John 9:1-33

[0:00] So we'll try to stir you up a little bit. Let's pray. Let's pray. Father, Lord, as we are calm in our hearts and in our spirits this morning, I pray that your spirit would have access to our minds and would be able to speak your words into our hearts and reveal some things to us, teach us some truth, help us to know and to understand and to believe the words of God this morning.

[0:25] And I pray your words would bear fruit in our lives as we open our hearts and submit ourselves to you. I want to thank you again that we can meet. And Lord, may we never in our lives take this for granted, this opportunity to get up on Sunday and to come together and to open up this precious book.

[0:42] I want to thank you for it. I want to thank you for our lovely Savior and for what he selflessly did for us in giving his life and taking our sins upon himself, every last one of them and paying for them in full and granting to us the precious gift of eternal life.

[0:58] We thank you for that this morning. And it's in Christ's name we thank you. Amen. Amen. All right, we'll dive right into verse number one. You're in John chapter nine. Verse number one, And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.

[1:16] Now, isn't it a good thing, isn't it a blessing of our Savior that even such a man that's just sitting by the wayside, Jesus Christ takes note of and recognizes.

[1:31] In this book, we've seen he's had interaction with a ruler of the Jews in chapter three, who's Nicodemus, pretty big guy, pretty big stuff, private meeting with Nicodemus.

[1:42] But then he goes in chapter four and he spends time with a woman who none of the other Jews would have ever even talked to, a Samaritan woman. And he stops and he speaks with her. In chapter five, there's an impotent man that he goes and he finds and he stops and he deals with him and heals him without having him have to drag himself or get help to the pool when the angel stirred the waters.

[2:04] And so isn't it something amazing about the Lord Jesus Christ that he'll stop and speak to a blind man on the way by. I don't think, you know, in his daily as he's going from place to place to place and he's traveling and he's preaching and he's ministering and he's healing, he sees a blind man and he stops.

[2:22] And it just shows you something special about the Lord Jesus Christ that individuals from all walks of life and all statuses of society or social layers or whatever they are, Christ has time for them.

[2:36] And you're never too big or you're never too small for Jesus Christ, for him to come to you, for him to meet you in your need and where you are and for you to be able to believe on him.

[2:48] Now, John gives these personal details, these one-on-one interactions that Christ has with individuals. And it's a side of the Savior that you don't get in a lot of the other gospels.

[2:59] And many of these accounts I'm even mentioning to you are only found here in John's gospel. And I think that's just worthy of pointing that out because thank God that he didn't overlook you and think, well, you're no good.

[3:11] Or yeah, I could save you, but what are you really going to do for me anyway? He didn't look on what he could get out of you. He just saved your soul because he's the only hope you had to get your sins forgiven and to give you your spiritual sight.

[3:26] So in John 9, Jesus passed by, 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?

[3:41] Now, it's so hard for me not to just mock these disciples to no end, but can you just stop and pause and consider the question that they just asked? The disciples of the Lord.

[3:51] This doesn't say it's the people that stood by or the people that thought this man was annoying or some reprobate, but it's his own disciples that they've been walking along his side for at least two years now and working miracles on their own and doing things that he's empowered them to do and teaching and seeing and witnessing and hearing his words.

[4:10] And then they look at a blind man and like, Hey, hey, hey, Lord, we've got a question for you. Who did sin? This man or his parents? It's like, that's the only two options that we could come up with that make sense to us.

[4:23] Did he sin? Now, I don't know if you already see how foolish this is at the moment. How is it possible for this man to have been stricken? Sin stricken? He was blind from his birth.

[4:38] Does it say that in that verse? Who did sin this man? That he was born blind. He was born blind. So how did he sin to receive this punishment of being born blind?

[4:49] Does that make sense at all? Is there even a legitimate argument there? He sinned in the womb? So that's, you can take that off the table. That doesn't make sense at all.

[4:59] Or is God prejudging him because he knows he's a wicked man? That's foolish. So it's not him. So then it has to be his parents, according to the disciples, it has to be his parents that sinned because God punished them in their sins by giving them a blind son.

[5:17] Does that add up either? If you're thinking it might, it's because you have a guilty conscience, as do I, but it's not truth with God and it's not the truth with the Word of God. God doesn't punish the children for the sins of the parents.

[5:31] And that's Bible, by the way. I could point that one out to you. But you go into this thought, is that the nature of God? That's the nature of a sinful man to presume that.

[5:42] That's me as a young man with a guilty conscience before God knowing that I'd lived some years of my life and on and off Christianity and had done some rebellious actions and thought, oh, God's going to get me.

[5:55] He's going to get me one day. And in my mind, married and a baby on the way and in the back of my head, that guilty conscience would never be purged and it said, something's going to happen to one of my kids.

[6:10] I know it. I know it along these lines. Something, and you can see it did. It did. There they are. No, I'm kidding. Started with the first. No. And there I was afraid just because of my sin on my shoulders, fearing God's going to get me and He's going to do it right there and I'm going to have to deal with something and that is not God.

[6:30] And here's a case in point where the human nature, sinful nature, seeks a reason for why bad things happen and of course, without the Lord and without the Word of God, they come up with karma.

[6:42] It's karma. You know, the universe has a way of the negative energy comes back to you and it gets you or they come up with some false thought of reincarnation where if you live a bad life, you'll come back as something worse and another stupid thought.

[6:57] But when we look at the question, it's a very foolish question to suggest that the man sinned before he was born blind and it's a foolish thought that his parents sinned and that God's punishing them with a child with some deformity.

[7:14] That's foolish. And like I said, I used to think that way. It's a guilty conscience and I think we all have them because we know we sinned and we're afraid God's going to make us pay for it.

[7:24] But one thing the blood of Christ can do is purge your conscience and you can let that stuff go and you can just trust God today that he's good and whatever he sends into your life or allows into your life, just receive it from his hand.

[7:37] Don't beat yourself because you're bad. Just take it from the Lord and walk with him and patiently receive the grace he has for you in the situation. Now, that's how I thought, just like his disciples.

[7:50] So verse number three, Jesus answered, neither hath this man sin nor his parents. So both of your ideas are foolish and you're wrong, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

[8:04] So he has a plan for this man. Verse four, 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.

[8:16] And we saw that last Sunday in chapter eight and back in chapter one and in chapter three, these thoughts are reoccurring through the book. And verse number six, when he had 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 said unto him, go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which is by interpretation, sent.

[8:43] And he went his way therefore and washed and came seeing. Now this is not the normal stat or what do we call it? The procedures for healing somebody.

[8:55] There's other cases where Christ just told the man, receive thy sight. In Luke 18, the man we know as Bartimaeus is sitting by the wayside begging. It's a different man, a different situation.

[9:06] And he said, what wilt thou? And he said, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And he said, receive thy sight. And immediately, he received his sight. And you can look at Luke 18, you'll see that.

[9:18] Now in John 9, this is a different situation and I can't give explanation for why the Lord Jesus Christ spit upon the ground and then reached down and worked that spit into the dirt and picked it up and then put it upon the man's eyes.

[9:35] That just baffles me. Somebody suggested, well, because God formed man out of the dust of the ground and because the human body and the dirt, they're the same, chemically, the same compositions, all those, you know, it's all the same and therefore, he took whatever deformity was missing in the man's DNA, the Lord extracted that from the dirt and put it into his eyes.

[10:02] I mean, that might sound kind of cool scientifically, but is that what happened? It doesn't say that in verse 6 or 7, so I don't know what it was about, but it's an interesting thing.

[10:15] There's another time where Christ spits in the man's face and he spits it and he says, remember that in Mark? And he said, how do you see? And the man said, I see man as trees walking.

[10:26] And so he had to do it again and then he could see plain or clearly. So this is an interesting thing the Lord does, but spiritually speaking, you can kind of take a thought here that you don't receive your sight spiritually until there's a washing.

[10:40] And so the Lord Jesus Christ has to tell him to go wash in the pool of Siloam and you need the washing, a cleansing in the blood of Christ before you'll get your eyes opened that you can spiritually see and be born again.

[10:54] Now, blindness is a picture of that. It's a picture of a lost man. It's a picture of somebody who can't see. He doesn't have spiritual sight. He just does what he does, but he doesn't really understand what he's doing.

[11:08] And so it's a good idea to see yourself as this blind man that doesn't have any hope that really in life all you can do, even if you can make money and live high on the hog, all you can really do is just sit by the wayside because spiritually speaking, you're gaining nothing with God.

[11:23] All your works on this earth, you're just a blind man. You're doing nothing, but you're stuck in a ditch because you followed other blind men. And so here's Jesus Christ coming by, takes time with this man and heals him and says in verse 7 that he washed and came seeing.

[11:40] So the first thing he ever gets to see in his life, well, the first thing would probably be the water and the pool and then those around him. And he made his way back to Jesus or he came his way, therefore.

[11:53] He runs into neighbors, so some folks that know him and some of his contemporaries in verse number 8. And notice this, the neighbors therefore, and they which before had seen him that was blind, said, is not this he that was sat and begged?

[12:10] Some said, this is he. Others said, he's like him, but he said, oh, I'm he. I'm the guy you're talking about. Absolutely. I am he.

[12:22] Therefore they say unto him, how were thine eyes opened? He answered and said, a man that's called Jesus made clay and anointed mine eyes and said unto me, go to the pool of Siloam and wash.

[12:35] And I went and washed and I received my sight. Now, something to take away from this is what he did not do is say, well, you see, there is a deficiency in my DNA and he didn't talk that way.

[12:50] You know what he didn't do is get theological. He didn't try to explain scientifically what occurred. All he knew was that Jesus made clay, put on his eyes, told him to do it.

[13:01] He went and did it. He came back. It was as simple as what he, the instructions he received from the Lord Jesus Christ, he followed them and it worked. And when somebody asked him, well, how did you receive your sight?

[13:15] You know what you all have to do? You don't have to wax eloquent. You don't have to get deep and take a dive into the theology into the Old Testament typology of the Passover lamb. You don't have to get into anything.

[13:27] All you have to do is tell them what you did. You know why every one of you can lead somebody to Christ if you're saved? It's because you just have to tell them what happened to you. How did you get saved?

[13:39] Not how does the operation of salvation work in Romans. Can you outline the thesis that Paul writes? I mean, that'd be great for you to be able to do. But what does a lost person need to hear?

[13:50] They need to hear your story. And so there's a great example of how you can witness to somebody who needs to receive their sight is just tell them what Jesus did for you.

[14:05] It's that simple. And it's a blessing to see that's the right way to testify for Jesus Christ. I might also add it made a big difference that there was a difference they could see.

[14:22] They're looking at the guy and some of them are saying, he reminds me of him, but he's different. He's very different. Yeah, of course he's different.

[14:33] He's not sitting by the wayside begging anymore. The Lord Jesus Christ changed his life. And now he's telling folks that Jesus did something to me and now I can see. And it's a blessing that not only did this man, first of all, there was a difference in his life, is the point I'm making, that they could see that they came to him asking the question and then he had an answer for them, a very simple answer, to tell them what Jesus Christ did for him.

[14:59] That's all there is to it. So each one of you can be a testimony and a witness for Jesus Christ if he's made a change in your life. Verse number 12, then said they unto him, where is he?

[15:11] He said, I know not. They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind and it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.

[15:24] So we've got to take you to the Pharisees. Why? Why do we need to take you to the Pharisees? What do they have anything to do with this? The man was blind, now he can see.

[15:36] Why do the neighbors and the people that knew him, what is it in them that decided, well, then let's go to the Pharisees and see what they say or get this authenticated or what is the deal?

[15:49] I'll tell you what the deal is. They're slaves to their religion and that's what Jesus Christ was dealing with last chapter in chapter 8 about them being servants of sin and they say, we'd be Abraham's seed, we'd never been bondage to any man.

[16:02] They're kidding themselves and even these people right here and his parents and the Pharisees in this chapter are all slaves to a system that they can't free themselves from and the Lord Jesus Christ is trying to and this blind man was liberated from his problem but here it is, well, let's take him to the Pharisees and oh boy, verse 14 says, it was the Sabbath day.

[16:27] Now, it didn't seem to come up in the conversation yet but John inserts it because he knows it's going to be a problem and it's been a big problem to date.

[16:37] Now, let's get a little background. Look back at chapter 5, John chapter 5 because in chapter 9, it's just getting to a climax.

[16:50] It's been building for quite a while. This isn't the first time that the Lord Jesus did something on a Sabbath. So John chapter 5, he healed this impotent man and verse 8, he said, rise, take up thy bed and walk.

[17:04] Verse 9, immediately the man was made whole and took up his bed and walked and on the same day was the Sabbath day. Verse 16, therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus and sought to slay him because he had done these things on the Sabbath day.

[17:21] Now, some time passes and now look to chapter 7. Look now, John chapter 7 and they're after him again.

[17:37] In John chapter 7, if a man on the Sabbath day received circumcision that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry at me because I've made a man everywhere whole on the Sabbath day? And the answer was yes, yes, and more so, they want to kill him.

[17:52] And so, it's probably no coincidence that in John chapter 9, he comes by the blind man and heals him and sends him to wash and he does that on the Sabbath day.

[18:04] And the Jews have made the Sabbath day to be something that God never intended it to be. So, here we go. He's just kind of setting the stage.

[18:15] Things are primed for another confrontation and blow up because Jesus has supposedly violated what they have come to believe this holy, holy, holy day and they've revered it and set it up above all things.

[18:30] Verse 15, Then again, the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes and I washed and do see.

[18:42] Same testimony, nothing added to it, nothing taken away. Therefore, some said of the Pharisees, this man is not of God because he keepeth not the Sabbath day.

[18:54] Now, that's their statement. We can pause right there. This is their accusation against Jesus Christ. It's the only one they have here. Is he can't be from God.

[19:04] It's impossible. The reason is and the only reason is because the Sabbath day, the high and holy Sabbath day.

[19:16] This man, this man down here that's healing the blind, that's doing miracles that only God could do, he's not keeping the Sabbath day.

[19:26] They've placed the Sabbath above Jesus Christ, above the works that they've seen, above the words that they've heard. That's the only reason. When they say Sabbath day in their minds, end of story, period.

[19:41] It's already established this is the holiest thing we have and we hold. And if a man's going to do something on that, heal somebody, he has to be a sinner.

[19:53] He cannot be from God. And that's what he says, this man is not of God. They call him elsewhere that he's possessed with a devil. This man is not of God because he keepeth not the Sabbath day.

[20:06] If he were of God, he would keep the Sabbath day. He would keep it holy. Now I just showed you that verse in chapter 7 where Christ said that Moses gave you circumcision and you're allowed to if it falls on the 8th day and if it's a Sabbath, you're allowed to have circumcision on that day to keep the law, to fulfill that commandment.

[20:26] And there's other cases with the cattle being, whether they're in a bad way and they need to be freed or whether they need to be taken to water. They do that on the Sabbath day. They understand there's allowances and yet they're rejecting him and using the Sabbath day as their verification of this.

[20:46] So verse 16 in the middle now it says, Others said, others that have sound minds and logic, they say, how can a man that's a sinner do such miracles?

[20:58] And there was a division among them. And I already showed you the references that Christ came to send division. He calls his division everywhere he goes because some people want to hold on to what they have and what they believe and when Jesus Christ shows them a new way and something better and something more, some will receive that, others won't.

[21:20] And I can just point you back to my mom and dad getting saved out of Catholicism and when they got saved they went to their families and they say, hey, this Catholic faith and this practice that you have us doing it's not giving us eternal life.

[21:36] It's not saving our souls but we found the Lord Jesus Christ. We found eternal life and you can have eternal life and you can know that you're saved based on what the Word of God says and now a division came.

[21:49] They said, no, we don't want any of that Bible nonsense. We have our religion and you need to convert back or you're going to be excommunicated and you're not going to be able to talk to us again about this matter.

[21:59] And there was division. Why? Because somebody took Jesus Christ by faith. Now, I pointed this out. I'm going to run some references with you this morning where it says, others said, how can a man that is a sinner do such miracles?

[22:12] And they're using the term sinner in the Old Testament sense and the idea that they're a violator of the law. Not saying that we haven't sinned or that you have to be perfect to do such a miracle.

[22:27] The disciples of Christ did miracles. And they were sinners. And so, they're not saying that Jesus Christ is a man without sin though he absolutely is. But you understand, I want you to understand this.

[22:39] And so, go back to Proverbs. I want to show you a few verses here. Proverbs 10. We've hit this a few times already in John and all I've done is just kind of thrown out to you the concept.

[22:50] and what I've told you each time is that in the Old Testament set up where they're supposed to be following the law of Moses and underneath the precepts and statutes and judgments of God given through the hand of Moses that you were either obedient and in compliance with that law and therefore considered righteous before God.

[23:13] But if you were not, if you were a rebel and a rejecter of these laws, then you were considered wicked or a sinner. So the Jews are saying that man's not keeping Moses' law therefore he's in this category.

[23:25] He's a sinner. He's wicked. And I want to show you the kind of the contrast of the two here. It's all over the Proverbs. When Solomon writes these Proverbs it just pours out non-stop starting in chapter 10.

[23:40] I'll just give you a couple of these verses. Look at verses 2 and 3. You'll see the contrast of wickedness and righteousness treasures of wickedness profiteth nothing but righteousness delivereth from death.

[23:54] The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish but he casteth away the substance of the wicked. So you can see where the line is drawn and where the right side of life is.

[24:06] Verse number 7 says, The memory of the just is blessed but the name of the wicked shall rot.

[24:17] Verse 11, The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. You're either righteous or you're wicked.

[24:28] Look down to verse 24. The fear of the wicked it shall come upon him but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.

[24:39] And I'm just picking out a few but you'll see it again and I see it in 28 as far as giving those words righteous and wicked. It's in verse 30 and it's not always those exact words.

[24:53] Sometimes it's just, sometimes it's talking about a fool. I see it again in verse number 32. I look at chapter 11 and verse 5 it says, The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.

[25:15] One more, verse 18 says, The wicked worketh a deceitful work but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward. So in the Old Testament sense you're either one or the other.

[25:27] I'll give you one more spot here. Come to Luke and the beginning of Luke chapter 1 and I'll show you how this is stamped on individuals, real people.

[25:44] It's not just put forth as a concept but it's a reality. Luke chapter 1 and so here's two real people verses 5 and 6.

[25:58] It says, There was in the days of Herod the king of Judea a certain priest named Zacharias of the course of Abiah and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron and her name was Elizabeth. Zachariah and Elizabeth a married couple and they were both righteous before God.

[26:14] How so? The verse says, Walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. So they fit this category of obeying and adhering to the law of Moses.

[26:27] The commandments and ordinances of the Lord and therefore they were righteous before God. Now had they rejected those, had they walked away from the law and said we don't need this and we're going to sacrifice to other gods they were then considered wicked.

[26:41] Alright, so when we're in John chapter 9 this is the mindset of these Pharisees and these others saying, they're arguing saying well how can a man that's a sinner do such miracles?

[26:52] How can a man that's violating God's law and his commands and as they were saying the Sabbath day he can't be of God because he's not keeping Moses' commandments. Well that doesn't make sense for him to be able to do these miracles.

[27:05] So you get the idea and there's a division. Alright, verse 17. They say unto the blind man again, what sayest thou of him that he hath opened thine eyes?

[27:18] He said, he's a prophet which, that's a logical assumption. I'll, you know, I'll have to turn but back in chapter 4 the woman that he met at the well she said when Christ told her that you have five husbands and the one that you have now is not your husband and she said, sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.

[27:43] Chapter 4 in verse 19. So this is a logical assumption. This guy just took the blindness right out of my eyes. I've never seen a thing in my life and now I can see and what do you have to say?

[27:57] Well, he's a prophet. I'm pretty sure of that. He's, Old Testament prophets had signs. Elisha, Elijah, they did things, they did miracles and so he's got to be like one of them.

[28:10] That's his statement. Makes sense. Verse 18. Then, but the Jews did not believe concerning him that he had been blind and received his sight. So they think they're trying to pull one over on him.

[28:21] They're making, I mean, what do they get out of making this lie up? Until they had called the parents of him that had received his sight and they asked them, saying, Is this your son who ye say was born blind?

[28:34] How then doth he now see? His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But by what means he now seeth, we know not.

[28:47] And who hath opened his eyes, we know not. He is of age, ask him. He shall speak for himself. Why would they say this? Verse 22. These words spake his parents because they feared the Jews.

[29:02] And there's our religious system again. They feared the Jews for the Jews had already, had agreed already that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.

[29:14] Therefore, said his parents, he is of age. Ask him. What a stronghold this religious system has on the people. There's no liberty. And Christ was trying to, back in chapter 8, in verse 31, he said, he said unto the Jews that believed on him, number one, if ye continue in my word, ye are my disciples indeed, then ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

[29:39] And here's a family, and here's other neighbors, and all of these people, the Pharisees themselves, that are not free. Because number one, they're not believing on Jesus Christ, they're not continuing his word, they are never going to know freedom, they're in bondage to a system.

[29:56] So then said his parents, he's of age, ask him. In verse 24, Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise. We know that this man is a sinner.

[30:10] Now, what's your evidence for that? Well, the Sabbath, that's all they have. That's what they continue to bring up. But here, they're going to stand on this, they'll die on this hill, and they're going to say, He's a sinner, we know this for a fact.

[30:22] So if you're going to challenge us, we've already established the truth. He's a sinner, so now you need to give God the praise, if in fact you were a blind man at all. And so this guy, man, do I ever love this guy.

[30:35] He's just a normal guy, but as it builds, and as he gets pushed, and pushed, and pushed into a corner, it's such a blessing to hear him respond. He answered in verse 25, whether he be a sinner or no, I know not.

[30:52] I've never met him before in my life. One thing I know, and you're never going to take this away from me, one thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see.

[31:06] Now you know the song, Amazing Grace, and it's a derivative of this statement, of this scripture right here. The thought that I was once blind, and now I see. When you get that knowledge, of your salvation, your assurance is in your bones, because of the word of God.

[31:25] You get the scripture, and the truth in you. You could be backed into a corner, and tell us this, tell us that, there's some things you can't answer. Where did Cain get his wife? Where did God come from?

[31:37] How did he, you can't answer a lot of questions, even some, maybe even simple questions from the Bible, you may not have to answer. But you can come out of there, that corner with some power and strength, by saying, well I don't know that, but one thing I know, is that I was on my way to hell.

[31:55] That I'm a sinner, and that Jesus Christ died for my sins. He paid the price in full. God is satisfied with the death of his son, and I've received by faith eternal life.

[32:08] Let's take a look at something. Look at 1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5. This blind man is no longer a blind man.

[32:28] So from here forward, we can't call him the blind man anymore, because he received his sight. And this man has received something that he knows he has.

[32:40] He possesses light in his eyes. He possesses sight. All right. Chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5. Let's begin in verse 9.

[32:53] If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. For this is the witness of God, which he hath testified of his son.

[33:04] He that believeth on the son of God, hath the witness in, in himself. The witness. It's inside of you.

[33:16] He that believeth not God, hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his son. And this is the record. Are you ready for the record?

[33:27] What was witnessed of his son that God gave? That God hath given to us eternal life. And this life is in his son.

[33:41] He that hath the son, hath life. And he that hath not the son of God, hath not life. These things have I written unto you, that believe on the name of the son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the son of God.

[34:05] Now we do receive the witness of men. When they tell us it's going to rain tomorrow, and we see it clouded, we believe it's going to rain. We prepare for that. When they tell us it's going to be 113 degrees, we make plans not to be in it.

[34:20] We receive the witness of men. The witness of God is greater. And God witnessed something to us. He testified and recorded it for us.

[34:31] He gave us a record that he's given. A gift. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans chapter 6. God hath given to us eternal life.

[34:44] This life is in his son. If you have the son of God, you've got eternal life. It's easy. And then in verse 13, one of the most important statements in this Bible is that ye may know.

[34:57] I wrote this, John said, I wrote this to you that have believed on the name. You have the son of God. You have eternal life. So I wrote this down for you so that you would know it. To give you that assurance.

[35:11] So coming back to John chapter 9, they push this man into a corner. He has assurance of one thing. I have sight. You can say what you want about him.

[35:22] I really don't know him. I can't answer your questions, but he healed me. I know that much. And if somebody pushes you into a corner about your salvation, you've got the scripture on it.

[35:33] You can know. And one of the greatest evidences is a changed life like this man had. They saw a change in him. Someone weren't even sure if it was him. Now, John 9 and verse 25, he says, One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see.

[35:53] So this guy picturing salvation, picturing receiving his sight, spiritually speaking, it's important that you know that.

[36:06] It's important that you first, like step one, is get assurance of that. Be able to stand up and say, Well, one thing I know is that I'm saved.

[36:18] You may not have understanding of the doctrines of the Bible. You may not be able to find the book of Ezra. But you should know. You should take a little lesson from this blind man.

[36:29] And there's steps to take in your Christian life. And the first one is to have assurance of your salvation. And to just be able to say, Well, one thing I know.

[36:41] In the future, it'll be two things I know, and then three, and then ten, and then you're going to have a handle on your Bible down the road and some doctrinal things. But for now, get settled that I know I was blind, I was in darkness, but now I see.

[36:59] The light, the glorious, or the light of the glorious gospel of Christ has shined unto me, and I've received the gift of God. Now in verse 26, this man, he just, he's starting to become one of my heroes.

[37:14] Verse 26, Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? How opened he thine eyes? He answered them, I've told you already, and ye did not hear.

[37:27] Wherefore would ye hear it again? Will ye also be his disciples? I'm sorry. I can't help it. This guy is so good, he's just slapping these hypocrites. I already told you what he did.

[37:38] Why do you want me to say it again? If I say it again, will you be his, is that what you want to do? Is that why we're having this question and answer session? And they get hot. They respond with just vengeance.

[37:51] In verse 28, Then they reviled him and said, Thou art his disciple. But we are Moses' disciples. We know that God spake unto Moses.

[38:03] As for this fellow, we know not from whence he is. Now, I'm not going to go back through the scripture, but we've already dealt with this. They've asked him whence he is, and others said they knew where he is.

[38:15] They said he's the son of Joseph. They knew where he was from. They've already done their recon on the man. They know what town he's from, who he is, and then he makes statements saying that I'm going to go places you can't come.

[38:28] You don't know. If you knew where I was, you'd believe me. And now here they are saying, we don't even know who this guy is. He's just some, just some showed up yesterday talking a lot of talk.

[38:40] He's nobody. We are Moses' disciples. As if that's the place to stand. And in the Old Testament, that was the place to stand.

[38:53] But when Jesus Christ showed up showing them a better way, they rejected it and said, no, we're going to stick with Moses. We're going to stick with our religion. So we know not from whence he is.

[39:06] And here goes the guy. We'll have to stop with this. But man, do I ever start to really like this guy more. In verse 30, the man answered and said unto them, why herein is a marvelous thing that ye know not from whence he is and yet he hath opened mine eyes.

[39:23] It's amazing that a new believer has more wisdom than religious scholars. It's amazing that I know something that you guys don't know because I've met Jesus Christ and he opened my eyes.

[39:40] What a glorious little truth comes out of that verse where the man, he's just getting bolder and bolder and bolder as these big dogs are just coming down hard on him and reviling him.

[39:54] They backed him into a corner. He stood up and said, I know one thing and now he's just getting more bold and more bold and more and he's not even intimidated in the least bit.

[40:05] He's not worried. His parents are probably shaking. Oh my goodness. Stop. Stop now. Stop now. Just stop it. You're going to get us all in trouble but he doesn't give a rip. He's past that. He's got something that they don't have and so he's going to tell them about it.

[40:19] Why herein is a marvelous thing. I just can't fathom this that you don't know where he's from but he opened my eyes. Verse 31, Now we know that God heareth not sinners. So that's the wicked man, the cry of the wicked, them calling out to God.

[40:33] God doesn't hear them. We know that God heareth not sinners but if many man will be a worshiper of God and do with his will, the righteous man, him he heareth.

[40:44] Since the world began, was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind? If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.

[40:57] That's his reasoning. And how can they deny this? Well, they can't deny this so they attack. They turn and they're not going to handle this. In verse 34, they're going to come out and we're going to have to stop here so we'll pick this up in the middle of this tension next Sunday.

[41:14] But for now, take this home with you that you don't have to be a scholar, you just have to have assurance of your salvation and you get that from the Bible. You get that from this book. And so get that, swallow it, get it inside you and what comes next with assurance?

[41:30] Boldness. Alright, we'll stop there and come back at the top of the hour.