I Am the Door B

The Lord knows His sheep. He calls them out of this world. He calls them to Himself. He calls them by name. They all follow.

They will not follow anyone else. He leads them from the fold of the world into the blessings of salvation in this age, the age to come and the eternal kingdom. Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur.

I'm your host, Phil Johnson. Lord, Savior, King, Lamb of God, no one in Scripture has more names than Jesus Christ. And for many of those titles, the meanings are clear, easy to understand. But how about when Christ refers to Himself as the door? What life-changing truth does that metaphor convey? Well, whether you have a pretty good idea or you have no clue, you're going to be encouraged by today's lesson on Grace to You as John MacArthur continues a study that focuses on rediscovering the Christ of Scripture.

And now with the lesson, here's John MacArthur. Turn in your Bible to John chapter 10, John chapter 10. This is a very familiar portion of Scripture, and it's a rather extensive text running deep into the 10th chapter, beyond where we'll go today, looking at the true shepherd, the true shepherd.

It's one of the most beautiful word pictures in all of the New Testament. I want us just to look at the first 10 verses. 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's a thief and a robber. With that verse, he describes the Pharisees and the false shepherds.

They are thieves and robbers who have no authority and no right and no ownership of the sheep that they seek to fleece and destroy. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him, the doorkeeper opens and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger, they simply will not follow, but will flee from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.

This figure of speech, Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which he had been saying to them. So Jesus said to them again, truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. The stories that Jesus told are so profound, they are almost unfathomable. It all started out pretty simple, and the more you think about it and the deeper you go with it, the more profoundly theological it becomes. The shepherd always knows his sheep.

They always know him. He calls them by name, and the sheep follow because they know his voice. Verse 5, a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him because they do not know the voice of strangers. That is, you're getting pretty deep now into theology. It's pretty serious theology here. Divine sovereignty, irresistible grace, effectual calling, this is all theological. What is our Lord saying here? He's giving us the theology of salvation.

Here's the theology. The good shepherd has already chosen his sheep. He's already named them. He knows who they are.

He possesses full authority and sole authority to come into Judaism and into the nations of the world and the countries of the world to find his sheep. He knows them. He calls them by name. They recognize his voice. They follow him, and listen to this, they will not follow a stranger. They will not. They won't follow. They know their shepherd's voice.

That's the miracle of regeneration. How deep does this go? Deeper than I have unless you want to be here until six. People say, oh, you know, Jesus told simple stories, and here he's talking to these unbelievers, and he's talking to these disciples who are kind of, you know, they're kind of hard to teach because they seem to miss the point of so much, and you wouldn't want to introduce any complexity to them.

Keep it really simple. I don't think so. This is so profound. This fulfills the promise of the Old Testament that God will gather a flock from the world and bring that flock into the glory of a kingdom, a kingdom in which they will nothing but blessing upon blessing upon blessing, and that will move into an eternal condition of blessing. So, he comes. He calls them by name. They know his voice. They follow him. He leads them out, and then it tells us this.

Verse 4, when he puts forth all his own. This is ekbal, and he has to get them out. It's an effort to get them out of the fold. We understand that. We could talk about that. It's hard to believe. It's hard to repent.

Human nature resists it. It's a battle for the soul, right? He calls them by name. They hear, but not without a struggle, not without the agonizing. He has to throw them out of the comfort of their worldly condition, their religious trappings. But once he puts them forth, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep do what? They follow. They follow. If you abide in my word, you're my real disciple, John 8.

He doesn't have to keep pushing us. Once he pushed us out through the miracle of regeneration, once he made us his own, once we recognized his voice, once we began to share his life, once we were set free from the bondage of the world's fold, we follow willingly, and we will not follow a stranger. Please notice that the shepherd leads. He goes ahead of them to make the pathway, to clear the danger, to find the water, the pasture, the provision. This is security, protection, provision, everything that's bound up in sanctification as he leads us into eternal glory and blessing. What a thrill to know all of this. And isn't it striking, really, that Jesus is unpacking this amazing, deep theology to some people who have no understanding, don't even get it, as verse 6 says, and to the disciples who are so new in understanding?

But these are truths that all of us must know. He leads them out of bondage. He leads them to green pasture, still water. I remember as a young boy, my father had a hymn that he used to love to sing, and so we sang a lot in church. You may remember it. He leadeth me, O blessed thought, O words of heavenly comfort fraught. Where'er I be, what'er I do, it is His hand that leads me.

I mean, that's the reality. The great Shepherd checks the danger, makes the path, finds the pasture, finds the water as He leads us. This is salvation in all its beauty and its richness, sovereign salvation, and we follow. Just another comment or two about verse 5. A stranger, they simply will not follow, but will flee from Him because they do not know the voice of strangers.

Simple conclusion. People who are loyal to false teachers don't know the true Shepherd. Once we're out, once He has thrown us out of the fold of sin and death and judgment, we follow, we follow. We do not listen to a stranger. We follow faithfully, not perfectly. We will never heed another voice. By the way, verse 5 has a double negative, ume.

A stranger, they absolutely will not follow, but will flee. Matthew 24, 24 says that false Christs and false prophets, if it were possible, would deceive the elect. But is it possible? No. That's why that's there.

It's not possible. Those who belong to God, those who belong to the true Shepherd, they will hear His voice. They will follow.

They will not hear the voice of a stranger. Nothing can break the bond between a true sheep and the Shepherd. All that the Father gives to Me, John 6, will what?

Come to Me. And no one comes to Me unless the Father draws him. The robbers and the thieves, of course they couldn't understand this in verse 6. This figure of speech, Jesus spoke to them.

They didn't understand what those things were, which He had been saying to them. Jesus then adds another word picture. This is one of the I am's of the gospel of John. Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn't hear them. I am the door. If anyone goes through Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

I want you to see the picture here. Here's a second metaphor. He's not only the shepherd that comes in to take his sheep, he's the door. He's the only way out. It's not about going in, it's about going out. And the idea of going in and out means moving with freedom when he leads you out of that fold. And it's only through him.

He alone is the door. I'll repeat it again down in verse 9. He leads you out, and there is a freedom from bondage. If anyone goes literally through Me, passes through Me, he will be saved.

Mark that word, underline it, draw a circle around it. That's the first time you move from the word picture, from the metaphor to reality, to the theological statement of fact. This is about what? This is about being saved. This is about salvation. This is the saving shepherd.

He'll be saved, and then he's free to go in and out and find pasture. This, we could say, is the liberty that we enjoy. We've come out of that fold, and we are now free.

In a beautiful way, really. It's really incredible to think about, but we can roam the world. We can go everywhere. We can enjoy the common grace of God that's dispersed throughout the world.

We have the right to enjoy it all. We have nothing to fear, do we? What can separate us from the love of God and Christ? Can anything separate us, Romans 8? Absolutely nothing can separate us.

So, we go in and out, and it shows a liberty now, a freedom. There is no enemy who can destroy us. We have nothing to fear. We're safe. We can roam free.

No threat is held over our head. Romans 8, it should be read often because it's intending by the use of hyperbole to show the protection that every believer has. What will separate us from the love of our shepherd? Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword?

No. I am convinced that neither death, life, angels, principalities, things present, things to come, powers, height, depth, or any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. We have a bond with our shepherd that will go right on into the kingdom and then right on into eternity. So, the Lord is the shepherd, and the shepherd is the door. And God feeds us and sustains us with green pastures through our whole spiritual life.

We have received all things pertaining to spiritual life and godliness, have we not? All things, fully sustained, fully supplied. But what is it that is our food?

What is that pasture? Well, it's the Word, isn't it? It's the Word. Thy Word was found, Jeremiah says, and that's what became my food. We hear His voice. We know His voice.

Where does His voice come to us? Through here, through the Word. Because the Spirit gives life to the Word. We follow the Scripture. We love the Word. We say with David, oh, how I love your law.

It is our delight. Contrast ends in verse 10, and it's stark. Nice shepherds come to steal, kill, and destroy. I think all of us, and certainly me, have been vilified by people for exposing false doctrine. But I could not be a faithful shepherd before my own shepherd if I didn't do my part to protect the sheep. If I say something against anything, it usually shows up in some headline in such an outrageous form that it incites anger and hostility.

But it's really not about me being angry. It's about me trying to discharge a compassionate responsibility to those who are being victimized by false shepherds who want nothing but to strip them of everything they have and then eat them. Thief comes to kill the sheep.

There's some interesting stories. If a thief came at night and climbed the wall, he would have a difficulty getting the sheep out willingly because the sheep don't know his voice. So very often, they would slit the throat of the sheep in the fold and throw it over the wall. They knew that.

They knew the kind of work that robbers did. They would take the wool and then eat the sheep. The thief comes to kill, comes to destroy after he has stolen.

On the other hand, I come that they may have life and have it parasos, over the top. What is salvation then? Just summing it up, the Messiah comes, Savior comes. He comes to the fold of Judaism and the fold of the Gentile world. His sheep are already known to Him because the Father has identified them and given them a name and written it down before the foundation of the world. He knows who they are.

He enters the door because He has full authority and right to do so. And out of the world and out of Judaism, He selects His own, calls them by name. This is irresistible grace. This is the effectual call. This is a call unto life.

This is regeneration. They follow. They follow because this is a supernatural work of God that draws them out of sin and death and darkness and blindness. They follow. They know His voice. They follow Him.

They go through Him, He alone being the door. They come out and then they roam the world and enjoy all the rich provision and protection that their Shepherd provides for them. This is salvation. And one day, we will enjoy this at a level that was described by Ezekiel 34 in the Millennial Kingdom when the earth is completely rejuvenated and restored, and that will be followed by the eternal state. Unfortunately, false shepherds and false teachers destroy people. Peter says many follow their pernicious ways. I want to close by just looking to something Peter wrote, 1 Peter 5. You can look at 1 Peter 5 for a minute. Just to kind of keep things in perspective, this is to me and to all of you who serve the Lord as pastors and leaders, I exhort the elders among you as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ and partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed.

Here's Peter. He says this, Shepherd the flock of God. What a great description, the flock of God.

And what a sobering responsibility to shepherd the flock of God. The ones who He identified, they belong to Him. He called them out. They came.

They heard His voice. They follow. They will follow till they enter into eternal glory. Shepherd the flock of God. Exercising oversight, not under compulsion, not because you have to, but voluntarily just for the sheer privilege of it, according to the will of God, and not for sordid gain, not for money, but with eagerness, not as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but prove to be examples to the flock.

Wow. So we are to be Christ-like to the flock. We literally shepherd the flock of God as under shepherds under Christ, who is the chief shepherd. And then verse 4, and when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. I think when we get to heaven, we're going to know the Lord Jesus as the chief shepherd, and He will have for all faithful under shepherds the full richness of the unfading crown of glory.

So be encouraged. The Lord knows His sheep. He's chosen them. He's named them.

The one Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, possesses full authority to come into this world and to call His sheep. He calls them out of this world. He calls them to Himself. He calls them by name. They all follow.

They will not follow anyone else. He leads them from the fold of the world into the blessings of salvation in this age, the age to come, and the eternal kingdom. He goes before them to provide all they need and to give them complete protection. Father, we thank You that You have given us this rich word, and we know that we have just scratched the surface of all these things, but it's enough to almost overwhelm us. How magnificent is Your Word.

How true is it. Each passage shines like some glorious diamond, but in perfect harmony with every other passage. And the more we see it, the more clearly it shines as having been cut by a divine mind. We thank You for this truth.

Thank You for calling us as Your sheep. We thank You, Lord, that You have also said that whoever comes to You, You will not turn away. And we pray today that Your Holy Spirit might prompt the heart of some who are Yours but have not yet been called. Call them this day, lest they live another day without the blessings and the benefits of Your provision and protection. Call some, even from this congregation, this day, as well as everywhere around the world where the truth is proclaimed, into Your fold, into Your flock. Free them from the confines, the restrictions of the world.

Set them free to go in and out and find blessing. Do Your work, we pray. Father, we ask that You would do what we can't do for certain and accomplish Your will in every life. We pray in Christ's name.

Amen. This is Grace to You with Bible teacher, John MacArthur. John, an important point from today's lesson. You said that all of Christ's sheep will come to him, and wrapped up in that principle is the doctrine of assurance and eternal security. And we probably get more questions about those doctrines than anything else we hear. And in line with that, we have a question today that came in on our Q&A line. It's pretty straightforward, but he asks an important question. So I want you to listen to that question, and then, John, let's get your response. Yes, hi.

My name is Alan, and I'm from Lowell, Massachusetts. My question is, how do I know I'm one of God's elect? I just, I'm really kind of nervous, you know, so God bless you, John, and keep preaching that word, because, you know, there's a lot of people out there that rely on you. Alan, thank you for the question.

You don't need to be nervous. The very fact, in just your brief statement, that you're thankful for the word of God, and that you rely on the word of God, is evidence that you're the child of God, because that is the first indication of salvation. You long for God. You long for his word. You desire to know the truth. I often explain it this way.

It's not the perfection of your life. It's the direction of your life. If you're a child of God, you love God. You love Christ.

You know, I've explained it just in simple ways. First of all, a true believer loves, loves God, loves the Lord Jesus, loves the word of God, loves the people of God, loves the church of God. And I don't mean there's perfect love, perfect undiluted affection, but there is a craving in the heart for all those realities.

The second thing that marks a true believer, not only love, but holiness. And by that, I simply mean there is a pursuit of what is right. There is a desire to do what is right. There's a sense of disappointment and guilt when you do what is wrong. So you embrace the things that belong to God in a way that moves you in the direction of sanctification.

Obviously, we don't go as fast or as direct in the path of sanctification as we wish we would, but that is the direction of our lives. And that means, we could say thirdly, obedience characterizes us. We want to hear the word of God in order to obey it. If you love me, Jesus says, you keep my commandments. The one who keeps my commandments, he is the one who belongs to me and belongs to the Father.

So don't look at the failures in your life. Look at the desires of your heart, desires to express love to God and all that is in his kingdom, a desire to pursue holiness and virtue, which translates into an eagerness to be obedient. And, friend, if, like Alan, you have a Bible-related question for John, call our Q&A line, 661-294-4200. Leave us a message with your question and you may hear John answer it on a future broadcast. Contact us today. The number for our Q&A line again, 661-295-6288. You can call anytime, just leave your question and you might hear John's answer on an upcoming broadcast.

Get in touch today. Once more, the Q&A line number, 661-295-6288. And for more immediate answers to your questions, pick up a copy of our flagship resource, the MacArthur Study Bible. The Study Bible has tools to help you understand what you're reading and to help you apply Scripture's life-changing power to your own life. That includes about 25,000 footnotes that explain virtually every verse in the Bible. And the Study Bible comes in the English Standard, New King James, and New American Standard versions.

It's available in a variety of bindings. And to order it, the MacArthur Study Bible, call us toll-free at 800-55-GRACE or you can shop online at our website, gty.org. One more time, that's our website, gty.org. And to leave your question for John on the Q&A line, in case you didn't get it down, here it is again, 661-295-6288. That's 661-295-6288. Now for John MacArthur and the entire Grace To You staff, I'm Phil Johnson inviting you back for tomorrow's broadcast when John continues his series that's all about rediscovering the Christ of Scripture. Join us for another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth, one verse at a time, on Grace To You.