[0:01] Let's turn to God's Word and to Gospel of John, carrying on our series, John chapter 9. John chapter 9. John 9. Let's hear the Word of God.
[0:21] And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And the disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?
[0:35] Jesus answered, Neither have this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it's day.
[0:50] The night cometh when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle.
[1:02] And he anointed the eyes of a blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which is by interpretation sent.
[1:12] He went his way, therefore, and washed, and came seeing. The neighbours, therefore, and they which had before had seen him, that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?
[1:26] Some said, This is he. Others said, He is like him. But he said, I am he. Therefore they said unto him, How were thine eyes opened? He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash.
[1:48] And I went and washed, and I received sight. Then they said unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not. They brought to the Pharisees him, and at athor time was blind.
[2:00] And it was the Sabbath day, when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes. Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight.
[2:12] He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see. Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day.
[2:26] Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? There was a division among them. They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he have opened thine eyes?
[2:39] He said, He is a prophet. But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight. Until they called the parents of him, that had received his sight.
[2:52] And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who you say was born blind? 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.
[3:05] But by what means he now seeth? We know not. Or who have opened his eyes? We know not. He is of age. Ask him. He shall speak for himself.
[3:15] These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews, for the Jews agreed already. But if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.
[3:29] Therefore said his parents, He is of age. Ask him. Then again they called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise.
[3:39] We know that this man is a sinner. He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not. One thing I know. Whereas I was blind, now I see.
[3:52] Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? How opened he thine eyes? He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear.
[4:05] Wherefore would ye hear it again? Will ye also be his disciples? Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple, but we are Moses' disciples.
[4:15] We know that God spake unto Moses, As for this fellow we know not from whence he is. The man answered and said unto them, Why, wherein it is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet ye have opened mine eyes.
[4:35] Now we know that God heareth not sinners, but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. Since the world began, was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind?
[4:50] If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us?
[5:01] And they cast him out. Jesus heard that they had cast him out. When he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe in the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?
[5:15] And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.
[5:27] And Jesus said, For judgment I am come unto this world, that they which see not might see, and that they which see might be made blind. Some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these things, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
[5:43] Jesus said unto them, If you were blind, you would have no sin. But now ye say, We see, therefore your sin remaineth. We give praise to God for his holy and his perfect word.
[5:59] Let's sing to God's praise. Psalm 121. Psalm 121. Of course, this psalm of God's provision and God's care for his people. Psalm 121.
[6:11] I to the hills will lift mine eyes. From whence doth come mine aid? My safety cometh from the Lord, who heaven and earth have made. By foot he'll not let slide, nor will he slumber that thee keeps.
[6:23] Behold, he that keeps Israel, he slumbers not, nor sleeps. So hold psalm to God's praise. I to the hills will lift mine eyes.
[6:43] From whence doth come mine aid. My safety cometh from the Lord, who heaven and earth have made.
[7:03] By foot he'll not let slide, nor will he slumber that thee.
[7:17] He slumber that theeenga snort, behold, he sl entrepreneurship. Thra doing but you will will still.
[7:28] From whence doth come mine aid. The Lord be peace, the Lord I change, on my life I understand.
[7:47] The Lord be peace, the Lord I change, on my life I understand.
[8:17] The Lord be peace, the Lord I change, on my life I understand.
[8:47] Our series is looking at the encounters that those at the time had with Jesus. As we said last week, it's really the encounters that he has with them.
[8:58] How Jesus seeks and finds and meets with and transforms lives. Here in John 9 we find Jesus meeting this man born blind.
[9:13] But as we've read, it's a lengthy chapter and really it's not just this man that Jesus meets. It's this man, yes, but also it's the Pharisees.
[9:24] It's those who seek to disrupt and to discredit Jesus and his miracles. And because this is such a lengthy passage in terms of what's going on, there's so much going on.
[9:38] We'll have to be, if not brief, we'll have to be careful in how we address these things. There's so much we could stop and look at. Indeed, we've actually looked at this chapter before.
[9:49] Of course, one of the first times I was with you as we looked at Jesus calling himself the light of the world. And we addressed this chapter.
[10:00] But focusing this morning, this afternoon, on the account of the man and his healing. And the reaction to his healing. When we come to read this chapter, we see something that we see again and again in Scripture.
[10:14] That God in his word, that God in his mercy, that God in his faithfulness, that he is honest. That Scripture hides nothing from us.
[10:26] That Scripture shows us things and it shows us life and indeed our own life as it truly is. In this chapter, we see an account of a man with a lifelong disability.
[10:40] A man who was born blind, who had, we can assume, a tough life, a difficult life. We see the mistaken and some wrong and dangerous theology of the disciples.
[10:54] We see the blasphemy of the Pharisees. In this reasonably short chapter, we see a lot going on. We see sin being exposed.
[11:06] We see the reality of human existence before us. So with all that being said, we've got a lot to go through. So we'll be very broad in our points.
[11:19] Just taking them as they come. First of all, looking at the man himself, we see one who is born blind. Then looking at those, the Pharisees, those who are willfully blind.
[11:33] Then we see, we can see it in detail, the miracle perhaps of sight being restored. Mostly spiritual sight. And finally, we can come back to the start of the first few verses.
[11:46] Verses 3 and 4. And we can see how our story is for his glory. Born blind, willfully blind. His sight restored and then our story for his glory.
[12:03] First of all, born blind. Jesus is here again encountering a man whose life he's about to transform.
[12:14] The first verse. And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. Now this time, it's actually the disciples who almost stop and who bring up this question.
[12:30] We'll see this question later on in detail. But Jesus is there. And the man, we assume, is at the side of the road. He is there, probably begging.
[12:42] We see that later on. He indeed was begging. He was known for begging. He is there by the side of the road. A blind man. We looked before at Blind Bartimaeus. This man would have had a similar life.
[12:54] Of course, there's no social security. There is no net here for him to be caught up in. There is no safety. There is no job security. There is no benefits. There is no state help.
[13:06] This is a man whose whole life was one of darkness. Of loneliness. Yes, he has parents. But we know it was a hard, hard life.
[13:17] To have any disability to this day. To be blind. To be blind. To be blind. To have no chance of working. This is a man who spent his whole life hoping and relying upon.
[13:29] And waiting for the kindness and the scraps of food. And the small change of strangers as they passed him by. And Jesus is walking towards this man.
[13:43] The disciples, they stop him. Jesus passed by. He saw a man who was blind from his birth. The truth is, and we'll see this in detail.
[13:55] Although this is about the man who was physically blind. Who was blind from birth. It's clear for us here in scripture. As we see this chapter unfold.
[14:05] That there's more going on here. That this man, and we can say this with confidence. This man is here for us as an example of all together.
[14:16] Of all encompassing blindness. See, he's not just physically blind. He is, of course, also spiritually blind. And we'll see that in our third point in detail.
[14:26] But we must note first. That just as much as his physical blindness limited him. Just as much as his physical blindness would have made his life so difficult.
[14:39] So also was his spiritual blindness. He couldn't see the world for what it was. He couldn't deal with the world truly.
[14:50] It's the same for those who are spiritually blind. Even here today. For those of you who as of yet don't know Jesus for yourself. The Bible is quite clear. And we saw this before with Bartimaeus.
[15:00] The Bible is quite clear. It's quite direct. Dear friends, that you are blind. You see and you live your lives. And you enjoy your lives. And we praise God for the life perhaps he has given you.
[15:13] But you are spiritually blind. You're like this man here. You have no real understanding of the world. You think, well, who are you? Who are you to come from Graver? Stand up there and tell me that I don't understand the world.
[15:25] You're right. I have no right to say that to you. And of myself, none. The word of God tells you. The word of God tells you that you are spiritually blind.
[15:35] If as of yet you do not know Jesus. You're like this man here. Born blind. You've never truly seen the world. You've never truly understood what it is to be born.
[15:47] And to exist in a world that God has made. You were born to know him. Born to serve him. Born to love him. Born to have him as king over you. And until that day is real for you.
[15:59] You are born blind. And you remain blind. This man is blind. And here we see one of the first realities of this chapter.
[16:09] Where scripture is honest. The disciples in verse 2. We're passing by this blind man. And the disciples. For reasons known to themselves.
[16:19] Decide to ask this question. They ask Jesus saying. Master, who did sin? Who sinned? This man or his parents? That he was born blind.
[16:32] The disciples don't seem to show any care. Or sympathy towards this man. They just want a theological question answered by Jesus. They want their curiosity satisfied by Jesus.
[16:45] And here we see one of the first lessons we have. Of how honest scripture is in this chapter. Our first lesson here. Is that the Lord's people.
[16:56] Brothers and sisters. We get it wrong. At times. And to our shame. And many times. We get it very. Very wrong. We are not blind spiritually.
[17:09] We've had our eyes opened by our saviour. We see him. And we love him. And we adore him. And we worship him. We praise him. But brothers and sisters. And you know this yourselves. At times.
[17:20] We can be so far off. We think we're right. We think. We think we're doing well. But the reality is. Our views. And our thoughts. And our understanding of certain things.
[17:31] Can be so against scripture. We see that taking place. In these few. Short. Verses. Now perhaps the question they ask.
[17:42] Seems quite strange to us. Quite out of place to us. Why are they asking Jesus. Who sinned. They ask him. Did the man sin. Did his parents sin.
[17:52] Why is he born blind. Why is this man. The way he is. Whose fault is it. Is it his fault. Is it his parents fault. That makes even less sense.
[18:04] Doesn't it. He's born blind. How can it be his fault. He's born blind. How can he sin. Before he's even born. And here we see. Something taking place.
[18:16] The disciples. Brothers and sisters. Like you. Like I. They are people of their day. They are people of their day. Like you and I. They are born into their culture.
[18:26] They grow up in their culture. They are influenced by what they see. What they read. What they hear. And the belief. And we know this for certain. The belief. One of the. One of the. Reigning beliefs.
[18:37] At this time. Is that the Lord. Will look into your life. You look ahead into your life. And if you were going to live. A bad life. Or a wrong life. He would make you be born.
[18:47] With some form of disability. Those who are disabled. And those who had various. Physical ailments. And physical problems. It was because. The Lord.
[18:59] Knew. They would be awful sinners. So he. He. He created them. To be born. Disabled. Now. Just think for a second. That. The horror.
[19:09] And the danger. And the darkness. Of that. Wrong theology. How dangerous. That way of thinking was. But that was. The prevailing thought. Of the day. Even worse than that.
[19:20] The. The. The other thought was. That if it wasn't your fault. It was your parents fault. If you were born. With some disability. Some disease. Some problem. In your body. In your mind. It's your fault.
[19:32] Or your parents fault. Someone's messed up somewhere. Your parents were such. Awful sinners. That. Somehow the Lord. Has now punished you. For that. They think.
[19:43] This is the. The language of the day. This is the thought. Of the day. This man. Who was born blind. Has spent his life. Hearing this. From those around him. His life.
[19:55] Being told. Or. Or hearing. That. Somehow. His blindness. Is his fault. Somehow. It's his parents fault. Somehow. There's something going on. That has made them be blind.
[20:05] And somehow. The Lord is angry with him. That's why he's born blind. Now the disciples. Ask this question. To Jesus. Quite genuinely. They're asking Jesus. An either or.
[20:16] Question. We're not saying. Is our theology right. They're saying. Was it his fault. Or his parents fault. They thought. They knew. What we're talking about. He's blind.
[20:27] Obviously. He has sinned. Or his parents have sinned. Which one is it? Jesus. And Jesus then of course. Dismantles. Destroys.
[20:38] That theology. And we'll see that. At the end. The very question. They ask. It shows us. That even those of us.
[20:48] Here today. That have had our eyes. Opened. Spiritually. That at times. We can be so wrong. We must. Again and again. Find ourselves.
[20:58] Coming back to scripture. If the disciples. Had themselves. Read their scriptures. And known their scriptures. Better. They would know. That their theology. About why this man was blind.
[21:09] It's not biblical. It's not scriptural. It was of their day. We read this question. We think. How could these men. Ask such a silly question. How could these men.
[21:20] Believe something so silly. If you find yourself. And indeed. I find myself. Thinking that same question. Then stop for a second. And ask yourself.
[21:30] Privately. How have you been influenced. By the culture. You were born into. What. Wrong. Thoughts. Do we. Tend to think.
[21:42] What. Wrong. Understandings. Do we tend to have. About scripture. About theology. Which things. Do the world. Or has the world. Influenced us. To think. Or to say.
[21:52] Or to understand. There are many things. If we look to our own lives. In many. Ways. Brothers and sisters. That. If we stop and think. We'll find ourselves. Believing things.
[22:04] And trying to apply things. Which we do not find. In scripture. Which are not biblical. Brothers and sisters. This is a reminder for us. As we begin these. Verses.
[22:15] That even though we've had our eyes. Open spiritually. At times. We can be so wrong. So wrong. Like the disciples. And the truth is. That a wrong theology.
[22:26] And bad theology. Can be very damaging. Very damaging. Christian. Dear brother. Dear sister. As we seek to perhaps. Comfort. And bring the gospel.
[22:38] To those around us. And bring. Scriptural comfort. To those around us. We must make sure. That we're doing things. In a biblically correct way. Not saying. We become experts.
[22:48] No. As we seek to offer advice. Or offer comfort. Or do anything. Scripturally. We must be careful. We're saying things. Which are right. And not saying things.
[22:59] That we have learnt ourselves. From our culture. From our situation. Just now. We are all products. Of our day. And every generation. Thinks they're not. Every generation.
[23:10] Thinks. Well those who came before me. They were very much. Products of their day. They were shaped. By their culture. And all their wrong thoughts. Were their wrong thoughts. But not me. I'm very much.
[23:20] With it. I understand everything. Well. Those who come after us. Will look back. And say the same thing about us. The same thing about themselves. The disciples were wrong. They were very. Very wrong.
[23:31] Brothers and sisters. We must be careful. That when we seek. To apply the gospel. Or we do so in a way. That is biblical. That is scriptural. Not relying on tradition. Not relying on unhelpful.
[23:44] Man made things at times. But to be careful. Everything we say. Can be scripturally based. And applied. We know this. But at times we forget. This. Like the disciples here.
[23:55] Forgot themselves. At this point. As Jesus begins to. To talk. With the disciples. He reminds them.
[24:07] That he is. We see in verse 5. He is the light. Of. The world. The light of the world. We discussed this before. So we won't spend. Time on this.
[24:17] But it's important for us. To acknowledge this verse. Verse 5. Is the central point. Of this whole account. In one sense. Jesus is the light of the world. This man.
[24:28] For the first time. In verse 6. And verse 7. He is about to see light. This man has not seen light. In all his life. A life of darkness.
[24:38] A life. Born blind. Physically. And spiritually. In complete darkness. I. Am the light. Of the world.
[24:49] And when he had thus spoken. Verse 6. He spat on the ground. The clay of the spittle. He anointed the eyes of a blind man. With the clay. And said. Go wash.
[25:01] Go. Wash. Wash. We think. It's a strange thing. We see Jesus. Healing Bartimaeus. With a word. Or two. We see Jesus.
[25:12] Raising the dead. In Lazarus. With a word. Or two. So why does Jesus. Here. Do something. Why does he make.
[25:23] This clay. And let's be honest. This is a strange thing. To read. Isn't it? It's a strange thing. To. As your mind. Tends to. Imagine. Clay. On your eyes.
[25:34] Made from. Mud. And from spit. Do you think. That's. That's a grim image. At one point. What's going on here? Why does Jesus. Do something here?
[25:45] Well. He doesn't need. The mud. He doesn't need. To do the thing. Our eternal. Lord and saviour. Who was there. With the. Universe's. Created. Point.
[25:56] Who spoke. Light. And the universe. Into creation. With words. He didn't need. To do anything. But he does. He does. Something here. He makes.
[26:08] This. Clay. He anoints. The eyes. Of a blind man. And he tells him. To go and wash. Again. As we always say. There's no wasted words.
[26:19] In scripture. Everything is here. For a precise. Reason. First of all. The word. Anointed. In verse six. He anointed. The eyes.
[26:29] Of a blind man. That word. Is precise. Grammatically speaking. And for the. The tone. And the flow. Of this. Account.
[26:40] It's not the best word. To use. John could have used. Plenty of other words. Anointed. Is a strange. Word to use. But that word.
[26:50] Anointed. Is only ever used. In. The sense. We use it ourselves. With the high priest. And the temples. We heard. Even last Thursday. In Psalm 133.
[27:01] With the oil. Being placed. In the head. Of the high priest. The high priest. Is anointed. With oil. It's a very holy word. To use here. For what's taking place. If you were to say.
[27:12] If you were to correct. John's work. You'd say. It's the wrong word. To use John. You can't anoint someone. With mud from the ground. That doesn't work. You can't anoint. With mud. Made from spit. That doesn't work.
[27:22] But John. The Holy Spirit. Working through John. He uses. The word. Anointed. That tells us. Something is taking place here.
[27:33] First and foremost. This shows us. That this. Is the creator. Here we have. God. Fully God. And fully man. And he is here.
[27:44] He is here. Using. And showing. To those around. That he is able. Again. To take the very dust. Of the earth. To anoint. This man. Quite literally.
[27:55] To bless. This man's eyes. With this mud. Here we see. The work. Of. A creator. God. Jesus.
[28:06] The world. The universe. The creation. Is made through. And made for. As scripture tells us. Here we see him. Showing his power. Physically. Doesn't need to use the mud.
[28:18] But he is showing. What's around him. That he. Is able. As he did. With his first. A man. And the first woman he made. Made from the dust itself. Like us ourselves.
[28:30] Made from. From. Normal. Makeup. As we are. We're made from. The elements of his creation. We're made from the earth. And he makes. Earth.
[28:41] Applies it to the man. And shows that he. And he alone. Can do. This work. He anoints the eyes. Of a blind man. But there's still more going on here.
[28:53] And we'll see that. We see that. In the fact. He makes clay out of it. There's something more going on. In verse 7. The scripture is quite clear to us.
[29:03] It tells us. He tells him to go. And to wash in the pool. The pool. Which means what? Sent. The pool. Which means. Sent.
[29:13] He went his way therefore. And washed. And came seeing. There's a lot of movement. Isn't there? In verse 7. In verse 6. The man is doing this. Going there. Coming back. Doing this.
[29:24] Washing his face. Coming back. Why is scripture so clear? Why is scripture quite repetitive? In telling us. That there's action taking place here. It's very important.
[29:38] Jesus is doing this. Very much on purpose. Why? Because Jesus is breaking all the rules on purpose here. The Pharisees had created their own Sabbath rules.
[29:53] The Pharisees. And we'll see in a second. They had created these rules which God didn't give them. Which God did not give them. One of the rules which we see being broken.
[30:06] It was illegal. It was blasphemy. To need. On the Sabbath. You could not add. A water like substance.
[30:18] You couldn't add water or milk. To anything else. You couldn't create anything. You couldn't need things together. You couldn't add water to clay. Jesus does that straight away.
[30:31] He adds water to clay. He kneads it together. He makes clay out of the mud. You also couldn't walk. To a certain place. On a Sabbath.
[30:42] You could only walk so far. According to them. And. You could only walk places that weren't public places. You couldn't go and do something. That didn't have to be done.
[30:54] Jesus sends him to go wash in the public. The public pool. You also couldn't wash yourself. Publicly on the Sabbath. Jesus tells him to go there.
[31:06] And wash your face. See what he is doing. Our saviour. Has in this short miracle. He has shown himself to be creator. Who can heal this man.
[31:18] Also he shows himself yet again. To be lord of the Sabbath. Who does not listen to the man made rules. Of his own created creatures. No. He has come to save.
[31:29] His people. And he himself. Is the lord of the Sabbath. And he will break the rules. The man made rules. Because he will accomplish his purposes.
[31:40] Regardless. And we see don't we. We see. Later on. That is a problem. The Pharisees pick up. He did these things. On the Sabbath.
[31:52] Note. The simplicity. And the effectiveness. Of verse 7. He went his way therefore. And washed. And he came back seeing. He went away blind.
[32:04] And came back with his eyesight. How quickly. How normally. How quietly. Almost. Jesus. He heals this man. Yes.
[32:15] Yes. We have the mud. And yes. We have all the. All that taking place. But the reality is. This man. Blind from birth. In that second. He is healed. By Jesus. His sight.
[32:28] Is restored. His physical sight. And we'll see. His spiritual sight. Is getting there too. His eyes. Spiritually speaking. Are slowly. Being.
[32:38] Opened. Then we see. And we encounter. The Pharisees. Don't we? Those who are. Willfully blind. Those who are. Willfully blind.
[32:49] And. We can't take time. Verses 13. Down to verse 34. We see this. Glorious interaction. With this man. And the Pharisees. But just to summarize. This interaction.
[33:01] We can see it take place. In verse 16. Therefore. Says some of the Pharisees. This man. Is not of God. Because he keepeth. Not the Sabbath day. And so on.
[33:12] Down to verse. 34. He can't be from God. He has broken the rules. Of the Sabbath. They've just seen a man.
[33:24] And we see them. Making sure. From the man's parents. And the man himself. They have seen. Again and again. That this man. Before him. Before them. That he is truly. The one who was born blind.
[33:35] Who can now see. Who has told them. There's a miracle. Has taken place. Right in front of them. And their only concern. Is what? This man. Is not of God.
[33:48] He keeps not. He has broken. The Sabbath day. Because Jesus. Dared. To break. Their very much. Unscriptural. And very.
[33:59] Idolatrous views. And their idolatrous. Opinions. And their man made opinions. Because Jesus. Showed them. That they were not right. Because Jesus. Showed them.
[34:10] That they were still. So lost in their sin. That they were so blind. They ignore. They ignore. A miracle. Right in front of them. A man. Who is known. To be blind. Is now walking.
[34:21] And talking. And seeing. And speaking to them. And they choose. To ignore him. There are many who say. If only. I could have been there. When Jesus. Has walked the earth. I would see the miracles.
[34:32] And I would believe. We've heard people say that. You wouldn't. You wouldn't. How can I be so confident? Because they didn't.
[34:43] See. We underestimate. Just how intense. And just how severe. Our spiritual blindness. Truly is. Dear friend. Before you were saved. And right now.
[34:54] Dear friend. If you are not saved. You are blind. As we said. But your spiritual blindness. It is true blindness. And you say. If only I could see. The miracles for myself. It would be easier for me to believe.
[35:06] I would believe it then. They saw it. They talked. They talked with a man. Who had been given his sight back. They talked with his parents. The community told them.
[35:16] This is a man who was blind. Is now seeing. We can't explain this. Apart from Jesus. And they go. We don't care. He broke the Sabbath. He went against.
[35:27] Our own man made. Unscriptural. Idolatrous rules. I don't care about who he is. They are so. Dying to be right themselves.
[35:38] They are so desperate. To be right themselves. They ignore. The deity. The power. The glory. Of. Jesus. And we see.
[35:48] We are reaching a pinnacle. In verse. 24. They call the man back. We talked to the parents. Talked to the man. And they have called him back. They call the man.
[36:01] That was blind. And said unto him. Give. God. Give. God. The praise. We know. That this man.
[36:11] Is a sinner. Because Jesus. Dare. To heal this man. Because Jesus. Dare. To go against the Pharisees. They. Blaspheme.
[36:23] Jesus. They call him. A sinner. Dear friends. And I say this. With a very careful. And very heavy heart. God.
[36:33] Every day. Every week. Every month. Every year. That you hear the gospel. But do not believe the gospel. You hear the gospel.
[36:46] But you do not believe the gospel. Or care to listen to the gospel. You might believe. That Jesus existed. You might believe. Even that he was God.
[36:57] But you choose to ignore the reality. Like the Pharisees. Before you just now. It's the gospel truth. That Jesus is who he says he is. And by you ignoring him.
[37:10] Again. And again. You find yourself. We must say. You find yourself here. Agreeing with the Pharisees. In 24 and 25. And you won't say it.
[37:21] Like they say it. You aren't as blatant. Or as rude as they are. But they didn't believe Jesus. They didn't believe his. His power. Even though they saw in front of him.
[37:33] They were so blind. They were ready to call him a sinner. And believe Jesus. For who he was. We were ready to despise Jesus. To attack Jesus.
[37:44] Dear friends. Until you believe. You are just like them. You are just like them. You will do anything. And say anything. To ignore the reality.
[37:56] That hangs in front of you. That Jesus is Lord. He is Lord. There is no salvation apart from him. That he alone. Can open the eyes of the blind. As you keep ignoring that reality.
[38:08] You find yourselves alongside. These Pharisees. Who declare. The eternally terrifying words. The terrifying words.
[38:19] That these men say. That are just condemning themselves here. We know this man. Is a sinner. Their arrogance is such.
[38:31] Their own adultery is such. Their own desire. To be right is such. They are willing. To call Jesus a sinner. To escape. To escape. To escape the reality.
[38:41] That is in front of them. Dear friends. How far have you gone? How far do you go? Even this very moment. To try and run away from the reality.
[38:52] That Jesus. Is the only way. Of salvation. That he is the only mediator. Between God and man. How far do you try. To block out that reality.
[39:04] How hard do you try. And distract yourself. That he alone. Can open your eyes. The brothers and sisters here. They will tell you. That at times. They went very far.
[39:15] They tried to. As it were. Drown out. That truth. In various ways. And at various times. The truth cannot be escaped. The Pharisees then.
[39:26] Kick this man. Out of the synagogue. If they can't see him. Anymore. If they can't. Can't. I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't. It's okay. They can forget about him. Jesus finds a man.
[39:39] In verse 35. On words. Jesus finds a man. He heard. They cast him out. He goes to find him. He goes to comfort him. He goes to be with him. And he asks this man.
[39:49] That this simple. Beautiful question. Does I believe. In the son of God. Who is he Lord. That I might believe. On him. See. The truth is.
[39:59] This man. Has already called himself. Hasn't he. He's already called himself. In verse 27. Well he's associated himself. With Jesus. Verse 27. He asks the Pharisees.
[40:11] Will you also. Be his disciples. Also. This man doesn't know much. About Jesus. He doesn't really know. Who the man is. Who's given him sight. But he's happy.
[40:21] To follow him. He's happy. To call himself. A disciple. Of Jesus. And slowly. But surely. Jesus. Reveals himself. To this man.
[40:35] This man. Is a simple faith. This man. Doesn't know much. About Jesus. In fact. He doesn't even know. Who Jesus is. When Jesus first. Approaches him. Simple. Childlike faith.
[40:48] As an opposite. To the disciples. We saw at the start. Who had been. Traveling of Jesus. Day and night. Who had heard. This point. A few years. Of Christ's teachings.
[41:00] They still ignored. The simple gospel truth. For as this man. Who had had. One interaction. Of Jesus. He is ready. And willing.
[41:11] And faithful. To respond. And to follow. And to bless. Jesus. We see it. We see that. The glorious. The glorious. Words. Here.
[41:21] In verse 38. Jesus tells him. Who he is. Verse 38. The man says. Lord I believe. And he worshipped him. This is the reality. Of someone. Who has truly. Had their eyes opened.
[41:33] Not just physically. But spiritually. Yes. His understanding. His theology. Is tiny. His theological knowledge. Means nothing. He has none of his point.
[41:46] But he knows Jesus. He loves Jesus. He trusts Jesus. And he worships Jesus. The Pharisees. Had a lifetime of learning. Behind them. A lifetime of learning.
[41:58] To be a Pharisee. You had to study hard. You had to study well. You were tested all the time. For their lifetime of learning. And all their scriptural knowledge.
[42:08] For all their scriptural knowledge. All they do in this account. Is blaspheme. The Lord himself. This man. Who knows nothing.
[42:19] Who has only just seen the world. For the first time. He. Praises. And worships. The saviour. He praises. And worships.
[42:30] His saviour. Dear Christian. Yes. We must grow in our love. And grow in our knowledge. That's important. Of course it is. But don't be discouraged. Don't be discouraged. Childlike.
[42:43] Simple faith. Is much more beautiful. It is much more genuine. At times. Than the most learned. And well thought out. Explanations of things.
[42:53] For other books. We can read. And there is no. Bad thing. In us. Seeking to grow. We said that before. Of course there is not. But this man. His faith is simple.
[43:04] But his faith. Not just beautiful. Lord. I believe. And he worshipped him. Is that not the kind of faith. We all want. Those of us.
[43:14] Who have been saved. Who have been walking. The road for a while. As we find. Things begin to complicate. Our lives. Don't we. We find ourselves getting. Caught up. In theology.
[43:26] And theologies. And discussions. And at times helpful. But often things. Which are not helpful to us. Things which are. Which aren't beneficial. Let's long.
[43:37] To be back. To the simplicity. Of verse 38. Where we can say. Lord. I believe. And just worship him. Lord. I believe. And he worshipped.
[43:48] Him. And we'll close. We'll be going back. To the start of our chapter. We skipped verses. Three. And verse four. Where Jesus actually. Answered the disciples. They ask him.
[44:00] Who sinned. Jesus says. Neither. Have this man sinned. Nor his parents. But that the works. Of God. You made manifest.
[44:11] In him. I must work. The works of him. That sent me. While it's day. The night cometh. When no man. Can work. We covered.
[44:21] A few weeks ago. God's secret will. God has his perfect plan. And part of that plan. Is God. Is going to save. His people. In his own time.
[44:32] In his own way. He will bring. His people in. Before time itself. Before creation. This man. He was born blind.
[44:43] In a sense. Yes. He was born blind. Because God. Had planned it to be so. Yes. That is true. But it wasn't because of sin.
[44:55] It wasn't because of. Of a wrong theology. Of him or his parents. It wasn't because of. Anything else. This man's life. Was to serve. As an example. Of the grace of God.
[45:06] The care of God. The love of God. Dear Christian. As we find ourselves. This day. With our eyes open spiritually. You and I. That we. Are like this man.
[45:17] We find ourselves. Here in verse 3. As we ask. Ourselves. As we think to ourselves. Why did God save me? At times. Do we not ask that question.
[45:30] Do we not find ourselves. Thinking Lord. Lord of all the people. You could have saved. You saved me. Like this man here. Out of his love.
[45:41] Out of his eternal plan. God. My dear friend. My dear brother. My dear sister. He saved you. He saved me. So that we would want. So the work of God.
[45:51] Will manifest in us. So the world. The community. Your family would see you. And say. There's that person. Who was once so blind. Who was once so lost.
[46:02] Who was once so in the world. That something's happened. Something's happened to them. The world can see you. And think. Well that was that person. There's so and so.
[46:13] There was once. Such a nuisance. There was once known for being so granach. And so horrible. And so. Whatever else. You were once known for being. But something took place in their life.
[46:25] The Lord opened their eyes. Like the blind man here. You now know Jesus. And you worship Jesus. Jesus. This is a Spurgeon.
[46:37] Title. But not for this text. I never text. But a sermon title. I forgot. A sermon in Isaiah. But. The title was. It's our story for his glory.
[46:49] That summarizes. I think well. These verses. Dear Christian. Our story is for his glory. All that we are. All that we seek to do. And seek to be. It's all for his glory.
[47:00] We were born blind. But he has opened our eyes. We praise his name for it. And I'll close with this. Quick thought. Friends. If you're still here this day. And you're still blind. And the truth is.
[47:11] You know you're blind. You know you're blind. Come. To the one who is the light of the world. You cannot have your sight restored. In any other way.
[47:21] You cannot see. You will not see. Apart from coming to the light of the world. Which is Jesus. Let's bow our heads now. A word of prayer.
[47:34] Lord God. We ask you. Bless your word. To our minds. This day Lord. Bless it to our souls. And bless it to our hearts. Lord. We ask that anything that was said. That was not in accordance to your word. Would be. Lord.
[47:45] Forgotten. That you would be glorified. That. The Jarl Clay Lord. Who stands here. That. It's your living word. That we turn to. It's your only word. Lord. We thank you for it.
[47:56] Lord. That of your love. For us. You've given us a word. We can look to. And we can use. And we can read. Or we can praise your name for. Lord. We ask that your word. Would bless us this day.
[48:07] That we leave this place. Having grown in our love. And our understanding. Of who you are. Or forgive us. For our own. At times. Wrong understandings. Our wrong theology. Our wrong teachings.
[48:19] Lord. We ask that you would help us. To be guided by your word. In all things. And at all times. Lord. Open the eyes. Of any here today. Who are still blind. Or come alongside them. And show them. That need they have of you.
[48:30] That eternal need. That their eyes will be opened. They would know you. And praise the saviour. As he sings in. And through. And for. His precious name's sake. Amen.
[48:42] Let's conclude. By singing to God's praise. From Psalm 63. Psalm 63. Sing verses 1 down to verse 6.
[48:54] Of the psalm. Lord. Vee my God. I'll early seek. My soul. The first for thee. My flesh longs. In a dry parched land. Wherein no waters be.
[49:05] That I thy power may behold. And brightness of thy face. As I have seen thee heretofore. Within thy holy place. Psalm 63. Verses 1 to 6.
[49:15] To God's praise. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Lord. For thee my God. I'll early seek.
[49:28] My soul. The first for thee. My flesh longs. In a dry parched land.
[49:42] Wherein no waters be. But I thy power may behold.
[49:56] My brightness of thy face. As I have seen thee here to go.
[50:12] behavioral biomass. While I life may behold. In our Hong Kong. I utmost of allattle kommies.
[50:25] To me there. Fastly rose to me. I environth my heart.ocar may огром amaara. And knowing the summary of thy fruit fight. Moon.
[50:36] I am united with my hands, and blessed by the earth.
[50:50] He lost with my own breath, my soul shall fill in peace.
[51:05] Then shall my love with joyful lips sing this out to thee.
[51:21] When I do it upon my death, we bend the will be light.
[51:37] And when only I meditate, then what shall stop the night?