In this short communion sermon Pastor Clark speaks of Jesus – the Door.

<p>In this short communion sermon Pastor Clark speaks of Jesus – the Door.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Dalton SDA Church

Chester Clark

The Door

Well, today we are celebrating the ordinances of the Lord's Supper. It's something that we, as the Seventh Day Adventist Church do on a periodic basis about four times a year. And, and in the Adventist Church, we practice what we call open communion. That means that you don't need to be a member of our church to participate in our services. You do need to have faith in Jesus as your savior. That's, that's what this is all about. It's about Jesus, it's about his blood, about his body that was broken for us. And so it would not mean anything to us if we didn't have faith in him as our Savior would it. And so if you love Jesus and he's your savior from sin, you've accepted him as Lord of your life, then you're welcome to join us in our communion service today. Before we, before we have that ordinance of humility and the foot washing and the, the, the Lord supper, though, we're going to spend a few minutes in God's word. We want to turn our minds towards Jesus. We want to think about what he means to us. And so today, I would invite you to dis bow your heads with me for an additional word of prayer. Father in heaven today, we are grateful that you have given us your love. And as their children reminded us today, your love endures forever. Father, we can't, we can't fathom that love. We can't understand what it means to truly love, unconditionally, eternally. And yet we know, Lord, that your word is true, and you have said that you will never stop loving us. And so we thank you for that. We thank you for, for your, your word today. And as we open its pages, as we contemplate its thoughts, its teachings for us. We just want to ask that your spirit would guide our hearts and our minds that we might come to love you more and we might respond to that eternal, everlasting, unconditional love. And we thank you for these gifts in Jesus' name, amen. Our scripture today from John chapter 10 reminds us that Jesus is not only the lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world. He is not only the good shepherd who takes care of his sheep. Our scripture today reminds us that while Jesus is the lamb and he is the shepherd, he is also the door, the gate to the sheep fold. And the, the, the text we, that Hannah read for us, we're going to look at it once again. Jesus says in verse seven of John, chapter 10, most assuredly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. Jesus uses the door of the sheep fold to represent himself. Now, we might think there's more than one way. We could look at this illustration of a door, right? We could think of the door as something that prohibits access, right? We could think of the door as something that prevents intrigue. And in that sense, we would look at Jesus as the door of the sheet fold, and we would think Jesus is the obstacle to our, in our path to salvation. But do you think that's what Jesus is trying to say? Is Jesus some sort of a gatekeeper that says, well, you know, I want you to prove yourself before I'll let you in. Is that the way Jesus is? Oh, I'm so thankful. And the children shared here today, Jesus love is unconditional and Jesus invitation is open. Aren't you glad for that? We don't have to do anything before Jesus, before we can enter through Jesus into the fold. Nothing. Oh, but some people say that's lowering the bar too much. Chester, that's too, that's that sounds too much like cheap grace. Listen, I'm not here to advocate the idea that God, God's salvation is somehow cheap. I know it costs the life of Jesus on the cross. But what I am saying, if we think that we have to do something before we can enter through Jesus, then we are sadly mistaken. Many Christians have tried, tried to earn their right to enter. They have tried at, and I'm gonna suggest friends, that if we are trying to by our own works, by our own obedience, by our own lifestyle, whatever it is, if we're trying by our own selves, our own efforts to enter the fold, we are not going through Jesus. We're climbing up some other way trying to climb over the wall, trying to dig under the wall. But we're not going through Jesus because Jesus says we simply come to him by grace, are you saved through faith? Right? That's how we're saved. That doesn't mean that Jesus doesn't change our lives. No, that doesn't mean that at all. That doesn't mean that Jesus, when we are saved by grace through faith in him, he does not create us as a new creature unto two good works. That he does not ride his law in our hearts and change us so that we are empowered by his grace, through his blood, through his power to live obedient lives. I'm not saying that, I'm not saying those aren't true. All I'm saying is if we wait until we've made ourselves better or obeyed, we're not entering through Jesus. In fact, Jesus being the door tells me several things and I wanna just share with you what it tells me today. Three thoughts I wanna share with you about the door, Jesus as the door. First of all, when Jesus calls himself the door, he, he indicates that he is one who offers us opportunity. Have you ever thought of doors in relationship to opportunity? Maybe you're praying that doors will open. What are we talking about? We're talking about opportunities, right? Doors will open. Jesus is the door, and Jesus says, I am the door, and if anyone enters by me, he will be saved and go in and out and find pasture. Isn't that beautiful? Jesus says, if anyone will enter through me, he will be saved. That's an opportunity. Friends. Jesus is the door to salvation. Jesus says He will come in and out and find pasture. What does that mean? Well, once we enter through the door, Jesus is not just the door, he becomes our shepherd. Isn't that amazing? Jesus is not only the door, he also becomes our shepherd. And you know what that means? When Jesus is our shepherd, we can go in and out and find pasture. We have freedom, friends, and we have blessings. We have opportunities. The psalmist said it this way, the Lord is my shepherd. I what does it say? I shall not want? Is that good news? Oh, it is. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. These are the opportunities that Jesus gives us. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. Yay. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, you enou anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over and it's as if it's as if David could not find enough superlatives as he says, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. How do we experience? This is through the door. The door. And that's Jesus. Through Jesus, we find entrance into the house of the Lord. Through entrance we have in we through Jesus, we find entrance into the pastures, the green pastures that he wants us to enjoy. The green pastors are the blessings that Jesus affords us through salvation through him. The second thing I want us to recognize is that Jesus, as the door offers us access First it offers us opportunity. Opportunity of salvation, the opportunity to enter into his pastures. But the second, the second thought that I would like us to consider is that Jesus through the door, as the door offers us access. Jesus said in John 14, in verse six, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the father, but how? By me. And so Jesus is our access to heaven. Jesus is the way in which we can actually find a presence, a hearing in the throne room of the universe. Jesus is that ladder that Jacob dreamed about whose base was fixed on earth where we are. But it reached all the way into heaven. And on that ladder, angels were ascending and dissenting, descending. Jesus is our access to heaven, to the throne room of God himself, the Father himself. In fact, it's through Jesus that we are counseled to pray. In His name. It says in John 14 verses 13 and 14, and whatever you ask in my name that I will do that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. And so Jesus asks us to pray in his name. Now, for many of us, when we were kids and we were taught to pray, we were taught to say in Jesus name we pray, amen. And that's certainly, I suppose, an appropriate thing. But the concept, it's not just an a suffix that we add to the end of our prayers to pray in Jesus name, is to recognize that it is through Jesus that we are presenting our petitions to the Father. It is through Jesus. Jesus is the door for our prayers. Through Jesus, we are praying. And so when we pray in Jesus' name, it's sort of like him giving us his stamp, his signature stamp. And when we send our letter, our request in prayer to the Father, instead of signing it, Chester Clark the third, I instead pray in Jesus name. And Jesus reads this letter and it comes from, I mean the Father reads this letter and it comes from Jesus. Amen. That's what it means to pray in Jesus name. It's our prayers being passed on by the one who is the door. It's access, access to the father, access to the throne room of the universe. John tells us in the next chapter, John 15 and verse 16, you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain. And whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give you again in John 16, therefore, you now have sorrow. But I will see you again and your heart will rejoice. Are you looking forward to that day? Yes. Jesus is looking forward to that day. In fact, when he get, when he celebrated that last supper with his disciples, he said, look, I'm going to give this as a reminder, not only of what I've done, but what I'm doing and what I will do. I'm gonna come again. And he said to the disciples, I'm not going to drink the fruit of the vine, the juice of the grape. I will not drink it again until I drink it with you. In that great supper of the redeemed, Jesus is still waiting. And this is a reminder, friends, as we celebrate communion today, it's a reminder not only of his blood that was spilled, but of his earnest longing to be with us and for us to be with him. John 1622 says, I will see you again and your heart will rejoice and your joy no one will take from you. And in that day, you will ask me nothing. We're face-to-face at that time, no need for prayer. But he says, most assuredly I say to you, whatever you ask the father in my name, he will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask and you'll receive that your joy may be full. First of all, Jesus, as the door gives us opportunity, it gives us the opening to salvation. Secondly, Jesus gives us access, access to the throne room of the universe wherein we find omnipotent power to do his biddings. Thirdly, the door symbolizes defense. I like this aspect of Jesus because Jesus is not out there trying to keep us from entering, but he will try to keep anyone who would hurt us. And that's specifically the devil. You remember in one Corinthians chapter 10 in verse 13, Jesus role as the door is described, one Corinthians chapter 10 in verse 13, it says, no temptation has taken you except such as his common demand. But God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted. Above that you are able, but will with the temptation also make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. And so what does Jesus do as the door? Jesus stands in our defense. Jesus stands as the gatekeeper to our hearts and our lives if we allow him to. He stands as the one who can keep the enemy from soul of, of our soul, from overpowering us. He, he says, I weigh anything that comes to you, and I make sure nothing touches you, but you can overcome through the power and the grace that is available to you. There is no temptation taken you, but such as his common demand. God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted. Above that you are able, but will with the temptation also make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. I want to ask today, is Jesus the gatekeeper of your heart? Is he the gatekeeper of my heart? Now is a little parable. You may have heard this parable before, but I find it's very, very helpful, insightful as I think of what it means for Jesus to be my defense. The door of my heart, we'll call him John. John had a nice two-story house in the suburbs. There were five rooms on the ground floor, five rooms on the upper floor. One day there was a gentle knock on the front door. And when John went to open his door, guess who was standing there? It was Jesus. When John saw that it was the Lord Jesus, he said, please come in. I will give you the best room in my house. And he took him upstairs to the master suite and he gave him the best room in the house. Well, Jesus, you know Jesus is a gentleman, isn't he? And Jesus said, well, thank you. And Jesus entered and took John's best room. The next morning there was another knock of the door, except this wasn't a gentle, gentle knock. This was a pounding, a hammering at the door. And when John opened the door, guess who was there? It was the devil. And no, no. John shouted, I don't want you here. But the devil said, I'm already in. And a big fight, a big fight started. Satan poured his filthy temptations on him. It was horrible. By the evening, John somehow threw out the devil. And then he said, wait a minute. I gave Jesus the best room in the house. Why didn't he come to my rescue? And so he went and he asked Jesus. And Jesus said, look, John, you gave me one of the 10 rooms. That's the only room I have control over. And so j John got on his knees and he said, Lord, I'm sorry. Let's make this a 50 50. You take five and I'll take five. Well, you can guess what happened, right? The next day, John wakes up to another pounding on the door. Again, it's the devil. And again, the devil somehow gets in And makes a mess of his day. And again, he's exhausted at the end of the day and he's, why in the world did Jesus not come to my rescue? Jesus said to John, my son, why don't you just give me all 10 rooms and instead of me staying with you, you can stay with me. John broke down. He pulled the key out of his pocket and he gave it to the Lord. Now, he had given Jesus his whole house, everything. The next morning it was still dark, and that pounding at the door shook the whole frame, and John woke up with a start dreading this confrontation when all of a sudden he heard footsteps downstairs, it was Jesus. Jesus was marching in majesty and power towards the front door. You see now he had the key. It was his duty dancer, the door. It was his house. John couldn't wait to see what happened, and he was standing right behind Jesus. When the Lord opened the door wide, who was it? Well, it was the devil. Of course. When the devil saw Jesus standing at the door with the key in his hand, he bowed very low and said, sorry, sir, I knocked at the wrong house. You see, some have given Jesus a room in their house. Some have given Jesus several rooms, maybe even most of the rooms, but some have kept a secret room that's a private room that they don't let Jesus in something. They're not willing to surrender to the Savior. If we want Jesus to be the door, we need to give him everything. One of my favorite passages in the book, desire of Ages, page 3 24 says this, when the soul surrenders itself to Christ, a new power takes possession of the new heart. When does this happen? When the soul surrenders itself to Christ, that's giving him the key, right? A change is rot, which man can never accomplish for himself. It is a supernatural work. Do we need that today? I need that today. It is a supernatural work bringing a supernatural element into human nature. The soul that is yielded to Christ becomes his own fortress, which he holds in a revolted world, and he intends that. No authority shall be known in it, but his own. A soul, thus kept in possession by the heavenly agencies, is impregnable to the assaults of Satan. Wow. You see my friends, Jesus says, I am the door opportunity access defense. What more do we need? Jesus is indeed the alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of our salvation. Jesus is the one, the only one we can to with hope for eternity. I'm thankful for Jesus today, aren't you? Yeah. Amen. Aren't you thankful that we can allow him to take our hearts and our lives? Aren't you thankful that we can invite him into our hearts and give him access to every bit, every corner, every room? I'm thankful for that today. This media was brought to you by Audio verse, a website dedicated to spreading God's word through free sermon, audio, and much more. If you would like to know more about Audio verse or if you would like to listen to more sermons, please visit www.audio verse.org.

Back to Menu

The Door

Description

Sponsor

Recorded

Sound Doctrine