Two Doors

Imagine with me a moment, a crossroads in your journey, where two doors stand before you. Which one do you take? It’s hard to make that decision isn’t it with so little information. But the truth is, there are only two doors. There's a door to life, and there's a door to death. The door to death will present itself in many different forms, in many different doors, to try to lure and to try to please and to try to gratify, but in the end, it leads to death and destruction.

The door to life is one door, one way, one man: Jesus Christ. Where do you find yourself this morning? What door do you find yourself entering into and pursuing today? Last week we read Jesus saying, I am the light of the world, and we learned how Jesus pushes away the darkness and that ”The darkness is not so deep that the light of love cannot penetrate it.” The week before that we examined the verse where Jesus says, I am the bread of life and we examined how every one of us is on a journey to find something to fulfill our life, and we concluded that God wants to be the center of our desires.

So our journey always leads us to Jesus. And God always fulfills our every need, in Jesus. Personally, I don’t want a competing King in my heart. I don’t want division in my heart, I want Jesus to be lifted as the king of my heart. I guarantee you most anxiety and doubt and division we see within the christian today is from this war being waged over whether or not we will bend the knee to Jesus, as our savior and Lord.

That’s why, in prayer I tend to say Lord a lot. It’s my way of affirming His lordship over my life. I yearn for his presence. But I’ve also learned that I need to say Jesus more often, because I need to be able to receive grace as well. He promises us that. He promises us to be with us to the end of the age. He promises to dwell with us, and in us, that We will be with him.

And he will be with us. I yearn for that to be in my heart as much as I yearn for it to be true in your heart this morning. But for that to be true you must choose a door because there is NOTHING is more important in your life than the awakening of this desire. And so, this morning there are three things I want to share with you the we find in our text.

I’ll share an introduction, We're going to see Jesus Christ introducing himself to the Pharisees. Next is the invitation. We're going to see Jesus standing before these religious leaders, giving an invitation. And thirdly, illumination. Upon coming to faith in Jesus Christ, salvation, there are promises Jesus says here in the text that we have as we enter into the door of Jesus Christ. Before we jump into the text this morning, let’s begin with a little context.

Last week in chapter 8 we saw Jesus say, I am the light of the world. He was talking to two groups of jews. One group is believing and following him, while the other group is is not believing him. And So you have Jesus there talking to both of these groups about truth and freedom, and there’s little foreshadowing of his prayer in what we call the high priestly prayers of Jesus later in the same gospel of John.

He begins to give us a sneak peak on abiding in Him, as he aides in the Father. Jesus says, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Jesus is saying, My words, my life is truth, and this truth gives eternal life. Then we come to chapter 9. In chapter 9,This is one of those chapters where you go…

really! I mean I get it.. we get to look at it through a birds eye view and these people were experiencing all of this chapter first had. Here is what’s going on. Jesus ends up spitting into some mud and smearing it on this blind guys eyes and telling him to go wash it off in a pool. So, what does this blind man have to lose? Other than being humiliated by some street preacher known for miracles putting spit mud on his face.

He goes to the pool and washes off, and guess what. He’s healed. He can see. I mean, if there was ever a time to sing the song amazing grace, I once was blind but now I see… it was here in this moment. BUt listen to what happens. Jesus heals this man. He heals this man, and the city goes crazy. Totally nuts. His neighbors.. people that would see him every day, begin wondering and asking..

is this that beggar guy that was once blind? And the guy kept saying, I’m the one… its me. I’m the one that got healed. And I laugh every time I read it, because in verse 10 and 11, they ask him, how did you get healed.. and he doesn’t say one thing about Jesus spitting into mud, he just says, Jesus made some mud. Smeared it on my face and told me to go wash it off at this pool, and so I did.

So in this story, they take him to the pharisee. Now this is important because regardless of any healing. No matter how drastic or amazing it was… before one could be redeemed back into the community, one had to be examined but he priest. We see this all throughout Scripture. Jesus says all through the gospels “go, show the priest”. In Luke 5, Jesus heals the paralyzed man and tells him to tell no one, “but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” In Luke 17, 10 lepers yell out from a distance, Master, Have pity on us, and Jesus tells them to, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.” 9 went to the priest but one can back to worship Jesus.

This was Jesus’s way of making sure that per the law, they would be redeemed back into the community. If you have yet to learn, the body, the community is very important to Jesus. Community is important to Jesus. So, The Pharisees approached this blind man, and they asked him, "How are you with sight?" This blind man testifies, "A man by the name of Jesus healed me." The Pharisees are upset.

They're angry that this blind man is healed. They bring his parents in, and his parents know, if they say the wrong thing, they too will be excluded from worshiping. Can you imagine that!!.. one wrong testimony and you can’t come to church. No grace, no mercy… don’t show up to church next week. Go hang out with the Samaritans. I bet that’s what they probably would say. Go hang out with those weirdo’s.

So his parents say, well go ask him for yourself. He’s of age. And the pharisees go and ask again, who did this.. who healed you…. and guess what the once blind man said? Jesus did it. And They're so upset that this once blind man testified that the Lord Jesus Christ healed him, they excommunicated him. Do you want to know why this is worse than being blind to me…

because we’re designed to be people of worship, and regardless of what current trends say about online church… We’re called to be the gathering of the body of Christ. And to be excommunicated from the body, is the same as dying. This is where I want to stop for a moment and put a pin into what we’re learning together. Because I want to help us understand what shame does to a worshipper.

Shame is an unspoken epidemic in our country. Brene Brown says, “Shame is the swampland of the soul.” And how we walk through the door of shame is through the little or major tragic moments that are out of our control. Think of this, Shame was available because this man who was healed, it was out of his control. He just followed Jesus instructions. He walked by faith, and instead of seeing a man healed, the pharisees saw him as an outcast.

Shame is such a powerful emotion. Shame is the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging. What it does, is that it attaches to our identity and it begins to impact our sense of self. Who we are, and who’s we are. When shame gets a hold of us, what it does, is that it opens the doors to anger, self disgust and all kinds of negative ways that we view ourselves.

And I love what Jesus does in this moment… He doesn’t let this man become blind again. I’m not talking physical blindness… that’s not what I mean… Jesus goes looking for him when he heard that he was thrown out and not only is his physical eyes are healed, but his spiritual eyes are opened as well. Jesus goes looking for him. Church, Jesus never stops looking for anyone! No matter where you are, no matter how dark life seems to be, no matter how much shame you carry..

Jesus has never stopped pursuing you. And I believe you’re here today because Jesus is pursuing you. You’re not here because you got up and decided to come, you’re here because the Spirit has led you here. And just like we can lead a horse to water, we can’t make a horse drink it. The Spirit has led you here, whether or not you find Spiritual food is dependent upon whether or not you take a seat at the table.

The question is, how thirsty are you for Jesus and forgiveness and grace? So here’s the introduction… lets read together John chapter 10, and verses 7-11. "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 listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” The first part is this..

Jesus says, I am the door. Jesus is actually correcting the pharisees here. He’s saying, for years, you have been the gatekeepers of righteousness. And, let's be honest.. you priest have not been that loving, and caring, towards others. If you recall, in chapter 9, they had no desire to celebrate with the once blind man. They kept asking questions, "Why? Why is it he is healed? How is it he was healed?

Who healed you” And he kept giving the same answer, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Not once do they realize that as priest, this was one of their sheep. This was a person, seeking to be reestablished back into his community. They were the gatekeepers for that to become a reality. But they didn't celebrate the very fact he was healed, but what they did do is they exiled him from the community of the Jews.

And so, Jesus, goes and finds him, and he reintroduces himself as, the door. And Jesus as the door is different than the one the Pharisees were supposedly looking after. Jesus as the door is different. First, the frame on Jesus as the door is full of grace. He says, In my very frame, there's grace." Ephesians 2:8: "For by grace you have been saved… "In my very frame, there is mercy." Ephesians 2:4: "But God, who is rich in mercy…" "In my very frame, there's forgiveness." Colossians 1:14: "In whom we have redemption…the forgiveness of sins…” "In my very frame, there's joy.

There's peace. There's patience." Galatians 5:22: "But the fruit of the Spirit…” This whole time, Jesus was communicating to these leaders, to these Pharisees, that the only way to a right relationship with the father, is through a door with the very same frame as the one he’s claiming. The only door that leads to life, is through him. We find 10 chapters later this truth, Jesus would go upon the cross and bear our shame, to defeat Satan, and self and he takes our sin that is rightlyfully due to us, and he goes, Tetelsi, It is finished.

The power of Satan, the power of Sin, the power of shame and self.. it’s over. They no longer have any hold on you, in the name of Jesus. And the same power that raised Jesus from the grave gives us the power to live in freedom! You see, in Jesus, Forgiveness is available. Love is available, and the truth is, John would go on to write in one of his letterers, the letter of I John, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” In my life, in my own experiences, We may not feel forgiven immediately, but we are.

I sometimes wonder, we become so effectuated with the door of Jesus, that we forget to walk into new life. And let me just say, that’s dangerous… because if we do not walk in the newness of life that Christ offers, we will eventually fall back in love with the darkness we once knew and loved, and we will turn from the door of salvation. When Jesus forgives us, we are truly forgiven.

Once we’ve confessed our sin to Jesus and repented, it’s time to stop living in the sin we once knew, in the old lives that we loved so much, and through the power of the Holy Spirit now in us, we live as redeemed people. That’s what Jesus wants. Look in verse 9, he says, if anyone enters by me. That’s the invitation. Jesus even invites his enemies to come. It’s an invitation to eternal life.

It’s an invitation to a deeper relationship with the father. Can you imagine, living by faith before Jesus came, and seeking, and yearning, and living by the law. There is nothing these pharisees would want more than to be near God. But yet, in this invitation, they reject it. IN all of there studying, in all of thier judging, and seeing.. they were actually blind to what God had done and is about to do…

God had stepped away from glory to walk with us, with humility, to show us the way. How Many of us right now in this place are just like the Pharisees? What keeps us from entering into the door of Jesus Christ? You see there are so many doors we have in life, we fail to actually seek the one that gives eternal life. What doors are before us that present themselves as giving us life, but they find their end in death?

Some of us may not struggle with works like the Pharisees. I know a lot of Christians that struggle with works. They think all the work they produce is going to get them into heaven, and they miss just seeking and waking in God’s presence. I know people that are just consumed with thier work that they count it all righteousness, but yet they, in thier life do not know Jesus and they fall prey to false doors..

What are some of these idols we may wrestle with? What about the idol of perfection? "I have to be perfect. Everything always has to be good. Everything needs to be right. Then there is the idol of power…looking for and striving for authority, for control. "Everything always has to fit in the way I want it to fit. Everything always has to go the way I want it to go." Thats desiring power.

What about the idol of success? You're never content and always striving for the next benchmark. The idol of finding the perfect spouse… give that up.. my wife already found me. Ha! Isn’t that the idol of pride. There is the idol of children. "My life is my children. My child can do no wrong. My identity is in my kids. What about the idol of intellect. I want to pursue all the knowledge I can.

Think of Paul to the Corinthians, If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Do you know what he’s saying… Paul is telling us that we can walk through so many doors, but if that door isn’t the door of Christ, the door that we walk through where love originates, I gain nothing in this world. And so this invitation, when Jesus says, if anyone enters by me, it’s truly an invitation to experience the fullness of Love, through Jesus Christ. Have you entered into that door?

And if you say yes… Hallelujah!!!. Praise the Lord. Because there are two types of people… there are two type of sheep. The first sheep are those who are cared for and saved by Jesus Christ. The second set is the sheep who are consumed by sin and darkness. And just like sheep, we need help. We need guidance, we need a savior. Apart from Jesus Christ, we are destined to death.

Someone might say, well hell sounds cool, and it’s be a big party… no it wont be. The bibles says hell is a lonely place. It’s a place void of the presence of God. And think of this.. everyday we’re around people everyday and we still feel lonely. Everyday, we’re around others, with the most technological devises in our homes and hands, but yet there is an epidemic of loneliness. Hell will be full of non believers, but yet still be the loneliest of places that we will ever experience.

This invitation, the Jesus offers isn’t just a get out of hell free card, but it’s an invitation to not be alone. That’s what Jesus promises through the door of life. He promises us his presence. Let me ask you as a believer in Jesus Christ. In the midst of darkness, in the midst of death, and knowing that there's hope in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Why do you still play with the other doors?

Why do you still pursue the things of this world? I belive with all of my heart there are many people here today, and even listening online that you’ve come to see the door, you examined the door, you find the door to be beautiful. It’s even been opened for you, Jesus says, Knock (and keep knocking) and the door will be opened for you. You don't even have to open the door….

Our savior is a servant… he opens it for us… Why haven’t you walked through yet? Why is holiness so scary to you? I think of that verse in Matthew 7 is interesting… knock and the door us open to you.. but it never stops there.. what does Jesus say, …he says, to seek. Why have so many stopped seeking in their life? Why is prayer such a bore to you?

Why is going to chruch on sunday such a hassle for you? Why is reading the word, and spending time with him such a struggle for you?.. I’ll tell you why… beucxase you keep wondering what’s behind the other doors. It’s gonna be a sad day, when the trumpets sound, and millions upon million of people are going to be raptured up into the heavenly realms as God takes up his holy people, but yet there will be millions of people standing there with invitation clutched in their hands.

The invitation is for you to enter… and to seek, not just to stand there and admire. Jesus doesn’t want an admirer… he wants a follower. DO you know what the difference is? The admirer never makes any sacrifices. They just stand still and admire. The admirer plays it safe. Though the admirer knows the songs, and prays the prayers, and praises Christ they renounce nothing. There is no turning from thier sin.

Do you know you can give confession without repentance. You can confess your sin.. Lord, Im a bad man.., Lord, Im not a good woman… and still not turn and repent from it. All you’ve done was bragged about your sin, to a holy God. What will you do with the invitation you’ve received? And that lets me to the last thing we learn.. let me ask you… do yo want to know why so many refuse to enter?

Jesus said in John 3, , Because they love their darkness. When Jesus says, I am the gate, he goes, they will be saved and will come in and go out and find a pasture. The very first promise Jesus gives us as we enter into the door, is salvation. This is Jesus illuminating the path for us. Romans 5:8 and 9 says, "…but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” That is, upon the gift of salvation, our eyes are open to sin and darkness. When your eyes are open to your sin and the darkness you live in, you flee from it… You will want nothing with it. You delight in His righteousness. You crave his goodness.

Just like the other day, as I as walking to the church at night, I heard a rustling in the trees, and thought something was after me, I was scared… I came running for the light. I didn’t want my phone light.. it wasn’t bright enough for me.. I didn’t feel safe until I got into the fullness of the light inside the church. It’s the same promise we have in Jesus Christ…

Men and woman of light don’t go paying around in darkness. They flee from it… Im gonna go to that altar, and I’m gonna pray as I did last week. I’m gonna pray that God blows the doors off of his church, and the people within will go deeper. Im gonna pray that you’ll not be found sitting with an invitation in your hand, but that you will open it up, and see that Jesus is offering you a better life than you have now…

All you go to do, is come, Knock, and the door will be opened for you… Jesus is a servant, he opens the door, and then start seeking Christ… and when seek Christ, I guarantee it, you’ll be found, and invited into the community. *