The Door of the Sheepfold

1 The Door of the Sheepfold John 10:1-18 Last week we completed our study of John 9. In that chapter, we read about Jesus healing of a man who had been blind from birth. Jesus made clay, put it on the man s eyes, and instructed him to go and wash his eyes at the Pool of Siloam; and when he did, his sight was restored immediately. Now, when the man received his sight, his physical eyes were opened; but his spiritual eyes were not opened. He was not saved yet, because he did not yet truly understand who Jesus is. He reckoned that Jesus was a prophet ; but he did not yet understand that Jesus is the Son of God. By the end of the day, however, he was saved. Jesus returned to him later in the day and asked him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? The man asked, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? Jesus told him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. The man had no trouble believing this. He was now ready to believe that this Jesus is not simply a prophet, but the Messiah and the Son of God; and to show his faith, he worshipped Jesus! Jesus is God; and He deserves our worship and adoration. Jesus then made a provoking statement. He said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. In other words, Jesus gives spiritual sight (salvation) to those who admit their sinful, spiritually blinded condition, and put their faith in Him; but people who refuse to admit that they are spiritually blinded sinners, and insist that they see, will remain in darkness. Why? Because they are rejecting Jesus Christ, the One who can give them light. Now, the Pharisees didn t like that. They knew what Jesus was implying. They said, Are we blind also? Jesus answer was, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth. Because these men refused the Light of the World when He was right there in their midst, they not only remained in their sin, but they compounded their sin. They will have much greater damnation, since they were given the privilege of seeing Christ in the flesh, yet they rejected Him. This brings us to chapter 10. In this chapter, Jesus is still speaking to this same crowd of people in the Temple area, on the same day when He healed the blind man. Chapter ten is simply a continuation of the sermon that Jesus began right at the end of chapter 9, when he told the Pharisees that they were spiritually blind. However, Jesus now shifts gears, so to speak, and gives the people a parable a parable that involves sheep, a sheepfold, and a shepherd. There is much rich truth in this parable about the relationship of Jesus Christ to His people. It is my prayer that you who are not saved will see your need of Christ through this study, and that those of you who are saved will gain a deeper understanding of your relationship with Christ. The title of this message is The Door of the Sheepfold. John 10:1-18 I. The sheep (vv. 1-18) In this passage, Christ gives us a beautiful parable. He gives us a mental picture of sheep being led about by their shepherd, and being provided with grass and water to eat, and receiving protection from thieves and wild animals. Who are these sheep? They are His people. They are believers in Jesus Christ. Just as sheep listen to the voice of their shepherd, and recoil from strangers voices, so Christ s people hear his voice, and will not listen to the voice of a stranger. In other words, they have an intimate relationship with Him, and they know His voice (His words) so well, that whenever a religious charlatan says something that

2 is contrary to Christ s words, they recognise that what he is saying is false, and they recoil from that person. Just as sheep are simple-minded, vulnerable, weak, and defenceless, and need a shepherd to lead them to their food, and to protect them from harm, so we, the sinful sons and daughters of Adam, are simple, foolish, vulnerable, weak, and defenceless, and in desperate need of the care and protection that only Jesus Christ can provide. Sheep are some of the most helpless and defenceless animals on earth. They are easy prey to wild animals; and, thus, they need a shepherd. Now, being likened to a sheep is not flattering to those who do not know the Lord. Sinners do not want to admit that they are simple, vulnerable, and in need of an all-wise Saviour to save them from sin. Sinners want to believe that they are self-sufficient, and can make their way through life by their own strength and knowledge. The Bible, however, defies the proud opinion that we have of ourselves. The Bible says that every man, woman, and child is, in his natural, sinful state, like a sheep that has wandered away from God. Like simple, foolish sheep, we have disregarded the protective laws and restrictions of the Shepherd, and have done our own thing; and we don t even realise the grave danger that we are in because of our self-will and rebellion against God. The Bible says in Isaiah 53:6, All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him [Jesus] the iniquity of us all. We have all strayed from God from the moment we entered this world; but the good news is that Jesus took our iniquities (sins) upon Himself on the cross, so that we, in turn, could be declared righteous before God, and could be freed from the power of sin, so that we might actually live righteously. Jesus, our Good Shepherd, died for us so that we might be reconciled to Himself. 1 Peter 2:24-25 Being a sheep in the fold of Jesus Christ is a wonderful thing. Those who belong to Christ s fold eat of the Word of God, and drink of the water of eternal life, which has been provided by the Holy Spirit of God, who lives within us. Those who belong to Jesus Christ are, through their meditation on God s Word, exercising their senses to know good from evil, and are able to distinguish Christ s voice from the voice of deceivers. Those who belong to the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, go to Him for protection not only from physical danger, but from spiritual danger. Those who belong to Jesus Christ are learning, day by day, to follow Him with implicit faith, and not to go their own way. Those who belong to Jesus Christ know that when their Shepherd chastises them for disobedience, it is for their protection and their good; and they are willing to submit to Him. King David wrote in Psalm 100:3, Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. The sheep that David was talking about were the people of Israel, who, as a nation, had a covenant relationship with the LORD. However, this verse is still applicable to us who know Christ in the New Testament age. Jesus Christ is the Shepherd of every soul that puts his trust in Him for salvation. Over the next few weeks, we will be delving deeply into what it means to be a sheep in Christ s pasture. In the meantime, Christian, I would exhort you to think biblically, and consider yourself a sheep! You can strive, learn skills, and work hard to protect and provide for yourself and your family in this world; but the bottom line is that without Jesus Christ, you are as weak and helpless as a sheep not only physically and materially, but spiritually. You absolutely need your Good Shepherd every hour of the day!

3 II. The porter (v. 3) (Read verses 1-3 again.) In verse 3, we come to another important person in this parable the porter. Now, who is this porter? Well, according to Jesus, this porter is someone who actually gave admission to the Shepherd into the sheepfold! The word porter means a gate warden; the keeper of a door; someone who opens the door, and gives admission. We know that the Shepherd is the Lord Jesus Christ; but who is this porter? Why would Jesus even need a porter to open the door for Him? Is there actually someone who gave admission to Jesus Christ into His own sheepfold? Well...yes! This porter was a sinner, just like we all are, and certainly wasn t worthy of this incredible privilege; but nevertheless, God gave him the task of opening the door to Jesus into His own sheepfold. Who is this important man? Well, let s begin by looking at the prophecies that were made concerning this man. Isaiah 40:3 In this prophecy (made 700 years before Christ), we read of a man who would live in the wilderness, and who would cry out to the people of Israel to prepare the way of the LORD. This same person was spoken of by the prophet Malachi, about 400 years before Christ. Malachi 3:1 / 4:5-6 In these verses, we are told that there would be a messenger who would prepare the way for the Lord; and we are told that he would perform his ministry shortly before the Lord would come to earth and appear in His Temple. By the way, this shows, once again, that Jesus is God in human flesh! How do I know? Well, we know that Jesus is the messenger of a covenant (the New Covenant), and that He suddenly appeared in His Temple at the very beginning of His ministry (when He threw out the moneychangers from the Temple); yet, this verse calls Him the Lord! But let s get back to the first messenger (the one who would prepare the way for the Lord). Who is this messenger who would prepare the way for the Christ? Obviously, he is the same voice in the wilderness of whom Isaiah spoke. Malachi prophesied that this messenger would prepare people s hearts to receive their God. With all this in mind, let s look at the New Testament, and see who fits the bill for all these prophecies. John 1:15-37 John the Baptist was the voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord. John the Baptist was the messenger who would go before Christ, and prepare people s hearts to receive Him. Clearly, then, John the Baptist was the porter who would open the door of the sheepfold to Jesus! How important was John s ministry? Well, according to Mark 1:1 and Matthew 11:13, the Old Testament age ended and the Gospel age began when John the Baptist began to preach and baptise. That s pretty important! John began his preaching ministry only 6 months before Jesus began to preach; and in that short time, many people s hearts were turned to God. Through John s preaching, many people repented of their sins, and were then baptised by John

into the sheepfold. After the people were baptised, they patiently waited for the Messiah to show up; and then, suddenly, He did. Jesus arrived, and John announced that Jesus was the Messiah; and then John s followers began to leave John and become Jesus followers. Why? Because John had instructed the people to believe on Jesus! The sheepfold had been established under the preaching of John the Baptist; but now Jesus had arrived to take possession of it. Now, we re going to talk about the sheepfold in more detail in a few moments; but for now, I want to make it clear just what the sheepfold is. This sheepfold is what Jesus would later call His ecclesia ( assembly ). In other words...the sheepfold is the church. Now, think of this! Jesus said that the porter of the door (who was John the Baptist) opened the door...to Jesus. Considering that Jesus is the Shepherd of the sheepfold, I d say that John was given a great privilege. When John baptised Jesus, he was actually giving Jesus admission into His own church! By the way, this just goes to show that baptism has nothing to do with saving anyone. If the purpose of baptism were to wash away sin, then why did Jesus need to be baptised? He never sinned; yet, He received baptism from John. Obviously, baptism does not wash away sin. Baptism is a symbol of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for our sins. (Quote Romans 6:4). Every time someone is baptised, he is declaring, in picture, his belief that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again. When Jesus was baptised, He was declaring that very soon, He would go to the cross for our sins, be buried, and rise again. He was also entering into His own flock and taking His rightful place as the Shepherd the Pastor. And all this was performed by whom? It was performed by the very first Baptist preacher of the New Testament age John the Baptist. John was a sinner; but he was a sinner whom God used to prepare people s hearts to receive their Shepherd, Jesus Christ! III. The Good Shepherd (vv. 1-3, 7-11, 14) (Read verses 1-3, 7-11, 14.) In these verses, we see Jesus making another I am statement. Seven times in the book of John it is recorded that Jesus said ego eimi ( I am ), and then gave a special name to describe Himself. We ve already seen in chapter 6 that Jesus said, I am the bread of life. Now Jesus says, I am the door and I am the good shepherd. Now, the Jewish people were very familiar with the shepherd analogy in the Old Testament Scriptures. God called Israel s priests shepherds because they were expected to be spiritual leaders, and to teach the people God s Word. For the same reason, the kings of Israel were called shepherds. They were supposed to use their office to direct the people toward God and His Word (although most of them failed to do so). But there is one Person, and one Person only, who is called the Shepherd of Israel: and that Person is the Messiah! Let s look at the very first prophecy in which the Messiah was called the Shepherd of Israel. Genesis 49:22-24 In this prophecy, Jacob makes a very interesting statement concerning the Messiah. He makes mention of the mighty God of Jacob ; but then he then goes on to say, from thence (in 4

5 other words, from God ) is the shepherd, the stone of Israel. Jacob prophesied that the Messiah would proceed directly from God Himself! According to Jacob, the Shepherd of Israel would come from God, and would be distinct from God. Yet, there is more to this picture. Let s look at what David said about the Shepherd of Israel. Psalm 23:1-6 What did David say about the Shepherd of Israel? He said, The LORD [Jehovah] is my shepherd. According to David, the Shepherd of Israel is God Himself! Now, wait a minute. Jacob said that the Shepherd of Israel would come from God, and would be distinct from God. Yet, David said that the Shepherd would be God Himself! The fact is that both of these declarations are true! Jesus is the Son of God, and is distinct from God the Father; yet, at the same time, He is equal with the Father in being, power, and authority. He is God! And this same Jesus who is Messiah and God is also the Shepherd of Israel. Over and over again in the Old Testament it was prophesied that God Himself, in the Person of the Messiah, will one day return to earth, re-gather the flock of Israel to their land, and rule over them as Shepherd. Psalm 80:1 says, Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. Who is the one who made His presence known between the cherubims of the Ark of the Covenant? God! The Shepherd of Israel is God. In Isaiah 40:9-11 Isaiah prophesied that the LORD Himself will one day come to Zion (Jerusalem) to rule with a strong arm; and when He does, He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; and he shall gather the lambs with his arm. Clearly, the Shepherd of Israel is both God and Messiah! In Ezekiel 34:11-15, the LORD says, For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.and I will gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel. What we are reading here is the Messiah s job description. The Scripture says repeatedly that the Messiah will re-gather Israel and feed them in the land of Israel. Yet, God Himself is the one speaking here, and identifying Himself as Israel s Shepherd! There simply is no getting around it. By claiming to be the Good Shepherd, Jesus was claiming to be both God and Messiah. However.we need to remember that Jesus is not only the Shepherd of Israel: He is also Shepherd of a completely different entity called the church. Here in John 10, Jesus is not talking about the flock of Israel; He is talking about His church, which is made up of baptised believers in Christ during this New Testament age. Jesus Christ is the Shepherd of each and every assembly (church). He feeds His flock with His Word. By the way, our word shepherd is translated from the Greek word poimen, which means feeder. Folks, I am the pastor (literally, shepherd, or feeder) that Christ has appointed to oversee this church; but I am only the under shepherd. Jesus is the Shepherd. In Hebrews 13:20 Paul says that Jesus is the great Shepherd who was brought again from the dead. In 1 Peter 5:4, Peter says that Jesus is the chief Shepherd, who will one day reward the pastors of His churches for feeding His flock with His Word. God uses me to distribute His Word; but Jesus is the real Shepherd the Chief Shepherd. Think of this, Christian! Jesus Christ is your Shepherd! Isn t it comforting to know that your Creator and God is also your Shepherd? Isn t it comforting to know that even though He

could crush you like a bug for your disobedience to Him, He is patient with you, and leads you with the tenderness of a Shepherd? Why don t you take time to thank Him for His kindness? IV. The sheepfold (v. 10) (Read verses 1-3, 7-9.) There is a lot of confusion out there as to what, exactly, this sheepfold represents. Many people see the sheepfold as a picture of the Family of God the place where all saved people of all ages abide. Some even view it as representing heaven. However, if you look closely at this passage, it becomes evident that none of these ideas fits the context. The sheepfold does not represent the realm of all saved people, but rather the local, visible assembly the church. Now, at the time when Jesus spoke these words, there was only one assembly. Jesus Himself was the Pastor of this church; and wherever He travelled, His flock (His assembly of saved, baptised disciples) travelled with Him. Today, each biblical, New Testament church is Christ s sheepfold in that particular location. Now, I want to take time, before we close this message, to explain why this sheepfold is the church. It is important that we understand this point before we go any farther in our study of this passage, because a lot of important doctrines hinge on this fact. Our first big clue that the sheepfold is the New Testament church is that Jesus said that He had other sheep that He must bring into the fold. (Read verse 16 again.) Who are these other sheep? They are the Gentile believers! For the first ten years after Christ went back to heaven, only Jewish believers were members of the churches. But then God made it clear that Gentile believers were now accepted as members of His churches. Acts 10:9-19, 34-48 When these Gentile believers were baptised, they became members of a newly established church, right there in Cornelius house! This was the point when God accepted Gentiles into the church. Now, this certainly was not the point when God began to allow Gentiles into the Family of God. There have always been non-jews in the Family of God. In every age of history, Gentiles have always been saved by faith in God and Christ, and have thus become members of God s family. But the other sheep (the Gentiles) were added to Christ s church a full 10 years after Christ s ascension to heaven. So, when Jesus said that He would add other sheep to His fold, the church is the only thing Jesus could have been talking about. How else we can know that the sheepfold is the church, and not the Family of God? Because no one can illegitimately sneak into the Family of God; yet people can sneak into the church. God knows who His children are; and no one can get into His family by any other way than faith in Jesus Christ. Yet, according to Jesus, it is possible for wolves, thieves, and robbers to sneak into the sheepfold, and cause havoc. (Read verses 1, 8, 12 again.) Who are these wolves, thieves, and robbers? They are unsaved people who claim to be Christians, who sneak into churches, and who then teach false doctrines, cause discontent against the pastor and other church members, draw people after themselves, and sometimes scatter the flock (destroy the church). In the Family of God, this cannot happen. You either are saved, or you aren t. No one can get into God s family illegitimately, or be scattered out of it. But in the New Testament church it is very possible for lost people to find their way into membership and cause serious harm (especially when hirelings, or unsaved, self-serving 6

7 pastors, are left in charge). (We will talk a lot more about these enemies of the sheep next week.) Now, this brings me to one last important point. Jesus said that He not only is the Shepherd of His sheep: but He is also the Door to the sheepfold. (Read verse 9.) What does Jesus mean when He said that He is the Door? Well, in Bible times, sheepfolds were made up of mounds of rocks, earth, briers, and brambles. The doorway was very narrow; and the shepherd, to ensure the safety of his sheep, would sleep in the doorway during the night, so that if any wild animal tried to get in through the door, he would instantly be aware of it, and would arise to defend the sheep. In this sense, he was the door. To get into the sheepfold legitimately, one had to go through the shepherd, who guarded the doorway. Any man or beast that tried to get into the sheepfold illegitimately had to get in another way particularly, by climbing over the wall. Are you seeing the picture, here? The only legitimate way to enter into a New Testament church is to be saved first by coming to Jesus Christ, and placing your faith in Him. Now, baptism is also necessary to become a church member, after you have been saved; but if you have been baptised without having been saved by faith in Jesus, then you have entered the sheepfold illegitimately. You are not one of Christ s sheep, but an intruder. Sadly, New Testament churches all over the world are often filled with illegitimate members people who got wet (in baptism), and were placed on the membership role, but were never truly saved. The under shepherd (the pastor) can do his best to make sure that every person s salvation testimony is genuine before allowing them to be baptised; but even the pastor can be deceived. Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, is the only legitimate Door into this church, or to into any other true, New Testament church! Have you come to Him for salvation? Conclusion: I am here to warn you that if you have not ever been born again if you have not repented of your sin and put your faith in Christ alone then you are not one of Christ s sheep. Maybe you have made it onto the membership role of a church; but you are not saved. Don t remain an intruder! Go to Jesus Christ, believe that what He did for you on the cross is all you need to be saved, turn from sin and self, and receive Him. Perhaps you know Christ as Saviour already. If so, I challenge you to examine your fellowship with Him. You are one of Christ s fold; but that doesn t change the fact that you are still a stubborn sheep, bent on going your own way. Allow Christ to lead and guide you, and to feed you His Word. Don t make Him have to chastise you with His rod and staff. Obey Him. Trust Him. Follow Him every hour of the day.