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Notice -

I. THE POSITION OF CHRIST IN RELATION TO SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS. "I am the Door."

1. He is the Medium of admission to these blessings.

(1) He effected an entrance to them. "He is the Way." When man sinned, the door of heaven was closed to him; and when he looked up thither, there was no opened door there. But Christ opened it and established communication between heaven and earth; and as man gazed up, he saw a door opened in heaven. When Christ left heaven for earth he left the door ajar, and opened a new and a living way for man to enter.

(2) He is the absolute Provider and Proprietor of these blessings. By sin, man contracted new wants; by suffering, Jesus provided for them, and purchased for man all the spiritual blessings he requires. Thus he is their absolute Provider and Proprietor.

(3) As such he is naturally the Guardian of these blessings. He has an absolute right and power to admit or reject. He is the Door. He has made a fold for the sheep, his visible Church, and fenced it round with his commandments and directions, where his faithful followers enjoy fellowship with each other and with him during their pilgrimage here. He is the Door of this visible fold, as well as that of the invisible and vaster realm of all spiritual blessings. He is the Door, not arbitrarily but naturally, in virtue of what he is in himself, the Son of God; and in virtue of what he is to the sheep, their Purchaser, Provider, and sole Proprietor.

2. He is the only Medium of admission to spiritual blessings.

(1) There is but one medium of admission. This is Christ, and he is one. He here is but "one Lord, one faith," etc. There is but one Door, "one Mediator between God and man, Christ Jesus."

(2) Others may assume the position. And, as a fact, this was the case, and our Lord refers to it. Some had come before him, professing to be Messiahs, assuming his titles, prerogatives, and position as the doors and shepherds of the sheep. As before Christ, so after him, many assume his position as the mediums of admission to God and the blessings of his love and mercy.

(3) Their assumption of his position at once fixed their character in the spiritual world. They are thieves and robbers, lacking the right to and adaptation for the position they assume. In our world there is evil as welt as good, the false as well as the true, the counterfeit as welt as the genuine coin. There is spiritual wickedness in high places, and one of its most cunning and villainous forms is to assume the position of Christ as the door of spiritual privileges, as they stand between sinners and the Savior, between the world and the light, and is pronounced by our Lord as the most daring usurpation, and the vilest spiritual theft and robbery.

(4) Their claims to this position were resisted by the true and faithful. "But the sheep did not hear their voice." Christ has had sheep in every age, and they instinctively distinguish between the true and the false. The instincts of truth are against falsehood, and those of right are against wrong. Those who have truth will be on its side. Spiritual thieves anti robbers are betrayed by their voice, their principles, doctrines, and practices, and the ear of truth and faith will not listen to them; their voice is repelling, and not attractive. So that the position of Christ as the Door is defended not only by his absolute right and fitness, but by the sheep.

II. THE CONDITION ON WHICH THESE BLESSINGS ARE TO BE ENJOYED. "By me if any man enter in." This involves:

1. Full recognition of Christ's authority as the medium of admission, lie is the Door, and must be acknowledged as such.

2. Genuine faith in his fitness and resources as the spiritual Provider of the soul.

3. Implicit submission and obedience to his will and commands. Entrance must be made, and that by him.

4. There is but one condition for all. "By me if any man enter," let him be rich or poor, Jew or Gentile. There is but one door. There is not one door for the rich and another for the poor, etc.; but only one. And as there is only one door, there is but one condition of enjoyment, viz. entrance by it.

III. THE PRECIOUS BLESSINGS ENJOYED ON THIS CONDITION. Sonic of them are pointed out here. "By me if any man enter," etc.

1. Perfect safety.

(1) Safety from inward damagers. We are in great danger from our inward foes, the corruption of our nature, our evil passions, our inordinate appetites, our secret and besetting sins, the treachery and deceptiveness of our hearts. And often we are in greater danger from treachery within than from open hostility without (Gordon at Khartoum). But in the fold of Christ we are safe from all this.

(2) Safety from outward dangers. Believers have a host of outward and open foes, headed by the arch-enemy of the soul, the devil, who is as a "roaring lion," etc. But in the custody of Christ they shall be safe from these.

2. Perfect freedom. The Christian while in this world cannot be always in the holy of holies of devotion; he must go out into his daily occupation. It is a Divine and general law that "man goeth forth unto his work and to his labor until the evening."

(1) This freedom is perfect. It is the freedom of the highest law, the proper law of the soul, the law of filial obedience, reverence, and love. The safety of the soul in Christ is not that of bondage, but of perfect freedom - freedom which is compatible with and productive of the most perfect order, harmony, and happiness. "He shall go in and out." He goes out, but comes in again.

(2) There is freedom of movement. "Shall go in and out," at home or abroad. The believer is free to go to any part of this world; it is his Father's house and his own inheritance.

(3) There is freedom of action. Within the law of his new life, the Christian may do whatever he likes, and be engaged in any trade or business which is legitimate, from wielding a shovel to wielding a scepter. He is the very man for this; he sanctifies every labor and service.

(4) There is freedom of thought. The only real free thinker in the world is he who has been made free by the truth, tic who thinks without Divine guidance is a slave and a libertine; but the custody of Christ is safe freedom and free safety,

3. Intimate fellowship with Christ. How intimate we are with the doors of our houses! We can neither come in nor go out but by the door - a faint symbol of believers' intimate fellowship with Christ. He is the Door.

4. Ample provisions. "And find pasture."

(1) It is sought. Finding implies seeking. The sheep go in and out in search of pasture. The soul, by faith in all its movements, seeks spiritual food and support. It is to be found in connection with intense desire, effort, and search.

(2) By seeking it is certainly found. "And shall find pasture." In Christ there are spiritual provisions for the soul, in abundance, suitability, and variety; they are as various and abundant as the soul's wants. Supporting grace, Divine forgiveness and peace, etc.

(3) It is found without, in the occupations of life. If the Christian is an agriculturist, in the garden the flowers will naturally remind him of the "Rose of Sharon," etc. When following the flock, naturally wilt he think of the "Lamb of God." The beautiful landscape around will bring to faith visions of a more beautiful land - the fair land of promise; and even the failure of his crops will often give him a rich feast of joy in the Lord. If he is a mariner, the storms of the voyage will make him strive and sigh for the desired haven, where every storm will be forever hushed. If he is a merchant, this will bring his mind in closer contact with treasures more to be desired than gold, and more precious than rubies. If he is a man of science, he can hear the heavens declare the glory of God, and see the works of his fingers everywhere; and should the Christian happen to wander into the land of doubt and sin, he will find there the bitter herb of godly sorrow, which will act as a tonic to his soul. And even the valley of the shadow of death to him will not be barren, for even there he will find the comfort of his Shepherd's staff and rod; yea, the Shepherd himself.

(4) It is found withies. In God's Word; in private devotion; in quiet meditations; in Christ's fold; in the fellowship of saints; in the services of the sanctuary, which is the house of God and the very gate of heaven; and often in thought and faith he steals away to the happy land, and revels in the green pastures beside the still waters. He spends many a happy moment beyond the stars, among the redeemed throng, gazing upon the throne, and on him who sits upon it. Whether in or out, in Christ he shall find pasture, until at last, by Divine invitation, he shall enter into the joy of his Lord, to go out no more forever.

LESSONS.

1. The revelation of Christ as the Door of spiritual blessings was now very natural and timely. He saw the multitudes like sheep without a shepherd. Judaism had become barren and persecuting, and incapable of supplying the spiritual wants of the people. Souls were hungry for food, and longing for shelter. The healed blind man was among the first to knock for admittance, and, as Christ was the Door, it was now time for him to say so openly.

2. Christ as the Door is a befitting introduction to the blessings within. You can form a fair opinion by the door of what to expect inside. Sometimes we are not inclined to go further than the door. But Christ, as the Door to God and all spiritual blessings, is most attractive and worthy, and when you enter there is no disappointment in it.

3. The great thing in order to enjoy the riches of Divine grace is to find the door. Christ as the Door is most conspicuous and convenient. Where the gospel is fully known, the difficulty almost is not to find it. It publishes itself. "I am the Door."

4. There are thousands in search for the door and cannot find it. And, alas! there are thousands in gospel lands dying at the door, and will not enter. There is only a door between them and life eternal. - B.T.

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KJV: Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.

WEB: Jesus therefore said to them again, "Most certainly, I tell you, I am the sheep's door.