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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/daniel-rudge/deliverance-declaration-decision/
Now, we're going to read just a couple of verses, please, from the Bible. And these are found in John's gospel. And chapter number 10, the gospel by John. And chapter 10. Now, these are very well-known verses.
And this is a short gospel meeting. So I won't make you stand. And I'm not going to make you stand for six hours. I'm going to allow you to be seated. And just for 20 minutes or so, we'll think about one of the statements here that we're going to read.
Now, you will notice in John chapter 10, verse 11 says this. And I may draw attention to this a little later on. But here is one of the great I am statements of the Lord Jesus. In fact, we're going to read two of these statements.
John 10, verse 11. This is what the Lord Jesus said. He said, I am. Now, we need to speak about that because that was the language of great authority. And indeed, that was the language of God himself.
He says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. And we may well speak about that verse just in due course.
But here's the verse that's on my mind. And if you've been here all day, we've been thinking to a certain extent about doors. We've been thinking about gates in the city walls of Jerusalem. And this verse was mentioned in the Bible reading.
John chapter 10, verse 9. Another great I am statement of the Lord Jesus. He said, I am the door. By me, through me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. And he shall go in and go out and find pasture.
Now, we'll read that again. I am the door, said the Lord Jesus. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. And he shall go in and go out and find pasture. That's all we want to read. And we know that God will bless the reading of his word to us.
Now, I'm glad that we mentioned this first just earlier on this afternoon, because that confirmed in my mind the message that was on my heart. I want to talk to you about this door. And here is the Lord Jesus, who is making quite an outstanding declaration.
And we'll speak about this declaration in a moment. But just for a moment, I want you to think about a door. Now, I was hoping that somewhere around me, there would be a door. And I suppose there isn't a door.
You might call that a gateway. You might call that an archway. I've got one on my left. I've got one on my right hand. But I want you for a moment just to think about a door. And when you think about a typical door, you would be thinking about two pillars or two side posts to this door.
And then there would be a great lintel across the top of the door. Now, I want you to imagine in your mind a door. And here is the Lord Jesus describing himself as a door. And I want to summarize this verse in terms of a door.
It's two side posts and the lintel. We're going to think about this fact that on one side post, you could write on that side post a great declaration. The Lord Jesus in this verse is making an outstanding declaration.
So just in your mind, you're conjuring up a door. And on one door post, a great declaration. He said, I am the door. He said, by me, through me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. And he shall go in and out and find pasture.
I tell you what, that was a great declaration. And then you have a look at the other side post. And I'm thinking now not so much about a great declaration, but now I'm thinking about a great deliverance.
The Lord Jesus said this, I'm the door. He said, by me, through me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. I tell you there's no deliverance like that, is there? Salvation. He shall be saved. So there's a great declaration on one post of the door.
There is a great deliverance on the other post of the door. And right across the top of the door, that's the lintel, there's a great decision. And you will need to make that decision this afternoon. If you are out of Christ without a Savior, there is a decision for you to make this afternoon.
To decide to trust Christ as Lord and Savior, or to decide to deny his claims and reject him. By me, says the Lord Jesus. I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, there's a decision to be made. To pass through the door, to go through the door, to make a decision in favor of the Lord Jesus.
So I just want you to conjure that up in your mind. And if you so feel free, you can jot it on a piece of paper. You can make it artistic. Think about these two doorposts and the lintel that go across.
First of all, the great declaration of the Lord Jesus. Listen to this. He said, I am the door. This is not the only door that he has been speaking about in John chapter 10. Now, you'll have to read some of the other verses that go before in John chapter 10, but he has been speaking about the door into a sheepfold.
And he has been speaking about the door coming out of a sheepfold. But now in verse 9 of chapter 10, he's not talking about the door into the sheepfold. He's not talking about a door out of the sheepfold.
Now he is talking about a door into salvation. He says, I am the door to go into salvation. He is the only door to salvation. That's why this is such an outstanding claim. This is why it's such a great declaration.
He says, I am the door into salvation. And by me, not by anyone else. There aren't two or three or four or five doors here. He says, by me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. There is one door here.
And only one. What a claim. And the Lord Jesus is presenting himself as the only way of salvation. I want to ask you this afternoon. I want to ask you if you're saved. There is no more important matter in your life than the matter of your soul's eternal salvation.
Friend, the Bible declares that you are a guilty sinner. That you are a sinner before God. That that is the way that you were born, a sinner. That is the way that you live. You commit sins. And those sins draw down the judgment of God, which is eternal judgment.
We thought very solemnly yesterday of a rich man who lifted up his eyes in hell. And Brother Frank told us that man is still there. 2 ,000 years later, he's still in his torment. He is still suffering the consequences of his sins against a holy and a righteous God.
If only that man had received salvation in his time and in his life. I want to say to you good folks here this afternoon, are you saved? Have you been delivered? Are your sins forgiven? Do you know the wonderful joy of peace with God?
I'm here to tell you this. Christ is the only way of salvation. He is the door into salvation. And what a declaration he's making. He is saying that he and he alone is the only way of salvation. Friend, that's the teaching of the word of God.
And I tell you, it is some declaration, no other door. Jesus Christ is the only means, and he is the only way of salvation. You can't earn salvation. It's not by works of righteousness that I have done.
I can't earn my own favor before a holy God. That would be another door into salvation. No, there's one door. There's one entrance. There's one person. There's one great Savior. He's an eternal Savior.
He's a living Savior. It's the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. So what a great declaration it is. And you say, what gives him the authority? What gives him the right? How is it that this man, Jesus Christ, is able to claim that he is the only way of salvation?
Listen to this. He said, I am the door. He said, I am the good shepherd. He said elsewhere in John's gospel, I am the bread of life. He said elsewhere in John's gospel, I am the light of the world. He said elsewhere in John's gospel, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
He said elsewhere, I am the resurrection and the life. He was using the language of God manifest in the flesh. That's why he can claim to be the only way of salvation. Because this man, Jesus Christ, is not a mere man.
This man, Jesus Christ, is the Son of God. Do you know it was God who at the very beginning said to Moses at the burning bush, I am who I am. You say, what a way to describe God. God described himself as the one who does not change, as the one who does not alter, as the one who is eternal.
He said to Moses, I am who I am. I'll never alter. I'll never change. An eternal, immutable, glorious God. And Jesus Christ steps onto the page of time. And he moves amongst men. And he makes outstanding claims that only God can make.
He said, I am the door. And he used the language of deity. He said, I am the door. And he said, by me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. Friend, listen. We preach to you this afternoon the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And not only is he the only way to salvation, not religion, not by works of righteousness that we have done. Christ, he is salvation. And he is salvation because he is God. And God manifests in the flesh.
And as one who is God manifests in the flesh, he died for sinners there at Calvary. He could meet the need of man. He was a man, a perfect man. He could meet the claims of God. He was God. He offered an infinite sacrifice at Calvary.
What a great declaration. I am the door. But there's great deliverance here. He said, I am the door, by me. If any man enter in, he shall be saved. What a deliverance. I heard recently a very sad and solemn story.
Or at least that's how it begins. A grandfather had been taken very suddenly, very ill. He was in hospital. He was lying in a hospital bed. He only had a few hours, maybe a day to live. His daughter and his granddaughter went to visit him in the hospital.
His granddaughter was only about 10 or 11 years of age. As they went to visit her grandfather there in the hospital, the daughter of the man got called away by a phone call. And she just stepped out of the room to take the phone call.
And with that, the grandfather was left alone with his granddaughter. He said to her, he said, my dear, he said, here am I at the end of my life. He said, I tell you this. I haven't lived a very good life.
He said, in fact, I've lived a very bad life. He said, and imagine this. Here's a little girl. She's just 10 years of age, maybe 11. Maybe you're 10 or 11 years of age. And here's a grandfather. I haven't lived a good life.
He said, I've lived a very sinful life. He said, I've lived a very bad life. He said to this little girl, he said, do you think that God could forgive a sinner like me? You know what she thought in her head?
She thought, I'm not sure that he could. If your life has been as bad, as sinful as you say it is, she didn't want to say it out loud. She thought, I'm not sure God could forgive a man like you. Said the grandfather again, I want you to tell me.
What do you think? Do you think God could forgive a man like me? The little girl, she didn't know what to say. She didn't know where to turn. She just said, granddad, she said, I don't know. I'll go outside and I'll ask mom.
She said, I'll go outside and I'll ask mom. He said, no, no, I want you to tell me what you think. And with that, do you know what she saw? She saw a Bible just in the cabinet there by the side of the bed of her grandfather.
She lifted that Bible, clever young lady. She said, let's see what God has to say. She just flicked in the Bible and it fell open at John 10. And she read, I am the door, by me if good men and no, no.
John chapter 10 and verse 9, I am the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved. Do you know what granddad said with tears in his eyes? God has given me the answer. God has given me the answer, any man.
He was saved that night. He was in heaven the next day. God had saved him, any man. You see, this verse is not just a great declaration. It speaks of, thank God, a great deliverance. It speaks of, thank God, a great deliverance.
Salvation is available for every guilty sinner. Friend, I want to tell you all of sin. It doesn't matter how you review your life, how small or large you think your wrongdoing has been. Here's a granddad who's lived his whole life.
He says, I've been very bad. He was. He was a sinner. But you're a sinner too. Whether it's pride, whether it's gossip, whether it's lies, whether it's sexual immorality, whatever the sin might be, we are guilty before a holy God.
Every mouth is stopped. All the world is guilty before him. Eternal judgment is our lot, and it is righteous and deserved. That's coming from a holy God. But thank God there's salvation. Thank God there is forgiveness.
Thank God there is peace to be found with him. And it's all been accomplished by the person of the Lord Jesus. Christ died for sins. Christ died for sinners at Calvary. Listen to verse 11. I am the good shepherd.
The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. Thank God for one who was willing to go out to the cross at Calvary, one who was willing to bear my sins in his own body upon the tree, one who was willing to bear the judgment of God against sin and exhaust it so that God now might have a righteous basis on which to offer grace and mercy to every sinner.
What a great deliverance. You know, when the Lord Jesus, I'm just going to finish very soon. When the Lord Jesus was hanging on that cross, either side of him, two malefactors, do you know the door of salvation was open to them both?
Here's what one of the malefactors said. If you're the Christ, save yourself and save us. He had no thought for who this person was. He had no comprehension of what this person was doing. He had no understanding of the deliverance that this man could grant him.
If you're the Christ, come down from here. Deliver yourself. Deliver us. Do you know what the other thief said? He rebuked him. He said, do you not fear God, seeing that you are in the same condemnation?
And we indeed justly, we are receiving the just judgment for the sins that we've committed, for the wrong that we've done. But this man here, he's done nothing amiss. This man, speaking of Jesus Christ, nothing out of place whatsoever, nothing amiss.
He turned to him, and he walked right through the door of salvation. He said, Lord, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. What a statement of faith. You say, this man's hanging on a cross.
This man in a few hours is dead. And yet this sinner, this thief, this malefactor came to an understanding that the one who was going to die on the center cross had done nothing wrong, was not deserving of that penalty of crucifixion.
It was the world's verdict on him. And instead, he was dying for guilty sinners, like that thief. He knew death wasn't the end for him. He knew that there was an eternal kingdom in the purpose of God for him.
And so he said, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. You know what the Lord Jesus said to that thief? He said, today. Today, you've gone through the door of salvation. Today, with me in paradise.
We need to close a great deliverance, a great declaration. And just across the lintel, a great decision. Friend, Christ has died for sinners. Friend, Christ is alive from the dead. Hallelujah. Seated at God's right hand, an able and a willing Savior would love to save your soul.
But you're not saved unless you trust Christ. You've got a decision to make. You are not saved. You are condemned. You are facing eternal judgment without Christ. Christ died to deliver you. He can save any man.
By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. And he'll go in and out and find pasture, perfect liberty, perfect security to be found in Jesus Christ. He can deliver from sin. He can deliver from eternal judgment.
By me, if any man enter in. God doesn't ask. God commands that you repent of your sins, that you change your mind about Jesus Christ, that you repent of your sins, that you exercise faith in a risen Lord.
You say, how can I enter in through this door? It's all metaphorical. I don't understand. There isn't a literal door somewhere on earth that I can go in salvation. No, no, it's all about trusting Christ.
Isn't that a malefactor? Lord, remember me. It went straight through the door. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Go straight through the door. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
You've gone through the door, but it's only him. Trust Christ. Repent of your sins. Cry to a living, able, willing Savior to save your soul. Not one who's at Calvary. He's far beyond Calvary. He's glorified at God's right hand.
Vindicated, honored, glorified. Trust Christ and find salvation full and free, even in him. I am the door, by me. If any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. God will bless his word to us.
Let's just pray. Father, we thank thee for the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We bless thee for the great declarations that he was able to make, because he was God manifest in the flesh. Father, we thank thee that he said things and he made statements that only God could make.
We thank thee for one who offered a sacrifice at Calvary that only God manifest in the flesh could make. We thank thee for one without sin, altogether apart from sin, and yet one who died for sinners there at the cross.
We bless thee, our Father, for one who could declare himself still 2 ,000 years later as the door into salvation. And Father, we pray for any, even here this afternoon, without Christ, that they might recognize it's the simple step of faith which will take them through the door and even into salvation.
So Father, we commit ourselves to thee. We've been here for the weekend, and we have enjoyed thy presence with us. Continue to bless us, we pray, for any food and refreshment that's been provided. We thank thee for it, and watch over thy people as they travel, make their way home, and perhaps preaching of the gospel in other places tonight.
Father, we ask thy blessing upon thy word, and commit these things to thee, in the Savior's precious name. Amen.