The Door

We’re baptizing people today. Can somebody say amen? And so we want to jump right in. I’m just going to share a little bit this morning. If you have your Bibles, turn with me to John chapter 10. I just want to give us a frame of reference of why we baptize in water.

For those of you that don’t know, we’ve been in a series and a study called the Names of God. And we spent the last few weeks talking about the declarations that Jesus made about Himself when He said, “I am the light of the world” — the light that is in the darkness. He said, “I am the bread of life.” We talked about how He’s the one who feeds us and the one who satisfies us. And I felt like today’s name just fits so beautifully into what we’re about to do today that I think it’s good for us to have a call to what this is really about. And so Jesus is the door. Everybody say, “The door.”

Locked out

Jesus says this about Himself. How many of you have ever been locked out of your house? Anybody? Or maybe figuratively you’ve had a door that you just can’t seem to get into? Maybe there’s relationships that you’ve just not been able to break into, and it feels like you’re kind of locked on the outside. Or maybe there’s a promotion at work and things that you’ve been praying and believing for, and it’s just like there’s this door, this blockage, this thing that you don’t have access to.

And I really do believe that for a lot of people — and I think in the church we can sometimes underestimate how difficult it really is for people that haven’t grown up in church, haven’t been a part of church — to really actually feel like they’re welcome in church. They might drive by the building, and I’m sure many of you have heard this, but people will say, “Well, if I step foot into a church, I’m going to get struck by lightning,” right? And I just need to let you know, if God wanted to strike you with lightning, you’d already be struck. That’s just the matter of fact.

But people feel like whatever is in the church, whether it’s joy, peace, freedom, forgiveness, love, there’s almost this blockage from them entering in. And so today I want to talk about how we have access through the door, through Jesus. And today water baptism really is a door to the Lord.

The shepherd lies down in the doorway

And so before we break in, I just want to hear the words of Jesus this morning. So John chapter 10, starting at verse 7 — verse 7 and verse 9. We might not even have these on screen, so just listen to me. “Then Jesus said to them again, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.’” “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”

So Jesus is painting this picture of the sheepfold. And everybody at this time knew what this looked like. A sheepfold was a stone enclosure that was out in the hills where sheep would be kept safe, right? There was a lot of things that would go after the sheep. It was like a free meal. And if sheep weren’t taken care of, they would often get eaten by predators or devoured or stolen or lost. And so the sheepfold was this stone gate that would have four walls, and there was only one door to the sheepfold. It was in the front. There was no gate in this door. There was nothing in between. Just an open door.

And what the shepherd would do is, at night the shepherd himself would lay down in the opening of the sheepfold. So at night there was no way that the sheep could get out without going through the shepherd. There was nothing that could get in except by going through the shepherd. So whether it was a wolf or a thief, whatever it was, it had to go through the shepherd.

So I want you to picture this with me today. Jesus says, “I am the door to the sheepfold.” And I want you to picture His own body laying across the doorway Himself, saying, “I am the way in. No one comes into the sheepfold except through me.” Meaning, when you are here, when you’re in the sheepfold, you’re protected. When you’re in the sheepfold, I will care for you. I will feed you. I will love you. I will call you to myself. I will keep all those things that are after your life at bay. But the only way to get in is through me.

You see, the shepherd didn’t just guard the door. The shepherd was the door. And so when Jesus says, “I am the door,” I want us all to hear what He’s saying. He says the way to God, it’s not a system. It’s not based on your behavior. It’s not a code that you can crack. It’s not a standard that you can hit. The way into the door is a person lying down in the gap, and you enter through Him.

If anyone

And notice what Jesus says. He says, “If anyone enters by me” — everybody say, “By Him” — “If anyone enters by me, he will be saved.” I love that word. If anyone. Let me ask you, if you’re an anyone, I just want you to just kind of take your hand and go like this. Anyone is everyone, including you.

Jesus is publicly making this available to all. If anyone enters by me — not if the qualified enter, not if the religious enter. Jesus says if anyone enters. In other words, this door is open to everyone. This door is available because of Him. Because nobody in this room is locked out. Nobody watching today, if you’re online and you’re watching loved ones be baptized in water — no one is locked out from this door.

One door, then the water

Now, because this is baptism Sunday, I just want to do two quick things, and then we’re talking about the door. How many of you know the ark? Noah’s ark had one door. Everybody say, “One door.” Right. Genesis 7:16 talks about it — how Noah’s family walked through the door and God Himself shut it before the floodwaters came in. And the ark delivered them out through the floodwaters. What saved them? It wasn’t just the ark. It was them going into the ark.

Listen to how Peter says it. 1 Peter 3:20 says, “In the days of Noah, eight souls were saved through water.” Through what? Everybody say, “Water.” Kids, can you say water? Look at you guys. It says there is also an antitype, which means a picture, which now saves us: baptism. So the ark had one door. Noah and his family enter through the door, and then it says Noah was saved and his family was saved through the water. And Peter says that is the picture of baptism.

How many of you know the Passover, when the people of Israel were delivered out of Egypt? How many of you know the Passover also had a door? The last and final plague. It was one door in every home where the blood of the lamb was applied to the doorpost in the symbol of a cross. And everyone inside the door was safe, and that very night they walked out of slavery. Amen. Listen, when you walk through the door, you walk into freedom. Amen.

And I want you to notice, after the Passover the people were set free. They go into the wilderness. And where’s the first place that God took them as they exited Egypt? Straight through the water, straight through the Red Sea, with walls on both sides. It says the sea was like walls, and the people of Israel crossed, and the enemy pursued them from behind, and the waters engulfed the enemy, leaving their former life behind.

Listen to what Paul says about that. 1 Corinthians 10:1 says, “All our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, and were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” Paul looks at the Red Sea crossing and uses the word baptized.

Do you see the pattern today? We have the blood-marked door and then going through the water. We have the one door on the ark and then going through the water. And this is what I want us to recognize today. Every time God rescues people, they go through His door, and then they go through water publicly with their old life buried behind them. And so the door — everybody say, “The door” — the door is where you are saved, and the water is where everybody sees it.

What baptism is and what it isn’t

Which brings us to what’s about to happen in this tank. And so I just want to quickly share what baptism is and what it isn’t. Number one, baptism is not the door. The water does not save you. The door saves you. I’m going to say it again. Just because you are baptized in water, that’s not what saves you. It’s saying yes to Jesus and entering through the door through belief in your heart and a confession of the mouth. Doesn’t Scripture say that if you believe in your heart and confess Christ Jesus, that He is Lord, you will be saved?

And so the water does not save you. Baptism is not the door. Entering happens the way Jesus says: “If anyone enters by me.” It happens in the heart, invisibly, the moment you come to Him believing.

But here’s what baptism is. Baptism is a walk through the door made visible. You already believe. We have two people who are being baptized today who already believe in their heart. They already love Jesus. They’ve received Him. But baptism is walking through the door made visible. It is an invisible entrance performed in public.

Paul says it like this in Romans 6:4: “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” I want you to notice, under the water is what? A burial. The old you, the Egypt that you’re done with, just like Pharaoh’s army being buried in the water. And as you come up out of the water is what? A resurrection. New life in front of witnesses. It’s a grave and a birth in about four seconds.

And then number three, baptism is not our invention. It’s not optional extra credit. I think sometimes we treat it as optional, but how many of you know Jesus Himself walked into the Jordan and went under the water? Not because He had anything to bury. Let me tell you, if anybody did not need to be baptized, it was Jesus. But the reason He was baptized was to lead the way through the water. You see, we get baptized because He did it and He told us to do it.

My life is not my own

So water baptism is really the believer’s first act of glad obedience. And isn’t that what the Christian life truly is? It is a life of surrender. That my life is not my own. I have been bought at a price, at the price of the most costly thing in all of the universe. The blood of Jesus that was shed for me has purchased me, has won me, and my life is not my own.

That is what the Christian life is: saying no to yourself, saying no to the world, and saying yes to Jesus. That means I’m going to do it His way. That means the things that He tells me in Scripture, I’m going to do my best and everything I can to walk this out. When it gets uncomfortable, when it doesn’t make sense, when it doesn’t align to my values, I say yes to Jesus, because I am not my own master.

Let me tell you, you are the worst master of yourself. In fact, when you make life all about you, that is about the most demonic attitude you could ever have. Because Jesus did not come to be served. Jesus came to serve and to give His life. Aren’t we to do the same? Listen, humility, serving and loving others is the best thing that we can do. It is the most anti-world thing we can do. Somebody say amen.

And so water baptism is the planting of the flag in public that says, I’m going through the door. I’m saying yes, and I’m letting everybody know.

Going through the water

And so in a few minutes, as we go into our baptisms, you’re doing what Noah and his family did. You’re doing what Israel did. You’re walking through God’s door, and God is shutting the door. Didn’t we talk about that a couple weeks ago, how we are double-gripped by God? We walk through God’s door. We go through the water. And as a church, we are going to celebrate. We are going to stand watching, praying, and celebrating.

And so to the two of you being baptized, my encouragement to you is that when you go under the water, put everything in the water and let it stay there. The old life is being buried. And as you come up out of the water, come out praying and believing that this is a holy moment, because you’re saying yes to Jesus. And that’s the best thing you could ever do. Just as the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus at His baptism, let this be a moment where you come up in faith expecting a holy encounter with the Lord.

And as you come out of the water — I mentioned this to you — we’re going to take just a little bit of oil, anointing oil, and we’re going to put it on your forehead, which is a representation of the Holy Spirit coming upon your life, because that is the greatest gift. Jesus said, “It’s to your advantage that I go to the Father.” I was talking to you about this. If I was with Jesus and I was one of the disciples and Jesus said, “It’s to your advantage that I leave you,” I’d be like, “What are You talking about? You’re the Messiah. You’re the Christ. How are You going to leave? You’re going to abandon us?”

He says, “It’s to your advantage.” Why? Because I’m going to send my Spirit. How many of you know when Jesus became man, He really was man? Fully God, fully man. He could only be one place at one time. I mean, Jesus could be the greatest multitasker ever. He couldn’t get it all. He said, “I’m going to send my Spirit, and He will put a fire in every heart, in every mouth. Your young men will dream dreams. They will prophesy. I will move. And the works that I do, you will do because of my Spirit.”

So listen, it is a gift that is being given to you. It’s to all believers. He gives His Spirit to us freely. And so we’re going to pray that you would be filled with the Holy Spirit — and not just filled a little bit, but overflowing, to where the Holy Spirit is evident on your lives. It’s evident on your family. Everybody sees it. We already do. He’s already there. But we’re going to pray for a fresh filling. Amen.

And to everybody here today that’s watching, you are not an audience, okay? You’re not just spectating. You’re witnesses. You’re praying. And so as they’re going into the water, as they’re making their confession this morning, I want you, church, to be praying. You can extend your hand. Be praying blessing over them. Be praying for their kids, for their family. Be praying for the plans that the Lord has prepared for them, because I want you to know the Lord has good plans for us. Amen.

Transcribed from the message recording and lightly edited for reading.