Follow the Lord to the Fullest - Part 1
The Gospel of John
John 9:35-10:9
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - February 22, 2017
(Revised October 13, 2019)
BACKGROUND:
*For the last three messages we have looked at the wonderful story of Jesus healing a blind man in John 9. Tragically, that man had been born blind, but nothing is too hard for the Lord! And this man was completely healed as soon as he did what Jesus told him to do.
*Tragically, most of the Pharisees already hated Jesus enough to kill Him, and they couldn't stand more evidence that Jesus was the Messiah, so in vs. 13, the healed man was hauled before the council of the Pharisees. They tried their best to find a way to deny his miracle. And when this man stood up to the Pharisees, they cast him out of the congregation.
*That put him in a terrible situation, because John Gill explained that it meant "he might neither hire, nor be hired. Also, the other people did not trade with him, nor did they employ him in any business, unless in very little, just to keep him alive. Being put out of the congregation also meant that his possessions could be confiscated." (1)
*This healed man was in a horrible situation. But then Jesus found him and gave him the greatest miracle of all: The man believed in Jesus, and he was saved!
*Please listen to this part of the story in vs. 35-39:
35. Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?''
36. He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?''
37. And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.''
38. Then he said, "Lord, I believe!'' And he worshiped Him.
39. And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.''
*With this background in mind, let's read John 9:39-10:9. And as we read, we will see some great reasons why everybody should follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
MESSAGE:
*Has your turn-by-turn driving app ever let you down? Oh yeah. A lot of us have been there. The last time I remember, we were going to a lakeside condo some friends had offered us for the weekend. We followed the directions step by step, and we arrived at our destination. There it was, -- across a hundred feet of water. It would have been perfect if we were in a boat, but it took us another 15 minutes to pull in the driveway.
*When it comes to the way we should go, things and people will let us down. We will also let ourselves down. There is only one perfect person to follow, and His name is Jesus Christ. Jesus will never steer us in the wrong direction, and our goal in life should be to follow the Lord to the fullest. Tonight's Scripture helps us see why.
1. FIRST: FOLLOW JESUS BECAUSE HIS STANDARDS ARE SUPREME.
*Jesus Christ has the authority to set the standards for everyone in the world! We can see this truth in vs. John 9:39-41:
39. . . Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.''
40. Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?''
41. Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains."
*Jesus Christ is the Judge of this world. He sets the standards, and we must submit ourselves to Him. The Lord's judgments are always true. And if Jesus says you are spiritually blind, you are most certainly blind!
*But what does that mean in these verses? William Barclay explained that "Jesus came into this world for judgment. Whenever a man hears God's truth about Jesus, if that man sees in Jesus nothing to desire, nothing to admire, nothing to love, then he remains spiritually blind.
*But if he notices in Jesus something to wonder at, something to respond to, something to reach out to, then he is on the way to God. The man who is conscious of his own blindness, who longs to see better, who longs to know more, is the man whose eyes can be opened, and who can be led ever more deeply into the truth of Christ.
*The man who thinks he knows it all, the man who does not realize that he cannot see, is the man who is truly blind and beyond hope and help. Only the man who realizes his own weakness can become strong. Only the man who realizes his own blindness can learn to see. Only the man who realizes his own sin can be forgiven." (2)
*Those Pharisees were blind in the worst way, because they rejected the judgment of Jesus Christ. Our great Savior is the Judge of all. And we should follow Jesus because His standards are supreme.
2. ALSO FOLLOW JESUS BECAUSE HIS WARNINGS ARE WISE.
*Sometimes people don't like warnings, because they tend to be negative, and we don't like negative things. But many times, a negative warning can make a positive difference in our lives. In fact, negative warnings can save lives.
*Would you put poison in a Coke bottle? Never! That would be a horribly foolish thing to do, because people need to be warned about the danger of the poison. Well, God cares infinitely more about people than we do, so He gives us wise warnings about the most dangerous things.
[1] FIRST, JESUS WARNS US ABOUT REJECTING HIM.
*We see this warning when Jesus responded to the Pharisees in vs. 39-41:
39. . . Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.''
40. Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?''
41. Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains."
*"Your sin (or your guilt) remains." That's just three words, but those three words have a devastating impact for all eternity. Jesus told those Pharisees, "Your sin remains," and their sin remained because they were rejecting Jesus Christ.
*They had fooled themselves into believing that they were good enough to stand before God on their own virtue. The Pharisees refused to admit their sin and see their need for the cleansing that only Jesus can give. Everybody needs to admit their sin, and let Jesus wash their sins away. How? By believing in Him, by believing what Jesus says about our sins and about Himself, by believing that God the Father sent Jesus, His only begotten Son, into the world to die on the cross for our sins, by believing that Jesus also rose again from the dead, and by receiving Him as Lord and Savior.
[2] THAT'S WHY JESUS WARNS US ABOUT REJECTING HIM. HE ALSO WARNS US ABOUT SPIRITUAL THIEVES AND ROBBERS.
*That's what the Lord did in John 10:1, when He said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." Jesus was warning His listeners about false teachers. That included the false Messiah's who had tried to deceive the Jews. It also included the religious rulers of the day who rejected the Lord.
*William MacDonald and John Phillips explained that sheepfolds in Bible times were enclosures where the sheep were sheltered at night. They were made of stones or thorn-bushes, open to the sky and entered by one opening that was used as a door. In this parable the sheepfold referred to the Jewish nation. The thieves were people who stole by sneakiness, and robbers were those who used violence to get what they want.
*By this time, many false teachers had come to the Jewish people, professing to be their spiritual rulers and guides. They were self-appointed messiahs, and they did not come the way Old Testament prophecies said the Messiah would come. These false teachers climbed up some other way. They were not true shepherds, but thieves and robbers.
*That's also what the religious leaders of Israel had become. Their pride and desire for power, their false interpretation of God's Word, and their hateful determination to oppose Jesus all marked them out as false shepherds. They did everything in their power to hinder the Jews from accepting the true Messiah. They persecuted those who followed Jesus, and eventually they put Jesus to death. (3)
*Jesus warned His listeners about false teachers. Today this includes anybody who tries to deny God's Word or teach you that you can get to heaven without Jesus Christ. The Lord warns us about these spiritual thieves and robbers, because they lead people to everlasting death.
*I wonder what kind of false teacher had been leading the young man whose story I saw in a book by John Ritchie. Just after an elderly preacher had finished preaching, this young man walked up and arrogantly asked, "Can you tell me where hell is?" Without missing a beat, the kind preacher wisely replied, "Yes, young man. Hell is at the end of a life without Christ." (4)
*That warning was a powerful wake-up call for the young man, and I hope he heard it. The Lord warns everyone who will listen. And we should follow Jesus because His warnings are wise.
3. ALSO FOLLOW JESUS BECAUSE HE IS GOD COME DOWN TO EARTH AS A MAN.
*For all eternity Jesus Christ has been and will be God, one with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. But Jesus is so full of love for His Heavenly Father and so full of love for us that He humbled Himself to become a human being. The only true and living God took on human form.
*We can see this truth back in vs. 39, where Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.'' Did you choose to be born? No, of course not. Nobody else in the history of the world ever chose to be born. But Jesus did because He is God who humbled Himself to become human. This truth shows up in Scriptures like 1 Peter 1:17-21. There the Apostle is speaking to Christians and says:
17. . . if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your sojourning here in fear;
18. knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
19. but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
20. HE INDEED WAS FOREORDAINED BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, BUT WAS MANIFEST IN THESE LAST TIMES FOR YOU
21. who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
*God was "manifested" as a man. The original word is found 49 times in the New Testament. Sometimes it's also translated as "show" or "appear," and that makes sense because it has the idea of making hidden things appear and be plainly recognized. That's why 1 Timothy 3:16 says this about Jesus: "Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: GOD WAS MANIFESTED IN THE FLESH, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory."
*In 1 John 1:1-3, the Apostle called Jesus "the Word of life," and John gave this testimony about the Lord:
1. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life
2. THE LIFE WAS MANIFESTED, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father AND WAS MANIFESTED TO US
3. that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
*God was manifested in the flesh for us! Jesus humbled Himself to become a human being. The Lord also highlighted this truth in John 10:7 where Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep." This is the fourth of the eight major "I AM" statements Jesus made in John's Gospel.
*First in John 6, Jesus made several statements about being the bread of life. In John 6:35 Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." In John 6:41 He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven.'' Again, in John 6:48 Jesus said, "I am the bread of life." And in John 6:51 the Lord said, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.''
*Then in John 8 and 9, Jesus spoke about being the light of the world. In John 8:12 He said, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.'' And in John 9:5, He said, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.''
*Also in John 8, Jesus spoke about being the timeless one who has existed for all eternity. Starting in John 8:56 Jesus said:
56. "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.''
57. Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?''
58. Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.''
*Now here in John 10:7 Jesus told the Jews, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep." In all of these statements Jesus was claiming to be more than a man. He was claiming to be God in a way that can slip past us, but it never would have escaped the Jews of His day.
*When Jesus called Himself "I AM," He was rightly claiming the most famous Old Testament name of God as His own name. In Hebrew this name "I AM" was "Jehovah" or "Yahweh," and God used this name almost 7,000 times in the Old Testament. In our Bibles it is usually written as LORD with all caps.
*The Lord claimed this "I AM" name to help people understand that before He was born as a baby in Bethlehem, He was and is the Lord God Jehovah of the Old Testament. But Jesus humbled Himself to become a human being. And He did it for us!
*That's why Philippians 2:5-8, Paul could say: "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." Now everybody should follow our risen Savior because He is God come down to earth as a man.
4. WE SHOULD ALSO FOLLOW JESUS BECAUSE HE IS THE ONLY DOOR FOR OUR DELIVERANCE.
*God's Word makes this truth clear in vs. 7-9, where:
7. . . Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
8. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
9. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture."
*John Phillips explained that "in Bible times the shepherd was the door. At night he led his sheep into the fold where they could rest, secure from beasts of prey. He himself took up his place in the opening and thus became 'the door.' No prowling animal could get in so long as he was there. No restless sheep could stray off into the night. In the morning he stood aside and called his sheep out, counting and examining them, and led them in the way he wanted them to go.
*Jesus now proclaimed Himself to be the door. By Him, and by Him alone, the sheep could have access" to the full abundance of God's grace and truth that could only come through God's only begotten Son.
*As the Apostle John testified in John 1:16-18, "Of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him."
*Jesus came into the world "as foretold. Now, He Himself was the door. He was the way out of dead religion into life. A door divides, secures, opens, and gives access. Jesus is the door." (5)
*Our crucified and risen Savior is the only door for our deliverance from the guilt of our sin and the prison of eternal punishment for our sins. Jesus is the only way for us to have the freedom we so desperately need. He is the only way for us to have full access into the wonderful grace of God.
*I like that word "access." The original only shows up 3 times in the Bible. Romans 5:1-2 tells Christians, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Ephesians 2:18 says, "For through Him (i.e. through Jesus) we both (Jews and Gentiles) have access by one Spirit to the Father." And Ephesians 3:12 tells believers that in Jesus "we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him."
*When we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we get instant access to God the Father in Heaven. This word "access" has two great word pictures in the original language. First, it was the word used for ushering someone into the presence of royalty or God.
*William Barclay explained that "Jesus ushers us into the very presence of God, and when that door is opened what we find is grace, not condemnation, not judgment, not vengeance, but the sheer, undeserved, incredible kindness of God."
*The other word picture for "access" was the safe harbor people desperately seek, when they are out on the stormy seas. And when we trust in Jesus Christ, "we have reached the safe harbor of God's grace, for through Jesus Christ we have access by one Spirit to God the Father." (6)
*Our crucified and risen Savior Jesus Christ is the only door for us out of the prisons of sin and death, into the presence of God. Please listen to the Lord again in vs. 7-9:
7. . . "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
8. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
9. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
CONCLUSION:
*That's what Jesus has done for everyone who has received Him as their Lord and Savior. We have every reason to follow the Lord and follow Him to the fullest! So call on the Lord Jesus to save you and begin to follow the Lord.
(1) JOHN GILL'S EXPOSITION OF THE BIBLE by Dr. John Gill, D.D. - 1697-1771 - Published in 1746-1766, 1816 - John 9:22
(2) Adapted from BARCLAY'S DAILY BIBLE STUDY SERIES - NEW TESTAMENT by William Barclay - Revised Edition - Copyright 1975 - First published by the Saint Andrew Press, Edinburgh, Scotland - The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - "Revelation and Condemnation" - John 9:35-41 - https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dsb/john-9.html
(3) Sources:
-BELIEVER'S BIBLE COMMENTARY by William MacDonald - Edited by Arthur Farstad - Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville - Copyright 1995 - Jesus, the Door of the Sheep - John 10:1-10
-EXPLORING THE GOSPELS: JOHN by John Phillips, Kregal Publications, Grand Rapids - "His Exposure of the Wickedness of Men" - "His Death in Focus" - John 10:1-21
(4) 500 GOSPEL SERMON ILLUSTRATIONS by John Ritchie - Copyright 1987 by Kregel Publications, Division of Kregel, Inc. - Copyright 1988 - Electronic Work Product - Ellis Enterprises, Inc. - Major Topic: Facts and Incidents Told at Gospel Meetings - Topic Number: 420 - Topics: - Where Is Hell?
(5) Adapted from -EXPLORING THE GOSPELS: JOHN by John Phillips, Kregal Publications, Grand Rapids - "His Exposure of the Wickedness of Men" - "His Death in Focus" - John 10:1-21
(6) BARCLAY'S DAILY BIBLE STUDY SERIES (NT) by William Barclay, Revised Edition - Copyright 1975 William Barclay - First published by the Saint Andrew Press, Edinburgh, Scotland - The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. - AT HOME WITH GOD - Romans 5:1-5
