460. JOH 10:7. CHRIST THE DOOR
Joh_10:7. Christ The Door
"I am the door."’97Joh_10:7
Jesus has a peculiar claim to the metaphorical title here expressed. In reference to every thing that relates to the happiness and dignity of man here, or to his advancement in felicity and glory to come, he is the door, the only way of access. Consider man as an alien or outcast, a wandering, dying rebel against his God, and then,
I. Jesus is the only Door, or Way of Access, to the Divine Favor and Family.
It is when we come to God, exercising faith in his Son, that we are accepted of him, are freely justified, and have the privilege of becoming his adopted sons. To his spiritual house Jesus is the only door. God will not, and, by reason of his eternal spotlessness, cannot treat with us but through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ,
II. Jesus is also the Door to all the Privileges of his Church.
By union to the head only can we derive that spiritual nourishment which the members of the mystical body require. By faith in Jesus, we have an evangelical right to all the privileges and immunities of his people. Then all is ours,’97the word, the gospel preached, the promises recorded, the precious ordinances, and the all-essential influences of the Spirit, are all ours. Then may we dwell in his banqueting-house. and sit down at his table with great delight.
III. Jesus is also the Door to Communion with the Father.
To God, there is but the way of access, and that is by his Son Whether it be by prayer, or meditation, or praise, we only can approach Jehovah, and hold intercourse with him by coming through this door.
IV. Jesus, too, is the only Door to eternal Glory.
He is the way into the holiest place of all. By him we come to God graciously now, and by him we shall enter into the paradise above, for, as our forerunner, he hath passed before us, taken possession of heaven for his people, and waits to receive them unto himself, that where he is, there they may be also. Now in all these respects,
1. Jesus is a constantly open door.
He became the door from the instant the first promise was announced, and he has been the open door from that period to the present time. The way to God has not been closed for a single moment. During the thousands of years that have rolled onwards in their changing course, he has remained fixed in his mediatorial office, and has changed not. How blessed is the consideration that, whether by day or night, the seeking sinner can never find this door of hope closed against him.
2. Then he is also a door for all.
None have been excluded from God’s compassionate regards, for he hath loved the world, and Jesus is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, and the gospel freely invites all, without respect to country, age, or character, to come unto God by him. There never was, nor is, nor ever will be, any other exclusion than that of the sinner’s impenitency and unbelief. We remark,
3. That Jesus is the only door.
There is but one mediator between God and us. There is but one name given, one Saviour found, one sacrifice offered, one gospel preached’97that name and Saviour is Jesus’97that sacrifice, the blood of his cross’97and that gospel, the gospel of Christ. There is but one door for the profligate and the moral, the profane and the professor, the publican and the Pharisee. There is but one door for the rich and the poor, the learned and the illiterate, the aged and the young, the monarch and the slave. In short, there is but this door for the whole of our guilty world. He is the door, and whosoever refuseth or neglecteth him must be excluded from heaven, but whosoever entereth in by him shall obtain eternal life
APPLICATION
1. If Christ be the only door, then how desirable is it that we see how we stand connected with him. Let us inquire, then as to our knowledge of Christ as the door. Have we right views of our necessity of such a door? Have we felt our distance from God, and have we perceived the glorious adaptation of Jesus in his person and work to bring us nigh to him? Have we beheld in Jesus the very object adapted to our spiritual need, in whom there is a fulness of grace to meet all our exigencies and supply all our wants? Jesus cannot be the door to us unless we know him, for this is life eternal, to know the true God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent.
2. Let us also ascertain as to our approach to God by this door. Have we come to him and believed in him, availed ourselves of his merits, trusted in his mediation, and thus obtained forgiveness of sins and peace with God? If we have used Christ as the door, then are we no longer without, no longer at a distance, no longer condemned; but now are we reconciled to God, and by the testimony of the Holy Spirit to our spirits, we know that we are the sons of God.
3. Then, let us ascertain also as to our estimate of this door. Do we value it above all things? for to them that believe Christ is precious, precious always, yea, superlatively precious. If we value this door, we shall extol it by lips of sanctified praise, and by lives of ardent love and holy obedience to Christ.
4. How necessary it is that we constantly avail ourselves of this door We cannot hold intercourse with God for a moment but through Christ, and God cannot behold us with complacency except when he beholds us in the face of his anointed One. Then Christ is emphatically our life and salvation, and the life that we live must be a life of faith in who Son of God, who loved as and gave himself for us.
Autor: JABEZ BURNS