Let’s read John 10:7-9: “So Jesus said to them again, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me. He will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture” (NASB). In this wonderful chapter the Lord Jesus describes men as “sheep.” The prophet Isaiah also used this analogy in Isaiah 53:6, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, everyone, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” We are all sinners and like sheep we have wandered away from Him. But in grace God the Father sent His Son to the cross to pay for our sins by laying our sins upon Him and judging Him for those sins. The moment we take the place as a guilty sinner and believe that Jesus Christ was judged for our sins, we are saved. We have entered through the door of salvation, which is the Lord Jesus Christ.

This leads to your question, for Jesus not only promised us salvation through Him, but that we would “go in and out and find pasture.” The key to understanding this is realizing that the Jews, who were “under the law,” did not have the liberty to “go into the presence of God to worship” or the liberty to “go out to the nations with the knowledge of God.” The “sheepfold” of Judaism kept the people enclosed within the strict restraints of the Law. But in Christianity we have LIBERTY to “go in and out.” God invites us to “go in” to His very presence to worship Him. Hebrews 10:19-22 declares: “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” He also encourages us to “go out” into the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We see this in Mark 16:15: “And He [the Lord Jesus] said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

And lastly, He promises us that we will “find pasture.” A “pasture” is the place where sheep “eat food.” So we are not only promised LIBERTY, but SPIRITUAL FOOD, for Christ nourishes and sustains the believer through the precious Word of God. He often uses godly men for this purpose. This is borne out in Acts 20:28 where the apostle Paul told the elders at Ephesus, “Therefore take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to FEED THE CHURCH OF GOD, which He hath purchased with His own blood” (KJV). But we can feed on His Word anytime and anywhere. And we can be assured that the Lord, as the “shepherd of the sheep,” will lead us into the “pastures of His blessed Word.”  It seems fitting to close by quoting Psalm 23:1-2: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures” (NKJV).  (225.10)  (DO)