Good morning. Let's open on a word of prayer. Father, what do we have that you did not give us? What are we able to do that you did not enable us to do? So Lord, we come to you again this morning desiring to worship you, to use this day, this beautiful day, to say how much we love you, how grateful we are that you have even opened our eyes, that we can see this kingdom when so many are still in darkness, Father. I thank you that our hearts have been opened, that you have sent the Spirit of your Son into our hearts, that we might call you Abba, Father. Lord, I pray for this dear congregation, that you would bless them, guard their hearts. Father, keep them on the path of purity and righteousness. May goodness and blessing be the order of their lives. Father, I pray that you protect them from evil and keep the evil far from them. I pray, Lord Jesus, that you would send each one of these dear, dear, dear souls that know you into this world as a fragrance, even as Chad talked about. Talking to Samantha, Lord, that, too, is a molecule of your fragrance, touching that woman's life, someone he doesn't even see or know. I pray, Father, that it would not fall on deaf ears, that you would remember that conversation. I pray that for this morning, Father, that whatever your spirit has deigned to work in each of our hearts this morning, that each person would hear what you have for them. Give us ears to hear, Father. Give me the ability to communicate. My reliance is not on my ability to speak, Father, but that you take your living word and you, O Holy Spirit, do a miracle with it for your people. Encourage us today through it. In Jesus Christ's name I pray. Amen. Well, as we've been waltzing through John, we now come to the ninth chapter. One of my favorite characters, the blind man. You cannot help but like this guy. I love him for his feistiness, for just his sheer joy at being able to see. A man who was born blind. We've talked about Nicodemus, spent two Sundays with the woman at the well, the paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda, and now we come to another man who had no ability in himself to see, is given sight by the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm gonna read this chapter through. Hopefully without comment. It's hard for me. But I'll comment later. But just so that we can see the story in its context. The Lord and his wisdom, the spirit inspired John to give a whole chapter to this individual. It begins in verse 1. I'm reading out of the ESV this week. It says, as he, Jesus, passed by. I'm in verse 1 of chapter 9. He saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, it was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. And having said these things, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which means scent. So he went and washed and came back seeing. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, is this not the man who used to sit and beg? Some said it is he, others said no, but he is like him. He kept saying, I am the man. So they said to him, then how were your eyes opened? He answered, the man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed and received my sight. They said to him, where is he? He said, I do not know. They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes, so the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, he put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see. Some of the Pharisees said, this man is not from God, for he does not keep his word. But others said, how can a man who is a sinner do such signs? And there was a division among them. So they said again to the blind man, what do you say about him since he has opened your eyes? He said, he is a prophet. The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, is this your son who you say was born blind? How then does he now see? His parents answered, well, we know that this is our son and that he was born blind, but how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him. He is of age. He will speak for himself. His parents said these things because they feared the Jews. For the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be the Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. Therefore, his parents said, he is of age, ask him. So, for the second time, they called the man who had been blind and said to him, give glory to God. That's sort of an oath, like, swear to God, put your hand on the Bible. We know that this man is a sinner. He answered, whether he's a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see. They said to him, what did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? He answered them, I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why, why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples? And they reviled him, saying, you're his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from. The man answered, Why, this is an amazing thing. You don't know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes? We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. They answered him, you were born in utter sin, and would you teach us? And they cast him out. Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him, he said, Do you believe in the Son of Man? He answered, And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him? Jesus said to him, You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you. He said, Lord, I believe, and he worshipped him. Jesus said, for judgment I came into this world that those who do not see may see and those who see may become blind. Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things and said to him, are we also blind? Jesus said to them, if you were blind, you would have no guilt. But now that you say we see, your guilt remains. Boy, it's been 2,000 years. You can just sense the drama in that room, wherever it was that they met. It's like it's alive today, isn't it? This guy is, he's my kind of guy. He just gets right back in their face. His parents, he had more faith than his parents. What motivated him so greatly? Why did he not care that they could throw him out of the synagogue, which at that time was your social life, your ability to buy and sell, to be a fine upstanding Jewish person? What was his motivation? Why could he just get in their face? These are the guys that controlled his life. Even his parents didn't want to mess with them. Well, it's obvious, isn't it? I was blind. Now I see. You know, I've never been blind. I've walked in the dark. But I've never been blind. Can you imagine what a blind man imagines about color? Who has never seen? What does he think about trees? What does he think about sky? When someone says, well, it's a blue sky today with white puffy clouds, he can't relate to blue or white. You just can't stop this guy. I was blind since birth. I couldn't even conjure up colors. And now my world is flooded with color, all because of one person. You can't shut up a person whose life has been drastically changed by God's goodness. Let me ask you a question. What did this guy do to have an audience with the top religious leaders in the top religious city of Israel. What did he do to earn this hearing? It's not a trick question. What did he do? What credentials did he have? What education had he earned? What degrees did he have? What did he do to get this hearing with the top religious leaders of his time? Nothing. It was all what someone else did for him. His life was a testimony of something which could not happen that he could make happen. Even today, we do not have the technology to heal people who are born blind, to give them their own natural sight back to them. I'm sure the machinery is coming. But no one can do what has been done here. The Greek here is from the beginning of the age. No one has ever heard. Well, now they're hearing it. This man is speaking. This man is testifying. What did, remember Naaman in the Old Testament, the commander for the king of Aram? A valiant guy looked up to by his fellow soldiers. Had everything going for him. Second in command of the whole kingdom. But he had one thing that held him back. Remember what that was? Leprosy. What was it that earns him a chapter in Second Kings? Was it his greatness? His power? His might? It was because he had leprosy. Do you know who the instigator was in that story? Remember? Who's the motivator? Who gets the thing in motion? You remember? The young maiden, a slave girl who had been kidnapped from Israel. What did she do to get a mention in the chapter of the Bible? She got kidnapped and she spoke up in her slavery. What did Saul do? Had all the intellectual educational stripes? What did he do to become such a valiant soldier for the Lord? He too, thought he could see, but had to become blind in order that he might really see. You know, it's, this chapter begins, I read the whole thing so we could have the, his story. His whole life becomes a continuing testimony. But the first five verses is where we're gonna be focused this morning. Begins in verse one with, As he was passing by, he saw a man born blind. Right there, as Jesus is going, he encounters these individuals. He encountered the woman at the well. What did she have going for her to own a whole chapter in the Bible? She was low on the totem pole in her town. She was a social outcast. She was the lowest member of that community. She had to go to the well by herself. She had lived an improper life in the town. Nobody liked her. What was the result of coming in contact with Christ? That social outcast suddenly becomes sociable. She starts knocking on every door in the village and says, you've got to come and see a man who told me everything I ever did. What changed her? Why didn't she care that, oh, these people hate me. I shouldn't knock on their door. She didn't care what they thought of her anymore. Her sins had been forgiven. She had met the Messiah. That's each of our stories. What ought to motivate us? What motivated you to talk to a stranger on the phone? Her need. Something about this other person drew your compassion. When I see this first verse, I see Jesus everywhere. As he passed by, he saw a man born blind. What do most people do when they go by a man born blind? What do most people do when they go by a beggar? What do most people do when they pass someone with a sign that says homeless, I have five children? What do most people do when they pass by? They pass by on the other side. They roll up their windows and they keep on rolling. Most people. Christians, however, are a little bit different. They're apt to roll down their window, give them something. When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion. It was kind of like automatic, when he saw, he had. If we do not see people as Jesus sees them, we're missing something. The Bible even says that I could speak in tongues, could speak like angels. I could have faith that I could tell that car out there to be moved down the block by itself. I could give up my body to be burned as a martyr for the Lord, and if I do not have love, it's worthless. So the motivation that we have towards hurt, I would say people in hurt, whatever it is, whatever the affliction is, ought to be compassion. Now God has called me to prison ministry, it has been my major calling in life, and I've said before that you could plunk me down on any prison yard in the country, no matter where you put me, and as I look at that group of people, there's this overwhelming love that comes out of my heart for them. I just can't help it. I do not see them for their crimes, I just have this compassion for them. Is it only prisoners that I should have compassion for? As a Christian, there ought to be something about us that when we see need, when we see affliction, that motivates us. I heard an interesting, I don't know if you ever listened to Albert Moeller, he's the head of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He's got a daily podcast that takes the news events of the day and presents them in about a 20 minute thing, isn't it? 20 minutes of analysis as Christians. I really encourage you to listen to it. He had one this last week that said Richard Dawkins, probably the world's best known atheist now, is doing a tour in the U.S. And he said that he usually speaks in his intellectually condescending way, pooh-poohing everything that's Christian or believes in God. And he was being interviewed, and Mr. Mohler listened to the interview on NPR. And Scott Simon, who's this veteran journalist for NPR, among other places, was interviewing Richard Dawkins, this atheist. And while Mr. Dawkins was... doing his spiel, Scott Simon suddenly interjected and said, you know what I've noticed? He says, I've covered news stories all over this world, disaster areas, war zones, and I've just seen, I've been assigned to so many places where there was disaster or war or some great cataclysmic event. He says, you wanna know one thing I've noticed? He said that whenever I go to one of these, there were religious people already there ahead of me. helping the victims. He says, you know what, I've never seen an atheist at one of those sites. Now this from a guy, I don't know if he's a Christian or not, he's just a veteran interviewer for NPR, not your most conservative source. But he rightly hit this man right between the eyes with the truth. I've gone to disaster areas and the people I see there are religious people and I've never seen an atheist at one of them. And he asked them, why is that? Mr. Dawkins did not like the question. And he backpedaled it, pontificated, smoothed over, moved on. But it was a good question, wasn't it? What is it, and I would say that what he called religious people are usually Christians. More than half of the volunteers in prisons are religious volunteers, and the vast majority of those religious volunteers are Christians. There's something about being a Christian that helps us to view other people the way Jesus did. And it was as he passed by, it reminds me of the Great Commission. As you are going, is really the word there. As you are going, make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I've commanded you, and lo, I am with you always to the very end of the age. As you are going, in other words, as we go through life, one thing about affliction, one thing about pain, in this world of sin is that every one of them is an opportunity to express the love of God. But to his disciples, they saw the same thing he did, but instead of asking him what are you gonna do for him, I like what you said earlier about they didn't ask him how do we teach, they asked him how do we pray, something that only he could really explain. That was good, I appreciated that. But instead of asking him, Lord, are you going to do anything for this guy? In fact, they were probably expecting to go on. They had passed other blind men before. Bartimaeus cried out from the side of the road and the crowd wanted to hush him up. And he cried out even louder, Lord, son of David, have mercy on me. And the Lord did. I know of no account in the Bible where someone who sought healing from the Lord was ever denied it. There were places where he could not do as many miracles because they had no faith that he could do it. But Jesus healed everyone who wanted to be healed. And so... They didn't ask him, Lord, what are you gonna do for him? They asked him a theological question. Who sinned, this man or his parents? Why do you think he asked that? Because it was in Israel at the time, this theological concept that if your life is blessed, you're doing well, and if something bad has happened to you, you must have sinned in some way. It was pretty predominant. Do you remember the story of Job? His three friends that came by at the beginning? And they were great consolers for the first seven days, weren't they? Because they didn't open their mouth. But as soon as they opened their mouth, they began to hint that you must have done something wrong, Job. Even these religious leaders in this text, toward the end, when they get mad at him, they said, you were steeped in sin since you were born. What were they implying? That because he was born blind, he was born in sin. Someone had sin. So there's a concept that if something bad happens to you, if you have some sort of affliction, that you're being punished or your parents did something that you're being punished. But the truth is that sin has been unleashed in the world and the rain falls on the just and the unjust. Isn't that true? I've got a friend up in New England who prays that nothing bad will ever happen to her. Hello. You don't live in the world I live in. She just wants a guarantee from God that because she's a Christian, nothing bad will ever happen to her. She's gonna struggle in this world. Isn't that true? We're all gonna have tribulation in this world. But because sin has, I was, actually it was your sister that I was speaking to this week. She was complaining about who was elected. And I said, Well, I know we didn't vote for the same person. And she says, well, I don't see how anyone could have voted for that other person. And I said, well, let me ask you a question. I said, the reason I couldn't vote for who you voted for is because she, just gave myself away, she supports abortion right up even till partial birth. I said, that is huge for me. That's a game changer. I'm not saying the other person is perfect, but he's not supporting that. Why, what happened there? Why did the conversation go in that way? And she says, well, you think we could do better? I said, no, sin is in the world. It gave me an opportunity to say things are wrong and Christians ought to be able to say things are wrong and not be afraid to say it. And that's why I voted for who I voted for. because I could not put my support behind someone who would support abortion. I think you may disagree with me on that political point, but I think Christians are to be salt and light in this world, that we are to say what's right and what's wrong according to what the scriptures say. As we are going, Make disciples. The second thing I want us to see about as we are going is that every affliction, every disaster, every place where sin has touched is an opportunity to let the light of Christ shine in this world. Is it not? I say, you know, we've got a lot of problems in this world, a lot of people with problems, but you and I have the answer to their lives. We're like little 007s in the world, only instead of trying to hide our identity, we want to share it. We're secret agents. There are people in the world who say that there is right and there is wrong, there is goodness and there is badness. There's a way to be healed as we are going. Verse 3, Jesus answered, it was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. The works of God, interesting that it's plural. You would think here that the big miracle was healing him, that the work of God might be displayed in his life, but the works of God, that implies that plural works of God means that this is going to be one of the many things that God does. It also, I believe, means that it's not just physical sight that this man is going to glorify God with. I think he will be a continuing testimony for the rest of his life, don't you? Many more works will come out of this one healing. Many of his former co-workers, his family, every time they see him, no matter what trade he gets into, whether he becomes a farmer, a carpenter, husband, father, lives to 70 or 80 years old. My guess is that he's somewhere in his 20s. His parents are both alive. I don't know, but I think he's a pretty young man. Let's say he lived 25 years born blind, 25 years of blindness. And Jesus said, this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in his life. Think about that. Jesus knew this was a divine appointment. I think it would encourage us to know that we don't have appointments by accident. I certainly feel it in prison whenever I'm going cell to cell. I really wonder, as I'm approaching leaving one cell and going to the next, it's a long hallway you've probably seen on TV with cells side by side, and they're behind you, they're above you, they're below you, and there's usually two and sometimes as many as six in one cell. And your job, you're a smiley-faced Christian coming down the tier with your Bibles in your hands. So incongruous, you know. I'm sure that the officers and others look at us like, what do you think you're going to accomplish here? But I don't hear that. I know that what I'm bringing them is the very best thing that they need to hear. But as I leave one man or two men and just move two feet to the right or the left, as I approach the next cell, sometimes a thought hits me that I could be approaching the next Billy Graham. I could be approaching the next beginner of a ministry. He doesn't know it yet, but who knows what God will do with that person. This guy, this blind man, his story is told every single day for the last 2,000 years somewhere on the face of the earth, isn't it? Do you think after billions of people have heard this story, do you think that sitting in heaven now he regrets those 25 years of blindness? He knows what is real. He knows what is eternal. And that ought to motivate us. We are engaged in nothing less than supernatural activity. We must work the works of him who sent. Look, that's what he says next. Verse four is loaded. It's almost like you got to take it verse by verse. He says we. That's the first thing that kind of strikes me. Is this not the work of Christ that's gonna take place? He says, we must work. Now Jesus does have a sense that he can only accomplish what only he can do. Remember with the woman at the well after he's teaching his disciples after she becomes converted? He says to them, they're trying to urge him, Rabbi, eat something, remember that part? And he says, my food is to do the will of him who sent me. and to finish his work. So there is the I. My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Sent is a very important word in this passage. Even the pool of Siloam means sent. John is never very far from this mission that Jesus often refers to the father as his father, but he also often says the one who sent me. Important distinction. Now he says, we. Who do you think he means, just the disciples? Yes, if the disciples means everyone who believes in Jesus Christ. The next word is must. We must. We must, that's the same word that was back in, again, the women of the well when Jesus had to go through Samaria. Remember the King James says, must needs go. It means an absolute necessity. If you call yourself a Christian, we must work. That's the next word. I toyed with Elias, I toyed with giving this message a title. I don't title my messages. But if I'd had this time, I thought of calling it the works of the gospel. only because it runs up flags for us. Don't put works and gospel together. I'm not saying the gospel of works, I'm saying the works of the gospel. What is the work that God is interested in? Remember they asked him back in chapter six, verse 27, what is the work that God requires from us? Do you remember the answer in John 6, 29? The work of God is this, said Jesus, to believe in the one that he has sent. So what's included in our works? Certainly the gospel. Certainly seeing needs and responding to them. They're identical. One of the few times the Bible uses the word religion is in James where it says the kind of religion that God approves of is caring for widows and orphans in their distress, and keeping yourself from being polluted by the world. There's that internal and external obligation that we have. If I have Christ living in me, then there is a motivation towards other people as well. I have a responsibility to keep myself from the influence of this polluting world, and there are many things which do. And also, simultaneously, if I call myself a Christian, there has to be this Recognition of seeing people for who they are. You remember the sinful woman in Luke chapter 7 that came into the Pharisees' house? She had a reputation of sexual sin in that town. And she comes in, she's broken hearted, she's washing Jesus' feet with her tears, she's pouring perfume on his feet, she's wiping them with her hair. And remember what the Pharisees said? Looking at that woman, he said, if this man, Jesus, were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman this is that's touching him, that she's a sinner. The problem with the Pharisees, they never wanted to get their hands dirty. They like pontificating, they like telling what people should do, but they never got involved. They pass on the other side of the street when they see pain or suffering. And Jesus brought that up to that Pharisee at that point. He says, Simon, do you see this woman? That's the question I would ask us this morning. When we pass pain, when we hear of pain, when we hear of whatever the struggle is, we just had another terrorist attack in London, did we pray this morning for the families of people who lost, the seven people that were killed, the 40-something that are injured? There ought to be something in us that even though I don't know those people, I feel for their families. I feel for the pain that entered that situation. We don't have to go to England to think about it. There are kids, there are people in your schools that are hurting. There are family situations that are in great need of intervention. Coworkers daily tell the story. Who was it? Dan, where are you? Dan here. Dan entered the life of a person that most people would not have entered. just because he felt compassion. There's something about Christians that is motivated to enter where others won't enter. But we must, call yourself a Christian, 1 John 2 says, anyone who claims to be in him must walk as Jesus did. He's always saying, the Father sent me. He's sending us. The spirit of God is still motivating Christians. We must work the works of him who sent me. And that's what this man's testimony is. Everything about this man now, his life is a testimony to the works of him who changed him. He can only give that. Remember I told you the story about when I stood before the governor for a pardon, seeking a pardon at the time? They kept asking me, Just like these Pharisees kept asking this guy, how did he open your eyes? They kept asking me what changed my life. I used to be a violent, rebellious, irresponsible, immature, drinking, violent man who hurt other people. I was a thief and I was a threat just by my anger to the people around me. I had served time in that state, in the state prison for an armed robbery later. Charges were reduced to assault and robbery. And the governor and his council had the right to ask me, what changed your life? Because the last 15 years at that time, I was going back into that very same prison trying to reach men with the gospel of Jesus Christ. They had seen the change and so they kept asking me, what caused the change, just like these Pharisees kept asking, how did he do it? And finally he goes, I've already told you. And there was a point in that time with the governor where I felt like telling him and all the people that were in that room, and there was a big crowd there, I felt like going, read my lips. Jesus Christ changed my life, because that's the only answer I gave. And then they kept asking me, well, did you go to AA? No. Did you get anger management? No. Did you get a further education? No. What happened? All I can tell you is an invisible force named Jesus Christ came into my life and I haven't been the same since then. So how did it happen? You've probably had encounters like that. That's what's going on here. Why? Because several times if we went through that section of it, There's verses like, we know that this man is a sinner. The Jews had already decided that anybody that said Jesus was the Christ would be thrown out of the synagogue. We don't know where this man is from. They just don't believe. They did not believe that the man had been born blind. That's what we're facing, unbelief. And Jesus Christ can break through that barrier, and he did with this man in a physical sense. And he becomes a living testimony And I love his answer. He didn't know a lot of theology. All he said was, I don't know whether this guy's a sinner or not. All I know is I was blind, and now I see. Isn't that all we can say? I was once a certain way, and now I'm not. And who gets credit for that? Not me. I can only point to the works of him, who now sends me to do a similar work. Same with this guy. What is our motivation? That we were once blind. And now we can see. There's another aspect here, verse four. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. There's a couple different interpretations there, but to me it simply means the clock is ticking. Some say it means physical sleep, but I say it can't be that because what about the night shift? They can certainly talk. Some say, well, it must be judgment day. There's a day of judgment when God is going to end the world. And that's certainly true. That is a valid interpretation. But I would say that another practical application is that you and I are going to die. I don't mean to get morbid here, but did anybody not know that? Our clock is ticking. We don't know how much time we have. Night is coming when nobody can work. We don't like to hear works so much. We're not talking about works for our salvation. We're talking about works as the evidence of the principle of life that is in us. Mark, you read from the first chapter. I'm so grateful you did, because light and life is here. He says, I am the light of the world. He says in the chapter before, I am the light of the world. He who believes in me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. But night is coming when nobody can work. Chapter 25 of Matthew is a whole chapter about judgment. There are three parables that Jesus gives in that. The first is the ten virgins who were all betrothed to the bridegroom. Remember, five were ready, five were not. Five had extra oil for their lamps in case a bridegroom was late in coming, and the other five just weren't ready. And when the bridegroom showed up, the five that didn't get extra oil ran out and weren't there, and the door was shut, and they were left on the outside. Now, they all had a relationship with him. They were all betrothed to him. But five revealed that he was not a priority because they really weren't focusing on being ready for his return where the others were making plans for his return. The second one was about the ten talents. And now he gives one man ten talents, another one five, another one one. And the last guy gets condemned because he buried his one talent in the ground. But he was his servant. He had a relationship of belonging to this guy. And so Jesus was saying, what's the point here is that if he's in a relationship where he has a boss and he has a servant, and that servant belongs to that boss, and he gives him something to put to work for his sake, and he buries it in the ground, he calls him wicked and lazy in the end. And the third parable is the one we all know with the sheep and the goats. It's often used in prison ministry, because prison is in there. But prison isn't the only thing, is it? Jesus said, I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. So whenever you get a flyer from World Vision, or Compassion International, or some other group, or just a man, a soup kitchen in town, because someone is hungry, your motivation is the Christ in you. I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger coming into town, you gave me a place to live. I was in need of clothing and you gave me clothes. I was sick and you came and visited me in the hospital. I was in prison and you came to see me. So hunger, thirst, he could have gone on. I was paralyzed and you spent some time with me. I was illiterate and you taught me how to read. Could we not go on and on? We all can do something. If I have something that someone else doesn't have, I can give it. That's our reality. I was hungry and you gave. So whatever God has given us can be shared with someone else. It's always amazed me that we have starvation anywhere in this world. Have you ever noticed how many seeds are in a squash? How many seeds are on a ear of corn? One ear of corn has, I don't know how many popcorns you can make out of them. There's a bunch of them. There's no reason, there should be starvation in this world if we're not for the sinfulness of men and women. Is that not true? It's the distribution of it that is messed up, but not the supply. God made a world that would, I once read somewhere that God could refurbish the earth if it was devastated as long as we had seeds. Everybody could be fed again in a very short amount of time, as soon as that crop came in. And there's enough in every crop to have multiple crops. There should not be need, but there is sin. The world needs the Lord. But night is coming when no one can work. Now is our time. Don't keep putting it off. If you do, if God moves in your heart and you see, and it's so easy to, as we are going to see need, ask the Lord, Lord, is there something I can do in this situation? There is, there will be. There is so much need in this world. We can all do something. Someone your age, how old are you? Seven, do you go to school? Are you homeschooled? All right, well, I'm sure you meet other kids, right? What if you saw a lonely kid at some gathering? Let's say there was a picnic in the park and you saw a kid that nobody was sitting with. You could go over and sit with him, couldn't you? What's your name? Ferris. Thank you for being willing to go sit with that kid. I picked that because people might look at Ferris and say, he's only seven, what can he do? Patience. How old are you? Five. You could go sit with a little girl that had no friends, couldn't you? Yeah. They're all around us. The opportunity's all around us. We live in a devastated world. I don't have to tell you this. Everybody in this room knows somebody who's hurting. What can we do? Is there that motivation in our heart to enter that pain somehow and to do something? But night is coming. Well, they're not all gonna show up here at this church building. I've shared this quote before. I've even got it in the back of my Bible. I'll read it again by George McLeod. He writes, I simply argue that the cross be raised again at the center of the marketplace, at the shopping mall, I would add, as well as on the steeple of the church. I'm recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves, on the town garbage heap, at a crossroads so cosmopolitan that they had to write his title in Latin and in Hebrew and in Greek, at the kind of place where cynics talk smut and thieves curse and soldiers gamble, because that is where he died and that is what he died about and that is where Christians ought to be and what Christians ought to be about. There used to be a commercial for a travel cruise line and their tagline was, get out there. That's what I think the Lord is saying. Get out there. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. Siloam means sent. Night is coming when no one can work. But then he says in verse five, as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. I guess one question that would come up here is, well, after he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, was the light of the world extinguished on this earth? What do you think? Is the light of the world still present in our world? Not Jesus in the flesh, but Jesus in the spirit. Just as the father sent the son, the father and son sent the spirit to be with us. and the Spirit sends us. The Spirit of Christ, who came into your life when you became Christians, Galatians 4, 6, as sons and daughters, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, that we might cry, Father, Abba, Father. So the Spirit of God is in the world. Jesus said you are the light of the world. So there's no doubt that the light has not been extinguished. You are the light of the world. No one takes a lamp and puts it under a basket, he says. A city on a hill can't be hidden. It'd be silly to put a lamp, light it, and then put a basket over it. He says you put it on a stand where everyone can see it. Jesus said, let your light so shine before men that they will see your good works. And what? Praise your father in heaven. You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. For what purpose? That you might declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. And it's not a heavy responsibility, is it? It's just I was blind, and now I see. What's the difference between a testimony and giving the gospel? I'm sure you know. A testimony is simply saying what you saw. Telling, speaking what you know. The gospel is, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son. Put him on a cross as a substitution, the only substitution for our sins. No one is getting to heaven without faith in Jesus Christ. It is the only name given to us under heaven by which we must be saved. Tell it, it's the only way anybody is gonna get to heaven, like you said to that lady on the phone. It's the only way. The inmates, sometimes they say, well, are you saying your way is the only way? I didn't say it. The one I follow said it. He said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life, and no one gets to the Father except through me. The name that this world needs so desperately is Jesus. Only Jesus. I can only encourage you, brothers and sisters, there's a lot of lights in this room, there's a lot of candles, and no baskets that I can see. Chris, I see you there faithfully every time, and every time I'm struck in my heart that you have a greater opportunity than most to let your light shine. Because what is the reason for the hope that you have? What is the reason for the joy in your life? Why do you smile? Why do you talk about Jesus so much? Because people could look at your condition and say, well, you must be feeling bad for yourself. And I'm sure you have times, but you have an opportunity, and I know you know it because you express his name, you declare his name. Do you know that angels don't get to share the gospel? Only us. Do you know there's gonna be one activity in heaven that you wish you could do and won't do? And that's share Christ in the flesh with dying men and women who don't know him. There is an activity going on here on earth that you will not have in heaven. Oh, blessed activity that you let light shine into the darkness. All of you have non-Christian friends because all of you were non-Christians yourselves at one point and someone had to speak the words to you. And when the Apostle Peter was released from prison, supernaturally by an angel, remember that story in Acts chapter five? The angel escorts him out of prison, guards are sleeping, doors are opening, Peter thinks he's dreaming and he realizes They're free. And what did the angel say to him? Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people the words of this new life. Angels don't get to do it. Angels can't talk to your friend when you visited him, Dan. Only us. We've got a privilege, brothers and sisters. We were once blind. Now I see. We once did such and such in our lives, and now we feel that it's yucky. Where does that come from? Didn't come from us, we used to enjoy it. And now the precious, beautiful savior has come into our life and set us free. They need the Lord. Bill Bright once said, what is the most exciting thing that ever happened to you? I might have shared that with you before. What's the most exciting thing that ever happened to you? Becoming a Christian, isn't it? Finding out that Jesus loves you, forgave your sins. And then he said the second most obvious question, always stuck with me. then why don't you think it would be the most exciting thing that would happen in somebody else's life? If this is the most exciting thing that we were once blind and now we see, why wouldn't a blind person want to know it? I once was blind, now I see. You know, when an inmate asked me how did I deal with my anger, that's a big question. I had a bad relationship with my father. I couldn't wait to get out of the house. I've told you that story before. I joined the service at 17, went into the Navy at 18. I went into the Navy because my father was a career man in the Air Force, and I had no chance of running into him. I figured I'll be on a ship, he'll be in a plane. But I'd already set a pattern of rebellion and anger. And so half the time I did was in the Navy. I was locked up six times in the Navy. Getting out, I thought getting out of the Navy, getting out of all the problems I had in the Navy would be my answer. Within a year, I was serving time for an armed robbery in the state of New Hampshire. I was locked up 12 times. Anger, rebellion, and no ability, not even knowing what the problem was. Remember I joked with you last time how I worked for 30 jerks in a row? Never realized that the problem was me. Like I shared with you last time also, my friend Monty Lewis, no one had ever told him he was a sinner. That's what he needed. Brothers and sisters, we were once blind. God has forgiven you. Have you ever really embraced that? Think of the things that you're now ashamed of. Isn't that beautiful words to hear? Neither do I condemn you, said Jesus. If you have faith in Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. Not only that, you've got eternal life. And not only that, you've got the ability right now to be just like this, as feisty as this guy we just read about. As feisty as the woman at the well. Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did. We all have a testimony. I once was such and such a way. I'm no longer that way. The example of a changed life. is a powerful expression of the gospel, is it not? Especially if you knew people the way they were and now they've become Christians. That's a powerful testimony without speaking a word. This man had a continuing testimony. It's part of the works that God would display in his life. Ephesians 2, 8 and Nine and 10, for by grace you have been saved through faith. This church is called the Gospel of Grace, I love that. What an area to declare the gospel of grace, not of works. But now that we are saved, we are to do the works of him who sent us. I wish we could play So Send I You, it's such a touching song to end with if we could. And it goes on to say, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. It's number 310, by the way. For we are God's workmanship, and I'll close with this, created in Christ Jesus to do what? Good works. I didn't write that. We are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works that God prepared beforehand that we should walk in. This man was born blind and God knew beforehand that he would be. And he allowed him to go 25 or so years in darkness to glorify himself later. I'm in prison ministry today because I went to prison. What did I do to earn that? My own sin. And yet God is so cool. God is so loving. He had compassion on me. He looked down and he saw Lenny and he had compassion on him. Saw faith and had compassion on her. What's your first name again? Clayton, saw Clayton and had compassion on you, Clayton. Every person in this room that knows him can put your name there. He saw and put your name in. Please do that in your mind. He saw, forgave your sins. And just as the Father has sent us, he sends us. The word for workmanship, and I'll close it with this, is poiema in the Greek. Poema in the Latin, guess what word we get from that today? Poema, knock off the A, what do you get? We are God's poem, God's workmanship. Sing your song before nightfall. When you were born, that song that he knew in eternity past is now being played. You are playing the song now. Play it before nightfall. Amen.