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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S th e nest— breaks up the home— th a t they may try th e ir wings and grow strong, but she watches carefully over them un til they are able to fly alone. He gives them life— eternal life— His own life (v. 28). “I grive u n to th e m e te r n a l lif e , a n d th e y s h a ll n e v e r p e ris h , n e ith e r s h a ll a n y m a n p lu c k th e m o u t o f m y h a n d .” There are also m arks which charac terize th e tru e sheep. The sheep know th e Shepherd (v. 14). “ I * * * am known of m ine.” The b etter they know Him, th e better^ they love Him. P aul desired to know Him b e tte r/(P h il. 3 :1 0 ). They believe, tru st, follow, subm it, depend upon Him for care and comfort, have fellowship w ith Him. Christ is like a shepherd in His care of man (vs. 10-13); H is knowledge of man (vs. 14, 1 5 ); the b read th of His love (v. 16 ); and in m an’s lové for H im (v. 27). He has th e m arks of a tru e shepherd. Have we the marks' of tru e sheep? (3 ) THE GATE TO THE SHEEP- FOLD. We find in th is beautiful allegory ano ther title for Jesus, “The door.” (vs. 7, 9,). Nothing could be simpler th an this. A door is a pieans of en trance, of access, from the outside to th e inside of a house. It is th e way by which we reach certain places or things. For instance, the mother is th e “ door” to the cookie ja r; fath er is the “ door” to th e money box; Jesus is the “ door” to th e F a th e r’s house. If you enter Heaven, you m u st enter through the Door. It is an open door. Jesus is pic tu red as knocking a t the door of the h eart of men, in Revela tion ; but we never, need to knock at the door of H is heart, for it is alwayh open. St. P eter has no keys to th e door of Heaven; no priest has the key; no church has the key. You cannot open it by money, nor works, nor magic.
It is the only door. There is no other way of access. He entered in by the door of the cross (Col. 1 :2 0 ). The m aterialists who deify m a tte r and ex plain everything from n atu ra l causes; th e evolutionists who teach th a t our ancestors were monkeys and whose only hope is th a t of catching on something as they d rift along; th e moralists who deify man and who mimify th e need of any other power th a n th a t of self- righteousness in th e salvation of man, — all these rob God of His glory, de prive Christ of His character as Savior and Lord, steal from th e sheep th e ir food and spoil the flock. The door is th e Im po rtan t thing. The Romish church puts th e way before the door. The New Jerusalem has twelve gates. The City of Thebes had a hun dred gates. Heaven has bu t one gate. There is no other Name, no other Sav iour, no o ther way. (Acts 4 :1 2 ). « N e ith e r is th e r e s a lv a tio n in a n y o th e r ; f o r th e r e is n o n e o th e r n a m e u n d e r h e a v e n g iv e n a m o n g m en* w h e re b y w e m u s t b e saved.*’ I t is not a white man’s dooy, bu t it it is for yellow and red and black. It has no class or color. Over it is w ritten “Whosoever.” It is as wide as the world, bu t so low th a t all must stoop. Entrance by th e door leads to four things: 1. Salvation, v. 9. “By me, if any man en ter in, he shall be saved.” How simple is salvation! How easy to be saved! Ju st passing through a door— th e door of the cross!—Out of d ark ness into light. Out of bondage into liberty. Out of death into life. No questions are asked of the man who wants to enter in except as to his desire to en ter." 2. Security (Rom. 5:1, 2). “T h e re fo r e , b e in g J u stifie d b y f a ith , w e h a v e p e a c e w ith G od th r o u g h o u r L o rd J e s u s C h ris t. B y w h o m a ls o w e h a v e a c c e s s b y f a i t h in to th is g r a c e w h e re in w e s ta n d , a n d re jo ic e in .hope o f th e g lo ry o f G od.” 3. Satisfaction. In Christ the
TIME AND ETERNITY (See Inside Front Cover)
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