Jesus: the Door to Heaven John 10:1-10

Text:  “But he/she that entereth in (to Heaven) by the door is the Shepherd of the sheep.”
John 10:2.
          “Neither is there Salvation in any other; for there is none other Name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Acts 4:12.

Good morning, legitimate Christian!  There is ONE legitimate way into Heaven; one door alone through which the soul can enter into the Heavenly Realm - and that legitimate entrance is by grace, through faith, in the Person and Sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the Door to Heaven.  Hallelujah!  We can come no other way!

“Jesus saith unto him (Thomas), I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.”  (John 14:6)

Increasingly, in this age of ‘easy-believism’, liberalism, and post-modernistic apostasy, we find ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’ who have crept into the universal church institutions in one way or another - trying desperately to teach the concept of multi-faith religion.  What a dangerous thing to do!

“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness (I.e wantonness; greedy for personal gain and prestige, etc.), and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”  (Jude 4)

“This KNOW also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection (homosexual), truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away.”  (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

These latter-day charlatans, self-gain coveters, seek to militantly promote the blasphemous notion that there is more than one way to receive Salvation; more than one way to Heaven; more than one Door of Heavenly entrance.  Bible-believing Christian, BEWARE!

Our Bibles, God’s revealed Word and will to mankind, clearly teaches us that there is only ONE DOOR to Eternal life; ONE DOOR of entrance to God’s Presence in the Heavenly Realm.  

That ONE DOOR is through the Lord Jesus Christ and His once for all time full Atonement for sin at that place called Calvary.  Jesus Christ, the Son of God is - exclusive of all others - the only way to receive Eternal life.  That’s the Gospel truth.  HE is the Gospel Truth.  Trust in Him, and in Him alone, and enter Heaven’s Door.  (John 17:17) (John 1:1; 14)

“Verily (truly), verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the Door into the Sheepfold, but climbed up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.”  (John 10:1)

“Marvel not that I (Christ Jesus) say unto thee, Ye MUST be born again.”   (John 3:7)

Political Marxists all accept the teachings of Karl Marx.  Buddhists all accept the teachings of Buddha - ‘…a title applied to Sakyamuni or Gautama, the 5th Century N. Indian founder of a religion of spiritual purity…’.  Roman Catholics all accept the teachings of Roman Catholicism and seek to be obedient to the R.C. Pope.  Hindus ‘…believe in a form of Brahmanism…a caste system for India…reincarnation…the worship of several ‘gods’, etc.  (The Chamber’s Dictionary definitions)

Is it too much to ask, therefore, that men and women who call ourselves ‘Christians’ should seek to follow the risen Christ Jesus, serve Him, and adhere to His teachings ALONE?

Christ Jesus teaches us that He alone is the Door to Heaven.  Do you believe it, professing Christian?

Christ Jesus clearly teaches us that trusting in His Sacrifice alone to Atone for our sins is the only way of Eternal Salvation.  Do you believe it?

The Lord Jesus in today’s selected Bible Reading from John’s Gospel proclaims Himself to be ‘…the Door…’ to Heaven.  Do you believe it?

“I am the door; by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”  (John 10:10)

Thought:  True Christians promote, proclaim, and seek to obey the teachings of Christ alone!  Faith in Christ alone brings life Eternal.  Praise be to His Name!

Jesus Christ: ‘Son of God’ John 9:35-41

Text:  “These things have I (John) written unto you that believe on the Name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have Eternal life, and that ye may believe on the Name of the Son of God.”
1 John 5:13.

Good morning, all that believe (trust) in the Son of God!  May the Son of God, Christ Jesus, fill you with His Spirit of truth, love and joy this day.  May you be fully assured and encouraged of the fact that you have placed your trust in God the Son; and, being fully assured of this fact of faith, may you rejoice in His Presence and in His perfect peace.  This is my prayer for you today, dear friend in Him.  Amen.

“Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; and every one that loveth Him that begat (God the Father) loveth Him also that is begotten (God the Son, the Son of God, Christ Jesus).”  (1 John 5:1)  Hallelujah!

I have heard many today, even in Christian circles, try to convince us that the Lord Jesus never personally claimed that He was God, or the Son of God.  What utter nonsense!  What unScriptural twaddle!  God’s Word is truth.  

"Sanctify them (believers) through Thy truth; Thy Word is truth."  (Vs. 35-37)
 
Today’s passage from John’s Gospel clearly shows the Lord Jesus openly declaring, to the blind man healed, His full deity as ‘the Son of God…’  (Vs.35-37)

Read God’s Word for yourself, dear Christian.  Gain sound Bible knowledge with which to refute all would-be detractors and sceptics.  The truth will set us free!  God‘s Word has all the answers.  (John 6:32) (Psalm 119:105)

In verse thirty-five Jesus asked a most important question of the man he had healed from total blindness:  He asked him, “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?”

The healed man got straight to the point and answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on Him?”

Then in verse thirty-seven Jesus gives him the vital answer that is most relevant to our topic today:  “Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He that talketh with thee.”

We cannot be clearer than this - the Lord Jesus actually told the healed man that He was indeed ’the Son of God’!  Hallelujah!  Praise God!

However, even with this clear information revealed, it is verse thirty-eight that finally puts the cap on the argument of Christ Jesus’ full deity as God.  When the blind man openly expressed his belief in Christ Jesus as ‘…the Son of God…’, he did what all mankind must do in the Presence of God - ‘…he worshipped Him.’ (V.38)

Hallelujah!  Only God can receive our ‘worship’!  The Lord Jesus allowed the healed man to worship Him, while the angel in the Book of Revelation refused to permit John to worship him!  Check it out, my friend!

“And I (John) fell at his (the angel’s) feet to WORSHIP him.  And he said unto me, See thou do it not; I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus; WORSHIP GOD; for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”  (Revelation 19:10)

The First and Second Commandments of God given to Moses totally forbid the worship of anyone, or anything, other than the Lord God Almighty Himself:  “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image…thou shalt not bow down thyself to them…for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God…”  (Exodus 20:3-6)

Yet, to prove that Jesus was, is, and always shall be, God - He permitted the man He had just healed to actually ‘…worship Him…’!  Hallelujah!  It is as plain as the nose on one's face - the healed man was permitted to worship Jesus Christ because the Lord Jesus Christ is in fact the Lord God.  Wow!

The man born physically blind was not only given physical sight to visually see.  He was granted Spiritual sight to recognise Jesus as God the Son, ‘…the Son of God…’, and permitted to worship Him that day.  What a privilege!

The Pharisees, on the other hand, had good physical sight but, alas, were completely blind to the Spiritual things of God.  The could not, nor would not, recognise the Lord Jesus Christ as God incarnate (God in a Body of human flesh), and therefore perished in their sin.  What a tragedy.

Thought:  Jesus Christ is God Almighty - let us worship Him, and boldly proclaim His glorious Deity!

Stand Up for Jesus! John 9:26-34


Text:  Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind.  If this man were not of God, He could do nothing.

John 9:32-33.

Good morning, totally convinced Christian!  Christ has redeemed your soul and you know it.  Christ has redeemed your soul and you seek to show it.  Only the Son of God could do what Christ Jesus has done within you and within me - should we not, therefore, be willing to stand up and tell the world all around us of His great Salvation?  Amen, let us stand up for Jesus today.

Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the Cross.  Lift high His royal banner, it must not suffer loseYe that are brave now serve Him, against unnumbered foes.  Let courage rise with danger, and strength to strength oppose.  (Old Gospel hymn by George Duffield Jr 1858)

George Duffield (1818-1888)

Words: George Duf­field, Jr., 1858.
Music: Webb, George J. Webb, 1830

George J. Webb (1803-1887)

“‘Stand Up for Jesus’ was the dying message of the Reverend Dudley A. Tyng to the Young Men’s Christian Association…

The Sabbath before his death he preached in the immense edifice known as Jaynes’ Hall, one of the most successful sermons of modern times. Of the five thousand men there assembled, at least one thousand, it was believed were ‘the slain of the Lord’… (Saved)

The following Wednesday, leaving his study for a moment, he went to the barn floor, where a mule was at work on a horse-power, shelling corn. Patting him on the neck, the sleeve of his silk study gown caught in the cogs of the wheel, and his arm was torn out by the roots! His death occurred in a few hours…

The author of the hymn, George Duffield Jr, preached from Eph. 6:14, and the…verses were written simply as the concluding exhortation. The superintendent of the Sabbath school had a fly-leaf printed for the children—a stray copy found its way into a Baptist newspaper, from that paper it has gone…all over the world.” (© Copyright NetHymnal 2008. All rights reserved)

Wow!  What a testimony to leave behind to encourage others!  Praise God for totally convinced Christians like the above mentioned Dudley A. Tyng!  Praise God for totally convinced Christian writers, like the above mentioned George Duffield, who have penned for our singing such wonderful hymns of praise and worship!  Praise God for the blind man healed in today’s Bible Lesson, who took on all oppositions and yet still stood up for Christ Jesus!

“Whosoever therefore shall confess Me (Christ Jesus) before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in Heaven.  But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in Heaven.”  (Matthew 10:32-33)

In John Chapter 9: we learn of the miraculous healing of a man born blind.  We also learn of the oppositions the healed man immediately had to face as a result of Christ’s healing.  Taking this concept into the Spiritual realm, we can clearly identify the various sources of such opposition and we know from our own experiences in life as Christians how relevant these examples are, and profitable to our learning of how we too must handle similar oppositions.

Many will stand up and call us ‘SINNERS’; many will try to detract from our Christian witness by focusing on our ever-present weaknesses, failures and sins.  Even our brothers and sisters in the Lord - in perceived self-righteousness - might seek to detract from us in an unforgiving spirit.  Yet, like the man Christ healed from physical blindness, we must stand up and tell all that Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living Lord God, has redeemed our sin-prone souls.  Hallelujah!  Salvation is of the Lord!  Thank you, Lord Jesus!

“But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice; for I am not come to call the righteous, but SINNERS to repentance.”  (Matthew 9:11-13) (1 John 1:8-9|)

Thought: If Christ has forgiven us, we must also forgive each other.  ‘Stand up, stand up, for Jesus, ye soldiers of the Cross!’