LIMAVADY INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCH
SERMON NOTES FROM SUNDAY 21 MARCH 2021
JOHN 10 VERSES 7 - 11
Last Sunday we were thinking of our anniversary services. We looked at the verse in Revelation 3 "I have set before thee an open door and no man can shut it." (verse 8) We thought of the gospel message of how God provided the door, how God presented it and how God protected it. Hebrews 2 verse 3 "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation." The God of heaven still offers you his mercy and grace today. Let us consider another door we find here in John 10 verse 9 "I am the door by me if any man enter in he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture."
The simplicity of the door. In this Middle Eastern culture the shepherd would bring his sheep in from the hills at night then he himself would lie down at the entrance. He would make himself the door. Jesus was speaking here of the entrance into heaven - by him we shall be saved. I suppose it is at this point that many get confused. When we begin to think of the splendours of heaven, we sing and read about a place he has prepared. He told his disciples "I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know and the way ye know." (John 14 verses 3 and 4) No sin is allowed to enter in. There is no night in that place. Every pain is dispelled. We will never see the funeral director for there is no death there. We will not need the medical practitioner because there is no sickness. It is a place where there will be no crying for God shall wipe away every tear. We get confused because we think we need a difficult way to get to such a place yet it is so simple. The Lord stands before us and invites us to come to him. By doing that we shall be saved. He makes it so uncomplicated. Remember in Acts 16 the Philippian jailer was given charge of Paul and Silas. After he beat them he put them into a dark cell. He himself went to lie down and sleep. At midnight the foundations of the prison shook and the walls began to crumble. All the doors were opened. The jailer feared what would happen the next day when he would be charged with allowing the prisoners to escape. He would be put to death so he drew out his sword to kill himself. Paul shouts to him "do thyself no harm for we are all here." The jailer comes in to where Paul and Silas are and asks "what must I do to be saved?" He realised what he didn't have, he wasn't saved. Sin will mar you from heaven one day. This man is honest with himself. He acknowledges he is not saved. I am sure he wondered to himself 'what will I have to do?' Paul told him "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." I can imagine that cold, callous man asking himself 'surely it cannot be as simple as that?' The simplest of messages that is sometimes overlooked in this world. It must be very difficult to get saved. You must have to do this and that but the Bible says "believe on the Lord and be saved." D L Moody was holding a mission in a mining area. The owner of the local mine came under great conviction of sin and knew he needed to be saved. He spoke to Moody many times but he coulldn't fathom it. Surely it was not as easy as that, just believing in Christ dying for the sins of the world. He was always looking for a more difficult way yet it was so simple. Moody went to his mine one day, talked with the man at length and had lunch. The owner asked him if he would like to do down to the coal face. Moody asked "how do we get down." The owner replied "it is easy, just press the button, the door opens and you get in and are taken to the ground." Moody said he couldn't believe it would be that easy. The owner of the mine went on to explain how the lift was designed. The more he explained how the lift operated the gospel of saving grace dawned on him. The simplicity of the gospel became real to him. All that man had to do was to trust, depend, believe. That is all you have to do - believe. He left heavens glory, walked on this earth for 33 years with no sin. Then one day he was taken out to a hill called Calvary, there he suffered, bled and died for our sin. On the third day the tomb is empty, he has been raised from the dead and is now seated with his father in heaven to come again one day to the air for his people to take them home.
The sufficiency of this door. "By me if any man enter in". Not an angel could do this. No-one was sufficient to do it. Not Moses nor Elijah or Elisha. Jesus is all that we need. Think of the words "I am". He is the one who changes not. He is sufficient. When I think of the Old Testament sacrifices, when little lambs and bullocks were slain and the priests offered them as sacrifices, they could never save. They were insufficient to save the soul of a man or woman. The priest could never clear the conscience of anyone. It had to be continually repeated day after day, year after year. It could never take away the sin of the man and woman. Hebrews 10 verse 12 "And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God." Your sins were placed on his body. He died on the cross of Calvary once for all. Nothing more can be added to it or taken away. He sat down on the right hand of God. "Who was delivered for our offences and was raised again for our justification." (Romans 4 verse 25) The man of Gadara was demon possessed. Society gave up on him. They had tried many things but left him to wander amongst the tombstones. There he would cry out from the depths of his soul. He hurt himself. Everyone was afraid of him. One day the Lord came across his pathway. The man fell down at Jesus' feet. The demons cried out from him and with one word the Lord cast those demons out. The demons went out into the swine which ran down the hillside into the sea. The people heard of what had happened and came out to see. There was the man clothed and sitting at the feet of the Lord in his own mind. What a change the Lord makes. When society could do nothing, when the religious leaders could do nothing the Lord took over.
The security that is offered. "If any man enter in he shall be saved." His offering and sacrifice can secure the salvation of all who come. "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." There is not a sin that the Lord has not dealt with at the cross of Calvary. He presents him and then invites all to come to him. Will you take up that invitation today? Maybe you have rejected him time after time. He invites you to come. In the book of Genesis when the ark was being made, the Lord told Noah he would destroy the world because of sin. Before he would send judgment he would offer grace to a lost world. The ark was to be a place of safety and security. The details God gave - he spoke of the different floors but then he spoke of the door in the side of the ark. That door was sufficient and secure. The safety of everyone who would enter in. The door was tall enough to allow the greatest animal in, wide and low enough, sufficient for all. Not an animal was turned away. The Pharisees one time spoke to the disciples ridiculing Jesus - "this man receiveth sinners and eateth with them" (Luke 15 verse 2) How true that is if you are to take your place as a sinner. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. In Old Testament Isaiah said 'all we like sheep have gone astray, the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." The Lord bore my sin and your sin. He laid it upon him to atone for our sin. He waits for you to come.
The satisfying that was enjoyed. "And he shall go in and out and find pasture." This speaks of the freedom and liberty found in Christ. Many would say 'if I got saved I couldn't enjoy myself, I could never live like that." The Lord satisfies the longing in the sinners heart and soul. The Jewish religion brought bondage and misery. Galatians 5 verse 1 "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." Paul was speaking to those who had believed in Christ but were tempted to go back in to the old rituals. What Paul is saying is 'there is no satisfaction in circumcision, in the days we keep and the foods we eat.' John said "he whom the son sets free is free indeed." Will you come to Christ today? Will you trust him? Will you make your way to Calvary, acknowledge that Jesus has taken your sin on himself? What you have to do is simply accept it. He has done it all. Will you come to the door of heaven? "By me if any man enter in he shall be saved." Jesus also said "I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me." There is only one way and that is through faith in the Lord Jesus.
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