Jesus is the light of the world, bringing sight to the blind and liberty to those in darkness. The sermon highlights the miracle of the blind man in John chapter 9, explaining that his blindness was not due to sin but so that God's works could be manifested. Jesus, as the great luminary, touched the man and, after a test of obedience, restored his sight, symbolizing spiritual enlightenment. This miracle demonstrates Christ's role as Jehovah O I, the Lord is my shepherd, who provides gracious luxury and glorious liberty, leading believers to worship and eternal life.
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My cardiologist said to me, one thing you must avoid is emotion. When Brother Warren asked me to baptize him this morning, I must confess I was choking with emotion. A few years ago in Albany, New York, I had the privilege of burying a lady a hundred years old, and she had been saved for nine to four years. She was saved as a child of eight years of age. and a six-year-old faith brother, and it was a real honor to bury that dear lady. Her name was Mrs. Davis. So it would be a great honor to bury our brother symbolically in the waters of baptism on Lord's Day.
I'm sure this will be a record for Park of the Palms because our brother is well advanced in his nineties. So we're looking forward to that great event on Lord's Day. Now, shall we turn please again to the Gospel by John? The ninth chapter of John's Gospel. And verse one. And Jesus passed by. He saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin.
This man or his parents, that he was born blind. Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned. not his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day. The night cometh when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When he thus spoken, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And sent unto him, Go wash in the pool of Siloam, which is by interpretation sin he went his way therefore and washed and came seeing now a few verses in chapter ten verily verily I see unto you he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold but climbeth up some other way the same is a thief and a robber but he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep to him the porter openeth and the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name, he leadeth them out.
And when he puteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And the stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto them, but they understood not what these things, what things they were which he spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, I verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers. But the sheep do not hear them. I am the door by me. If any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture.
The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life of the sheep. Down place to verse sixteen, and other sheep I have which are not of this fold. They also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore, doeth my father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. Final verse twenty-eight. And I gave unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
My Father which gave them me is greater than all. And though man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand, I and my Father are one. The Lord again will be pleased to bless to us this lovely reading from his holy work. We have been discussing the signs in John's Gospel. we saw the first sign was at Cana of Galilee where the Lord Jesus Christ turned the water into wine and we've been employing the compound titles of the Lord in relation to those signs and we drew alongside that sign in John chapter two at Cana of Galilee at the marriage Jehovah Shama the Lord is there then in chapter four we saw again the Lord Jesus performing a miracle at Cana of Galilee There was a nobleman whose son was seriously ill in Capernaum, and he says, Come, ere my son die.
And the Lord said, Go, thy son liveth, and that was the second miracle of Sin in chapter four of John's Gospel. Alongside that Sin, we brought in the Lord's title, Jehovah Raphael, the God that healed. And then the third sign was in chapter five. This was in Jerusalem at the sheep gate. And there was the men lying thirty-eight years, longing for the moving of the water. And he was very discouraged. He was very despondent. And the Lord said, Will thou be made whole? And the Lord said to him, Go and sin no more.
Jehovah said, Can you, the Lord our righteousness? was the challenge to the men that he go and sin no more. That was the third cycle. Then last night we coupled two together in chapter six, the feeding of the five thousand men and the Lord Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee. There we drew that title, to bear Jehovah Jireh the Lord will provide. He supplied the need of all those on the mountainside outside the Sea of Galilee. and then as the Lord walked on the waters and he came to the rescue of the distressed disciples as the ship was sinking in the stormy water and there we drew that title to bear Jehovah Shalom the Lord said peace now here in chapter nine we have the sixth sign of the eighth recorded by John and alongside this miracle the blind man made to see we must employ the Lord's divine title Jehovah, O I, the Lord is my shepherd.
Now very simply, in chapter nine, there are three great things. First of all, we have the great luminary. Then secondly, we have the great luxury. And thirdly, we have the great liberty. In chapter nine, the Lord says, I am the light of the world. And this is the second time that the Lord has employed that title. In chapter eight, he said that in relation to the accusation by the men over a certain woman, and the Lord said, I am the light of the world. There he exposed the moral darkness that surrounded him.
But here in chapter nine, he removes the darkness that blind men was made to see. Now there was an enigma to the disciples in verse two. Master, who did sin? This man or his parents, that he was born blind. But the Lord gives the explanation to the enigma. The Lord said neither the men nor his parents were responsible for him being born blind. They were not responsible. They did not sin. This was not the outcome of their sin. But the Lord said, the man was born blind that the works of God should be made manifest. The Lord was going to work a great miracle and produced a great sign of spiritual significance, and the man was healed for the glory of the Lord.
And every sign in John's Gospel was for the purpose of glorifying the Lord. You remember the first sign, this beginning, of miracles that Jesus in Cana of Galilee and did manifest forth his glory. And the next sign in connection with Lazarus was also for the glory of God. So the explanation was that it was neither this man, not his parents, but for the glory of the Lord, that the works of God should be made manifest in him. This man was excommunicated because... of the bigoted intellectual Pharisees but thank God he met that day the great luminary he was begging by the wayside when the Lord passed along and surely friend the only way that we can accept this tonight in this chapter is that on every occasion those who are in darkness and receive spiritual sight it's all because of one person and that is the great luminary the Lord Jesus Christ.
We were just like this blind man. We were born and we were not in a condition of any communication, whatever, between us and God. Dead in trespasses and in sins. We were blind to the beauty of Christ. There was no beauty in him that we should desire him. And we were blind to the things of God. But that's the reason why the Savior came as a luminary. Dr. Luke mentions this in chapter one, verse seventy-eight, through the bowels of mercy of our God, whereby the day spring from on high did visit us, to give light to those that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death and guide our feet into the way of peace.
So it was a great thing to see the great luminary, the Lord Jesus. And on every occasion his coming into this darkened world, as we mentioned this morning, he'll come as the bright and the morning star. We wait to see the morning star appearing glory bright. This blessed hope belooms with beams most cheering the hours of night. And he'll come as a great luminary for Israel as the son of righteousness. We read that chapter this morning in Malachi four. As I mentioned the other evening, he will floodlight the boulevards of heaven as a great luminary. So how gratifying the title, I am the light of the world.
Happy are those who have met this great light, whose scales the darkness has been eliminated and they are able to see the Lord Jesus in all his beauty. Paul says, God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our heart. to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So the moment that we receive the Savior, then we know the benefit of him as the great luminary. The second great thing in this chapter is the gracious luxury. The Lord saw the men in all his need, and first of all there was the touch, and then there was the test, and then there was the triumph.
He took that isab and he put it on the eyes of the blind men. Oh, the tremendous luxury to have the hand, the fingers of the omnipotent God, put that isab on one of his creatures. Those mighty hands, those hands that threw the stars into space, those hands that built the chambers in the mighty oceans. Isaiah says that he measured the waters in the hollow of his hand. He meets out the heavens with a span. And he comprehends the dust of the earth in a measure with his hand. He weighs the mountains and scales and the hills in a balance.
It's all the hands, the mighty hand of the omnipotent Christ. And he touched the eyes of the blind man. Happy are we who have received that touch. and have been enlightened and able to see the beauty and the glory of the Lord Jesus. He touched him. We sometimes sing that him, he touched me. And then, of course, there was a test. He says, go wash in the pool of Siloam. Now, just like Naaman of old, the Lord had to test the men relative to himself as they luminary. And so as he saw that I serve, there was no immediate cure.
And so he must follow on in faith. And he walked toward the pool of Siloam. You remember Naaman went down six times. He looked at his flesh. There was still the leprosy. One more final test. The Lord says, go wash in Jordan seven times. And Naaman went all the way. And as he came up to seven times, the test was complete. And you remember his literacy was gone. And so the men accepted the challenge. And he survived the test. Through faith. And then thank God there was the triumph. It says end. He came seeing.
So the great luminary Christ the light of the world. And right here we have the gracious luxury. But this man also. enjoyed glorious liberty. Confusion marked the neighbours and fear gripped the heart of the parents, lest they be excommunicated by these bigoted legalist Pharisees. But this man stood out in bold relief as a great witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. And four questions are raised in this chapter relative to the Lord. First of all, who is he?
Then secondly, where is he? Thirdly, in verse twenty-six, what did he? And then the fourth question in verse seventeen, what saith thou of him? Four specific questions, and he was able to produce a great witness to the reality of his experience. The Pharisees were given to argumentation, and he got somewhat fed up with an argument. They were saying, we know this and we know that. And he finally says, well, look, one thing I know, that once I was blind, now I see.
That is the experience of everyone who was born again. Once I was blind, but now I see. Who is he? He was occupied with the person of the Lord Jesus. And he stood out in defense of Christ and he was a great witness. Where is he? He was occupied with a place. And so they bring him to the place called Calvary. We as God's children are occupied with a place. The wonderful place of Calvary where the Savior died. It's a central place in the universe. When God speaks about north, south, east and west, he always relates geographic location in accordance with a place called Calvary.
And tonight we can talk about the place. Where is he? He's at God's right hand, crowned with glory and with honor. So he was occupied with his person and with the place, and then with his work. What did he do? We can truly say tonight, My Jesus has done all things well. He died that we might live, and he imparted light and given us everlasting light and removed the scales of darkness. So he witnessed for Christ and enjoyed the glorious liberty as compared with these Pharisees who were bound to legalism.
And then there was the wonder. The man answered and said unto him, Why, herein is a marvelous thing, that he know not from whence he is, and yet he has opened mine art. Wonderful to have the experience and be able to say, Once I was blind, but now I see it. So he witnessed for Christ, and he emphasized the wonder, and then we discover that he worshipped the Lord. Who is he, Lord, that I might believe in him? And in verse thirty-eight, and he said, Lord, I believe, and he worshipped him.
So the great luminary is Christ. the gracious luxury to receive the touch of the master's hand. And after all, friend, that's the only thing that can produce a cure. The poet says it was better than scarred than the auctioneer thought it scarcely worth his while to waste his time in the old violin, but he held it up with a smile. When am I bidding good folks, he cried. Who'll start the bidding for me? One dollar, and who'll make it two? Two dollars, and only two, and going but no. From the room far back a grey-haired man came forward and picked up the ball, wiping the dust on the old violin and tightening the loosened strings.
He played a melody pure and sweet, as sweet as the angel said. The music ceased, and the auctioneer, in a voice that was quiet and low, said, Now if one of my bid for the old violin, and he held it up with the ball, One thousand dollars, who will make it to? Two thousand dollars, who may get free? Three thousand once, three thousand twice, and going, and gone, said he. The people cheered. Some cry, we just don't understand. Quick came the reply, the touch of the master's hand. Many a man with life out of tune, battered and scarred by sin, is auctioned cheap by a thoughtless crowd, just like the old violin.
a mess of potting, a glass of wine, a game and he travels on, going once, going twice, going and almost gone. But the master comes and the thoughtless crowd just don't quite understand the worth of a soul and the chain that is wrought by the touch of the master's hand. This man became the beneficiary of the Lord Jesus as Jehovah, O I, the Lord is my shepherd. And so he could say in the language of Psalm twenty-three, the Lord is my shepherd. He was now enjoying a personal relationship with the one who was despised, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And he could say, I shall not want. He was outside there blind and begging to owe the humiliation but now he's brought into God's family and he can see and now he can see I shall not want. In a moment of time, my friend, he became a spiritual millionaire. He became the son of a king because of the touch of the master's hand. He could see he makes me to lie down in green pastures. Oh, the luscious pastures that the Lord has provided for us as Jehovah Jireh. And he leads us on to these luscious pastures as the great shepherd, the good shepherd.
He could say he restores my soul. He not only restored his physical sight, that was a miracle, but we discovered that the Lord restored his spiritual sight. So just like the second miracle in Cana of Galilee, it's a double miracle. Physical sight restored. And he could see he restored my soul. He was able to worship the Lord as Jehovah God. And he could see I fear no evil. Fear permeated the heart of the Pharisees. Or rather the parents and the neighbors because of the Pharisees. But he could see I fear no evil for thou art with me.
To have Christ by his sign was more than all the members of the Sanhedrin. with all their legalism. And he could say, Thou has prepared a table for me in the presence of mine enemies. They were his enemies because he loved Christ. And those who loved the Lord Jesus will always be the target for the onslaught of those who are not born again. And he could say, My cup, run it over. The joy of his heart knew no bounds. To receive his eyesight. And to be drawn into fellowship was the Son of God, the joy of his heart you know about.
And he could see, I will dwell in the house of the Lord. We find him in the temple. But if you look beyond the temple, look heavenward and say, I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. So what we have presented here in chapter ten of John's Gospel, chapter nine, is developed in chapter ten. where we see an additional supplementary area to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd. And I want to break this little section up into three things. First of all, we have the Shepherd described. And then we have the Shepherd's discourse. And then we have the Shepherd's departure and finally the Shepherd's destination.
The Shepherd is described. First of all, friend, we have the manner of his coming. Then secondly we have the medium in his coming and thirdly we have the motive of his coming. What was the manner of his coming? We read in verse two, but he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. Our Lord Jesus Christ came in the right way. He came in by the door. In the book of Genesis, God said to Adam and Eve, for the benefit of Satan, that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent.
And Isaiah chapter, verse seven and fourteen says, Behold, a virgin shall conceive. And again we endorse that word virgin, because that's what it means. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a child. His name shall be called Emmanuel. God was up. Chapter nine, verse six of Isaiah, for unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. That's the humanity and the deity. The government shall be upon his shoulder. His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Father of Futurity, the Prince of Peace. Thank God, beloved saints.
The Lord came in the right way. He came in by the door. And the Lord... was born of a virgin in Bethlehem in the land of Judea, and the vehicle was that humble man from Nazareth. He came in the right way. That was the manner of his coming. But then we have the medium in his coming, to him the porter opener. This is an inference to the Holy Spirit. It was the Holy Spirit that made it possible for the Lord Jesus to come in via the virgin womb.
The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the high shall overshadow thee, and that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. In every great work you have the manifestation of the triune God. If it's a work of creation, We attribute that to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost. If it's the work of the Incarnation, again it is the work of the Triune God. The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee. The power of the high shall overshadow thee, that holy thing. That's the Triune God. And then at the baptism of the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit descended upon him.
And the Father said, this is my beloved Son. in whom I find all my delight. If it's the work of salvation, it's the work of the triune God. Christ by the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God. If it's the bestow of the gifts to the church. In the Roman Epistle, it's the Father in chapter twelve that bestows the gifts. In the Ephesian Epistle, it's the Lord Jesus that bestows the gifts. And in First Corinthians chapter twelve, it is the Holy Spirit that gives the gift. So in every great work, it is the work of the triune God. So we're thankful for the medium. And that was the Holy Spirit.
But what was the motive of his coming? It was to lead us into this marvelous liberty. He leadeth them out. And he calls them by name. he put forth his own sheep and he goes before them and the sheep follow him and they know his voice. Here we have an intimate link and an instructive link between the sheep of the pasture and the shepherd of the sheep. That was the purpose of his coming. It was to save precious souls and to lead them out into marvelous liberty.
So here we have the shepherd's discourse. First of all, there's a call. He says, I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. What a wonderful verse for the gospel preacher. Here is the personal call of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am the door. By me. If any man enter in, he shall be saved. Brother Boyd Nicholson and I had three very productive gospel efforts in Washington, D.C. But there was one gentleman we'd been praying for years and the final night of our last series he walked out the door.
I looked at my colleague and he looked at me, we were quite disappointed. The next day I flew back to Boston and then back to Worcester, home to Worcester and I thought, well, I'll get an early night's rest. I was feeling quite tired. I just got into bed and the phone rang and here it was Mr. Weinberg. Washington DC lawyer. He says, there's a gentleman here wants to talk to you. And he put him on the phone. He says, Brother Neil, this is menless. This was the man that went out of the meeting and said, his wife said to him, many, well, you've given the devil the victory once more.
He says, that's what you think. I'm going upstairs right now. And I'm going to get right with God. And so he came on the phone. He says, this is many. And he said, I just got saved. Well, I couldn't sleep that night for joy. The tiredness was gone. He's an executive with the Coca-Cola company up there in Washington. Well, I said, Brother Menly, you know your slogan, things go better with coke. Now you know that things go better with crack. He said, you can see that again. by me if any men enter in he shall be saved and he shall go in and out and find pasture now friends the Lord is the door to salvation there's no salvation apart from Christ neither is the salvation in any other there's no other name under heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved he is the door to forgiveness And if you're here tonight not saying, the Lord can forgive you of your sin.
But he's also the door to fellowship. Our fellowship is with a father. Our fellowship is with a son. And our fellowship is with God's beloved people. What a wonderful environment we have been brought into. And so we enjoy the fellowship here. And part of the part. All because of him who said, I am. the door. But he's also the door to freedom. That's what this blind man found. That the Lord was the door to forgiveness. That he was the door to fellowship. And that he was the door to freedom. He shall go in and out.
And find pasture. It's very significant that when Nehemiah reconstructed the war around the temple. He put bars and locks on every gate. except the sheep gate. You cannot put any restriction on the sheep gate because you're able to go in and out and find pasture. So, beloved friends, we go in to worship and we go out to work. We go in to pray and we go out to preach. We go in for renewal and we go out. in the Bible, all because of this wonderful shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ.
So there's his call. I am the door. Why, me, if any man enter him, he shall beset. And then there's his claim. In verse sixteen, Other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. with me and they shall become one flock and one shepherd. He's talking about us Gentiles. We were just talking in the little room. We had two Scotsmen and an Englishman and a Dutchman praying in that little room. Thank God he brought in the Gentiles. He converted Jews.
We think of Peter, James and John, of the Hebrew nation. But thank God he brought us us Gentiles in to the family of God. So in Christ tonight there's neither Jew nor Gentile. We are all one in Christ. So this is his personal claim. Other sheep I have which are none of this Jewish fold. Them also I must bring with me and they shall become one flock. And then in verse twenty eight we have his personal clasp. And I gave unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
His personal call, his personal claim, here is his personal clasp. Here, my friend, is the gift. I give unto them eternal life. This is a gift from the Lord Jesus. I was over in Peterhead, Scotland, And I sat down with a lad that was really interested in getting saved, and he got saved. And I told him to inject his name into this verse. He said, I gave unto George eternal life. I said, wait a minute. How does that sound? Oh, he said, that's wonderful. I just carry on. And I gave unto George eternal life, and George shall never perish.
How does that sound? And his face was shiny more. We can inject our name into that verse in a personal way and we can thank God for the gift of everlasting life. Not only a gift but there's a guarantee and they shall never perish. I feel saddened for those who think you can be saved today and lost tomorrow. This is not the kind of salvation that the Lord would give. We rest completely on His word. They shall never perish. And it means what it says. And no one will pluck them out of my hand.
That's the grip. The gift. The guarantee. And the grip. He says, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Weemouth in his translation says, I will take thee by the hand. And I will never... let you go that to me is a thrilling translation you think of the omnipotent power of Christ that was able to break the loaves and the fishes and multiply and feed five thousand men those hands that were nailed to the cross in agonies and blood it's in that hand that we are safe for time and for eternity hallelujah what a savior so we've looked at the shepherd at the discourse.
And we haven't time to look tonight into the shepherd's departure and his destination, but we might light that up on Lord's day in the will of the Lord with the seven signs. Let's thank God for him who is our shepherd. Shall we pray? Loving Father, we thank thee for these wonderful signs in John's Gospel concerning our beloved Lord. We thank thee for this mighty Gospel. the gospel of the deity, the gospel of Godhood, and help us ever and always to acknowledge him in all his loveliness, in all his supremacy, in all his greatness. We thank thee for being brought into thy family through the door, and for removing the scales of darkness, and enabling us to have the spiritual sight, and see the Lord Jesus in all his beauty.
Now do pass us with thy blessing, with the blessing of the Lord that maketh rich, And out of no sorrow with it, for we ask it in his precious name. Amen.