Christ the Door.
A homely and simple metaphor; yet how full of meaning, how precious, how suggestive, to every hearer of the gospel! There may be a door to a sheepfold, to a house, to a palace, to a fortress. There may be a door to a dungeon, to a church, to a torture-chamber, to a royal treasury. A door may be of material as weak as wicker, or as strong as oak, iron, or brass. The door may be opened by a latch which a child may lift, or it may be secured by bolts and bars that may resist the blow of a battering-ram. It may stand always open, so that every passer-by may enter by it; or it may be locked, so that only such as have the key or the password can gain entrance.
I. MAN'S SPIRITUAL CONDITION IS SUCH AS TO MAKE A DOOR LIKE THIS MOST DESIRABLE, A door presumes a "within" and a "without." If those on the outside are exposed to want, to danger, to misery; and if those within enjoy all the advantages which the excluded wanderers lack—in such a case, the interest attaching to the door of ingress is manifest. Now, the spiritual state of sinful men is pitiable and distressing. In God is all good; apart from God no true good is accessible to man. The way to God is, then, to us a matter of vital importance. Christ declares himself to be such a Way. He is the Door; by which, translating the language from that of poetry to that of theology, we understand he is the "one Mediator between God and man."
II. CHRIST IS THE DOOR BY WHICH MEN MAY ENTER IN AND ENJOY THE GREATEST BLESSINGS PROVIDED BY GOD.
1. The door of the fold admits the sheep to Divine pasture; and they who accept Christ's mediation find at their disposal all the provision of God's spiritual bounty. That the soul as well as the body needs food, is plain. The knowledge of God, the favor of God, the gracious help of God,—without such provision the soul is starved. The way by which these blessings may be attained is that pointed out in the text. Christ is the Door, by which if any man enter in he shall find pasture.
2. The door of the fold admits the sheep to Divine security; and they who shelter themselves in Christ are safe from every harm and every foe. If the flock are left unprotected, they are exposed to dangers of two kinds; they are likely to wander among the precipices of the dark mountains, and they are liable to be attacked by ravening wolves and other beasts of prey, or to become the spoil of robbers and marauders. Similarly, it should be impressed upon the minds, especially of the inexperienced, that this life is full of perils to all the children of men, that temptations and spiritual enemies abound. There is no security out of Christ. But whilst those without the door are exposed to death, Christ secures to his flock the blessing of life, and that in abundance.
3. The door of the fold admits the sheep to Divine society; and through Christ his people partake the hallowed and happy fellowship of all who are his. Without are the enemies; within are the friends. The fellowship of the flock is among the choicest privileges to which Christians are introduced; but it is Christ himself who introduces them. Only through the door can this society be reached and enjoyed. Those who gather within the fold are together partakers of the love and care of the Shepherd. Theirs is the congenial companionship of God's blessed home.
III. CHRIST, AS A DOOR, HAS CERTAIN QUALITIES WHICH MAY AWAKEN OUR GRATITUDE.
1. He is a strong Door. His strength is used to resist the incursion of any invader or foe, and thus to protect the members of the fold. Christ is to his people a bulwark against every, evil.
2. He is to those who wish to enter into the enjoyment of spiritual blessings an open Door. Sometimes a door is used for excluding those without, in a spirit of churlishness. There is nothing like this in the posture, the bearing, of the Lord Jesus. This door is indeed shut to unbelief and hardness of heart, but is ever open to the lowly, faithful, and contrite.
3. He is the only Door. Those who seek another entrance are like such as climb over the wall. There is none other Name whereby we can be saved.
IV. FOR WHOSE ADMISSION CHRIST, THE DOOR, IS INTENDED. Two classes are mentioned in the context, as contemplated in the benefits of this Door.
1. The under-shepherds, or those who are engaged in the spiritual tuition and guidance of their fellow-men. These are bound to enter in by the Door into the sheepfold. Spiritual pastors must find Christ before they can truly feed the sheep.
2. The sheep themselves enter by this Door, and by this only, into the fold of God. These are they whom the good Shepherd came to seek and find, when they were lost in the wilderness. These are they for whom the Shepherd laid down his precious life.
APPLICATION. Those who have entered by the Door, and are within the fold, should rejoice with gratitude. Those who are without should seek at once to enter by this Door.—T.