The Door of Grace: Beyond Ritual to Relationship

• Doors reveal authority 00:01:09 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the metaphor of doors to illustrate spiritual authority, citing Genesis 4 where Cain left a door open for sin, and challenging the congregation to identify which doors they are allowing to remain open.
• Doors determine destination 00:03:10 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that just as physical doors determine physical location, Jesus as 'the door' (not 'a door') determines the believer's eternal destination, emphasizing exclusivity against other religious paths.
• Doors strengthen position 00:04:47 ▶️ 📄
  > Using a personal anecdote about his wife inspecting locked doors, the pastor illustrates how Jesus protects believers from the evil one, referencing Revelation 3:7 and 1:18 regarding Jesus' authority over opening and shutting doors.
• The identity of the thief 00:06:43 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor reinterprets John 10:10, suggesting that while Satan is behind the thief, the 'thief' Jesus identifies in context refers to the Pharisees, who are religious elites opposing Jesus.
• Religious legalism vs. Gospel 00:10:32 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor contrasts the Pharisees' legalistic adherence to traditions with the Gospel, arguing that religious people are harder to reach because they believe they are already good, whereas sinners recognize their need for forgiveness.
• Religious Mindedness 00:11:17 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor argues that religious people are the hardest to reach with the gospel because they believe they are already good and do not need forgiveness.
• Legalism and Pharisaical Rules 00:12:11 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes how the Pharisees added layers of tradition and rules on top of God's law, creating a burdensome system that drives people away.
• Institutionalized Religion vs. Relationship with God 00:13:19 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor contrasts the aim of the church (relationship with God) with the destructive nature of institutionalized religion, which he claims kills and destroys.
• Corruption of the Religious System 00:16:03 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor cites Jesus calling religious leaders 'thieves and robbers' and details the corruption of the temple system under Annas and Caiaphas.
• John Wycliffe and Bible Translation 00:18:01 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the historical example of John Wycliffe to illustrate how institutionalized religion threatens power when God's Word is made accessible to the common people.
• Jesus as the Door 00:24:34 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor concludes that Jesus is the exclusive path to heaven and abundant life, contrasting Him with the 'con job' of religion.
• Religion vs. Relationship with Jesus 00:25:07 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor contrasts being 'religious' (like the Pharisees) with having a personal relationship with Jesus, asserting that religion cannot save and that one must be in a relationship with Christ.
• Spiritual Sight and Sin 00:26:12 ▶️ 📄
  > Using John 9, the pastor explains that coming to Jesus opens one's eyes to see their own sin and the sin of others, shifting the perspective from 'good vs. bad people' to 'found vs. lost people'.
• Spiritual Hearing and the Shepherd's Voice 00:30:34 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor discusses how a changed heart allows one to hear Jesus' voice, distinguishing it from human teaching, and uses the analogy of sheep recognizing their shepherd's voice to explain spiritual discernment.
• Jesus as the Door and Protection 00:38:34 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains the metaphor of Jesus as the door of the sheepfold, laying down His life to protect believers from spiritual danger, summarizing the gospel as Jesus taking sins upon Himself.
• The Gospel and Salvation 00:40:30 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor defines the gospel as Jesus taking on sins, calling believers out of the world, and providing shelter from Satan.
• Divine Protection 00:40:44 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes God placing believers in the 'shelter of the most high' and Jesus guarding them so Satan cannot steal them.

• Sermon Illustration 00:00:00 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor lists the various doors the congregation walked through that morning (bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, garage, car, church entrance) to illustrate how ubiquitous doors are in daily life.
• Sermon Illustration 00:01:45 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts the biblical story of Cain in Genesis 4, where Cain opened the door to resentment, allowing sin to crouch at the door, illustrating how leaving spiritual doors open invites sin.
• Sermon Illustration 00:04:47 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his wife inspecting the doors every morning because he forgets to lock them at night, using this to illustrate the concept of protection and the husband's role in shielding his family.
• Sermon Illustration 00:08:22 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references the healing of the blind man in John 9, noting that the Pharisees were infuriated by Jesus' actions on the Sabbath, illustrating the conflict between religious elites and Jesus' ministry.
• Sermon Illustration 00:12:44 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal reflection on being raised in a legalistic church, describing how strict rules and regulations ('don't do that, don't do this') drove people crazy and made the Gospel hard to reach for religious-minded people.
• Sermon Illustration 00:11:57 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses a personal anecdote about raising children to illustrate that evil is inherent in human nature ('standard programming'), contrasting this with the religious belief that people are inherently good.
• Sermon Illustration 00:14:03 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor lists absurd Pharisaical rules, such as the 39 laws defining 'work' on the Sabbath, including restrictions on walking distance, tying knots, throwing/catching objects, and spitting, to demonstrate the absurdity of legalism.
• Sermon Illustration 00:14:42 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses a humorous analogy of playing football with his son on the Sabbath, where tossing the ball is allowed but catching it is 'work,' to highlight the ridiculousness of Pharisaical interpretations.
• Sermon Illustration 00:21:59 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor compares the temple merchants' exploitation of pilgrims to an auto mechanic upselling unnecessary repairs (tires, transmission, brakes) to a customer who just came in for an oil change.
• Sermon Illustration 00:18:57 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts the historical story of John Wycliffe translating the Bible into English, his excommunication, and the posthumous desecration of his bones by the Catholic Church to illustrate the danger of institutionalized religion.
• Sermon Illustration 00:20:12 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes the 'Bazaar of Annas,' where corrupt priests inspected sacrifices, found faults to force pilgrims to buy overpriced approved sacrifices, and charged exorbitant currency exchange rates.
• Sermon Illustration 00:25:29 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references the Pharisees and Sadducees who knew the Bible and protocols but hated Jesus, illustrating how religious knowledge without relationship leads to missing the Son of God.
• Sermon Illustration 00:26:12 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the story of the blind man in John 9 who was interrogated by the Pharisees, highlighting the man's simple testimony that he was blind and now sees, contrasting it with the Pharisees' spiritual blindness.
• Sermon Illustration 00:30:50 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the analogy of Charlie Brown's teacher from the Peanuts cartoons, whose speech is unintelligible gibberish, to describe how the Bible appears to those who have not been saved by Christ.
• Sermon Illustration 00:34:26 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his fear of preaching something the Lord does not want the congregation to hear, using this to illustrate the importance of the Holy Spirit's confirmation of the Shepherd's voice.
• Sermon Illustration 00:38:34 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes the historical practice of shepherds in ancient Israel using enclosed caves with a single opening, where the shepherd would lie down at the entrance to become the 'door' protecting the sheep from thieves and wolves.

• Pastoral Charge 00:00:00 ▶️ 📄
  > Take out notes and write down the sermon points.
• Pastoral Charge 00:01:09 ▶️ 📄
  > Write down the point 'Doors reveal authority' in their notes.
• Pastoral Charge 00:00:59 ▶️ 📄
  > Give their offering at the door upon exiting.
• Pastoral Charge 00:24:53 ▶️ 📄
  > Write down the statement that Jesus is the door to life, not religion.
• Pastoral Charge 00:25:29 ▶️ 📄
  > Answer the question of whether they are merely religious or in a relationship with Jesus.
• Pastoral Charge 00:40:49 ▶️ 📄
  > Bow heads and close eyes in preparation for a decision or prayer.
• Pastoral Charge 00:40:49 ▶️ 📄
  > Bow heads and close eyes

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:00:00] Take out your notes. They look like this. I am the door as we do part four of this series, and we're going to go to the book of John chapter 10, so keep your Bibles open. I know you're already there, and we're going to talk about doors for a moment because I don't know if you know this, but doors are a big part of our life, and I did not even realize that until I started to study for this message, and I thought, man, we walk through a lot of doors all the time. You've already walked through several doors this morning. You walked through your bedroom door, and we pray to God you walked through your bathroom door.
[00:00:30] maybe a shower door, out of the bathroom door, into the bedroom door, through the bedroom door, into the kitchen door, out of the kitchen, into the, maybe you went into the garage door, opened your garage doors, drove out, but first you got into your car through the door, right?
[00:00:46] Then you got out to our parking lot, got out of the car door, into our outside door, checked in your kids through the kids check-in door, and then walked through the doors of the sanctuary. And when I'm done preaching, after we sing one more song, you will exit the doors on
[00:00:59] your way out. A lot of doors, yeah. Don't forget to give on your way out. Amen. We don't pass the plate in the church. So you give at the door. And I thought about some things concerning doors
[00:01:09] that you may never have put together, but I believe that they tie together to what Jesus is speaking about regarding his identity. Letter A in your notes, write this down. Doors reveal authority. There are doors that you can walk through. There are doors that you cannot walk
[00:01:22] through. What doors are you allowing to stay open that shouldn't be open? The actual, the first time the Bible mentions doors, check this out. Genesis chapter 1, I'm sorry, Genesis chapter 4, verse 7, God says to Cain, who wants to kill his brother because he's jealous of his acceptance before God,
[00:01:45] Abel gave God his first and his best. Cain gave God his leftovers. So Cain sees God favor Abel.
[00:01:52] he's resentful resentment gets into his heart he opened the door to resentment and then god comes and challenges warns cain says if you do well you will be accepted but if you don't if you don't do well sin is crouching where at the door what happened was cain left a door
[00:02:13] open for sin what about you what doors are you left letting open you you have to understand you have authority over the doors of your life? How about this one? What doors are you opening with
[00:02:26] your ears? Who are you listening to? Who are you letting speak into your life? Who's going to be your counselor in your moments of sadness and depression? Be careful. Who has authority over the doors of your life? Amen, somebody. Jesus was warning the people of Israel in chapter 10 of
[00:02:50] john he actually warns them by saying you know if you don't if people don't enter god's sheepfold by the door they're thieves they're coming for nefarious purposes you have to understand that there's a real spiritual battle at work all around you all the time and your ears are so big a part
[00:03:10] of this whose voices are getting into your heart letter b doors determine my destination you are in the sanctuary because you walk through the doors of the sanctuary. You're in the church because you walk through the doors of the church. When you go home, you go back through the doors
[00:03:25] of your house, back into the destination of your home. Jesus makes this absolutely clear in verse seven of our text. He says, I am the door of the sheep. Notice the phrase is intentionally exclusive. He does not say, I am a door. He says, I am the door, underline the. Because if Jesus
[00:03:47] wanted to play nice with all the other religions of the world, he would have said, I'm Ador.
[00:03:52] You can walk through me and get to heaven. Or you can walk through Buddha or Muhammad or all these other things. And if he wanted to play, if that was his intention, right, to play nice with all
[00:04:03] the other religions of the world, that's what he would have said. But he didn't say that, did he?
[00:04:08] He said, I am the door, the only way for the sheep to find the father, to know the father, to go ultimately to eternal life, but in this life, to have eternal life, it's only through Jesus Christ,
[00:04:25] which means he determines the destination of your eternity. That's pretty cool. Letter C, doors strengthen my position. One of my wife's pet peeves about me is that sometimes I forget to lock the doors at night. And the reason why I know this is because every morning she inspects
[00:04:47] the doors. And I'm like, well, you have time to inspect the doors in the morning. Why not just inspect them in the evening and lock them if I forget? That conversation doesn't go my way.
[00:04:59] Nonetheless, I think what she wants is she wants me, as a lot of women do. Don't get offended here, ladies, but I think a lot of women, you want protection from your husband. And that is our
[00:05:08] role. We should be protecting you. We should be standing between you and danger. Yeah? Amen.
[00:05:14] that's not that's not being you know misogynistic I think that's just normal and natural and uh and so listen that's what a door does it when when thieves approach lock the door or to make sure
[00:05:25] that they can't get in lock the door they strengthen your position here's what Jesus is saying I'm the one who keeps you protected from the evil one if you're fighting sin in your life you can't get the victory over sin guess what you just you need Jesus he's the one who shields you
[00:05:42] from the evil one.
[00:05:43] He's, Jesus actually says to one church in Revelation, I open doors nobody can shut and I shut doors nobody can open.
[00:05:51] I am the one who has the keys of hell and death, Jesus says.
[00:05:54] I have authority over the doors of your life.
[00:05:58] Some of you have opened some stupid doors.
[00:06:00] Stupid doors to some relationships you never should have gotten involved in.
[00:06:03] Some conversations you never should have started.
[00:06:06] Some destinations you never should have gone to.
[00:06:08] Some jobs you never should have taken.
[00:06:10] And you say, I don't understand what I'm going to do.
[00:06:11] Well, listen, here's what you do.
[00:06:13] You come back to Jesus and you say, Father, close the doors in my life.
[00:06:17] Open the doors you want.
[00:06:18] Shut the doors.
[00:06:19] And you know what you got to do as a Christian?
[00:06:20] You got to learn to be okay with the doors Jesus shuts.
[00:06:24] Amen.
[00:06:25] You got to be okay also and walk through the doors Jesus opens.
[00:06:29] Because he's a good shepherd.
[00:06:30] And we'll get to that one next week.
[00:06:32] But this week, he's the door.
[00:06:33] Come on, somebody say, he's the door.
[00:06:36] Now, you got to understand in the context of what he says here, he says it in the context of there are thieves all around you.
[00:06:43] in fact in verse 10 a passage that we could quote by memory right this was very well known john 10 10 the thief comes only to steal kill and destroy but how many of you have ever put together what
[00:06:55] jesus means in verse 10 when he says oops i'm back here when jesus says in verse 10 the thief i i think that we have misinterpreted the word thief in this passage uh more than we
[00:07:07] realize i i've always done this i've always said oh the thief is satan but i would suggest to you today, based on what I'm about to tell you, is that Satan is behind the actual thief that Jesus
[00:07:18] identifies in this passage. And it's going to shock you who it is. To understand who it is, we've got to look at verse 6, because John gives us a little notation of what Jesus is talking
[00:07:28] about and doing here. First off, he's using a figure of speech, verse 6. And he's using it with them, but they do not understand what he was saying to them. Three times referenced, they, them who what is he like well we got to understand the context to whom jesus says these words in
[00:07:45] order to understand these words and to realize that context let me just take you back to john chapter 9 because before um the 1300s the bible did not have chapters it had books and john is
[00:07:58] one of those books but it had no chapters which means you were supposed to read john 9 right into john 10 and a good bible pastor a good bible preacher sorry will lead your understanding of
[00:08:09] God's Word contextually. That means that he will give you context for the text. Our text is John 10, 1 to 10. But the context is what happens in John 9 that leads to what Jesus says in John 10.
[00:08:22] Got it? So let's take a look at this moment. This is the healing of a blind man. Jesus is somewhere around the temple. He's in Jerusalem. And he heals this blind man. First, a conversation ensues with
[00:08:35] the disciples. They say, was he, was he a sinner? Or was his parents, were his parents sinners that he was born blind. Jesus says, neither. This is so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
[00:08:46] Sometimes sin causes sickness. Some of you know this firsthand. Sometimes sin has nothing to do with sickness from us. It's just we live in a fallen world that's filled with sin. And so some of us directly cause sickness because of our sins. Sometimes it's indirectly. Sometimes it's just
[00:09:04] the state of the world is fallen. We need a hopeful future world that Jesus will redeem, and there was sickness but here's what jesus says we're going to do the works of him who sent me
[00:09:13] while it is day night is coming no one can work as long as i'm in the world i am the light we already talked about that jesus is the light jesus is the bread of life and then having said this
[00:09:22] verse 6 he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said go wash in the pool of siloam which means sin so he went and washed came back
[00:09:34] seeing. And people were flummoxed, flabbergasted. Is this the same guy? This conversation goes, oh yeah, it's him. No, no, it's not somebody. It looks like him going on. He says, how is your eyes open? He said, the man called Jesus made mud. Okay, so this gets referenced again for
[00:09:51] emphasis. And anointed my eyes and said to me, go wash in the pool of Siloam. I went and washed and I received my sight. Now they're like, where is he? I don't know. And they brought to the
[00:10:02] Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind and John makes notice it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes so the Pharisees oh here we go this is the them the Pharisees again
[00:10:19] asked him who would receive the sight and he said to them he put mud on my eyes and I wash and I see and I see and this infuriates the Pharisees who are the Pharisees the Pharisees were the religious
[00:10:32] elites of Israel. They were the people who knew the Bible chapter and verse. These were not, in their estimation, immoral sinners, unclean, unholy people. These were churchgoers.
[00:10:49] These were people who prided themselves on their good behavior and moral works.
[00:10:55] And you have to understand, you got to get this right, all right? The people who put Christ on the cross with the help of the Romans were religious people. Religious people had a problem with Jesus more than irreligious. Sinners love Jesus. And I've known this to be a fact about
[00:11:17] ministering the word of God. The hardest people to reach with the gospel are religious minded people because they don't actually think they need forgiveness for their sins. They've already made up for it with their religious acts. They're good people. And they're hard to reach with the
[00:11:37] gospel because they actually believe a lie that they're good people. Yeah? There's no good people out there. Anybody who's met people knows there's no good people. You know who knows there's no good people the most? People who have birthed other people. Moms, come on. You know what I'm talking
[00:11:57] about. You did not need to teach your child to disobey. You have been struggling to teach them to obey since they were born. Evil comes with standard programming in the human heart.
[00:12:11] The Pharisees, they had all kinds of rules and regulations on top of the laws of God. You see, what the Pharisees did was they were strict adherence to their moral code that was based on God's law. God's law is a gift. Thank God for God's law. Through God's law, we know you shouldn't
[00:12:29] murder. You shouldn't commit adultery. You shouldn't steal. God's law is very good. It's very protective. But some of, some of the religious leaders in Jesus' day, like the Pharisees, they built laws on top of the laws. They built traditions on top of the rules. And this is how you drive
[00:12:44] people crazy with legalism. Anybody ever been to a legalistic church? I was raised in a legalistic church. They were, don't do that. Don't do this. Don't listen in there. Don't go there. Don't do that. And it was like, after a while, you're just like, I'm done. I can't take this anymore. Maybe
[00:12:57] that's your story. Religious, uh, legalism just kind of frustrated you to no end. You just shook your hands of, of, of anything to do with the church. Then you went out and had fun with the
[00:13:09] devil's stuff for a little while. And you realize that wasn't any better either. And now maybe you've circled back to water. We're glad you're here. But, but listen, our aim is not to make you
[00:13:19] religious. Our aim is to bring you into relationship with God. So, so, so here's what happen? A little backstory. There's 10 commandments. Some of them are pretty clear. Like, don't commit adultery. You kind of know when you're doing that one. Yeah? If you don't, we'll pray for you after
[00:13:41] the service. You know when you're killing somebody, right? Don't murder. You know when that's happening.
[00:13:48] But the one, number four, don't work on the Sabbath. You see, this one could be a little bit vague, because in order to not work on the Sabbath, I need to know what constitutes as work. Well, the
[00:14:03] Pharisees really stressed over this one, and they came up with 39 laws in their day on what constituted work. For instance, you couldn't walk more than three-quarters of a mile on the Sabbath. If you
[00:14:17] walked three-quarters of a mile, not work. Over three-quarters of a mile, work. Therefore, forbidden.
[00:14:23] Another one, you could tie a knot, but only if the knot was a temporary knot.
[00:14:29] Otherwise, it was work.
[00:14:30] Another one was, you could throw an object in the Sabbath, but you could not catch an object.
[00:14:38] So, good luck playing football with your son on the Sabbath.
[00:14:42] Toss it, Johnny. Good job.
[00:14:45] Okay, game over. Let's go sit down.
[00:14:48] You couldn't cook on the Sabbath.
[00:14:50] A lot of weird rules.
[00:14:51] Now, there was one in particular.
[00:14:52] you couldn't spit on the ground on the sabbath lest somebody swipe across your spit and make mud that was considered according to the pharisees work what did jesus do he made mud and he and how many know jesus knows exactly what he's doing he knew their stupid rules
[00:15:22] and he broke them on purpose. He did not break the law. He broke their traditions. And there's a huge difference. You see, religion comes and ties people up with all kinds of bondage and legalistic righteousness so that the people who do it can feel good about themselves over against
[00:15:41] the people who don't. And what happened by the time Jesus showed up in Jerusalem at this time was that the religious system was so utterly corrupt on these rules and regulations, Jesus was done with it. And you get to John chapter 10, and he calls these people
[00:16:03] thieves and robbers. He's talking about the religious people. He's not talking about the bad people. Go on to verse 7, and he says the same thing. Verse 7, he says, I'm the door, all who came before me are present tense the people now running the system they are what
[00:16:27] thieves and robbers he's taught again the religious system then you get to verse 10 the thief the religious system comes to steal kill and destroy get this in your heart religion kills i i know that there is a true and pure religion that james talks about you help widows
[00:16:51] and orphans. Yes, but that is rooted and predicated on belief in Christ, okay? But institutional, that's the key word, religion destroys. Our nation is at war with Iran right now. Do you know what it's really at war with? It's at war with institutionalized Muslim religion.
[00:17:14] Just look at the pictures and videos of Iran before the Islamic revolution. They looked like you. Ladies, they dressed like you. They lived like you. Islam takes over. Ladies' rights wiped out the map. Now covered head to toe. Men dominate, rule over their families, and people's freedoms
[00:17:36] and joys gone. Do you know who's the happiest about those bombs dropping on Iran right now?
[00:17:43] Iranians, who have had it with institutionalized religion. All right? Now, let's not just say it's Islam. Islam is a false religion. But even Christianity has, at times, been oppressive.
[00:18:01] There was a time in the 1500s. Do you know why we're not Catholic today? Do you know why? Because in the 1500s, Christianity had become so rooted in tradition and rules and laws and institutionalized,
[00:18:14] you know, systems that protected power, that some men within the Christian faith said, this isn't right. One of them was named John Wycliffe. John Wycliffe was a priest in the Catholic Church who believed that it was important for the people to hear God's Word in their own
[00:18:30] language. And at the time, only the Latin Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bible, was appropriate and was read in masses. And most of the people couldn't even read it. And the priests liked it
[00:18:39] that way. The powers that be liked it that way. They wanted authority over people's lives rather and to help people find Christ.
[00:18:47] Institutionalized religion kills.
[00:18:49] So John Wycliffe gave his life to translating from the Latin into the English, the common language of the common man.
[00:18:57] That was his life's ambition.
[00:18:59] They excommunicated him.
[00:19:01] The church did.
[00:19:03] And that wasn't bad enough.
[00:19:04] Then he died, and they were so mad that he had translated the Bible into the common tongue.
[00:19:10] They dug up his bones, burned them, and threw them into the river.
[00:19:13] John Wycliffe not only John Wycliffe but several others gave their life to make sure that you could hear God's voice through the written word in your own language and institutionalized religion was threatened because you threaten religion when you give God's people God's power and now no no longer
[00:19:35] does the institution have power over them you got what I'm saying here this is what got Jesus crucified he challenged the powers the structures of institutionalized religion and they turned on him and handed him over to the romans let me give you a little bit more depth on how bad judaism
[00:19:54] had become by the time of jesus uh three pilgrimage feasts a year whereby the jews would travel to jerusalem from all over the world to worship according to the dictates of scripture they're supposed to come three times a year. Well, by the time of Jesus, there was something called
[00:20:12] the Bazaar of Annas. Bazaar meaning like fair, marketplace. Annas is actually mentioned in the Bible. He's the high priest's father-in-law. He was the high priest around AD 15. He had been there for many, many years. He was so corrupt, the Romans actually deposed him by force. The Romans
[00:20:36] deposed a Jewish high priest because he was that corrupt.
[00:20:41] But he held on to his power through his sons who took over the priesthood and his son-in-law was named Caiaphas. Does that name sound familiar?
[00:20:49] Caiaphas was the one who actually handed Jesus over to the Romans to be crucified.
[00:20:53] They called it the Bazaar of Annas because every time people came to Jerusalem to worship, he had this mafioso-style run religious power hold over the system. Here's what they would do.
[00:21:05] you'd have to travel maybe 300 400 miles in the ancient world with sacrifices to come and offer your sacrifices in the temple and you would show up and anise had priests assigned to examine your sacrifice to see if it was spotless now how many want to measure how many want to guess how
[00:21:27] many times they found a fault with a sacrifice that you brought every time they were instructed to do this. And they say, oh no, I'm sorry, your lamb has a spot here and the hoof is a little bit
[00:21:38] awkward. So nope, you can't sacrifice that to God. But good news, we've got already approved sacrifices available for sale. And they would jack that price up. Anybody ever been to the auto mechanic for an oil change? And he comes out and he's like, I don't know how you're driving on
[00:21:59] this thing. Oh, I got the oil done. The oil's fine, no problem. But you know what? Those tires are almost bald. And you're probably going to slip and slide all over the ice this winter. Oh, and by
[00:22:08] the way, you probably should have the transmission replaced. The brakes need to go as well. Total all up. I can probably do the whole job for about 20 grand. Let's get it done right now.
[00:22:19] That's exactly what Annas was doing with religious sacrifices in the temple.
[00:22:25] You know, it's one thing to do it in the name of auto mechanicy. It's another thing to do it in the name of God. Not only that, but Annas would charge exorbitant exchange rates for the money
[00:22:36] to be exchanged because you traveled from other countries sometimes as a Jew, as a pilgrim Jew.
[00:22:40] You'd come to Jerusalem. You had to change your money over to the denarius. And so he was in charge of the currency exchange rates. And his sons would perpetrate this nonsense. Not only that, but he had henchmen, guards, temple guards. By the way, when Jesus is put in the grave,
[00:23:02] remember that the priest demand that pilot um yeah pilot provide a guard for the for the for the grave what does pilot say you provide your own guard because he knew he already had henchmen
[00:23:12] and those henchmen were assigned to guard the grave of jesus well those henchmen before they guarded the grave of jesus do you know what they were in charge of doing they were in charge of
[00:23:20] beating people with sticks if they didn't pay their temple tax this was a mafioso insider utterly corrupt system which is why in John 2 Jesus goes into that temple with a whip throws over the temple changers and their tables and whips those suckers out and no one complains
[00:23:49] got it now you see why Jesus also says in John 10 these people aren't just bad they're thieves they're robbers they don't care about people they care about their religious system and i'm here to tell you that i am the door by the way that blind man they cast him out
[00:24:21] in john chapter 9 and later in the chapter jesus finds him hey can i tell anybody who's ever been cast out by institutionalized religion religion might cast you out but jesus will bring you in
[00:24:34] that's the good news of the gospel all right here's the point that jesus is making write this down religion isn't the door to life jesus is religion is not your way to god that's the claim
[00:24:53] that jesus is making here i'm the door of the sheep you want to go in to heaven i'm the door you want to go into abundant life i'm the door and any other way is a con job on the human heart
[00:25:07] so the question today that we want to answer is simply this write this down am i religious or am i in relationship with jesus and that's the question everybody needs to answer today today because you can be religious and miss jesus that's what the pharisees and the sadducees did
[00:25:29] they knew their bibles they had the protocols they they wore the funny hats they had the long garments of religious institutions and they were face to face with the son of the most high god
[00:25:49] and they hated him so three things about religion a relationship with jesus and then we're done number one um a relationship with jesus opens my eyes that's why john chapter 9 opens because this man in john chapter 9 was blind he was blind by the way later in the passage when they ask him
[00:26:12] what happened to you? And they interrogate him. And they, and he says, well, I think he's a prophet and they don't believe it. They want to, and they call his parents in and the parents are like, we
[00:26:23] know it's our son, but we're not here to say anything because they don't want to be cast out of the synagogue. Let him speak for himself. And, and the fact that matters is what this man says
[00:26:30] is all I know is that I was blind and now I see. The difference between who I was and who I am is Jesus. When you come to know Jesus, he opens your eyes. Amen, somebody. Now, the Pharisees didn't
[00:26:46] realize this, but at the end of John chapter 9, as Jesus tells them, listen, I've come for judgment in the world, verse 39, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind. In
[00:26:57] other words, the people who think they see are actually going to find out that they're blind.
[00:27:02] And the Pharisees are picking up. They know. He's talking about them. They say, are we blind as well?
[00:27:07] and he says if you were blind you would have no guilt but now that you say we see your guilt remains because you think your religion saves you you think your good works save you you think your
[00:27:17] traditions save you and i'm here to tell you jesus saying i'm here to tell you there's nothing in the economy of god let me set the table for 2026 america here you're not going to get to
[00:27:34] heaven because you're a good person so you you might not be a religious person but you think you're a good person. And that's the equation that you've been working out in your brain for a long time. Listen to me, especially men here, because you guys are oftentimes more
[00:27:53] susceptible to this than women. Well, I'm a good person. No, you're not. And I'm going to prove that you're not from the Bible. Bible's kind of important, yeah? Just one verse of scripture, is all I need for this. For all have sinned. Romans 3.23. And all fall short of the glory
[00:28:18] of God. And all are justified only by his grace. There's no getting to heaven because you're a good person. You know, I said one verse, but I got another verse, just so you know. Psalm 14.
[00:28:35] the fool says in his heart there is no god they are corrupt there is none who does good none book of proverbs says there is no one who does good always and never sins we're all
[00:28:51] in some ways sinful and broken and rebellious but the good news of the gospel is that through Christ, your sins are no longer the issue. Your sins are no longer the issue. The issue now is,
[00:29:11] are you in a relationship with Jesus, who is the door for sinners to come home to God?
[00:29:18] He opens your eyes. And only when you open, only when Christ comes in, can your eyes truly be opened. You start to see things differently. Amen? When Christ is in your life, you see your sin
[00:29:31] differently. You might even see sins you didn't even know you had. And not only do you see your sins differently, you see other people differently, don't you? Before you were in Christ, other people were the enemy. Now they are your opportunity to tell them about Jesus. And yes, even the people
[00:29:55] that you don't like. Like, I need this one for me because sometimes I forget that the people that I don't like are still my opportunity. Like the person who doesn't take the right on red. That
[00:30:07] person, I mean, help me, Lord, to love them in Jesus' name. Who's it for you? God opens your eyes to show you that really there's not good people and bad people. There's just found people
[00:30:26] and lost people. And he opens your eyes. Number two, a relationship with Jesus opens my ears.
[00:30:34] this is my favorite part of the message because when your heart has been changed by the lord you start to hear his voice and it and it really is incredible some of you could stand and say
[00:30:50] yeah that's my testimony this book made no sense to me until i came to christ until christ saved me this book was charlie brown's teacher anybody ever watch those cartoons they're like and charlie brown be like yes ma'am no ma'am
[00:31:07] yes ma'am it'd be like what is she saying that was this book before christ saved you and i'd be up here i'd be preaching my heart i'd be like not getting in and then one day come on
[00:31:20] somebody one day boom the lord did something in your heart opened your ears opened your eyes to jesus and now when you hear now when you read this book it comes alive like that's how you know you're
[00:31:34] saved here. You read the scriptures, and it's like, oh, I know what's happening here. Now, I get it that there's still some confusion about some places, and I completely understand that the scriptures are hard to understand. In fact, there's a Bible passage in 2 Peter where Peter says the scriptures
[00:31:50] are hard to understand. But there's a delight when you do understand them, yeah? That's a sign you're saved. Jesus says about being the shepherd, he's the one who enters by the door, the shepherd of
[00:32:04] sheep now here's what it says to him the gatekeeper opens and the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name i found out this week that sometimes shepherds in the ancient world would
[00:32:16] have nicknames for their sheep and i wonder if jesus has a nickname for you you know he had a guy named jacob who is so proudful and arrogant and at the same time so easily broken that he had
[00:32:30] to put his hip out and and jacob walked for the rest of his life like this i bet you jacob's name in heaven is Gimpy. Here comes Gimpy. You know, Simon was named Peter. James and John were named
[00:32:46] the sons of thunder. Thomas was nicknamed the twin. I think, I think Jesus has a nickname for you. And you know what that means? You know what happens when you have a friend who has a nickname
[00:32:58] for you? Do you know what that means? That's a real friend. That's not a acquaintance. Now you're rose you know now you're sister because you can call each other by something other than the name
[00:33:09] you know and it might be even a little bit of a jibe because that's your care but you know it's out of love man i love this about our savior our shepherd he calls us by name he leads them out
[00:33:21] and when he has brought out his own he goes before them and the sheep follow him why they know his voice. And then verse five is my favorite verse in the passage, even though it doesn't sound like
[00:33:36] it's a very important verse, but it's hugely important. Jesus makes sure not only do my sheep hear my voice, but they don't follow a stranger because they don't know the voice of strangers.
[00:33:50] And I cannot tell you as a Bible pastor, as a Bible preacher, how much this passage means to me.
[00:34:00] here's why i'm a pretty good pastor don't stop too late too late but i'm not perfect and uh i've made mistakes from this pope from this stage and one of the great fears of my life
[00:34:26] is that i would say something to you that the lord would not want you to hear that's one of my greatest fears and um this verse man i'll tell you what this verse tells me is that sometimes
[00:34:37] even if I do make the mistake, the work of the Holy Spirit in you is going to be like, don't listen to that. That's not from the Savior. And more importantly, I know that the key to
[00:34:54] growing this church is not by cool presentations and exciting events. I mean, I could grow a crowd that way. But the key to growing the church is to get up here and just tell you what the shepherd
[00:35:11] says. Tell you what Jesus, because his voice will pull his sheep close. That's what Jesus is communicating. And I absolutely love it. Now, I got to be frank with you. And we're going to talk
[00:35:27] about this a little bit more next week. Don't be offended here because I'm one of them. Sheep are stupid. We'll talk about that more next week. But amazingly enough, what Jesus says here about sheep knowing the voice of their shepherd is actually a biological fact. God has programmed
[00:35:51] in the ear canals of sheep this incredible reality that I researched this week. I have a video to show you that when they hear their shepherd's voice, they respond. When they don't, they don't.
[00:36:03] and this is a video of people trying to call sheep who aren't their shepherd and then the shepherd speaks and watch the reaction it's incredible check this out one more time

[00:36:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:36:24] was that cool or what it's powerful not only did they hear and lift their heads but what

[00:38:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:38:01] else did they do? They ran. You see, some of you, you've been wandering. And I know this about it.
[00:38:08] I know this about wandering. You can only wander so far. And then the voice of the shepherd comes and you come running back. Do you know why? Because he's done a work in your heart to connect
[00:38:19] you to his voice. Number three, and finally, a relationship with Jesus opens my life to his abundance. He is the door of the sheep. Now, in the early part of John 10, Jesus talks about the
[00:38:34] sheepfold, which would have been the village sheepfold, where many different flocks would have been collected for the townspeople. So the shepherd walks in and he says, okay, here's my sheep. And he calls his sheep and they follow him. But in the summer seasons,
[00:38:48] for breeding and feeding, you had to lead sheep out into the open country so that they had plenty of food. And so a shepherd would lead his flock way away from home, so far home that sometimes
[00:39:00] they would have to spend the night in the open country. And that's where the thieves and the robbers were really dangerous. So he would lead them to an enclosed cave with an opening. I have
[00:39:08] a picture of it here. An enclosed cave with an opening. And it looks like this. And so you'll notice that these were very common in the scattered hills of Israel and all over the world,
[00:39:18] really, to this day. But there's no gate. What the shepherd would do in those days is shepherd all the sheep into the cave for the evening, and he would lay down at the opening.
[00:39:34] He became the door for the gate, for the sheep. Let me tell you what happened 2,000 years ago.
[00:39:42] Jesus laid down on a cross for you. In the open country, if a wolf came after those sheep, he'd have to go through the shepherd's body what happened on the cross is the wrath of god
[00:39:55] went on jesus's body for you and for me and we are safe in the cave of his grace so summing this up who am i in christ i am safe in the sheepfold of jesus hearing god's voice
[00:40:15] and secured in his blood.
[00:40:19] My friends, if you've never heard it before, is the gospel.
[00:40:28] The gospel is not become a good person.
[00:40:30] The gospel is Jesus has taken your sins upon himself.
[00:40:37] He has called you out of the world with his voice.
[00:40:44] And he has put you in the shelter of the most high.
[00:40:49] and he has laid himself down at the door so that satan can never steal you from him praise god i want you to bow your heads and close your eyes because some of you this is your time
[00:41:07] to say yes to the shepherd you've never done it before it's time to do it god is calling he's knocking on the door of your heart today the scripture says if you hear his voice don't harden
[00:41:20] your heart, receive Jesus. I want to pray with you. If that's you, I'm going to give you a prayer to confess Christ as Lord and Savior of your life, to surrender to Him, to know His grace, and to walk
[00:41:35] in newness of life. If that's you, you know you need Jesus. Would you say after me, with your mouth and from your heart, say, Heavenly Father. You can say it quietly, but just say from your heart and
[00:41:45] mouth. Say, Heavenly Father, forgive me of my sins. I know I need Jesus. And today I believe Jesus died for me and he rose again for me. And I ask you to bring me home in Jesus' name.
[00:42:10] I confess Jesus Christ is Lord.