"I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and
shall go in and out, and find pasture."
--John 10:9
Jesus, the great I AM, is the entrance into the true church, and
the way of access to God Himself. He gives to the man who comes to
God by Him four choice privileges.
1. He shall be saved. The fugitive manslayer passed the gate of
the city of refuge, and was safe. Noah entered the door of the ark,
and was secure. None can be lost who take Jesus as the door of faith
to their souls. Entrance through Jesus into peace is the guarantee of
entrance by the same door into heaven. Jesus is the only door, an
open door, a wide door, a safe door; and blessed is he who rests all
his hope of admission to glory upon the crucified Redeemer.
2. He shall go in. He shall be privileged to go in among the
divine family, sharing the children's bread, and participating in all
their honours and enjoyments. He shall go in to the chambers of
communion, to the banquets of love, to the treasures of the covenant,
to the storehouses of the promises. He shall go in unto the King of
kings in the power of the Holy Spirit, and the secret of the Lord
shall be with him.
3. He shall go out. This blessing is much forgotten. We go out
into the world to labour and suffer, but what a mercy to go in the
name and power of Jesus! We are called to bear witness to the truth,
to cheer the disconsolate, to warn the careless, to win souls, and to
glorify God; and as the angel said to Gideon, "Go in this thy might,"
even thus the Lord would have us proceed as His messengers in His
name and strength.
4. He shall find pasture. He who knows Jesus shall never want.
Going in and out shall be alike helpful to him: in fellowship with
God he shall grow, and in watering others he shall be watered. Having
made Jesus his all, he shall find all in Jesus. His soul shall be as
a watered garden, and as a well of water whose waters fail not.
