Revelation 3:8 (KJV) ~ I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.
I have been told many times, by several people, that when God closes one door He another opens. There can be doors of opportunities; doors that lead you from one place to another. It is interesting to note that God shut the door of the Ark in the time of Noah until it was the right time for the door of the Ark to be opened. Even if Noah had tried to open the door of the Ark it would not have happened until it was the right time to do so. If we are truly obedient to the Lord, if we are, in one sense, safe within the Ark of His will, then whatever door He shuts let us have the wisdom to submit to His will until He opens a new a door. God shuts a door for a reason, and He opens one at the right time.
The Apostle Paul spoke about an open door in 2 Corinthians 2:12 (The Message), “When I arrived in Troas to proclaim the Message of the Messiah, I found the place wide open.” God had opened the door, and all he had to do was walk through it. Also, the same term is used in Colossians 4:3 (NIV), “…and pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message”; an open door to walk through into a new area of fresh blessings, new beginnings, and of new opportunities to be an effective witness for the Lord.
We can come before one door after another in our journey of faith, and life can be one door after another. The Bible says in Hosea 2:15 (KJV), “And I will give her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope.” In other words, He will open a door of hope in your valley of despair.
His door is one which leads to a new beginning, a fresh start. For example, we come to Jesus Christ who is God’s front door of Salvation. He is the Gate which we walk through and find Life. At Calvary God hung that door, with Jesus Christ on the lintel of a wooden cross, and used the nails as hinges. It is now up to each and every one of us to enter in through and by God’s front door of Salvation. It is the place we go to if we want to cross from death to life. Just as there is only one door to our heart, so there is only one door to the heart of God and that is where we find Jesus Christ. If we knock on the door of His heart, it will be opened unto us. It is there we enter in and are saved. It is there we find fresh (heavenly) pasture, through Jesus Christ, God’s front door.
My friend, we can push and shove with all our might against a door hoping it will open for us, but if we are fully trusting in the Lord and we will allow Him to open the doors which need to be opened and close those which are not the right ones for us, we will find peace. For our text for today says in Revelation 3:8 (KJV), “I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.” Let us, this day, trust God to open the right doors for us, albeit with the right employment opportunity, or an opportunity to spread the gospel and engage in the work of the ministry. Let us walk through every open door God has for us, knowing that His protection, provision, peace and power will be with us with every step we take. Let us fully trust Him, for it truly is God who opens the right door for us at the right time.
Consider. Have you entered into the church of God by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you experiencing spiritual nourishment in Christ?
"If anyone enters through Me" - John 10:9
Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me" (John 14:6).
"He will be saved"
HELPS Word-Studies defines saved as rescued from destruction and brought into divine safety (Ref. 5).
"And will go in and out and find pasture"
Through Jesus (because he is the door), we have security for our daily needs and nourishment for our souls. Under the care of Jesus, we find pasture - food for our souls (Ref. 7). David wrote, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters" (Psalm 23:1-2 KJV).
The narrow door has a “fraud detector,” too. A mere surface association with Jesus will not make it through: “Lord, open to us. We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.” But the master of the house will turn them away, saying, “I don’t know you or where you come from. Depart from me!” With this door, there is no sneaking past security.
You see, there is just one door, and it is narrow, but that door is open, and it leads to salvation! Come in through the way that is Jesus, the new and living way that he opened for us–by his coming in the flesh, by the blood that he shed for us on the cross. Notice in our text that it says Jesus was “journeying toward Jerusalem.” There, in Jerusalem, Jesus would open the door for us. Christ, the everlasting Son of the Father, took upon himself all our sins, all that would block us and exclude us from God’s presence. Jesus suffered that exclusion in our place, when he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
By his death on the cross, now the way for us sinners has been opened up. It is as open as the empty tomb with the stone rolled away. Christ has overcome the sharpness of death and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. The door is open! Jesus is our open door! We enter through faith in him.
Well, it is. But going in still is an effort, it involves a struggle. We strive and struggle against our own flesh. You and I are saints and sinners at the same time, and our Old Adam is at war with the new man. So we struggle every day with sin and temptation, the temptation to not listen to God, to not trust in God above all things. We do battle against the devil, the world, and our flesh. That’s where the striving and the struggling comes in. It’s why the way of salvation involves a certain effort. Yes, salvation is all God’s work for us in Christ, entirely apart from our works of self-justification. But because our life is lived in this fallen world and in this sinful flesh, therefore it does involve a striving and a struggle. That’s what Jesus means when he says, “Strive to enter.”
“Strive.” The Greek word that’s used here is “agonizo,” from which we get our English word, “agonize.” It’s the word that was used in Greek of athletes in competition, like at the Olympics. Those athletes “agonize” to win the prize. Same here. We agonize, we sweat and strive and struggle. We press on to run the race, keeping our eyes on the prize, the crown of life that God freely awards us for Christ’s sake. The paradox of the Christian life is that it’s an absolute gift and an agonizing struggle at the same time. “Strive to enter through the narrow door.”
The door is narrow, but the door is open. It is open right now, for you. “Behold, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” Right now, as you hear the living voice of the gospel, God is opening his door to you. God is speaking to you, inviting you in. He is welcoming you in with open arms. Yes, come to the feast of salvation, enter the kingdom of God. Enter through faith in Christ, God’s open, narrow door.
The message of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone is a constant reminder of man's inability to save himself. It is a message that Jesus Christ alone is able to make atonement for our sins. It is the message that there is only one way of salvation. It is a reminder that there is a future judgment against sin for all who reject Christ as the only door to salvation. How you respond to Jesus Christ in this life determines where you will spend eternity.
The Gospel of John describes a man born blind who came to a saving relationship with the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. He not only received physical sight, but he received spiritual sight as well. As the Light of the Word, Jesus caused faith to sprout and grow in that man's life. But the spiritually bind religious leaders hated the Son of God, and tried to extinguish His light. The Pharisees excommunicated the man born blind, who was now healed, from the whole order of life of the Jews. When Jesus heard what they had done to the man Jesus asked him, "Do you believe in the Son of Man? (John 9:35). The little man who is now fighting for his life responded, "And who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?" Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you." His response was, "Lord, I believe." "And he worshiped Him" (v. 38).
The blind man was confronted with Jesus Christ, and Christ became the deciding and the turning point in the blind man's life. The man believed and worshiped Jesus Christ. From that moment the man entered into eternal life. For that man Jesus Christ was the doorway into eternal life.
The critical question to be asked and answered is: What is your relationship with Jesus Christ?
After the man worshipped Jesus, Christ said to those gathered around looking on, "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see; and that those who see may become blind" (v. 39). The self-righteous Pharisees rejected the Light of the World. We could paraphrase Jesus words to the Pharisees, "You who claim to have spiritual sight apart from Me may be demonstrated to be the blind men that you really are." The blind leaders of the blind seized the moment and asked, "We are not blind, are we?" (v. 40). Jesus responded, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see'; your sin remains. 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" (9:41-10:2).
These religious leaders claimed spiritual knowledge, yet they were completely blind. They rejected the Son of God. They claimed to have sight, but acted like the blind. Their sin remained and they were condemned for all eternity. It never occurred to these religious leaders that they could be spiritually blind. Jesus did not tell them they were spiritually blind, but they came to that powerful conclusion and refused to act upon it, except in a hostile manner.
I agree with many scholars that there is no break between these two chapters. Jesus tells an allegory to illustrate the blindness of the Pharisees as false shepherds, and of Himself as both the Door and the Good Shepherd.
As the Door, Jesus is the one and only way of entrance into salvation. As the Good Shepherd He is the one who cares for the sheep and provides for their salvation at the cost of His life. He lays down His life for the sheep. On the other hand, the two figures bring out strong contrasts. When Jesus considers Himself as the Door He brands those who do not use the Door as thieves and robbers. When He thinks of Himself as the Good Shepherd He contrasts Himself to the evil hireling shepherds. They are not interested in the welfare of the sheep, but the Good Shepherd gives His life for His sheep. The essential thing in this parable is the Good Shepherd lays down His life voluntarily for the well-being of His sheep. Jesus has the power to lay it down and take it up again.
SHEPHERDS AND SHEEPFOLDS
The hostility of the Pharisees against the man born blind demonstrates that they are false shepherds. Jesus, on the other hand, is the Good Shepherd.
The sovereign shepherd
Shepherds are a power image in the Old Testament for leaders, both politically and spiritually. Here Jesus distinguishes His own ministry from the false shepherds of Israel (cf. Isa. 56:9-12; Ezek. 34; Jer. 23:1-4; 25:32-38; Zech. 11; Ps. 23; 80:1; Isa. 40:10ff). A false shepherd of Israel failed to perform his divine responsibilities. However, the prophets looked forward to the divinely sent Shepherd after God's own heart who is like the shepherd David. "Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd" (Ezekiel 34:23). John chapter ten powerfully declares the fulfillment of this great Messianic prophecy. Jesus introduces Himself as the Shepherd like unto David. Israel's true Shepherd is the Good Shepherd.
It is true the shepherd provided care for his flock, but he was also a powerful sovereign. He was absolute ruler over his sheep. He determined their coming and going into the fold, and where they would eat. He determined when they would be sheered, how they would be provided for, and even decided which ones would be sacrificed for the sin of the shepherd and his family.
John chapter ten sets forth Jesus as the true Ruler and Shepherd of His own people. Jesus is the ideal messianic ruler. He is the very opposite of the false shepherds. Here we see the nature and purpose of the Good Shepherd. He provides for His sheep even to the extent of laying down His own life for them. He alone has this power to choose the manner of His own death, when He will die and when He will rise again from the dead. No one else has that kind of sovereignty.
The rightful shepherd
"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" (John 10:1-2). "For certain, for certain," literally, "Amen, Amen," is always used in the Gospel of John when Jesus is introducing a very important and power statement regarding our salvation. The word "amen" means "to confirm," therefore it was used to give one's assent. It is the response of the congregation to a prayer which just been uttered in worship of the living God. Listen carefully because Jesus is going to make a significant statement that relates to your eternal life. It is a solemn, true and significant statement. It always implies something regarding our knowledge of Christ. It is in truth, the very truth. It is a most solemn truth that must be believed about Christ. Your response to that truth determines your eternal destiny.
Jesus uses the expression, "Amen, amen" like the prophets who declared, "As I live, says the Lord." He speaks with all the authority of the Kingdom of God.
During the time of Christ the sheep were herded in a walled enclosure, with briars and long thorny vines growing on top, mostly open to the sky, but providing protection from thieves and wolves at night. The actual word Jesus uses means a courtyard, thus a place where sheep are herded, a sheepfold. There was one door that was guarded by a door-keeper.
Jesus said if a man does not enter by the door, and climbs over the wall, he is up to no good. He is castigated as a thief and a robber. The word "thief" means a sneak-thief using deception to get to the sheep. He steals cunningly or by stealth. "Robber" is one who is eager to engage in violence to plunder the sheep. He steels by violence. However, the Good Shepherd enters by the door because He has a right to enter through that door. He is recognized by the door-keeper as the legitimate shepherd. Jesus pictures a large fold where several flocks find shelter. One door-keeper can thus look after a large number of sheep composed of several flocks. The Good Shepherd goes in through the door as opposed to the thieves who climb over the walls to rob and destroy. It is His right to enter because He owns the sheep and He has come to claim them. The Shepherd comes to call His sheep and they hear His voice and they follow Him out to pasture.
Keep in mind those who are gathered around listening to the allegory as Jesus tells it. Note the climax to the evil of the false shepherds, "he is a thief and a robber" (v. 1). That is what the Pharisees were doing to this blind man in chapter nine.
When the shepherd arrives in the morning, even before dawn, he calls out his sheep, who hear his voice and respond only to his call. The Palestinian shepherd had an individual call for each of his sheep. Thus, the individual sheep know their shepherd's voice and recognize his call to each of his own. They come to their shepherd and he leads them out to pasture. It is significant that the shepherd does not call sheep in general. He calls his own sheep with a distinct call that they recognize and respond to.
Many travelers to Palestine have described sheep and their shepherds going to the sheep pens to get their flocks. The sheep were all mixed together in a common pen for the night. When the morning came one of the shepherds stood some distance from the sheep and began to call his sheep. First one, then another, then four or five animals ran towards him. In a few minutes he had counted his whole flock and headed off to the luscious green fields with them.
When all the sheep are together the shepherd leads them out to their destination. The sheep hear his voice and follow their shepherd. They follow because they know their shepherd's voice.
The man born blind heard the voice and responded to the call of his shepherd, even while the Pharisees were climbing over the walls of religious activity to steal, plunder and destroy God's fold.
Jesus presented Himself to Judaism to call out a body that the Father had given Him. He will later call out sheep from other folds that there might be one great flock.
Jesus knows His 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" (vv. 3-5).
The following verse informs us that the blind religious leaders listening to the allegory still did not understand this spiritual truth in this allegory.
It is a great Biblical truth that those who respond and follow Jesus Christ will not lack any good thing they need for a right relationship with the Lord God. "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want." Not only does He provides us with all good things we need, but we will also dwell in the house of the Lord forever. We will enjoy eternal fellowship with Him.
Moreover, "We are His people, the sheep of His pasture" (Ps. 100:3). The Lord God, "tends His flock like a shepherd. He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young" (Isaiah 40:11). No wonder we have no need.
Our Good Shepherd is pictured walking before His sheep. He is always leading us into green pastures of spiritual refreshment. He knows where to take us and make us lie down and rest. He does not drive His sheep, He leads them. The sheep follow because they know their shepherd's voice. Why, they are accustomed to His voice. They are in the habit of following Him.
However, when a stranger appears on the scene and attempts to call the sheep out, they absolutely will not follow him. Jesus used a double negative (ou me) in the Greek. When the stranger comes whom they do not recognize they flee for their lives. They do not now the voice of the stranger and will not respond to his call.
Have you heard His voice and responded to His call?
The Lord Jesus Christ knows His sheep and they respond to Him. Jesus calls His sheep by name. Jesus comes to the door of the sheepfold and, knowing His sheep in advance, calls them and leads them out. All those are saved whom God has given Jesus.
Jesus saw a man named Matthew, sitting in the tax collector's booth; and He said to him, "Follow Me!" And he got up and followed Jesus (Matt. 9:9). Here was a lone sheep of Christ. The Shepherd called him; he recognized His voice, and promptly followed Him.
Jesus looked up into a tree and said, "Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house" (Luke 19:5). Here was one of the sheep, called by name. The response was prompt, for we are told, "And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly" (v. 6).
Jesus "found Philip." And Jesus said to him, "Follow Me" (Jn. 1:43). This shows us the Shepherd seeking His sheep before he called him.
John chapter 11 supplies us with a still more striking example of the drawing power of the Shepherd's voice as he called His own sheep. There we read of Lazarus, in the grave; but when Christ calls His sheep by name—"Lazarus, come forth"—the sheep at once responded.
Jesus said His sheep know His voice. Mary Magdalene was in the garden and she found the stone rolled away, and the body of Jesus gone. Suddenly as she stood there weeping in the cemetery the risen Christ stands by her and "she knew not that it was Jesus." He spoke to her, but the thought He was the gardener. Then she identified Him and said, "Rabboni!" Jesus said, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren, and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God' " (v. 17). No one believed her testimony that day until they saw Jesus themselves. A. W. Pink says, "The moment He called His sheep by name she knew His voice!"
Grace, marvelous, beautiful, saving grace! God doesn't call us any differently today than He has always called sinners to Himself. This is how He calls you. He knows you. He knows you with all your failures and sin. But He also knows what He is going to make of you through His saving grace. His goal is to make you like Himself. Do you hear His calling? Have you responded to His voice? Your eternal destiny is determined by how you respond to His calling.
Have you gone through the door?
JESUS IS THE DOOR
Christ changed the image slightly as He clarified His powerful message. Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep" (v. 7).
Jesus compels his listeners to hear and respond. "For certain, for certain," "truly, truly," "amen, amen" beckons us to be quiet, be alert, listen with rapt attention to His words. Those who hear His voice and respond follow Him through the door into eternal life.
"I am the Door of the sheep"
Go back to the sheepfold imagery once again. The sheep are with their shepherd inside the stone enclosure during the night. There was no door of any kind in these enclosures. In place of the door there was just an open space. At night after the shepherd called in his sheep and herded them within the fold, and then the shepherd himself lay down across the opening and entrance into the sheepfold. The shepherd was the door. No sheep could get out and no enemy could come in except over his body. In a very literal sense, the shepherd was the door. There was no way in or out except through him.
Jesus is alone the door. "He, and He alone, is, and is always, the door." For every true under-shepherd Jesus is also the door to the sheep. For the sheep Jesus is the door to all the blessings of eternal life.
Jesus is saying, "I, and I alone, I and no other am the Door of the sheep." Jesus is the one and only gate into heaven. Jesus Christ is the sole way to God. There is no other way. In John 14:6, Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." If there is no Christ, there is no way to God. If He is not the Door, there is no entrance into God's presence. As the Door Jesus is the one way of entrance into salvation. As the Good Shepherd He is the One who cares for the sheep and provides for their salvation at the cost of His own life.
The image of the door conveys to the listener a certain exclusivity. There may conceivably be more ways than one of getting to a place. However, by the use of the door Jesus has already made it clear that there is but one door. There is only one exit into eternal life. It is through Jesus Christ. Once you have entered through the Door it is impossible to be tolerant of the various false ways which can lead only to eternal condemnation in hell.
How can Jesus make such claims as to be the only door to salvation and eternal life? What makes Him so unique? How can He make such a statement of sovereign grace?
"I am"
Jesus can make such remarkable claims because He is the "I AM" (v. 7). "I am the door of the sheep." Everything He said make good sense since He is who He said He is and He is who He claimed to be. In this great awesome statement Jesus claimed to be God. We deserve to die for our own sins, but the perfect Son of God was without sin. He was the holy and righteous God who came to save His people from their sins. He came and died as our substitute. By means of His death for our sins and His resurrection He literally became the Door or Gate by which sinful people can come into the presence of God. He is the "new and living way" (Heb. 10:20), and it is "through Him we . . . have access . . . to the Father" (Eph. 2:18).
There is only one Door and Christ Himself is that Door! "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
Your eternal destiny
"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. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep" (vv. 8-11).
The individual who puts his trust in Jesus Christ is made alive spiritually. He receives life, a spiritual life that begins the moment he puts his faith in Christ, and that new life in Christ continues throughout eternity. It is the kind of life Jesus Christ has. It is a contented life, a life of peace with God, knowing all of your sins have been forgiven, and security that you will be with God all your life, even when you die physically.
"I am the door, if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture" (v. 9). A second time Jesus says He is the door. "By me" or "through Me" are in the emphatic position in the original. It is Jesus Christ and no other who enables men to enter salvation. There is a certain exclusiveness about "the door." The politically correct world does not like those words of Jesus. If there is one door then men must enter by it or stay outside. They cannot demand another door. He makes it clear that salvation was the purpose of Jesus' coming (3:16-17; 5:34; 12:47). Salvation is the comprehensive term for the whole process whereby men are delivered from the consequences of their sin and brought into an eternal saving relationship with God. John uses the term "saved" much the same way he does for a person having "eternal life."
Moreover, it is a life that is filled with the confidence that your Shepherd is equal to every emergency and supplies all your genuine needs according to the riches in glory in Jesus Christ. Such peace comes only through the hands of the Good Shepherd.
Abundant life today
The "abundant" life Jesus gives is one that overflows. "I came that they may keep on having life, and may keep on having it abundantly." The word "abundant" means to have a surplus, superabundance, "till it overflows." The Greek word translated "abundant" (perissos) is a mathematical word meaning a surplus. Jesus had a surplus of leftovers after He fed the 5,000. These 12 baskets of leftovers were in abundance. Our Shepherd always gives in abundance. The English word "abundance" comes from Latin meaning "the rise in waves" or "to overflow." It is the picture of unceasing rise of waves upon seashore, with waves rising again and again in the incoming tide. It is also the picture of increasing abundance like that, which causes the river to overflow its banks as a result of increasing rains.
The life Jesus offers us for each day is a life that overflows from a surplus of confidence that God is equal to every emergency and does supply all our genuine needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:13, 19; Matt. 6:33). The abundant life is the life of the sheep who finds himself in the hands of the Good Shepherd.
The Good Shepherd's banks are always overflowing with waters of abundance. His grace is always more than enough for all our needs. Nothing can suppress the unending all sufficiency of His provision for His sheep. Such is the God we serve. "My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).
Before we can know the life of abundance, we must know the life itself as it comes to us in Christ. We must first be made alive through faith in Christ. Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life." That life is found by going through the Door. Christ is the Door to eternal life. Only after we go through the Door and receive His life can we have His kind of life "in abundance."
Are you aware that you have this life in Christ? How do you live the abundant life the Shepherd gives to all who go through His Door? We reckon upon the grand provisions of Christ Himself. He leads us into the fullness of this new life in Christ. He always gives His very best, and He gives it in abundance. It is a walk of faith. He leads us "in and out" to find good pasture. His sheep are well fed and are provided with all good things now and will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The sheep who follow the Good Shepherd will not lack any good thing.
The awesome truth of Christianity is that Jesus Christ crucified declares that man is incapable of saving himself. It declares the supremacy that Jesus alone is able to make atonement for our sins and because of that fact He is the only way of salvation. Because of personal sin and failure to live up to God's expectation of man, every person will face a future judgment against sin. Those who have come through the door of Jesus Christ to eternal life will be saved for all eternity and enjoy fellowship with him. To all who reject Him it is eternal separation from God in a place called hell.
SOME ABIDING PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
The cross of Christ is the turning point in life and what you do at that point determines where you spend eternity. Will you pass through the Door into eternal life? Those who believe on Jesus Christ enter into eternal life and enjoy God's presence for all eternity. Those who reject Him and refuse to pass through His Door go into eternal separation from him forever in hell.
Your response to Jesus Christ as the Door determines your eternal destiny. Will you walk through that door by faith today and receive His gift of eternal life?
The Lord Jesus Christ knows His sheep and they follow Him.
In chapter seventeen, Jesus said that He knows His sheep because they have been given to Him by the Father (17:29).
But he not only knows us individually, He knows all about us. He knows that we are sinners and went ahead and died for us on the cross. "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:6-8).
B. F. Westcott candidly writes: "nothing in His flock is hidden from Him: their weaknesses, their failures, their temptations, their sins, the good which they have neglected when it was within reach, the evil which they have pursued when it lay afar. All is open before His eyes. He knows them . . . and He loves them still."
The good Shepherd died for His sheep.
"I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. . . I lay down My life for the sheep. . . For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father" (vv. 11, 15, 17-18). The shepherd provides substitutionary atonement for His sheep. He died on behalf of or instead of sinners.
There is only one door.
There are not many ways to God. There is only one Door. "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture" (v. 9).
To enter through the door is the same thing as to "eat" Jesus, "drink" Jesus, or to "come" to Jesus. You must believe on Christ or trust in Him personally to be saved. We are not trusting in things to be saved. The Door is a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. He becomes ours through believing on Him. The only thing necessary is to believe or trust in Jesus Christ. Have you believed or trusted in Him for everlasting life?
It helps us to imagine that the cross has a door in it. Jesus invites us to go through it. Above the door is written the great invitation to all: "Whosoever will, may come." Every sinner stands there before the door. When you enter in by faith you discover that all of your sins are forgiven and you are safe within His fold. Rejoicing with all the saints in heaven you then turn around and see written on the backside of the cross those wonderful words of grace, "Chosen in Him before the foundation of the world." Oh to grace, how great a debtor!
You may enter the door right now
The man born blind hand nothing; he was a beggar. He was noting; people pushed him out of the synagogue. But this is the very man Jesus called and he heard His voice and responded. The man whom everyone despised was the man Jesus saved. He passed through the door to eternal life. There is no greater security than this because the sheep are in the care of the Good Shepherd.
Jesus said these things while urging his followers to “Strive to enter through the narrow door.” (v24). What does it mean to enter through the narrow door?
There’s a degree of irony in Jesus’ words because of the narrow religion of the scribes and Pharisees. Their religion was strict and exacted upon the people onerous burdens. They thought their narrow religion was what it was all about, and they were already through the door and in the Kingdom of God.
It’s easy to have that same mindset ourselves and think Jesus is looking for people who can constrict themselves by following a strict religious life.
But unless our religion is much more than that, Jesus will say to such people, “I do not know where you come from.” (v25). The pharisaical religion of the Jews was not in tune with the Lord Jesus Christ
Jesus isn’t looking for people who can follow a strict set of guidelines. That’s not what the narrow door is about at all
Our Lord is looking for people who know him and his Father. Jesus spoke these words about the narrow door on his journey to Jerusalem (v22), where he would be crucified. He began that journey in chapter 9, the crossroads of his ministry,
Previously in the chapter, he told his disciples,
Yes, taking up your cross involves a narrow door and a hard way of life, but not in the way the Pharisees thought about it.
Earlier in Luke 13, Jesus twice exhorted his followers, “But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (v3, 5). Repentance was a concept alien to the pharisaical mindset. They didn’t need to repent because they were following the strictures of the law or at least their interpretation of it. They were blind to the fact their law-based religion was preventing them from developing the right mindset, the one that is in tune with God and instead was producing pride.
Jesus isn’t looking for people who can follow a strict set of guidelines. That’s not what the narrow door is about at all. He’s looking for people who are humble enough to recognize their faults and repent. As he journeyed to the cross, he conversed with two types of people. On the one hand, there were the scribes and Pharisees, the upholders of God’s law. On the other hand, there were the tax collectors and sinners, those who had fallen by the wayside. But Jesus was able to reach the tax collectors and sinners and crucified by the scribes and Pharisees.
He’s looking for people who are humble enough to recognize their faults and repent
The tax collectors and sinners recognized they were struggling with sin, and once they heard Christ’s message wanted to change and be forgiven. The scribes and Pharisees didn’t struggle with their lives. They were all set. They didn’t need to feel the difficulty of the narrow door because they thought they were already on the other side. The truth was that they didn’t even come near the door.
We have to recognize that all need to repent and that the rules and rituals we have are supposed to be helping us develop a character of integrity. It’s not just about being good rule followers. God wants us to grow into people who love him and want to please him. People who genuinely love and care for those around us, and are developing the character of Christ. Not just proudly following a set of rules and harshly judging those who fail. We want to live lives where we struggle to do better, to enter through the narrow gate, to be more our Lord. Then when His Son returns, He will recognize us as His.
In our text, Luke again emphasizes Jesus’ teaching ministry: “He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem” (13:22). If you know the end of the story, the mention of Jerusalem strikes an ominous note, because it meant rejection by the nation and the horror of the cross. Somewhere in some village some unnamed person in the crowd asked Jesus an interesting theological question: “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” I don’t know the man’s motives for asking the question. Perhaps he saw the increasing opposition from the religious leaders and he could sense that the crowds, although superficially interested in Jesus’ message, tended to side with their leaders. But he asked this question, “Are there just a few who are being saved?”
Most of us have wondered about that question as we look at the billions of pagans compared with the few committed Christians. It would have made for an interesting theological discussion. But Jesus did not answer the question directly. Instead, He directed the question away from abstract theological speculation and toward specific application for each person in the crowd. The man had asked, “Will the saved be few?” Jesus turned it around to ask, “Will the saved be you?”
Remember, Jesus was speaking to a crowd made up mostly of religious Jews. Almost to a person they believed in the one true God. They were not agnostics or polytheists. They believed in the Hebrew Scriptures and lived in basic accordance with them. In giving His answer, Jesus was not addressing a pagan audience. He was talking to the “church” crowd, most of whom assumed that they would go to heaven because they were good Jews. And He gives us church folks some important and practical lessons on the subject of salvation:
Salvation requires our earnest effort, our urgent attention, and our careful self-examination.
It requires our earnest effort because the door is narrow. It requires our urgent attention because the door is soon to be closed. It requires our careful self-examination because once it is closed, the door will be eternally-closed.
1. Salvation requires our earnest effort: the narrow door (13:24).
Our Lord did not say, “Good question! Let’s divide up into groups and discuss what each of you thinks about it.” To pool the group’s thoughts would only increase speculation. Jesus wasn’t interested in speculation about theology. He was concerned about the personal salvation of His hearers. So, rather than opening it up for discussion, Jesus gave a command that applied the question to His hearers’ hearts: “Strive to enter by the narrow door.”
A. SALVATION REQUIRES OUR EARNEST EFFORT BECAUSE THE DOOR IS NARROW AND EXCLUSIVE, NOT WIDE AND ALL-INCLUSIVE.
Strive comes from a Greek word used of athletic contests and of war. Obviously, it implies a great deal of effort. You don’t win wars or athletic contests by being passive. You never see an athlete receiving the gold medal, who says, “I had never worked out or run in a race until a few weeks ago. I thought it would be fun, so here I am.” Every athlete who wins strives to win. He invests great energy and effort into winning. It is not an accident if he wins. It is the result of deliberate and sustained effort. Not everyone receives the prize. Only a few are winners.
The fact that the door is narrow implies that it takes some deliberate thought and effort to go through it. There aren’t many doors into the same place, so that you can take your pick. There is one and only one door, which is Jesus Christ. He alone is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by Him (John 14:6). The entrance is narrow and exclusive, not broad and all-inclusive.
There isn’t one great big door that’s easy to find and stroll through without thinking about it. There is one narrow door. You might not like the fact that it is narrow. You may think that it’s too exclusive. You may say, “I believe that God is loving and that He will accept everyone who tries to do his best. I believe that all sincere people will get through the door.” But, the fact is, according to Jesus it is narrow, not wide. He made it narrow without checking with us for our ideas about how wide it should be. Whether you like it or not, Jesus claimed to be the only way to God. You can either enter through the narrow door, which is Christ alone, or you can invent a broad door that includes many ways to God, and thus contradict what Jesus Himself said.
Jesus is asking, “Are you striving to enter the narrow door? Are you making your salvation a matter of deliberate and sustained effort? Are you sure that you’re entering the narrow door as defined by Jesus and not a broad door of your own choosing?” You say, “Whoa! I thought that salvation is a free gift, received simply by grace through faith, not a matter of our effort. How does this harmonize with striving for it?”
Jesus isn’t talking about salvation by works or human effort. But He is talking about our attitude toward it. Those who are only mildly interested about salvation will not obtain it. Those who view salvation as an interesting topic for discussion are missing the point. Those who say, “I believe that all roads lead to God and all good people will go to heaven” are engaging in human speculation, but they are not submitting to Jesus’ divine revelation. They are putting their thoughts about being open-minded and tolerant above Jesus’ words that the door is narrow.
The salvation of your eternal soul should not be a casual subject that is good for an occasional stimulating theological discussion! It ought to consume your attention. It shouldn’t be a matter of mild interest that elicits a halfhearted response. You need to take great pains to make sure that you have entered the narrow door. Jesus doesn’t say, “Stroll through the big door sometime when you’re not doing anything else and check it out.” He says, “Strive to enter by the narrow door.”
Again, picture the Olympic athlete. He makes winning the gold medal the focus of his life. Everything he does is controlled by his goal of winning the gold. He won’t eat anything that is not good for him, because it might hinder his muscles from performing at their maximum on the day of the race. He doesn’t go to parties and stay up late the night before, because he wants to be rested and ready to give everything to the race. He will refrain from engaging in fun activities that his other friends enjoy, such as skiing or playing softball, because he doesn’t want to break his leg or tear his ligaments. He is disciplined to work out for hours, often when his body is screaming, “That’s enough!” because he wants to win.
That’s the kind of attitude that we should have toward our own salvation, according to Jesus. It shouldn’t be a nice thing to think about every once in a while when you don’t have anything better to do. It should be on your mind every day. It should govern everything you do. It should determine how you spend your time, your money, and your leisure hours. You must strive to enter because the door is narrow. It’s not a great big wide door that you can wander into without thinking about it. You must be earnest to make sure that Christ alone is your hope of salvation.
B. SALVATION REQUIRES OUR EARNEST EFFORT BECAUSE MANY WILL SEEK TO ENTER AND WILL NOT BE ABLE TO DO SO.
Jesus says that many will seek to enter and will not be able. The following verse indicates that they will not be able to enter because they missed the deadline. It is not that many strive to enter, but only some of those striving succeed. Rather, as the following verses show, some will wake up to the serious issues involved in their own salvation too late. They had assumed that all was well with them because they were decent, religious people. They knew Jesus in a casual way, but they had not taken the gospel to heart. They had never repented of their sins. But they didn’t consider these matters seriously until it was too late.
I’ll say more about missing the deadline in a moment. But for now, I am making the point that if you follow the crowd you will not follow the Savior into eternal life. Jesus says that there are many (and He is talking about the religious crowd) who will not enter through the narrow door. If you follow them, you will be shut out when that door slams shut. And, it always takes effort, both mentally and morally, to go against the majority. You have to think about matters for yourself and decide, “I will not follow conventional wisdom. I will not go along with group pressure. I will follow the Lord Jesus Christ.”
So Jesus’ first point is that salvation requires our earnest effort. If you are only halfhearted about it or go with the crowd, you will miss it! You must strive to enter by the narrow door.
2. Salvation requires our urgent attention: the soon-closed door (13:25-27).
We all tend to procrastinate, but Jesus tells us that salvation is the most dangerous matter in all of life to procrastinate about.
A. SALVATION REQUIRES OUR URGENT ATTENTION BECAUSE THE TIME IS COMING SOON WHEN THE DOOR WILL BE SHUT.
The day is coming when the head of the house (God) will get up and shut the door. Clearly, at that point there will not be another chance to get in. Once the door is shut, it is shut. Those inside are in; those outside are out.
You ask, “When will the door be shut?” That’s for the head of the house to decide. The final closing of the door will be at the judgment, which will take place at the second coming of Christ. John describes the scene: “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds…. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:12, 15). Since the Lord is coming soon, you don’t want to procrastinate about salvation!
But each person’s eternal destiny is fixed before the day of judgment, at the point of death. Hebrews 9:27 states, “It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.” Since life hangs by a thread, even for the youngest and healthiest among us, we dare not procrastinate about the matter of salvation.
Maybe you’re thinking, “I’m young and healthy and the second coming is probably not going to happen soon. I’ve got some time before I need to deal with these matters.”
But that’s not wise because the head of the house might slam shut the day of opportunity for you to respond to His offer of salvation. This was true for Jesus’ hearers. Messiah was in their very midst and they were in danger of rejecting Him. They had the unique opportunity of hearing Jesus Himself teaching the Word of God, but that window of opportunity was about to close, because Jesus was heading toward Jerusalem. In a few short years Titus, the Roman general, would destroy Jerusalem and the temple and the Jews would be dispersed for 1,900 years.
As with them, so with us: the opportunity to respond to Jesus is now. Don’t mistakenly think, “I’ve got plenty of time.” You might not have another opportunity like that which you have right now as you hear the Word of God proclaimed. You may leave here and your mind gets caught up with work or duties at home or other things, and the tug of the Spirit on your heart fades. It is said of Esau that after he had sold his birthright, later, “when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears” (Heb. 12:17). He missed his day of opportunity with God.
Once that door is shut, there will be no bargaining or working out a last minute deal. We must enter on God’s terms and in God’s time, or not at all. At the judgment, everyone will know the truth and realize what a horrible mistake they have made. But it will be too late. As J. C. Ryle puts it, “Hell is nothing but truth known too late” (Expository Thoughts on the Gospels [Baker], 3:134). Salvation is an urgent matter!
B. SALVATION REQUIRES OUR URGENT ATTENTION BECAUSE THERE IS A GREAT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CASUAL ACQUAINTANCE WITH JESUS AND A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM.
Those who are shut out seem surprised. They call out, “Lord, open up to us!” But He says, “I don’t know where you’re from.” They reply, “We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.” They were acquainted with Him. But the problem was, He was not acquainted with them. He tells them, “I do not know where you are from. Depart from Me, all you evildoers.” If you have a genuine personal relationship with Jesus, you will not continue in your evil deeds. Salvation is God’s free gift, apart from works, but those who are truly saved will make progress in holiness, apart from which no man will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14).
Now, not later, is the time to make sure that you have a personal relationship with Jesus, not just a casual acquaintance with Him. One major evidence of such a relationship is that you are growing in holiness, not just outwardly, but in your heart.
Thus salvation requires our earnest effort and our urgent attention. Finally, Jesus teaches us that …
3. Salvation requires our careful self-examination: the eternally closed door (13:28-30).
Since many will be surprised and since the stakes are so high and irreversible, we must be careful to examine our own hearts, to make sure that we are inside the narrow door before it is eternally closed. There are three reasons we must examine ourselves:
A. SALVATION REQUIRES OUR CAREFUL SELF-EXAMINATION BECAUSE OF THE HORRIBLE CONSEQUENCES OF MAKING A MISTAKE.
Weeping and gnashing of teeth doesn’t sound like a fun experience, especially when it continues through all eternity! Think of it as an eternal root canal without anesthesia! These men had assumed that they would be included in the kingdom. They were Jews, not filthy gentiles. They were related to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But now they find themselves shut out and, of all things, those dirty gentiles from east and west and north and south are inside, dining with the patriarchs and prophets!
Contrary to popular modern views, hell will not be a wild party for all the wicked. And, contrary to most popular thinking, hell will not be just for the worst of the worst—the Hitlers of this world. These men were religious Jews who thought they were deserving of heaven. But they would not submit to Jesus and so they faced the horrible eternal consequence of being in that place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. Because there will be many religious people in hell, all of us who attend church should examine ourselves to make sure that we are not cast into that place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.
B. SALVATION REQUIRES OUR CAREFUL SELF-EXAMINATION BECAUSE THERE ARE TWO AND ONLY TWO FINAL CATEGORIES.
The closed door makes a final separation between those inside and those outside. There are none sort of in and sort of out. While there are gradations of rewards for those who are in and gradations of punishment for those who are out, there is a great chasm fixed between the two (Luke 16:26), with nothing in the middle. You won’t be basically in heaven because you’re a basically good person. Either you’re in because you have entered through the narrow door, which is Jesus Christ, or you’re out because you have trusted in your own goodness or in the fact that you’re a church-going American Christian. You need to examine yourself and carefully answer the question, “If I were to stand before God and He said, ‘Why should I let you into My heaven?’ what would I say?” The only correct answer is, “I am trusting completely in Your Son Jesus and His shed blood.”
C. SALVATION REQUIRES OUR CAREFUL SELF-EXAMINATION BECAUSE THOSE WHO ASSUME THEY’RE IN MAY BE OUT.
Jesus says that there will be a great reversal. Many who thought they were first will be last. Many whom the “first crowd” thought were last, will be first. The Jews of Jesus’ day despised the pagan gentiles. They thought that if they ate with gentiles they would be defiled. But Jesus says that many gentiles will be in the kingdom, eating with the patriarchs and prophets, while many self-righteous Jews would be shut out.
These verses demand our careful attention because we who are in the church are in the same place as the Jews of Jesus’ day. We are familiar with the things of God. Perhaps like me, you were raised to know the gospel. But being in the church is not enough. Have you personally entered through the narrow door? Have you come to Jesus as a guilty sinner and laid hold of Him as the only acceptable sacrifice for your sins? Are you seeking to know Him and grow in Him as your Lord and Savior? General acquaintance with Jesus won’t be enough in that terrible day. Don’t assume that just because you know about Jesus, you know Him.
Conclusion
My prayer is that the Lord will use this message to draw that line around you if you have never entered through the narrow door, which is Christ alone. Salvation is not just an interesting theological notion to discuss. It is of crucial importance for every person because the door is narrow and it soon will be shut forever. But right now it is still open. Jesus says to you, “Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”
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