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KNOCKING ON HEAVEN'S
DOOR #1
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
It was a crisis moment in U.S. history: March 31, 1981.
President Ronald Reagan, who had just been in office a couple of months,
had been shot in the chest by a disturbed man named John Hinckley. Understandably
the government was in a bit of turmoil, with the leader of the free world
under the effects of anesthesia.
And in the middle of the excitement, Alexander Haig forever put his mark
on history with an ill-advised statement. You might recall his standing
in front of the cameras and saying, in effect: "I'm in charge here."
According to the Constitution, he told everyone, he, as the Secretary
of State, was exercising authority.
Well, it turns out that isn't correct . . . and for a long time, that
statement — "I'm in charge here" — was a political albatross
around the neck of Mr. Haig. When he tried to run for President himself,
reporters had a bit of fun with the ten minutes of presidency Haig had
already claimed for himself.
It usually rubs the average person the wrong way when someone lifts themselves
up to a pedestal they don't deserve. "I'm the man." You remember
Muhammed Ali, way back when: "I am the greatest!" Or football
players who run into the end zone for a touchdown, and then put on a five-minute
break-dancing display: "I'm number one. I'm the best ballplayer in
the world. Look at me, everybody."
In the world of religion, of course, this is the trickiest thing of all.
A guru comes along and says to you that he or she is the way you're going
to be saved. "I AM the Savior," they announce, maybe on their
little public-access TV program. Or their supporters purchase them a full-page
ad in USA Today. You've seen them and so have I.
So we tend to be put off by this. "I am in charge." "I
am the way to heaven." What would you say, then, if I were to point
you today to a Person who made that exact kind of statement — not once,
but SEVEN times — and is revered around the world for that kind of boldness?
I'm talking about Jesus, as you might expect. And we know that He claimed
to be the Savior of the world; in fact, all through His ministry here
on earth, that was the common thread of His teaching. But in the Gospel
of John, there's this string of not one or two or three, but SEVEN bold
statements. These are all metaphor-type proclamations: "I am the
THIS. I am the THAT." And all seven metaphors are stunning in their
sweeping global significance. They're the kind of irrefutable, unarguable
confession that — if not TRUE — are being said by one of the most deluded,
moronic minds in human history. And IF true . . . well, that's another
story.
We want to focus on one of the seven in particular this week, but really,
there's a common thread to the entire list. And friend, especially if
you've tuned in today from OUTSIDE the ranks of the Christian faith, notice
the black-and-white, no-options boldness of this Man's seven confessions.
Number one is in John 6:35:
"I am the bread of life."
Number two, in John 9:35:
"I am the Light of the world."
The third one is the strongest, perhaps, of all. Here
it is, just one chapter later in John 10:7:
"I am the GATE for the sheep."
Other versions — the King James in particular — say
it this way:
"I am the DOOR of the sheep."
And let's stay with this one for just a moment longer,
because two verses later, Jesus adds this:
"I am the door: by ME if any man enter in,
He shall be saved." The Living Bible paraphrase says it like this:
"Yes, I am the Gate. Those who come in by way of the Gate will be
saved."
Here are the remaining four:
"I am the Good Shepherd." (John 10:11).
"I am the Resurrection and the Life." (That's John 11:25). "I
am the WAY and the TRUTH and the LIFE." (John 14:6). And: "I
am the true Vine." (John 15:1)
Well, friend, there you have it. The Magnificent Seven,
if you will. Seven incredible statements that, if true, are very telling
indeed. And if false, are just about the most ludicrous, laughable resumé
any person in human history has ever put out.
But notice how Jesus Christ says in this list, essentially: "I am
the way a person is saved. He or she is saved through Me." In fact,
in John 14:6, where Jesus says, "I am the Way and the Truth and the
Life," here's His next sentence following that:
"NO ONE comes to the Father except through
Me."
In other words, our quest to find God, to seek God's
presence, to find any semblance of an eternal life . . . has to go through
Jesus. "I am that Door," He says plainly. "The door into
heaven. If you want to get into heaven, if you want to be in the presence
of God, through ME is the only way there." Now that is bold! And
if it's true, it's something every thinking person who is serious about
spiritual things, the things of eternity, has to consider carefully.
Baseball fans, especially who live in National League cities, had to learn
in the 90s the wisdom of the saying: "The road to the World Series
goes through Atlanta." Every single season of the 90s, baseball teams
that wanted to play in the Fall Classic, sooner or later had to go up
against Bobby Cox's Atlanta Braves. The team from Georgia was in the playoffs
every single time; you just did not win a championship ring unless you
had played against Ted Turner and Company . . . and beaten them.
Well, in a much different sense, Christ is saying this here too. "The
road to eternal life, to everlasting fellowship with God the Father —
MY Father — is through Me. I'm the Bread of life, the light of the world,
the Good Shepherd, the Resurrection and the Life, the WAY and the truth
and the Life, and the true Vine." But most important: the Door.
It's true, isn't it, that claims like these come and go. Perhaps you're
familiar with the "(quote) religion" known as Scientology, founded
by the late science-fiction writer, L. Ron Hubbard, who wrote the book
Dianetics. I mention him in particular because he was born March 13, back
in the year 1911, and passed away in ‘86. If you're an adherent of this
philosophy, or religion, if you will, then you believe in the concept
of thetans, or pre-existing souls. You have as a guiding life philosophy
that you deal with life's problems by confronting memories that aren't
entirely accessible to the conscious mind. You might attend a seminar
where trained counselors guide you in the process of erasing the engrams
— which are those subconscious memories of past painful experiences.
The point is this: if you're a Scientologist, you put your fate in the
hands of Mr. Hubbard and his book, or philosophy. Those things he wrote
. . . better be right, because you've embraced them. If life is a roulette-wheel
layout with the black and the red squares, you've put YOUR life in one
of those squares. You've bet on Dianetics . . . and you hope it's right.
And the same is true here. Jesus Christ says to us very plainly: "I
am the Door. If you want eternal life, if you want to dwell with God —
I am the way to get there." Again, if that is a false statement,
then it's a very, very arrogant — and idiotic — thing to say. If it's
right, then it's the most important statement you and I have ever encountered.
How do we decide, then, whether to check out Dianetics? Or Christianity?
Or the guru So-and-So who owns a ranch in Montana?
Well, friend, that's part of what we want to think about this week. Not
all the religious claims in the world are life-and-death. But in the Christian
faith: yes. "I am THE Door," Christ tells us. By His own lips,
He claims — He CLAIMS — to be THE only way to salvation. "No man
comes to the Father except through Me." And I would suggest to you
that THIS faith, the Christian religion, makes a compelling, global, historical,
2000-year-tested claim of validity and truth.
In a Q-and-A session with a member of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
back in 1963, just a few months before he died, the Christian apologist
C. S. Lewis said this:
"In a civilization like ours, I feel that
everyone has to come to terms with the claims of Jesus Christ upon his
life, or else be guilty of inattention or of evading the question."
What do you think of that? A Man lives on this earth
and teaches and heals and blesses people. He raises some from the dead.
In the end, He sacrifices His own life. Millions of people decide to follow,
not only His teachings, but HIM. So much of what He says APPEARS to be
lasting truth. The evidence is strong.
And then He says this too: "I am the Door. I am the way — the ONLY
way — to salvation." According to C. S. Lewis — and you can count
me in there too, for sure — any thinking person is guilty of negligence
if they don't at least check that out. As the Bible advises, do as the
citizens of Berea did: "Check to see if these things are so."
Sometimes big statements are made by presidential wanna-bes who can't
back up what they say. On the other hand, sometimes . . . they're the
real thing.
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