The Abundant Life Part 1: The Door - John 10:1-10

1:11You know, just as something you need to gather from religion, if you will, or from revelation, some basic questions that cannot be answered by science or by human observation. There are certain questions. Questions that can only be answered by divine revelation. Certain things we cannot know unless God tells us. Several of those questions, let me just throw out to you. How can I draw near to God? That's one of those questions that really is not the jurisdiction of science or human observation, but one that comes from direct revelation. How can I, how can you or I draw near to God? We need to know something about God. We need to know something about the approach. How can I be justified in His sight? A very important question.

2:05How can I be right in His sight? How can a sinner like me be reconciled to my Maker? How can we be reconciled to God? And then knowing that we have sinned, that we have fallen short, and there is something within us that we know that. We know that there is such thing as sin, and every honest soul will recognize, yeah, I'm part of that, guilty of it. So, how can I be reconciled? And really, boiling it all down, if you boiled it down to a simple question, what is the way into God's permanent blessing on my life? That's a question you really need to know the answer to. What is the way into God's blessing? What is the way into the abundant life that God has for his people? How do I get God's blessing on my life? And that's a question that science can't answer, but must come from direct revelation. Well, the answer to this question and many more that I just mentioned are going to be evident or become evident, the answers, as we work our way through John 10. Just to give you a brief overview of John 10, John 10, really, the first six verses start out with a figure of speech or a metaphor, an analogy that deals with sheep farming. And then, following that, Jesus is going to draw on this analogy for much of what comes later. He's going to call himself the door. And then from that same analogy, he's going to be the good shepherd. And after he works through his teaching on the door and the good shepherd, there's going to be this opposition, opposition that's experienced there at the Feast of Dedication in verse 22. And ultimately, that's going to result in them picking up stones and Jesus leaving again. And this time, he's going to leave Jerusalem and public life.

4:27And so he's going to focus on his disciples. So this morning, I want to look at what I call part one of the abundant life. The abundant life, I'm going to break this up into two parts. And if you look at verse 10, you'll see why I'm doing this. Verse 10 says, a thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I believe this isn't just a teaching about the good shepherd, but it's a teaching about the abundant life. And what happens right before verse 10 is Jesus claims to be the door to abundant life. He is the way into the abundant life. And right after verse 10, he goes into his statement that he is the good shepherd. He is the reason for the abundant life. So he is the way into it, and he is the one who leads his people into it.

5:25So he is both the door and the shepherd. Kind of hard to get your mind around. At first, this may seem very simple. First reading, it's pretty simple. Then it gets a little bit complicated. But then, as you think through it, it becomes very simple again. Look, Jesus is the truth, and yet he speaks the truth. So often he is the way, and he shows the way. And he is the door, and he is the one who leads us through the door.

6:00So, with all that, let's begin working our way this morning through the first 10 verses. Let me read to you this figure of speech, as it is called. Some of your Bibles may say the parable of the good shepherd. It's really not a parable. John doesn't use the word parable in verse 7 or verse 6. It's referred to as a figure of speech. Verse 6, this figure of speech, but really it's a metaphor. I would say the metaphor of the good shepherd, the analogy, it's more of a metaphor that he expands on. Let me just read to you the first five verses and get our minds around this. 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 is a thief and a robber. 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.

7:27So here you have the figure of speech. Now, This happens in connection with what just happened before in chapter 9. Remember, chapter 9 is all about this blind man who is healed, who Jesus finds and heals, and then the man is interrogated, goes through three rounds of interrogation, and then he is cast out of the synagogue. Jesus goes and he finds him, as a good shepherd would. And he reveals himself to him. And all this. And the last thing in verse 9: the Pharisees who were with him heard these things and said to him, We are not blind too, are we? Jesus said, If you were blind, you would have no sin, but since you say we see, your sin remains. And then he launches on, truly, truly, I say to you. So this is a continuation of speaking to these Pharisees who are saying, we are blind. You're not saying that we are blind too. And he's saying, truly, truly, I say to you. And he launches into this, what I call metaphor, which he is going to then expand.

8:42In part one, we're dealing with the door. We're just going to look at the door today, and next time we'll look at the good shepherd. But all of it is about abundant life. And you need to know how do you walk, how do you get into, how do you walk into. Come under the blessing of God on your life. And John chapter 10 lays it out there plain for us to understand. So, first, the analogy. The analogy, we looked at it. And by the way, verse 6, you can look at that. 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, in other words, they're not going to get it, and so he's going to go on. But just we're a little removed from sheep farming in the first century, not something that we automatically dial into and understand. So, I want to take some time this morning and really walk through this metaphor because Jesus is going to draw on it in the rest of this chapter. So, sheep farming.

9:54You can see, number one, we have a door. Anyone can guess where the door is? There it is. You see a door. This image up here, it's a stone enclosure that you would expect out in pasture. So, you have a door into the sheepfold, place of protection. You would go there at night with your, you'd take your flocks out during the day and you would lead them into one of these enclosures. There is also a doorkeeper. You see the doorkeeper there.

10:30Some of these parts, as you were out with multiple different flocks all over the field, with different shepherds, you would have a collective sheep compound. And different flocks would come into the compound, and you would hire or you would put a doorkeeper there while the shepherd went and got some rest himself, and he would come the next morning and call out his sheep. And I believe the doorkeeper in this passage is a signal that this is the custom that's happening here. That we've got a doorkeeper who keeps. Now, what do you think his job is?

11:11Take care of the sheep, right? Heap out, keep prepared. He's got to take care of it. So you've got a doorkeeper in this analogy. Now you have some sheep. Anyone can guess where they are? There they are. And oftentimes, like I said before, sometimes there's sheep that belong to different shepherds. So you may have several flocks in this one pen that belong to different shepherds. So you have a door, you have a doorkeeper, you have sheep, and then you have a thief, right? Thief will be big. And where is he? Well, he comes over the edge. Now, why does he not go through the door?

11:53The doorkeeper is probably not going to let him in there, right? What does he want to do? He wants. To yeah, he's a thief, he's a robber, he wants to, he has something on his mind for the sheep, right? And it probably has something to do with personal gain. Do you think he's coming there to feed the sheep? Do you think he's coming there to clean them up? And no, that's not. No, he wants to do what? He probably wants to barbecue. Yeah, he wants it, he wants their wool, and then he, and he, so he, and he knows that the doorkeeper is not going to go for that, so he has to come over a different way, right? Okay, so you have a thief and robbers, and then you have a shepherd. Now, I put the shepherd as coming in, so here's the shepherd, he is going to be large in this whole passage. And the shepherd, in the custom, after spending the night, after having he'd come in the morning, and what would the doorkeeper's responsibility be to this shepherd?

12:59Let him in, right? Oh, you're the shepherd. Okay, Regan, you're come on in. Good shepherd. So then the shepherd would go in and call out his sheep, and he would call them out by name. And he would lead them. The sheep would follow him. In fact, you can still see this today, where you'll have these shepherds in the Near East today, and they'll put their sheep in the same pen, and in the morning, or when it comes to time, they will start. Calling their sheep. And one shepherd will go to one place, one shepherd will go to another place, and the shepherd will start calling his sheep. And one by one, you will see the sheep separate and go after their shepherd whose voice they recognize. Very different from how we handle sheep in the West, right? What's the primary way you handle sheep in the West? Do you call them or you drive them, right? A little more, that's what I remember years ago. I saw a movie, and I don't talk about movies very much, but there was one about a little pig that led sheep around, right? And there was all these sheep dogs that would drive them, right? And this pig had some special way with them. But that gives you a picture of how we view shepherding in the West. It's drive the sheep, make them go. Very different in the Near East. It's a calling, and the sheep get to know the shepherd, and they won't listen to anyone else. In fact, the voice of someone else kind of scares them. But a sheep of their, or the sheep will hear the voice of their shepherd and follow. Intimate relationship. And they follow him, verse 4, because they know his voice. That's why they follow him. A stranger, they simply will not follow, but will flee from him. Because they do not know the voice of strangers. Well, so this is the figure of speech. In the backdrop of what's just happened in chapter 9.

15:13And so in verse 6, look back, the figure of speech, Jesus spoke to them, they didn't understand. So we're not getting it. They didn't understand what he was saying. And then he gives them this figure of speech, this analogy, and they don't understand it. So, they didn't understand it. So, beginning in verse 7, Jesus is going to expand on this metaphor. He's going to expand on this analogy, and he's going to go into more detail. First, in verses 7 through 10, he's going to declare himself to be the door. And then he's going to go on after that, beginning in verse 11, and call himself the good shepherd. The door explains the way into the abundant life, and the shepherd explains why the abundant life. And that's what we'll be looking at the next couple weeks. But first, let's look at the door.

16:22Let's just pick it up in verse 6, just so you can see 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, because they didn't understand, beginning in verse 7, 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.

17:08What's the purpose of a door? A door is to connect one place to another, right? It's the passageway from one place to another. Jesus is the door into abundant life with God, and that's what he is saying. So, a question to you, very personally. Have you begun to enjoy the abundant life? Let me put it this way: Are you one of his sheep? Are you one of his people? Because if you are one of his people, you have already begun to experience, you do hear his voice.

17:54The verbs are very clear on this. So, how do we? Understand this. Are you now walking through the door? Is Jesus your door? Are you walking through the door into God's abundant life? Well, to help get our minds around this, I want you to look at five characteristics. I want you to see five characteristics of those who have already begun to enjoy eternal life or enjoy abundant life. And I want to look at these characteristics so that you can gauge yourself. Do I belong to Him? Am I walking through the door? Or am I walking through some other way that leads to something other than abundant life as God defines it? Well, we'll just start working our way through that. So we looked at the analogy. Now we're going to look at Jesus as the door in verses 7 through 10. So first of all, five characteristics of those who experience abundant life. First characteristic is they identify phony religious leaders. They identify the phony religious leaders. Look at verse 7. I am the door of the sheep.

19:27Verse 8, all who came before me are. Are thieves and robbers. Word thief, think of Judas for a minute. Judas took things for his own benefit. That's what a thief does, right? A thief sees something, wants it, takes it for his own benefit, without regard to what it causes or what that loss causes someone else. A robber. John will use this word here to describe Barabbas in chapter 18. That's a revolutionary, an insurrectionist, somebody who overthrows the law, who doesn't care for the law or what's appropriate. And so all who came before me are thieves. They come to take something that's not there.

20:23They despise law or they reject law and seek their own way. So what Jesus does here is he is contrasting himself with those teachers in Judaism. And I believe we're in a pen right here that he's talking about Judaism, all of Judaism. He's going to speak of another pen a little bit later, which is referring to the Gentiles in verse 16, sheep in other. But here, he's talking about this pen. Representing the religious establishment of his day. And he makes this statement that all who came before me are thieves and robbers. Now, who, what is he getting at there? Certainly he's not talking about Moses or the true prophets who looked forward to Christ coming, who spoke about it, who came through the proper way, pointed to the proper way, brought themselves. So what is he saying here? Well, I don't think he's speaking about just time. He's talking about, unless it's part of the imagery, it's very much, it could be part of this imagery that in the morning the shepherd would go out to his flock after the doorkeeper had kept him safe all night, and the shepherd would go in the morning, and all who would come through the night, everybody who gets there before them, is a thief and a robber because he doesn't have quite the ownership of the flock. And so those thieves and robbers have to come in the canopy of night, jump over the gate. And I think that's very possible, very likely, that could be part of the imagery. But certainly, anyone who comes before Jesus as a matter of priority, that is, those who would come, not so much who've come before him, but those who would take precedence over him. And I think both fit here. He's not talking about Moses or those before him. But perhaps he's talking about those false religious leaders, even false messiahs that had come on the scene. There had been several before his time. They are messianic, make-believe pretenders. They will promise freedom. They will get the nation to follow them, but they will lead them into war. They'll promise freedom, promise victory, promise abundant life and all that well-being and all that, but they will, history shows that they would lead them into war, slavery, ruin, etc.

23:09You see, thieves and robbers, when you boil it down, are those who do not honor the Christ of Scripture. They come in some other way. They elevate themselves over, in some way, over the Christ of Scripture. They do not fit the biblical criteria. They have no desire to come into compliance in the proper way, so that's why they go another way. But the fundamental thing about thieves and robbers is that they seek personal gain at the expense of the sheep, right? They want something from the sheep, and they seek personal gain from the sheep. In contrast to that, Jesus gives good things to the sheep, he takes care of the sheep. Of the sheep.

24:02And he does so at his own personal expense. He doesn't look for the sheep to meet his needs. He comes to meet their needs. That's the difference. And Jesus is contrasting himself with the religious leaders of Jerusalem at this time who have already tried to stone him. And John is bringing this to the forefront in the center of his gospel so that we will be able to come to grips with that. Who are we going to listen to? Who are we going to follow? Look at what happens in going back to chapter 9, verse 3. They were asking about who is this blind man? Did he sin or who sinned? Why was he born blind? Jesus answered, it was neither that this man sinned nor his parents, but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me as long as it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. And while I am in the world, I am the light of the world. And when he had said this, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle, applied it to the eyes, said, Go and wash. And the man came back seeing.

25:12That's what he does. He comes to give. But those who experience the abundant life, like this blind man, they identify phony religious leaders. They can recognize. A thief and a wolf or something that's not quite right. Second characteristic of those who experience the abundant life, they do not listen to these phony religious leaders. For some reason, they don't hear that voice. It's a strange voice. They don't hear. Look at all who came before me are thieves and robbers, verse 8. But the sheep did not hear him. The sheep are known by who they listen to. Who do you listen to?

26:12God's people do not listen to the voice of false teachers. There's something in them. Their ownership has already established. They know better. And by the way, sheep do not know much at all. But they can tell a thief when they see one. They can tell when something's not right. Look back at this guy in verse 24 of chapter 9. Remember, they had interrogated the man, they interrogated his parents, and then, so a second time in verse 24, they called the man who had been blind and said to him, Give glory to God. Know that this man is a sinner. This man said, Whether he's a sinner, I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.

27:13And they said, Well, what did he do to you? And he said, Look, I already told you, you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don't want to become his disciple, do you? I mean, this guy doesn't, he doesn't have any of the learning that these men. He is way overpowered by hours in the classroom. And yet he knew. You guys are off on this one. Third. Those who experience abundant life believe Jesus's exclusive claims.

27:54Look at verse 9. I am the door. I am the door. I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved and will go out and find pasture. So he says it a second time. I am a door. If anyone, anyone enters through me, that is an active, active voice. If anyone enters through me, if somebody hears about me and they let me shape their thinking and they enter that. That's the idea. If they enter through me, he will be saved, passive. He will future, go in and future, go out and find pasture. Going back to that imagery, if anyone who enters through me, that is, if you let God, if you let Christ Himself influence your mind and teach your mind how to think about God, how to think about sin, how to think about yourself, and how to relate to God and how to approach God. If you let Jesus do all of this, you are entering through Him. And if you will enter through Him, here are the promises: He will be saved, passive. That will happen.

29:17And then the future will be one of entering, going in and coming out and finding pasture, going back to that shepherding imagery, coming out, in and out. Now, what the idea of salvation, right? To be saved. What is that, right? It's in the imagery here. It's protection, it's well-being, it's the whole process by which people are delivered from the consequences of their sin and brought under the favor of God. All that, to be saved, that's all incorporated in it. Just like the sheep, they have protection at night, they have food during the day, they have. All of that. It's the picture of health and well-being to be saved.

30:10And the only way here of that happening is going through the door of Christ. He is the only means of receiving eternal life, the only means of receiving abundant life. And this word for pasture is very interesting. It's the word for spreading. The one who is entering, that is being informed by Christ, letting the Christ of Scripture define your thinking, you will not only be saved, but you will enter. You will find a large spreading. You will find pasture. That's the idea, a large spreading.

30:53In other words, knowledge of God leads to nourishment, spiritual nourishment, leads to spiritual safety. Jesus alone leads into a luxurious forage, a luxurious pasture, widespreading, lots of room, well-being. Very vivid imagery there. And Jesus is going to explain a similar thought in chapter 14, verse 5. Thomas says, Lord, we don't know where you're going. And Jesus says, I am the way. I am the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me.

31:38So to pass through Jesus as the only door means that you let Jesus define who God is. Let Jesus define what God is like and set the thinking of your mind. That's what it means to pass through the door of Christ. There are many. Many phony religious leaders out there. And the one thing they all have in common is they're out of compliance with the Christ of Scripture. And those who experience the abundant life, they do not listen. They can identify what's out of sync with the Christ of Scripture. They do not listen to them. And they are not afraid of Jesus' exclusive claims. And they believe them.

32:32Fourth, characteristic of those who experience abundant life. They understand the outcome of false systems. They understand the outcome of false systems and where all this leads. Look at verse 10. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. Now think about this. A thief doesn't come into your house at night to bless you. Does he? What is he? He comes only. Why does he come? Jesus is saying the thief comes only. If not, the only purpose he's coming is to steal, to slaughter, and to destroy. The thief coming over the wall, his intention is to get a sheep, slaughter it, and destroy anything going on. He doesn't care about the sheep.

33:25The thief, by nature, wants what's not rightfully his, and he'll do whatever is necessary to take it. You know, we had a thief break into our house when we were living in California. I had bought Nancy this really nice flute. It was all silver, and she really loved it. And you know what? The thief broke in, and after we realized he had broken in, you know what? I didn't go up to my wife and say, honey, look, the thief came in and polished your flute.

34:04No, he took it, right? Look, he came in and he washed our windows. No, he didn't do any of that stuff, right? That's not what they do. You know, there are many, and you don't have to look further than the last century. There are many political saviors on this scene. They promise freedom. They promise security. They promise well-being. And you can look no further than the males, the mouths, the. Stalins, the Pol Pots, the Hitlers, and all this, and you find out they don't come giving all of this stuff. They actually come confiscating, trampling human life, and destroying everything that's valuable in a society.

34:51Look back at a guy in chapter 9, verse 30. These guys, this guy understood that the outcome where the Pharisees were going was wrong. Verse 30, the man answered, or this is what they say in verse 29: We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he is from. The man answered and said to them, Well, here is an amazing thing. You do not know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not hear sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and does his will, he hears him. And the guy is saying, Now, this is what's really amazing in this whole thing: you don't get where this guy is from.

35:48Even more amazing than my eyes being opened is the fact that you don't see this. Listen, every false religious system is the There because they want something from the sheep. They want something that doesn't rightfully belong to them. And that ends up in killing and slaughtering and destroying. Five characteristics of those who experience abundant life. First, they identify phony religious leaders. Second, they do not listen to them. Third, they believe Jesus' exclusive claim. Fourth, they understand the outcome of false systems. Five, they do not hesitate to follow wherever Jesus leads. Look back there at verse 10. I came that they may have life and have it more abundantly.

36:45And that word for abundance here is excessive. It's remarkably, it's exceedingly. I have come that they may have life excessively. And what he's talking about here is not in our carnal way of thinking about abundance, but it's in his way of saying, I will give to them a life that's worth living, a life that's worth going through and living and experiencing. They will experience my protection. They will experience everything. That's why I came. That's why I came.

37:27Of course, he's talking about the abundant life that he. Worth living. You see, coming back to this whole shepherding imagery, drawing from the thoughts that are here, coming back to this extended metaphor, the whole idea of abundance or in this metaphorical context deals with sheep. You know what? Fat sheep are abundant sheep, right? Fat sheep, contented sheep, sheep that are flourishing, sheep that are doing well, sheep that are not terrorized, being terrorized or being fleeced by bandits and people that would do them harm.

38:07So, what Jesus is promising here, and the reason he came, is to give them a life that is abundant, a life worth living. And this is exactly what this blind man found. If you remember, look back at verse 35 of chapter 9 after he had been put out of the synagogue. Guess what Jesus does? The good shepherd goes out and he finds him. And he finds them. And he said, Do you believe in the Son of Man? And he answered, Who is he, Lord? That I may believe in him. Jesus said to him, You have both seen him, and he is the one talking with you. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. You see, this guy was not at all hesitating to go for Christ. Christ was leading him.

39:02And when it meant bowing down in worship, he simply said, Yes, I will go. And friends, do not hesitate to go where the Christ of Scripture leads us. Every exclusive claim, everything he says, everything he says about God, everything he says about his father, everything he says about life in this world, everything that he says is good, and everything he says to be shunned, his exclusiveness, his only way to salvation. Do not hesitate to embrace all that he says.

39:39Those who do are going through the door. Embrace his morality. Embrace his way. Do not hesitate to abandon and go where he goes. That's John's message. That's his purpose for writing this book. Don't hesitate any longer. Well, doors are necessary to go from one place into another. And in this life, we are passing through one door or another. What is the way into God's permanent blessing on your life? Well, hear his word. Believe, think as Jesus thought, act as Jesus acts, obey as Jesus, obey Jesus' word, obey as he obeyed, and enjoy his presence. He is not only the door, but he is the good shepherd, he is not only our lamb, but he is our temple, he is our home, he is our rest in this world. That is where our spirit dwells.

40:56And those who will dwell with Christ, even in this world, will experience a life that's worth living way exceedingly beyond you can imagine. And I'm not talking in the simple pleasure-fallen definition talking about in His and even some of the hardest things that happen if you're in fellowship with your great shepherd. It is another avenue to experience the abundant life. Let's pray, Heavenly Father. We want to experience and enjoy the abundant life that you have come to give us.

41:57Forgive our unbelief. I know there are many of us. This room here, Father, that are not walking in this abundant life, but are trusting in various philosophies, thoughts, and in their own ways. Father, and all that is orchestrated by a thief, a great thief, who is the man-killer, who delights not in seeing our well-being, but delights in our destruction. And why he thinks like that, I have no idea that anything could be so evil. Father, keep us from following after, being enticed by the thieves and the robbers.

42:43Help us to give us, give you what is rightfully yours. You came that your people might have life more abundantly. Lord, let us be those people. Let us hear your voice. And that's what we ask today. In Christ's name, amen. I want you to continue to pray for just a moment.