Listen:  116.2

To answer your question, let’s read John 10:7-10, “Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”  There is only one door of the sheep; there is only one entrance into the fold; there is only one savior…the Lord Jesus Christ.  He would later say in John 14:6, “…I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  One way, one truth, one life…the Lord Jesus Christ!  From these two portions we learn that there is only one way into the fold and there is only one way to the Father, and that is through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Before Christ came into the world, there were many who came before Him to draw men to themselves.  They were false prophets and they were thieves and robbers, who tried to draw attention away from the one true savior.  To mislead the Lord’s people is a serious offense that the Lord will reckon with.  The sheep, or the true followers of the Lord, had the discernment to not follow these false prophets.  Sadly enough, there are many false prophets today who seek to draw attention away from Christ.  They love to have a following.  Many gain their following by promising riches.  Of course to get those riches, you have to send money to them.  What a dishonor to the name of Christ!  We read the Lord’s warning in Jeremiah 23:1, “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.”

The Lord Jesus then declares that He is the door.  Notice again that He is “the door.”  There is only one door.  Those who enter in through the door are saved.  From there, they go in and out: in, as to a place of safety and rest; out, as to green pastures and still waters as we read in Psalm 23:2.  The Lord makes a similar analogy in Matthew 7:13-15 where He says, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”  What is called a thief in John 10:10 is clearly called a false prophet in Matthew 7:15.

It is the false prophet that only wants to take what is not his.  He will steal, kill and destroy to get his way.  He has no heart for the Lord’s people; he only wants the fame and fortune that comes from promoting himself as someone that he is not.  It is the Lord Jesus that truly came into this sinful world to give life to undeserving sinners.  The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 1:15, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”  Christ came to save sinners by dying for us on the cross of Calvary.  He did not come to steal; He came to give.  He did not come to kill; He came to give life.  He did not come to destroy, or to cause any to perish.  We read in 2 Peter 3:9 that the Lord is “…not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”  He came to give life and to give it more abundantly.  Ephesians 3:20-21 says, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”  (116.2)