John 10:7-10 - Homiletics

Allegory of the door.

The Jews could not understand the previous allegory. Our Lord utters another, which carries the truth to a higher point.

I. CHRIST IS THE WAY OF SALVATION TO THE BELIEVER . "I am the Door of the sheep."

1. He is the Door of access to the Father . ( Ephesians 2:18 .)

2. He is the Door to heaven itself . ( John 14:2 .)

3. The Door is ever open .

4. It may be strait , but those who enter will assuredly be saved .

II. CHRIST WARNS AGAINST ALL FALSE SAVIORS . "All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers."

1. He does not refer to the prophets , who only clearly foretold his office and work .

2. But to such as assume the office of mediatorship , as made themselves the door. There is but one Mediator between God and man ( 1 Timothy 2:5 ).

3. Believers were, by a spiritual instinct, preserved from the wiles of such false teachers. "And the sheep did not hear them."

III. THE SAFETY AND THE PRIVILEGES OF THE SHEEP . "By me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture."

1. The sheep will have safely .

2. The sheep will have liberty . "They shall go in and out," either for food or for rest. They enjoy the liberty of the sons of God.

3. The sheep will have food . "And find pasture." They find the fullest satisfaction in Christ and in his salvation—words of faith and good doctrine, the wholesome words of Christ Jesus.

IV. THE CONTRAST BETWEEN CHRIST AND THE FALSE GUIDES OF THE JEWS .

1. The Pharisees pursued a course that involved the spiritual ruin of the Jews . "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy."

2. Christ pursued a course that guaranteed life in its abounding greatness . "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."