April 10

Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. — John 10:1 BSB

Here are three signs by which you may know if you have entered the sheepfold by faith. First, do you have any evidence of being saved through the Lord Jesus Christ with an everlasting salvation? Second, have you experienced any blessed and holy freedom of going in and out of the heavenly sheepfold? Third, have you found pasture? Sometimes finding pasture in the ordinances of God’s house, other times in the sacred truths of the gospel as you read or hear the word of truth, and especially in partaking by faith of the flesh and blood of the Lamb.

However, there may be some who feel they are in a different place. They clearly see that Christ is the door and are fully convinced there is no other way into the fold but through Him, yet they do not seem to have personally and experientially entered in to enjoy its privileges and blessings for themselves. But have you never entered by hope and expectation? How could you have hope and expectation unless something within you, which you did not give yourself, was expecting a blessing from God? You possess a principle of living faith, even if it is currently weak and feeble, by which you seem to grasp the sweetness of the blessings promised in the gospel. How different this state of the soul is from climbing presumptuously over the wall or using the ladder of self-righteousness to help yourself into the fold some other way than the door. How much better it is to lie humbly at the gate, looking to Jesus, longing to enter in, and begging Him to open the door and admit you, rather than making yourself a presumptuous intruder. How different this humble, dependent, and self-abased condition of the soul is from self-righteousness on the one hand and bold presumption on the other.

There is every reason for weak and feeble members of the flock, who long to enter the fold, to be encouraged. To them, Jesus opens His arms wide and says in their hearts and ears, "I am the door: enter through Me, and no other way. There is access to God through Me, for I am the way, the truth, and the life. If you enter through Me, you will be saved from all you justly fear and dread, both in this life and the life to come. You will go in and out freely and find pasture, feeding on My divine Person, flesh, and blood on earth as a prelude and foretaste of enjoying Me forever in the heavenly courts above."