it amazing? There's a door. And depending on which side of the door you're on makes all the difference in the world. That's exactly what Jesus is teaching us in these verses. He's describing to us the different world if you're inside the door of Christ versus if you're outside of the door of Christ. First thing he teaches us is life outside the door. What if someone is not in Christ? What if someone does not know Christ as their Savior? What is that like? Well, Jesus, go back to the sheep pen thing. Jesus is saying a sheep outside the door of the pen is like a person who is outside of Christ. This is what life is like outside of Jesus. He says in verse 8, it's filled with thieves. That means being tricked or deceived. Robbers, that means being attacked and brutalized. Maybe not physically, but in other areas of our life. Verse 10 talks about to steal, to kill, which means to slaughter. and to destroy. All three of those combined, steal, kill, and destroy, paint a picture of eternal destruction. It's not a pretty picture. A sheep outside the door of the sheep pen out in the wilderness by itself is like a person outside of the door of Christ. The thief will attack. The lion will maul and devour. It's a life of looking for meaning, of fear, of no real deep peace, no real deep purpose. And if you… verse 10 clearly teaches again, and it's not pretty at all, but it is real that there's a real place of eternal destruction called hell, outside of the door. But then he says this is what life is like inside the door. What it's like for a sheep to be inside the door of the sheep pen is what it's like for a person to be inside of Christ, to know Christ as your Savior. He describes in verse 9, he says it's being saved. That word saved in verse 9 means to rescue or to be rescued, to be delivered. It means that when I'm in Christ, when Christ is my Savior, if I'm inside this sheep pen, I have been rescued from my sin in my past. I've been rescued from myself. I've been rescued from Satan. The power of sin no longer rules me. And the penalty of sin in eternity will no longer destroy me. I've been rescued. Not only have I been rescued, look at the second thing. What's life like inside the pen? He says in verse 9, you go in and out. That phrase in and out is not talking about good hamburgers on the West Coast, it's talking about Jesus, in and out, speaks of freedom. It speaks of being set free. See, some people figure, oh, if I come to Jesus Christ as my Savior, I'm gonna be like in chains and in prison all my life. No, Jesus is not legalism. In other words, we don't make up a bunch of man-made rules to make ourselves feel more spiritual externally because we compare ourselves to others. He's not about legalism. And following Jesus is not about license. Well, I'm saved, it's all grace. I can do anything I wanna do, live any way I wanna live. No, it's not. Legalism, it's not license, it's liberty. I can go in and out. I am free under the shepherd's care and the shepherd's watch as a follower of Jesus. I am free to obey Him by the Holy Spirit's power and the Word of God. I am free to know Him. I am free to enjoy Him. There's liberty in Jesus. I am free by God's grace to live a life that brings Him glory. And the final thing, what is life like inside the pen in verse 9? He says, you go out and you find pasture. That's a picture of a lush, green field where the sheep are just pigging out at lunchtime. He's teaching us this. What's life like inside the door of the pen? He says, I'll meet your needs. I know your needs, and I'm gonna provide the field you need. I'm gonna meet your needs. He also paints a picture of being transformed, that spiritually healthy and growing inside the door. Man, you talk about two different worlds, being inside the door and being outside the door. And then in verse 10, he sums up verse nine in one phrase. He says, life abundantly, more abundantly. It's really critical we understand what Jesus is teaching. Your life inside the pen, a sheep inside the pen has abundant life. A person inside the door of Jesus has abundant life. We have eternal life and abundant life. What does it mean? Jesus is the door to eternal life in heaven, but believers, Jesus is also the door to abundant life on earth. That word in verse 10 abundantly means this, super abundant, over and above, overflowing. We need to really nail down what the Bible means by abundant life, because we live in a world where there's a prosperity gospel, that if you love God, you'll never get a paper cut, and you'll get the best parking spot at the supermarket every time you go. Let me tell you what life more abundant is not teaching, it does not mean. It does not mean an easy life. Abundant life does not mean, believer, an easy life. Abundant life does not mean a painless life. Abundant life does not even mean a long life. Abundant life does not mean worldly power or worldly fame. Abundant life does not mean health. or wealth. Abundant life is not talking about worldly prosperity. Abundant life is not talking about material prosperity. Abundant life is not talking about physical prosperity. It is specifically talking about spiritual prosperity. When He says you'll have life more abundantly, He's talking about spiritual, the most important thing, prosperity in our souls. When I walk through the door and receive by grace the free gift of God eternal life in Jesus Christ. I was given new life Eternal life does not start when we go to heaven. It starts the moment. We walk through the door and receive Jesus as our Savior And when I received eternal life and new life in Christ, that new life, the Bible says, is an abundant life. I now, as the creature, am rightly related to the Creator through Christ, that I have an intimacy, a relationship with God that nothing can take away. The abundant life means this, Christ is my life. Christ rules over all areas of my life. Christ is my afterlife when this life is over the abundant life means my life has meaning in purpose May not understand everything about it But my life is not a waste if I am inside of Jesus He promises life abundantly in that eternal life in that new life in that abundant life my life has meaning and purpose to live for the glory of God an abundant life means this Deep seated in the heart, in my very heart, in my very soul, there is a peace and a joy and a hope and a purpose. There is a satisfaction that this broken world can never take away. It's this full life in Christ. It has nothing to do with ease, no pain, no confusion, duration. My soul's been changed. I have meaning and purpose. Heaven's my home. This is temporary. And there is a joy and a peace and a satisfaction. In all the mess, there's a satisfaction for the glory of God. all over this nation and all over this world. There are believers in Jesus. who face relentless pressure, pressure in their jobs, pressure in their relationships, pressures in society. They face relentless pressures. There are believers all over this nation and all over this world who face grieving pain, horrible pain in their life. There are believers all over this nation and all over this world who face extreme poverty. It's all they can do to meet the basic essential needs of their families. And there are believers all over this world that suffer harsh persecution because they love Jesus. Prison, loss of property. So imagine, who wants to sign up for that? Who wants to sign up for I'm gonna walk through the door and it's not a get out free from a painless life, from a life of poverty, from a life of pressure, from a life of being resented and persecuted because of Jesus. But here's what Jesus is teaching us. In the midst of all that, in the midst of all that, There is something in our soul, the life of Christ in us. There is a satisfaction and a fullness and a peace and a purpose to our lives that this world can't give us and the world cannot take away. And I have eternal life when this life is over, but every day in Jesus, his life in us, there is this deep-seated thing in our soul that's settled. It's settled forever of being satisfied in Christ. That's the abundant life. Why not let Jesus close the door this very morning on your past hurts that haunt you? Why not let Jesus today open a door to the future for you, believer? Opportunities to serve and to grow and to know Him. The full best life, the abundant life is eternal life in Christ and knowing Him here. We must abandon our life to Jesus to experience the abundant life of Jesus. See, we can know the eternal life. We could have walked through the door and Christ is our Savior, but if we're not experiencing that abundant life, not easy, not pain-free, none of those things, if we're not having a sense of satisfaction and purpose and a peace, this deep peace that's settled, It's because I'm trying to do things my way. I'm trying to control my situations. I'm trying to figure it out with my brain. Believer, if you want to experience the abundant life of Christ, you've got to abandon your life to Christ. You've got to surrender and just yield. What a Savior, the door of eternal life in heaven, the door of abundant life on earth. Enter the door. Life inside the door. Jesus is the door. Remember we started off talking about our favorite airline passenger who got bathroom door, emergency exit door mixed up. I was thinking about that. There are other exit doors on the planes. Those are the ones that's over the wings. It's called the emergency door exit row. If you're a frequent traveler, this is prime seating. It's called more leg room. But there's also on the emergency door exit row, there's also more responsibility, serious responsibility. Because when those flights attendants say what they always say, in the unlikely event of an emergency evacuation, it's on you. The life of the people on that plane are in your hands or my hands. It's up to us. If we're sitting in that seat, it's up to us to make sure they can get out the door. That's why there's restrictions. It's so serious. You can't be under 15. You can't have a pay. You can't have an infant You got to be able to verbally understand the flight attendant. You've got to be able no mobility issues where you can do it You've got to be willing to do it if you can't they'll receipt you Aviation attorneys tell us that if you agree to sit in that seat and don't fulfill your duties you could be held liable You could be sued And then you always go through the instructions, the instructions that's on the door itself that you kind of read or above the door, or you move the little puke bag out of the way and pull out the unfoldable instructions and read through it. And then comes the moment of truth. That flight attendant, you're sitting there with all your leg room, and that flight attendant looks you in the face and says something like, are you ready, willing, and able to perform your duties? And you just can't nod your head. What do you have to do? You have to look them in the eyes and you verbally have to say, yes. I'll do it. This world is, man, it's just so broken and so lost. And Jesus is the only door of rescue out of this place. And the door is open, it's already open. And if you know Christ as your Savior, if you will, you and I are sitting in the emergency door exit row. We must feel the weight of the responsibility of the souls of men and women, boys and girls, all over our area and all over the world without Christ. We can't push them out the door, the door is already open, but we are to live and love in such a way that we point people to the door. We point them to Christ, to the door. That's our life mission, locally and globally, for His glory. Jesus said, He said, I am the door. That's who He is. So I believe this morning the Holy Spirit of God, like that flight attendant, if you will, is looking at you and looking at me and asking our hearts this, if you know Christ, saying, are you, this very day, are you ready, willing, and able to perform the duties that you're called to? And I pray that we will stare into the face of our Savior, and from the depths of our hearts, only by His power, we'll say yes. will point people to the door. Lord, we love you and we're grateful that you are the door and we're grateful for what that means. We're thankful that right now, Lord, if there's someone in this room who is unsure if they've ever entered the door, unsure if they know you as their personal Savior and Lord, that right now, God, they can take that step of faith, admitting sin, trusting and turning to you for forgiveness and eternal life. Lord, thank you that only you can do that. Only you can call and only you can change lives. Heads are bowed and eyes are closed all over this room. I wanna do what I've done the past two services. I really believe The Lord's made it so simple and it's such grace and mercy. Jesus himself, the door, is standing wide open in front of you right now. Either you know, I mean, we know if we've walked through a door or not through a door. Not if you believe he's real, not if you have religion in your life, not if 20 years ago there was a great miracle. I'm asking you, is Christ in you? Have you walked through the door? Right now, Right now, will you take that step of faith? This is a moment God's giving you. I can't guarantee any others, but I can guarantee you right now He's giving you a chance in His grace. Right now, would you be willing to know you need to take a step of faith through that door by coming to Jesus and calling upon His name? You can do it right now. If you're unsure what to do, you can simply cry out to Him in prayer. You can even make these words your own. This would be your words to Him. Lord Jesus, you can do this right now. You wanna walk through the door to eternal life? It's a door of love. Will you enter? These words are your own. Right now you can pray. Dear Jesus, you are the only door of rescue. I need you. I admit my sins before you. And I turn to you, your death and resurrection, for forgiveness and for new life. Lord, I wanna thank you that livestream radio in this room, God, are there some who entered the door, took that step of faith to come to you as Savior and Lord. And God, I pray if they did that, you'll give them the boldness, the boldness to mention it, to say it. Lord, for those of us who know you, thank you as the door. We are reminded of our mission to point people to the open door of rescue. Thank you, God, that if we in our own hearts and our own lives are trying to handle things and solve them ourselves, thank you for reminding us, Lord, we abandon our lives to you. It is way, way above our pay grade. It's way above our heads. And Lord, thank you that as the door being inside the pen, the grace, the love, the mercy that all of us in this room being in you, being you as our shepherd, what we experience each and every day of our lives, we thank you for that. Oh God, if you called us to be baptized and become a part of this church, we just simply want to follow you. We love you. We ask it in Jesus name. Amen. Would you stand please?
Who He Is Part 3 The Door
Serie Who He Is-7 I Ams of Jesus
There is no greater person to know in all the universe than Jesus. Seven times in John's gospel, Jesus uses the phrase "I AM" to tell us in his own words who He is. Jesus makes Himself the topic as He wants us to know Him more. Knowing who Jesus is makes all the difference in this broken world, in the daily living of life and in our eternal destiny. Understanding who He is can change everything.
ID del sermone | 722191515443253 |
Durata | 46:24 |
Data | |
Categoria | Servizio domenicale |
Testo della Bibbia | John 10:7-10 |
Lingua | inglese |
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