 Hello, this is David Diga Hernandez and you're watching Spirit Church here on the Encounter TV Network. What did Jesus mean when he said, I am the door or the gate? You know, there's a side to the Lord that very few people talk about and I want to talk about it as I continue my series on the I am. First, Stephen Mock is here with me, he's going to lead you in some very anointed worship and then we're getting right into the message. Let's worship now. We have to understand this declaration of the Lord when he said I am the door or the gate. Then we have to understand and accept the fact that Jesus speaks in absolutes. We must understand that Jesus is the foundation. Jesus is the absolute. Jesus was not tolerant. He was truthful. Let me show you something in Matthew chapter 10. I'm going to read verses 24 and 25 and then we're going to go down to verse 32 and read through to verse 38. Students are not greater than their teacher and slaves are not greater than their master. Students are to be like their teacher and slaves are to be like their master. And since I, the master of the household, have been called the Prince of Demons, the members of my household will be called by even worse names. Verse 32, everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my father in heaven, but everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my father in heaven. Don't imagine that I came to bring peace to earth. I came not to bring peace but a sword. I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter in law against her mother in law. Your enemies will be right in your own household. If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine. Or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. Verse 38, if you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. Jesus was fully aware of what he was asking of his followers. And he knew that those who follow him would be criticized. He knew that those who follow him would be rejected by many. We as believers, because we follow Jesus, we are rejected by society. We are rejected by many parts of culture. And in fact, many of us face confrontation and conflict with family members in our own household. Jesus knew all of that when he called us to follow him. And very few people talk about the fact that Jesus spoke in absolutes. You've heard the phrase, especially when people are criticizing believers, you are so narrow-minded. Well, Jesus said, narrow is the way. So yes, I am in some sense narrow-minded in that I believe that Jesus is the way. He speaks in absolutes. He is gentle but immovable. He's firmly planted. He knows who he is. He doesn't need anyone to tell him. Jesus spoke in absolutes because he is the absolute standard. So understanding that Jesus spoke in absolutes gives us greater insight into his words found in John chapter 10. I mean to read verses 1 through 10 now. I tell you the truth. Anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold rather than going through the gate must surely be a thief and a robber. But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out after he has gathered his own flock. He walks ahead of them and they follow him because they know his voice. They won't follow a stranger. They will run from him because they don't know his voice. Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn't understand what he meant. So he explained to them, I tell you the truth. I am the gate for the sheep or I am the door. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy my purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. Now looking at verse 1 here, we see that anyone who does not come in the name of Jesus has to approach us in a roundabout way. Jesus said that anyone who sneaks over the wall of the sheepfold is basically a thief or a liar. In other words, he is saying, everyone who came before me, everyone who claimed to know truth, everyone who claimed to know absolute truth, everyone who claimed to speak on behalf of God, if they weren't speaking in His name, Jesus says they're all liars, they're all thieves, they're all robbers. They're all crooks. They're all basically deceived. If you don't come in through Christ, if you don't come in His name, Jesus says you're a liar. Jesus says you're a false prophet. People ask all the time, who are the false prophets? I'll tell you. They're the people who claim absolute truth outside of Christ. They're the leaders of other religions, not that I identify Christianity as a religion, but they're leaders of religious movements. They follow after other names, other gods. Those are the false prophets. And Jesus says they're all liars. None of them know the truth. And he's basically making an absolute declaration saying that if anyone wants to come to eternal life, they must come through Him. And he's saying that anyone who is a deceiver has to sneak around before they can get to you. So Jesus is making claims that are absolute in nature. He is the way. He is the path. Look at verse 7, so He explained to them, I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep or the door. Before Christ made His sacrifice, it was as if heaven was walled off. And once Jesus ascended, He became that door through which those who believe in Him can enter eternal life. Verse 8, All who came before me were thieves and robbers, but the true sheep did not listen to them. These are harsh words that Jesus has for the fake. Jesus is the only way. Many people construct for themselves political gods and they follow those political gods. Many people put science in the place of God. Now science does not contradict our faith. In fact, science submits to our faith. Science is basically the exploration and coming to an understanding of God's creation. While science can describe the world, it fails to give us moral laws and purpose. Only Jesus can do that. And so some, they cause science to be their God. They allow science to rule them when there is one who is higher than scientific endeavor. And that is Christ Himself. So some follow after political gods. Some follow after science as God. Some follow after false religions. Those who preach other names. Those who preach other faiths. Those who preach other saviors. They're all liars. Only Jesus is the way. There is no other way. Verse 10 says, The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. The enemy destroys. Only Jesus gives life. You won't find life in any other person. You won't find life in any other place. Only in Jesus. So there is no other way. He's the way to eternal life. Acts chapter 4 verse 12 says, There is salvation in no one else. God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. There's no way to eternal life other than through Jesus. He is the door. He made that absolute statement. Anyone else who tries to sneak in, they're liars. Anyone else who comes in the name of being a messiah, that's a liar. Jesus is saying this absolute statement, I am the door. People don't like to talk about that side of the Lord. They don't like to talk about the fact that he speaks in absolutes. And we should not pursue tolerance, rather we should pursue truth. Because tolerance is the allowance of other beliefs even when they're false. I'm not saying be unkind. I'm not saying be unloving. I'm not saying be cruel or hateful. I'm simply saying we must be convinced. We must be, to some degree, narrow-minded because narrow is the way and we make no apologies for it. Jesus is the only way to eternal life. He's the only way to the Father. John chapter 14 verse 6, Jesus told him, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. He's the only way to the throne. That is, he's the only way to truly pray. You can throw prayers out. You can offer prayers to God. But unless you're praying in the name of Jesus, those prayers lack that backing. Those prayers lack power. Why? Because those prayers are really being offered to no one unless you're praying to the one true God. Hebrews chapter 4 verses 14 through 16 say, So then since we have a great high priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This high priest of ours understands our weaknesses for he faced all of the same testings we do. Yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. So there's no other way. He's the only way to eternal life. He's the only way to the Father. He's the only way to the throne room. When I offer a prayer in the name of Jesus, that prayer is backed by heaven. Why? Because Jesus is the door. Jesus is the gate. Jesus is the only way. And we as believers have to get back to boldly proclaiming absolute truths. Absolute truth is found in Christ and we must make no apologies for it. Yes, be loving. Yes, be kind. Yes, be gracious. But do not budge. Stand firm. Be convinced. Be sold on the exclusivity of our Savior. He is the door. He is the gate. He is the way. There is no other way. And we cannot back away from preaching that truth. Let the world try to cancel us. Let the world come against us. Let them rage. Let them be angry at the truth. But don't stop preaching it. The world will come against you. People will hate you. Following Christ will bring a divide. And Jesus knew this when he called us. But we must be sold on this absolute truth. He's the way. He's the door. He's the gate. And there's no other way to eternal life. To heaven. To the Father. To the throne room. Then through Christ, Jesus, the door. Father, I pray in the name of Jesus that you would give us boldness to declare your word. Father, in this hour, anoint your people afresh and stir us, Lord, to lovingly, passionately, boldly declare the truth that Jesus is the only way. We pray, Father, that as we make that bold declaration that you would back our declaration with power from on high. We thank you, Lord, that you've revealed truth to us. Thank you for being merciful and for being gracious and for revealing truth to us. Help us reveal that truth to those around us as we point people to Jesus the only way. We thank you when we honor you and we bless your name. For there is no other name given amongst men whereby we must be saved. We offer this prayer in that name in the mighty name of Jesus. I want you to say it because you believe it. Say amen. Well, that's it for the lesson. I want to welcome now the new members of Spirit Church. There you are up on the screen. We love you. We are praying for you. I always say that because I always mean it. Now, if you'd like information on how you can join the Spirit family, go to davidhernanisministries.com slash Spirit Church to join our online church today. And now to your comments. These comments come from Gifts of the Holy Spirit Introduction. And this is actually the first. This is a sermon I did. It's the first in a series on the spiritual gifts. And if you haven't seen this yet, go and watch it. It's an introduction that will really help you to gain a foundation to understanding the purpose and the power of spiritual gifts. And while you're going and looking for that video on any one of our platforms, make sure you're following us all across our social media platforms. Make sure you're signed up to our emailing list. And when you subscribe to us on YouTube, be sure to click that notification bell. Of course, also leave a comment in the comment section right now. And I may read your comment on one of the episodes of Spirit Church. So here are the comments from Gifts of the Holy Spirit Introduction. Magu Jean writes, Thank you, Holy Spirit, for teaching through your servant, Brother David Hernandez. I am so blessed. Thank you, my brother, for your obedience to the Almighty God. We love you in Christ from Haiti. Well, God bless you, watching all the way in Haiti. I'm so happy to know that the Holy Spirit is touching your life through His ministry. Myrta Yanez writes, What a beautiful and powerful word, David. As the body of Christ, we need a true revelation on the spiritual gifts and how to use them to bless others. Thank you for teaching on the gifts with simplicity and clarity, being an obedient servant to the Lord and a blessing to me and many others in the world. It is an honor to be part of your ministry. May the Lord bless you, your family, and everyone connected with your ministry. Well, thank you, Myrta. I appreciate those kind words. I do strive to bring the Word of God to you in a simple, understandable, applicable way. And I'm glad that the message was effective. Gilmark Godinez writes, Thank you, David, and the rest of the team for always making the Word of our God available through your ministry. I am backing up your team and the ministry in prayer. Stay healthy and God bless. Well, thank you so much. We appreciate your prayers. And yes, we offer the ministry because freely we receive, so freely we give. Akshita Bali writes, Pastor David, I want you to know that this ministry is touching lives. Jesus is transforming people and these amazing teachings are helping us to maintain our walk with the Lord and are making us hungry to get into the Word and to know Him more deeply. Thank you so much for being yielded to the Holy Spirit. May God bless this wonderful ministry, Pastor David, Steven Moctezuma, your family, and staff. Well, we appreciate that encouragement. I want to read a verse to you. This is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 16. And I'm reading this out of the King James version. For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me, yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. If you and I do not preach the gospel, nobody will. If you and I do not spread the gospel, there will be souls that slip into eternity without Christ. This is why it's written, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. Woe is unto us. We have been given the heavenly responsibility to spread the gospel message around the world. It's on you and I. It's not on just the preachers. It's not on just the pastors. It's not on just the apostles or the evangelists. The spreading of the gospel is the responsibility of everyone who believes from the person who just gave their life to Jesus to the one who is seasoned in ministry. All of us have the responsibility of spreading the gospel and ministering the gospel to this generation. And so I want to challenge you right now. Be a part of what God, the Holy Spirit, is doing through this ministry. I need your help. I can't do this by myself. My team and I can't do this without you. Why? Because that's how God designed it. He designed it to where we need each other. And this ministry is growing. This ministry is expanding. This ministry is reaching more people than it ever has before. And to God be the glory because it's his ministry. We're just stewards of it. But I want to challenge you to be a part of what God is doing through this ministry. Will you today give a one-time gift, a one-time donation to this ministry or become a monthly supporter? I want you to help us spread the gospel because we love Jesus and because we love souls. Necessity is laid upon you and I if you don't preach the gospel, if you don't support the gospel, who will? Whose responsibility is it? Responsibility belongs to all of us who call Jesus Lord. So go right now. To give a one-time gift, go to davidhernandezministries.com slash donate. To become a monthly supporter, that's very important that many of you sign it to become monthly supporters. To become a monthly supporter, go to davidhernandezministries.com slash partner. There at davidhernandezministries.com slash partner, you will see a list of benefits that our monthly supporters get. But most importantly, you will know that you are aiding us in spreading the gospel for the sake of souls. One more time, to give a one-time gift, davidhernandezministries.com slash donate. To become a monthly supporter, davidhernandezministries.com slash partner. Go right now. Do something for the sake of the gospel today. Help us spread the gospel because we love Him and because we love souls. Well, that is it for this edition of Spirit Church here on the Encounter TV Network. Until next time, remember, nothing is impossible with God.