Jesus gives eyesight to the blind

[0:00] I'd like to continue thinking as we were thinking of the boys and girls about sight and light.! Sight and light, that's supposed to be an eyeball, so just in case you're wondering.

[0:17] And there's the sun, and there's trees and hills and rivers, and sight and light is actually a very, very important part of, for many of us, or indeed most of us, human experience.

[0:34] Through sight, we gain guidance, so we see where we're going. Through our eyes, we appreciate much of the beauty of the world around us, and its goodness.

[0:52] Through sight and through light, we come to appreciate reality. We see things, hopefully, as they are.

[1:04] Through sight and light, we appreciate danger, so we can see what to avoid tripping over or bumping into. And it's almost, that's only a very slight exaggeration to say that to be able to see is to be able to appreciate life itself.

[1:26] It's something very profoundly, it's a profound gift to be able to see in that sense. And no wonder, then, that sight and light in the physical and medical sense, so our physical eyes, is in the Bible used as a metaphor for sight and light in the more profound sense of spiritual sight, seeing good and evil, spiritually and morally.

[2:00] And it's particularly true about Jesus himself, that he seems to attract, or indeed generate, the metaphor of light. It says right in the beginning of John's gospel, in chapter 1, verse 4 and 5, that in him, that's to say, in Jesus, in the word.

[2:21] Let me quote it to you. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it or has not grasped it.

[2:37] So Jesus, in Jesus, is life, and in Jesus is light in a very profound way.

[2:49] So we're going to think about that. And let me hasten to say that many people who in this world's estimation are partially sighted can see a lot better spiritually than people with 20-20 vision.

[3:06] And let me also say that what would it be like if you were spiritually blind? Well, if you were spiritually blind, you couldn't see where you were going, so you would lack guidance.

[3:21] If you were spiritually blind, there would be beauty and goodness that you were unaware of. If you were spiritually blind, there would be a whole reality that you couldn't see.

[3:37] There would be dangers that you couldn't see. And perhaps, in this sense, you would not see life if you were spiritually blind.

[3:49] So, seeing, not seeing, light, darkness. Let's look at the passage, John chapter 9.

[4:00] We're just going to look at the first seven verses. And it begins this way. As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.

[4:12] His disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?

[4:25] Neither this man nor his parents sinned, said Jesus. But this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in his life. So let's look at that bit first of all.

[4:37] First three verses. Light and sight are the main ideas that we're talking about. And it begins with this incident that Jesus is walking along.

[4:51] So some little stick men. They're walking along and they see a man who presumably is sitting down begging, although I don't think it says that, but let's assume he is.

[5:02] He is born blind. Blind. Okay, so somehow they know he didn't have an accident with a lathe or something like that.

[5:13] He was born blind. This poor chap has never been able to see. Okay, that's the situation.

[5:24] So his disciples say, here's an interesting question, Lord. Here, Rabbi, teacher, is an interesting question. Now, before we get to the question, let's see the assumption of it.

[5:35] The assumption is that there is such a thing as sin. In this world, there is such a thing as the moral failure, which the Bible calls sin. So there is such a thing as sin.

[5:47] And the assumption goes further than that, that sin causes, worst case, death, and including things like blindness.

[6:00] So sin is the reason why we have such things in the world. If there had been no sin, there would be no blindness. There would be no death.

[6:11] So that's what they're assuming. And Jesus doesn't contradict them. So if that was wrong, at this point he would say, you know, you have heard that said, but verily, verily, I say to you, that's a load of rubbish.

[6:26] But he doesn't say that. He goes along with that assumption. Now, the disciples take it further than this.

[6:39] They say, okay, sin, this is caused by sin. So whose sin caused this? And if he was born blind, there seemed to be only two possibilities.

[6:50] Number one, that it was the sin of his parents. So if he was born blind, then is this the case that it wasn't actually his sin, but his parents?

[7:02] So as soon as he's born, he's blind because it was the sin of his parents. Or was it his sin? Did he perhaps in some way sin in the womb?

[7:13] Now, you wouldn't think of that, would you? But I suppose that's what they're saying. If he was born blind, there must be, they think, a way for a child to sin in the womb and thus incur this penalty of blindness.

[7:28] So they say to him, which was it, Lord? We don't know the answer to this. Rabbi, who sinned, this man, when he was in the womb or his parents, that he was born blind?

[7:41] See, it's a very interesting question, isn't it? Now, Jesus is not contradicting the general connection in a global way.

[7:52] Death is in the world because of sin, and disease is in the world because of sin, and things like this are there because of sin.

[8:07] That's true. In a perfect world, there would not be children born blind. So Jesus is not disagreeing with them, but he does say, verse 3, neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in his life.

[8:27] So my heading for these first three verses is plight as an opportunity for God's work. So that's my heading. So Jesus says, no, it is not so specific.

[8:44] The connection between sin and disease is not so specific that one person's sin means they're ill, and that you can work backwards and say, if they're ill, they must have sinned in some specific way.

[8:58] What he does say is that this, for this gentleman, here is the opportunity for God's works to be shown.

[9:12] So he's compressed that answer into this sentence, neither this man nor his parents sinned, said Jesus, but that this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in his life. So he's answering a number of questions there.

[9:25] Let's try and spell that out in terms of individual trials. So individual trials, perhaps health problems that you have, perhaps things that have afflicted you.

[9:44] What does the Bible say? Is it because you have particularly sinned? Now, if you're able to, would you like to turn to 1 Corinthians 11, verse 30, in which Paul is writing to the church in Corinth, and they are sinning, in a certain way, as a group.

[10:06] They're coming together for the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner, and Paul says, in 1 Corinthians 11, verse 30, that is why some of you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.

[10:19] So he says, there is a connection in that particular case. The Lord is judging you as a group for your sin against the Lord, the way you're doing church, in a way which is a bit of an insult to the Lord Jesus.

[10:40] And he says, that is why some of you are sick. So, trying to make this a bit more generally applicable, if you are ill, it is worth saying to the Lord, is this, are you pointing something out to me about my sin?

[10:59] In the case of Corinth, they should have done that. And he says, you know, you should be a little bit more self-aware, you should be a little bit more self-analytical.

[11:09] He says, if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.

[11:20] So sometimes the Lord does discipline us over our sin by bringing ill health or something like that to us. So if you are ill or afflicted, it's a right thing to say, Lord, I don't want to be just carrying on regardless while you are tapping me on the shoulder and saying, you know, sort yourself out.

[11:44] So if there is something that I am doing wrong, please will you make it clear and please enable me to repent. Now, trials can also be unconnected with individual sin and can be more generally for the purpose of discipline.

[12:04] Please turn to Hebrews chapter 12, which carries on the thought of discipline from the Corinthian situation.

[12:16] Hebrews 12, verse 6, says, the Lord disciplines those he loves. He punishes everyone he accepts as a son.

[12:28] Punishment there, not meaning to condemn, but meaning that the Lord doesn't just let us get away with things and he needs us to keep on the ball, repenting, seeking to be holy, seeking to walk with him and quite often, trials and troubles help us to walk with the Lord much better than when it's easy and straightforward.

[12:56] Have you ever noticed that? Have you ever noticed how much more you pray when you're finding life tough than when you're on holiday on the beach?

[13:09] In fact, you might say it's almost impossible to pray when you're on holiday on the beach. You only really get going praying when you face issues. So, this is discipline and the Lord, if the Lord loves you, he will discipline you.

[13:28] So, if you're having life easy, or too easy for too long, you might say, well, that's funny, where's the Lord? If you're finding trials and troubles coming upon you, don't say, where's the Lord?

[13:43] Just think, the Lord is sending these things because he loves you, because he wants the best for you. Endure discipline, endure hardship as discipline.

[13:54] God is treating you as sons. So, that's a slightly different possibility. So, in neither of those cases are we saying, the Lord is sending this to me because he hates me.

[14:15] The Lord is sending this because he loves me. And he's either putting his finger on something specific or just more generally, he's trying to bring me up to be a godly person.

[14:27] And my third thought on this matter of trials and diseases and things like that is that we have in the Bible the example of Job.

[14:40] And I won't read the whole book of Job this morning. But Job was a man who had not committed any particular sin at all. And he was an exemplary believer.

[14:51] And yet, trials came into his life and it was something arranged by God. Job never knew that.

[15:03] Job just had to keep going and keep trusting. And he never really got an answer from the Lord as to why it had happened to him particularly at all. So, there's a third possibility that we just don't know why God has sent such and such a thing.

[15:21] But we know it comes from his hand and we just have to trust him. I think William Cooper in the song we sang would have agreed with that. Blind unbelief is sure to err and scan his works in vain.

[15:33] God is his own interpreter and he will make it plain. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense but trust him for his power. The bud may have a bitter taste but sweet will be the flower.

[15:46] The Lord's got a good purpose in all the things that he sends whether they are pleasurable or difficult. So, some thoughts on plight as an opportunity for God's work and this man born blind is a particular example of this and I was just trying to draw our thoughts out in a more general way.

[16:14] So, let's go further and see what Jesus says about this. He says, in this particular case, the works of God, his plight produces the stage on which God can demonstrate his glory.

[16:33] Now, Jesus, I think, gives another answer, verse 4, as long as it is day we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work.

[16:45] While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. So, this is to do with time. So, I've put here a time window as an opportunity for God's work.

[16:57] So, Jesus now uses the idea of light and sight in the way of night following day. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me.

[17:09] So, night follows day, doesn't it? I'm sure you noticed that, you didn't need me to tell you that. After a suitable amount of time, the light disappears and it gets dark and we get tired, we go to bed.

[17:23] If there was no such thing as electricity, we'd have to go to bed because we couldn't see what we were doing otherwise. So, night follows day and day is the opportunity to do God's work.

[17:35] And Jesus is saying here is daytime. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. I've got this opportunity says Jesus.

[17:48] Just as the hours go by and it becomes dark, so too Jesus is saying in his own ministry, he's only on this earth with those particular opportunities for a limited amount of time.

[18:04] And he needs to take that opportunity. Jesus' day was a special opportunity. It's not saying that Jesus is no longer the light of the world, but there was a particular opportunity presented by Jesus being on earth, talking to people, having whatever, 12 hours in a day, having whatever it was, three years of ministry.

[18:28] And each moment of that had its opportunity and Jesus wanted to take it to the full. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me.

[18:38] Night is coming when no one can work. And Jesus says, I am the light of the world. God God So I put there as my application thought, make the most of sunshine, but I spelt sun, s-o-n, make the most of sunshine.

[19:02] There is a particular, Jesus is saying, particular opportunity when I'm close, when I'm here, when I can do the works of God, and I want to make the most of that opportunity.

[19:17] And I think there's also a sense of that when Jesus comes close to you, perhaps, at a particular moment, at a particular period of your life, is an opportunity for you.

[19:30] Maybe you have Christian friends who are talking to you about Christian things, and you have the opportunity to think about those things that you don't, you didn't have before, and you might not have again.

[19:45] Maybe there's a particular time when you're off work, and you never had time to read any Christian books, or think about things, you'd always put it off, but now is an opportunity.

[19:57] Maybe it's a particular period in your life when you hadn't been in Brighton, in the UK, in contact with Christian people, maybe you never met them before, now's the opportunity.

[20:10] opportunity, make the most of the opportunity. You might not always have that. There will come a day when you're old and doddery, and people are thinking, shall I say something to old uncle so-and-so, or old auntie so-and-so, about Jesus Christ, and you might not be conscious, you might not be able to take in a conversation then.

[20:41] The window of opportunity had closed long ago. If it's the window of opportunity now, take it. Make the most of the sun shining while you have the opportunity.

[20:58] And then we could put that another way around and say, maybe you have opportunities to shine for Jesus, if I can put it in that way. Maybe you have opportunities that you might not have again.

[21:13] It says in the Bible, doesn't it, make the most of every opportunity. Maybe there are some people that you happen to be seeing at the moment. Maybe you go to a particular class, or you've been put into a particular department at work, or some people that you're with in your studies, and you have an opportunity at this point to pray for them, perhaps to talk to them, to make a deliberate attempt to get alongside them.

[21:42] That's an opportunity. Make the most of it. Because after all, Jesus did, didn't he? He said, as long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me.

[21:55] Night is coming when no one can work. So, a second thought there, time, window as the opportunity for God's work. Let's come to a third thought here.

[22:08] This is the actual miracle of Jesus giving eyesight to the blind. So, in verse five, he says, I am the light of the world, and then he sort of puts that into practice in this chap's life.

[22:24] Having said this, he spat on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. It's a funny sort of thing to do, isn't it?

[22:36] He spat on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. Go, he told him, wash in the pool of Siloam.

[22:47] Don't know how far he would have had to go. The word means sent, says John, to flag something up. And then you get this wonderful crisp sentence, so the man went and washed and came home seeing.

[23:06] Wah! Fantastic. And the rest of the chapter is all about people saying, no, that didn't happen. The rest of the chapter is all about the man working out what that means.

[23:21] It's a brilliant chapter, but we're just looking at the miracle itself this morning. So let's say, as an introduction, that the giving of eyesight to the blind was something long promised in the Jewish scriptures regarding the Messiah.

[23:42] So I've got a couple of references in, and there are more than this couple, but I've just fairly randomly selected these.

[23:53] in Isaiah 29, verse 18, it says, in that day, the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind will see.

[24:07] Once more, the humble will rejoice in the Lord, the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. and it's part of a long view forward of what God will do in the future.

[24:22] So looking from the Old Testament, in that day, the eyes of the blind will see. Or perhaps even more dramatically, a little bit further on in Isaiah 42, verse 6.

[24:37] And this is about the servant of the Lord. Isaiah 42 is a song about the coming Messiah.

[24:50] Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight. It's specifically referring to Jesus. And it says in verse 6, I the Lord have called you, I will take hold of your hand, I will keep you and make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

[25:21] So it's foretold, this is what the coming one will do. He will do a number of things, but including in that he will open the eyes of the blind. So let's take a look at this particular miracle.

[25:35] We are going from an eye that can't see to an eye that can see. And how do we get from one to the other? Well the first thing is of course we must add Jesus into the equation.

[25:50] This is all to do with Jesus. When you bring him into a situation, the situation changes radically. So if you add Jesus to this blind man, then you get a totally wonderful outcome.

[26:06] Now how does he do it? He spits and he makes sort of clay or mud with the dust from the ground and his own saliva.

[26:23] Now that I wrote down as nearly unique. And you might say, well it's either unique or it isn't unique. You can't have such a thing as nearly unique. But it is nearly unique because there are some other examples of Jesus spitting and curing blindness but nothing exactly like this.

[26:42] There's a couple of other examples but to make mud and put it on the eyes is that's I can't find anywhere quite like that. And it's a strange thing because usually spit is a polluting thing.

[27:00] So if somebody spat at you, you wouldn't say to them, thank you very much for your kindness, I appreciate that gesture. You would feel that they made you dirty by spitting.

[27:14] I know there might be exceptions to that but it would be true in Jewish culture that spitting is something that would be dirty. But in this case Jesus uses something that's polluting to produce healing.

[27:33] He uses something that's polluting to produce healing. And of course that's not the only occasion when he does this. If you think about it, blood is even more so. Blood in Jewish thinking is one of the things that you really avoid.

[27:49] So you know all the Jewish regulations about a woman's menstrual cycle and there would be all the things about eating blood. So it's all would be considered as polluting.

[28:02] But Jesus cleanses us by his blood, doesn't he? So this is an example that the things that are most polluting are also in some wonderful sense the most cleansing.

[28:22] And Jesus' blood cleanses us. So I don't really know how to take forward the idea of him spitting but I can say that when it comes to the idea of his blood, his blood can make the foulest clean.

[28:36] His blood avails for me it says in the song. And if you are sitting there thinking I am so polluted and I am so dirty let me point you in the direction of the blood of Jesus because his blood has the most amazing cleansing power.

[28:55] Now let's go a little bit further with this mixture that Jesus has made, this sort of mud that he's made. Now I can tell you because I looked it up that there is an unusual word used here.

[29:14] The NIV doesn't help us a great deal because it says he made some mud with the saliva and put it on the man's eyes. Verse 6 do you see the words put?

[29:26] He put it on the man's eyes. And in verse 11 the man says just rehearsing the thing just saying the man called Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes.

[29:38] He told me to go to Siloam and washed. I went and washed and then I could see. He just gives us the structure of that all over again. And he in the translation it says put in the original it says anoint.

[29:56] Anoint is a bit different isn't it? Anoint has all sorts of ideas of being something rather special. We keep the idea of oint when we put on our eyes oint mint.

[30:12] It seems to be the same sort of sound. So the man does say and I did look it up he anointed me with this mud. I don't usually anoint people with mud but this is what it says.

[30:25] This put me in mind of another place to do with eyes which is in Revelation chapter 3. Would you like to turn with me to Revelation 3. verse 18 where Jesus is speaking to a whole church.

[30:45] The risen Jesus addresses one of the seven churches in Asia and this particular one is the church of Laodicea. Revelation chapter 3 verse 14 to the angel of the church in Laodicea write well we're actually going to come back and look at this in a moment.

[31:04] If you follow it down you get to verse 18 where it says no verse 17 says you are poor and blind and naked and verse 18 says buy from me gold refined in the fire and salve salve to put on your eyes so that you can see so I'm taking that to mean ointment by says Jesus ointment from me to put on your eyes and that seems to connect doesn't it that what the what Jesus is doing is making a rather unusual sort of ointment and putting it on the man's eyes there is actually an example of a healing or healing that was recorded in ancient times of a similar sort of thing with an ointment made out of mud and spit but this is what

[32:08] Jesus does so I think he's making an ointment and then he says go and then the man goes to the pool and washes and then he can see so let's try and ponder what's happening Jesus has an ointment that he can make people see Jesus can give you an ointment to make you see if you're thinking I need spiritual sight I can't see God I can't see his hand I can't see the dangers that the Bible talks about you need ointment from Jesus so that you can see he can provide it what happens next Jesus says to the man go so the way this healing operates is that there's something from

[33:10] Jesus and then there is one of the components is obedience to his words now please notice that the obedience doesn't earn the healing but it's part of the process that Jesus uses you may remember there's a story in the Old Testament about a man who had leprosy Naaman the Syrian and he was told to go and wash in such and such a river and he said I'm not going to do that I've come all this way to be healed and I want something a little bit more upmarket I don't want to just have to go and wash in some crummy old river and he didn't do it and his servant said to him now come on now master if he'd asked you to do something really difficult like slay a hundred buffalo under a full moon or something like that and you would have done it but he just gave you something simple and straightforward to do and you're not going to do it that's stupid do what he says and Naaman did what he was told and he was healed and Jesus says things to us and we're very stupid if we say well I'm not going to do that

[34:23] Jesus says I'm going to be brought into spiritual life by doing such and such and such and such and such and say well I'm not going to do that well that's silly obedience is part of the way Jesus brings us spiritual healing his is the ointment but if he says do something well do it and then he goes the chap goes and washes in the pool called scent it's the pool of Siloam and John the gospel writer says please notice let me flag this up John is saying if in ancient writing you could use italics or capital letters or a different font which of course you can do on your word processor but John couldn't do so he has to do it another way he says the word means scent he says scent notice that please scent I don't think he's flagging up that the man is sent

[35:27] I think he's flagging up that Jesus is sent he's saying this shows that Jesus is the one sent from heaven sent to save sent all the way from heaven to earth to save people like you that's what this miracle is showing that's why he says go and wash in that pool it's the one called sent saloah means sent Jesus is sent from heaven for sinners like you he's come all the way to save you and the man goes and washes in this importantly named pool and it simply says he went washed came seeing he could see isn't that brilliant it is totally brilliant isn't it do you know the man never even asked for that Jesus just did it Jesus just did it Jesus has wonderful power doesn't he has wonderful power and wonderful grace the man had never even thought of this but Jesus just steps into his life and says here's some healing for you you're blind

[36:38] I'm going to cure that I'm going to sort that out and he does and I can say what about you what about you would you like Jesus to do this for you is this something that you would like Jesus to do for you well you could ask him is this something Jesus has done for you you could thank him let's take this I want to take it into three possibilities of the way Jesus gives blind people sight now let me say that as the chapter goes on at this point that we've got to all that has changed is his physical sight he hasn't understood who Jesus is he hasn't understood what it is to trust him he hasn't worked that all out and that all gets worked out through the process of conflict in the next verses and I find that in itself interesting maybe you are thinking I wish it was nice and easy to become a Christian do you know I find becoming a Christian so difficult

[37:40] I find so many forces pulling me this way and that way and banging me up and down and banging me on the floor I just find it so difficult and the funny thing is so does this man but it's through that process that he actually hammers out what he really believes anyway that's for another time but if we go straight down to verse 39 in summary of all this Jesus says for judgment I have come into this world so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind which is a strange thing to say I have come into this world for judgment and this is how it operates that blind people end up seeing and those who see end up blind I'd like to think for a moment about that so Jesus says this is for judgment I think at this point we can think of judgment as decisive division so the word used is not crisis but it is like the word crisis and if you look at the word crisis judgment which I've written on the screen you might think crisis and you wouldn't be far wrong so let me push things a little bit and say this is the crisis that Jesus brings

[39:01] I've come into this world to bring a crisis into people's lives and how does the crisis operate well there are some people who claim they see so I put this person with a hat because the Pharisees this was my code for a Pharisee and the Pharisees say all the way through the chapter in fact they say we can see we can see that Jesus is a fraud we know that he's not worth believing in we've got that all covered believe us in this matter we know and that's what they're saying all the way through and here's somebody when Jesus comes and when Jesus people come they are rejected and these people say I can see I'm okay I don't want anything that Jesus has to offer thank you very much and when Jesus comes near these people and they realise who he is and what he has to offer and they in this moment of crisis say no no no thank you they're very polite no thank you and Jesus says well what's happened you've just made yourself blind you've closed your eyes in such a way that it would be almost impossible to ever get them open again and if you persist that way then truly your blindness is incurable and I want to say to you this morning if you've come along and you think a little bit interested in what Jesus has to say but I'm not really that inclined to believe it please don't complete that process of closing your eyes because if you close your eyes to Jesus you will make yourself blind and that blindness may never be reversible so if that's you please don't say no I've got it all sorted

[41:12] I'm okay without Jesus please allow a little bit of doubt to go in there please allow a little chink of light to go in please try to open your eyes instead of closing them here's point number one I have come into this world for crisis says Jesus so that the people who can see end up blind and some of them will number two so that the people who are blind can see and so the man is a case in point Jesus comes along he he receives Jesus perhaps he doesn't play a particularly positive particularly involved role in it but Jesus says let's generalize this I've come in to this world so that blind people can see and when I enter their lives and the crisis comes they say Lord I am blind

[42:13] Lord I do need you I do need you I can't see without you please give me my sight and when Jesus is received then people see and they have light and Jesus makes amazing promises about this he says if you I am the light of the world whoever comes to me whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life it's a very big promise it does hinge on Jesus it does hinge on our reception or not of him and I would like to go back to the book of Revelation chapter 3 with me again because I think this the Revelation 3 situation doesn't fall neatly into the first two categories so Jesus is addressing a church so presumably they're Christians or at least they say they're Christians or a good number of them are

[43:14] Christians or something like that we would say they are professing Christians meaning they say they are Christians to the angel of the church at Laodicea write these are the words of the amen the faithful and true witness the ruler of God's creation I know your deeds that you are neither hot nor cold I wish you were one or the other so because you are lukewarm not hot or cold I am about to spit you more spit you see I am about to spit you out of my mouth you say I am rich I have acquired wealth I do not need a thing but you do not realise that you are wretched pitiful poor blind and naked I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire so that you can become rich and white clothes to wear so that you can cover your shameful nakedness and ointment eye salve to put on your eyes so that you can see those whom

[44:20] I love I rebuke and discipline so be earnest and repent here I am I stand at the door and knock if anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in and eat with him and he with me to him who overcomes I will give the right to sit with me on my throne just as I overcame and sat down with my father on his throne he who has an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches who is Jesus speaking to I think he's speaking to Christians who somehow or another have become spiritually useless and the uselessness is that they're not hot or cold Laodicea apparently had two springs one at the top of the hill and one at the bottom the springs at the top I can't forget exactly which way around it is let's assume it's the ones at the top were hot and you could wash your clothes in there brilliant for doing that the ones at the bottom were cold and you could drink that and Jesus says well there's two useful springs in Laodicea but you're not one or the other can't use you for anything because you're lukewarm you're useless and it's a bit hard isn't it so Jesus is saying to this church you're useless you are to Christians you become useless you're useless you're no use in witness because your witness is all mangled up you're no use in prayer you're no use in service because you've forgotten what you're there for you're no use in support because you're totally unreliable you're useless it's hard words and you're full of yourself and you're full of this world

[46:06] I'm rich you say I have acquired wealth and don't need a thing you become so complacent so self satisfied so pleased with yourself you've lost touch with spiritual reality you say I'm rich I have no need and Jesus says in fact the exact opposite is true you are poor you are blind you are naked and you are at risk what are they at risk of they're at risk of being spat out of Jesus mouth now you're all very nice people and I don't want to insult you or threaten you or scold you but Jesus does Jesus is prepared to say to this church and then he circulates it to all the other churches to read just watch out he says make sure you're not

[47:09] Laodicean Christians make sure you're not useless make sure you're not good for anything at all don't get into that position and all the while you're saying I'm doing really well actually I'm rich I don't need anything he says you silly silly Christians and he's quite sharp with them isn't he he says I love you but I'm quite prepared to rebuke you and say to you get your act together what do you think you're playing at as a Christian Jesus says among other things get myself from me you don't realise how little you're seeing you've got a sort of spiritual cataracts you know you forgot what it was like to see clearly you need some eye salve from me and it's the same Jesus who gave eyesight to the blind and here he is speaking to Christian churches and saying you need the same treatment actually you need your eyes opening afresh get eye salve from me and Jesus says

[48:16] I'm rebuking you I'm ticking you off because I love you and I don't want to see you half hearted useless unreliable and I want you to change that says Jesus repent repent open up to me you've gone on so long and you've forgotten to open up to me you go through the same routines you come to church maybe even sit in the same chair but you don't open up to me anymore says Jesus here I'm knocking at the door open up let me in we could have a wonderful time together harsh word isn't it but it's a loving word from the Lord who can give eyesight to the blind