Do You See Him?

[0:00] We've been preaching through this fourth gospel, the gospel written last of all four, by probably the youngest of the apostles, John.

[0:11] We're on track to pause in the gospel of John for a little bit over the summer, and I have some different ideas of what series we'll do over the summer. And then we'll come back, I think we'll be in John 14, which from 14 on, it's really the passion.

[0:26] It's the prayer, the Last Supper, his final teaching, his time in the garden, and then we'll finish the gospel of John around Christmas. We'll finish the book of Ruth. It's only four chapters, and we're already done with up to three.

[0:39] And so after one or two more in Ruth, we'll be bringing in another short Old Testament book. So that just gives you an idea of what to expect in the months ahead. I have found myself different times just praying, Lord, whatever happens, I would love the opportunity to preach through the whole book of John.

[0:56] And I'm like, don't take me sooner if you'll let me, because it's so rich and so good. And honestly, every week I feel like no matter how well we try to proclaim, it falls so short of his glory.

[1:09] But just as we sung, this is God himself took on flesh, and he's fulfilling the mission the Father gave him to do, and he's teaching and revealing that. So as we hear this story, we're going to read all of John 9.

[1:21] Just keep that in mind. That's what we're hearing. It is God taking on the flesh, fulfilling the mission for which he was sent. As I read John 9, remember this is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, and sufficient word.

[1:36] As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sent this man or his parents that he was born blind?

[1:49] Jesus answered, It was not this man who sent or his parents, but that the work of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me.

[2:01] While it is day, night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

[2:14] Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which means scent.

[2:33] So he went and washed and came back seeing. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?

[2:48] Some said, It is he. Others said, No, but he is like him. He kept saying, I am the man. So they said to him, Then, how were your eyes opened?

[3:01] He answered, The man called Jesus, made mud, and anointed my eyes and said to me, Go to Siloam and wash.

[3:13] So I went and washed and received my sight. They said to him, Where is he? He said, I do not know. They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.

[3:28] Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight.

[3:39] And he said to them, He put mud on my eyes and I washed and I see. Some of the Pharisees said, This man is not from God for he does not keep the Sabbath.

[3:51] But others said, How can a man who is a sinner do such things? And there was a division among them. So they said again to the blind man, What do you say about him since he opened your eyes?

[4:05] He said, He is a prophet. The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, Is this your son who you say was born blind?

[4:24] How then does he now see him? His parents answered, We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he sees now we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes.

[4:39] Ask him, ask him, he is of age. He will speak for himself. His parents said these things because they feared the Jews. For the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.

[4:57] Therefore his parents said, He is of age, ask him. Verse 24, So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, Give glory to God.

[5:09] We know that this man is a sinner. He answered, Whether he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.

[5:21] They said to him, What did he do to you? And how did he open your eyes? He answered them, I have told you already and you would not listen.

[5:32] Do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples? And they reviled him, saying, You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.

[5:49] The man answered, Why, this is an amazing thing. You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.

[6:06] Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.

[6:17] They answered him, You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us? And they cast him out. Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him, he said, Do you believe in the Son of Man?

[6:32] He answered, And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him? And Jesus said to him, You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.

[6:48] He said, Lord, I believe, and he worshipped him. Jesus said, For judgment I came into this world that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.

[7:06] Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things and said to him, Are we also blind? Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would have no guilt, but now that you say we see, your sin remains.

[7:21] This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God, indeed. You may be seated. Let's pray.

[7:34] Amen. Guide us, O God, by your word. O Holy Spirit, by your light alone can we see. In your truth alone can we find freedom from sin.

[7:48] And in your will alone can we discover peace through Jesus Christ, our Lord? Lord, Lord, I ask now for your help. I ask that the words of my mouth will be pleasing in your sight and that the meditations of our hearts will bring you joy.

[8:05] We confess that you are in heaven at the right hand of the Father and you are interceding for us. And we pray, Lord, by your spirit, through your word, that you will speak and that the seed of truth will be planted in our hearts and that it will not return void but will bear much fruit and be multiplied in our lives as the fruit of the Spirit.

[8:26] We ask this for Jesus' sake. Amen. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, in John chapter 9 we read the story of a man who was blind from birth and Jesus brought him to see God and to worship him.

[8:48] So my question for you today is do you see him? The story is a simple and straightforward one. The man is there sitting in the dust.

[9:02] Our Lord Jesus approaches, observes. Jesus makes him to see. The man sees Jesus. Jesus, the man is interrogated by the Pharisees and the man confesses, you are Christ.

[9:17] You are the Son of Man, the promised Messiah that would come and the man worships Jesus and those observing are divided. That's the story.

[9:32] What I've tried to do for today is not to walk through the story but to really see what is it that we are to learn here. See John told the story in such a way in the very language he used.

[9:46] He's teaching us the gospel. He's teaching us the message that Jesus proclaims that I came for judgment and he's using these main characters the blind man and the Pharisees and the dialogue between Jesus and each one of them to reveal the gospel.

[10:02] So I've just prayed that the Lord would help make the gospel truth very clear and that you would see how this theme is evident. It just emerges off of these words and that at the same time I won't lose you.

[10:15] So I'm going to focus more on the people and the dialogue than the flow of the story. I'd like to begin first by pointing out how Jesus saw that blind man in his blindness, in his darkness.

[10:29] Jesus is reinforcing what he's already declared in the Feast of Nations. I am the light of the world. Now the feast is over. He's still in Jerusalem. We know this because the man goes to wash in the pool of Siloam right there in Jerusalem but he's not in the temple.

[10:44] Did you catch the setting? Look down at verse 22. The setting here is the synagogue. The Jews had threatened that if anyone says this man Jesus who everybody's starting to follow and he's doing these mighty signs if you say he's the Messiah you will be kicked out, excommunicated from the synagogue.

[11:01] Well today archaeologists have found the remains of about four different Roman Empire time synagogues and historical records show there are probably a synagogue in every single city in the whole Galilean region and many synagogues in Jerusalem and because Jerusalem is the big capital some synagogues were public like this one.

[11:23] Other synagogues were more exclusive. It almost became like for our trade we have our own synagogue and certain rules for membership. This is a public synagogue. Look at verse 1.

[11:34] Jesus sees the man there. In verse 1 as he passed by. So this blind man wasn't even necessarily something the disciples or the Pharisees saw coming.

[11:48] This is a man who those neighbors that lived there they knew him from childhood. They knew this man very well. Maybe you've got a route you run to work and you know on that street corner there's going to be that person holding that sign and you can picture them.

[12:02] And picture growing up in Jerusalem for all these years you would know very well this man. And just notice the words John uses here. As Jesus passed by the synagogue he saw a man blind from birth.

[12:20] We don't have any words from Jesus this early on in the story. But there's the young disciple John the young apostle observing his master his rabbi and it it struck him Jesus saw the man.

[12:39] And you you know when your loved one when something grabs their attention you might be mid-sentence in a conversation whoop something to suck their attention and they're they're fixated on that now. The very next words are the disciples asking well why did this happen?

[12:53] Was it his sin or his parents sin? Verse 3 Jesus didn't rebuke them for asking that question. Why? In fact he used that to teach them.

[13:07] In verse 3 Jesus says it was not the sin of this man nor the sin of his parents but this man is blind that the works of God might be displayed in him.

[13:19] We all have things that have happened in our life and as kids we hear this probably every week what did I do to deserve this? You know we have that same thought we have things that have happened in our life and as human beings in a broken world we have to ask Lord why did this happen?

[13:38] Jesus does not rebuke the disciples for asking him Lord why? Please teach me because the enemy wants to slip in in that moment and he wants to accuse Jesus he wants to accuse God to you he wants to say God is either far away and uncaring or if God is close enough and aware that he is ignoring you or that he's powerless to help you we start every service here by reading from Psalm 124 our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth he is all powerful he is most mighty and he is our help he is near you now he wants to teach us he wants to teach us through all the brokenness that it's that the work of God might be displayed and it's it's trusting his providence to reveal that and unfold it in his time there will be things we will never understand or be able to explain on earth but there will be one day one day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess and all will declare

[14:49] God has acted justly he has done what is just now I also think that John is emphasizing how Jesus observed this man and he's he's talking what's on Christ's mind is I am the light of the world he's still teaching that so our Lord has compassion on this individual sees him but he also sees the the glorious spiritual truth of the gospel in this man because that's the play for the rest of the chapters that the Pharisees have physical sight but they're spiritually blind and this man who was born blind from birth is given spiritual sight so that's what's really at play throughout this whole chapter in verse 34 this man is described by the Pharisees look at verse 34 they say you were born in utter sin that is true but that's not the reason for this man's blindness

[15:50] Jesus says what the Pharisees refused to confess is that they too were born in utter sin and you and I we're the we're the fruit and the seed of Adam and Eve and the curse of sin is upon all of us we are all born in utter sin we are all born spiritually blind as one Puritan said a Christless and unregenerate state is represented as darkness and blindness in all of scripture this is what Jesus is opening the eyes of his disciples and of the blind man and of those who would believe to see just that and this is so true for us isn't it Romans 1 21 before we had Christ and the Holy Spirit opening our eyes we knew God and that we know we're created there's a creator but Romans 1 Paul writes that we did not honor him as God nor give thanks to him listen we became futile in our thinking and our foolish hearts were darkened our hearts were blind to God in our natural unregenerate state you and I we would stumble through life and so spiritual darkness is no less real than physical darkness or blindness well these Pharisees knew that a person blind from birth must be unacceptable in the eyes of a holy God is so deeply blemished

[17:18] Deuteronomy 15 21 said this of animals how much would be true how much more would it be true of God's image bearers if an animal is lame or blind or has any major blemish whatsoever you may not sacrifice that animal to the Lord your God can you picture a little lamb on a farm and the shepherds raising a lamb and that lamb just runs into trees and can't make it around that lamb is never going to get to be taken to the temple as a sacrifice but God says it's for lambs like that it's for blind men like this that I'm going to send the perfect lamb of God without blemish because God will be glorified when he justifies sinners like that it's so that the works of God will be displayed can you already start to see in this amazing little story the glory of God in the face of Jesus

[18:19] Jesus saw the man who was born blind and Jesus sees you Psalm 33 verse 13 says this the Lord the Lord looks down from heaven he sees all the children of men Jesus saw the man in his blindness and Jesus sees you in your situation right now while our Lord did not only see this man our Lord then spoke to him and prepared him for healing prepared him to be saved with his words while the man was blind his word came to this man I want to draw that second point for us as well that God prepares you for healing by speaking he prepares you through his word see our apostle here apostle John stresses how you can't see Jesus until he first speaks the blind man sitting there in the dust he would have heard

[19:24] Jesus say those words in verse 3 it's not his sin that made him blind this would have been the first time he heard that notion and nor was it the sin of his parents and he may actually have more information to know well I know my parents did this and this and this while I was in my mother's womb you're saying it wasn't their sin he's heard this good news now the Lord is preparing him the blind man would have next heard Jesus say in verse 4 we speaking to his disciples we must do the works of him who sent me while it is still day can you see the blind man almost sitting up a little straighter hold on he said it wasn't my sin now he said we must do the works to display the glory of God something good is going to happen the blind man would not have known what Jesus meant by the next thing he said in verse 4 the night is coming and think about it to the blind man you can't really tell the difference between day and night it's all darkness but what Jesus was about to do next would teach him and teach his disciples and teach all those that had gathered around because the next words that Jesus speaks are revealing before he speaks though look in verse 6 the blind man sitting there would not have seen

[20:46] Jesus spit on the ground or make mud with the saliva he would have heard Jesus speak then he would have felt he would have felt Jesus touching his eyes putting mud on his eyes and then the Lord addresses the blind man for the first time one on one speaking to him and it's a command the Lord commands the blind man to obey him look at verse 7 go wash in the pool of Siloam do you see the significance here the pool of Siloam this is where the waters came in that underground aqueduct to protect Jerusalem from ever being without water if it were surrounded by the enemy and besieged Siloam our text says here means what does it mean sent Jesus told this man get up wash off the mud that I put on your eyes in the waters of scent the waters of the scent one let them cleanse you and you will be healed the blind man knew in verse 32 that never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind and now

[22:08] Jesus is speaking this glorious news to him we read that the man obeyed and he came back seen is that your testimony as well there you were in utter darkness and sin the Lord spoke to you through his word the Lord addressed you he touched your eyes he caused you to behold him have you seen the Lord in this way do you see him now you can't see Jesus until you first hear him speak to you and he will speak to you in any way that he want I'm reminded of a contrast here with Saul of Tarsus who Jesus renamed Paul you know he was physically able to see he was like the Pharisees the Lord wants to heal them as well and the Lord spoke to him and made him blind physically but in speaking he opened the eyes of his heart see it's almost like Saul

[23:11] Paul and this blind man they're almost the foil of each other and one just sheds the light on the other so God can speak in any way that he wants but I think there's a third point we need to see here that we should expect our Lord to speak in the ways that he's ordained the ways that he's promised to speak so yes he can speak to you in the wilderness in the mountains a lot of places but what has God ordained look at verse 14 the apostle John highlights how it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes well we've seen this pattern haven't we our Lord loves to heal people on the Sabbath and I believe that's still true he loves to bring healing on the Lord's day Jesus made the blind man to see and he's used a lot of different methods to do this in Matthew chapter 8 Jesus spat on the man's eyes in Matthew chapter 9 Jesus simply touched the eyes of two blind men and made them to see theologians help me to observe the reason

[24:17] Jesus varies up and changes up the methods of healing the blind he didn't want anyone being stuck on this is the way we can go out and heal the blind now he didn't want you to be stuck on his methods he wants to highlight the message behind that he didn't heal all the physically blind but the message is that he is the light of the world and you can be you can be blind you can be blind spiritually even if your eyes see you you need him to open the eyes of your heart that's the message that he wants to highlight now look at verse 4 Jesus says we must work we must work the works of him who sent me while it is day I believe he's he's referring now to the day of the Lord that's been long prophesied the day of the Messiah Zephaniah chapter 1 verse 7 is one such prophecy which reads that the day of the Lord is near Zephaniah was saying it's near you've been waiting all this time for the promised Messiah now his day is dawning the Lord has prepared a sacrifice that's the

[25:19] Lord Jesus the unblemished lamb and he has consecrated his guests so our Lord Jesus is inaugurating the kingdom the day is here he's at work and he's still at work now his kingdom is inaugurated spiritually we are the church militant not the church yet victorious as the reformers would talk about it one day we'll be with Christ in glory that's the church victorious right now we are literally underground we are scrappy we are the church militant but his spiritual kingdom is real and he says we we disciples we church must do the works of the Lord now while it is day we sweep in here we set up chairs we prepare meals we host one another we will be handing out the gospel and little cards we're doing the works while it is day because the Holy Spirit is still regenerating the gospel is still going out but in verse 4 he also gives a warning that night is coming when no one can work see

[26:24] Jesus is bringing the judgment of the kingdom of heaven all those who oppose God all those who hate the gospel they will be receiving the judgment of God when night arrives when the Holy Spirit is no longer regenerating when the gospel has been fully accomplished when all those who have rejected God now will have no more hope of salvation the night is coming Zephaniah 1.8 prophesied that as well on that day I will punish those who fill their master's house with fraud the great day of the Lord is near near and hastening fast night is coming Jesus said Zephaniah it's a day of darkness and gloom a day of clouds and thick darkness they shall walk like the blind they are the ones who will walk like the blind because they have sinned against the Lord see the result of Jesus coming the light of the world is that those who reject him they are getting condemnation that's the result so we must expect to hear

[27:33] Jesus right now through his word in the means he's ordained his gospel his gospel goes out from churches around the globe every Lord's day and his people go out into the world proclaiming the gospel personal evangelism listening to friends and family members and relatives preaching the gospel his light is going out we say in our in our church documents that this is real we believe Jesus is spiritually present with us with his church and our souls delight in the presence of Christ he is the way the truth and the life and we believe that we are fed our souls our spirits are fed through his ordained means of grace and it's so ordinary it's as we read we pray we sing we preach we taste and see the gospel of Jesus isn't that so ordinary but that's what our king has commanded us to do and that's what we can expect that's how we should serve him that's the way in which he wants to speak to us every

[28:49] Lord's day that's the pattern set up by the apostles so even John witnessing this writing it down in Acts 2 he was part of that early church that devoted themselves to the apostles teaching into the fellowship and the breaking of bread in prayers you see how ordinary it is but we do expect Christ to be extraordinary in our ordinary we do the simple work with him while it's day and we let God be extraordinary in our midst I want to shift next to the Pharisees because a big part of this chapter is the dialogue the confrontation with them see they investigate this miracle that's happened and Jesus gives this word of judgment to those who will reject them reject Christ they studied his miracle in such detail which is actually further proof that it really happened it was four different times that the Pharisees pulled this blind man aside and you heard by the time we get to the final one he's like how many times do you want me to keep telling you the same story do you want to become his disciple also when we read in verse 24 they say give glory to

[30:07] God it's like saying come here man you can see you can walk around now are you pretending to be the beggar that was blind out there and when they say give glory to God it's like swear an oath it's promise that you're going to tell the truth it was a Jewish swearing into court in Joshua chapter 7 verse 19 this was commanded that if a person is going to bear witness more than one witness bring them all in and let them give glory to God in everything that they're going to say so they're trying to uphold this as they do this interrogation but these judges are biased they use faulty weights and they prejudice the entire court beforehand by saying we know this man Jesus is a sinner before what happened they're already trying to taint everybody's thoughts that Jesus is a sinner clearly so whatever he's going to say here just keep that in mind well the blind man he could not deny what the

[31:11] Lord had done to him he knew what was at stake that was his spot that was his spot on that piece of dust right outside the synagogue where you get a lot of foot traffic what a shock his life is never going to be the same and they've already threatened his parents everyone you will be excommunicated in their community this would mean everything in your life is going to change now economically financially you are going to be hit so hard it's like one nation putting military sanctions on another but this blind man was made of tougher stuff because now it was the Holy Spirit that conviction Jesus is the man he worshipped him he believed he was a disciple of his the Pharisees were so blind look the Pharisees knew verse 16 that a sinner could not do the type of signs that Jesus was doing they knew that and in verse 31 they also knew that God does not listen to sinners and only

[32:14] God could heal a man born blind from birth the Pharisees knew that if anyone is a worshipper of God verse 31 and does the will of God that God does listen to him see how much the Pharisees knew listen to the testimony of the blind man after he's been interrogated look at verse 11 he said the man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me go to Siloam and wash so I went and wash and received my sight the conclusion is verse 33 Jesus therefore must be from God he has clearly performed this miracle he has healed a man born blind from birth but Jesus says in verse 39 this is his mini sermon at the end of this story verse 39 you want to see this one for yourself for judgment

[33:17] I came into this world that those who do not see may see and that those who see may become blind the Pharisees picked up on what he's getting at here look at verse 40 the Pharisees said are you calling us blind Jesus his answer is if you were physically blind you would not be able to have have just witnessed all of this you talked to his parents you saw this man sitting here over and over you talked to him four times now if you were physically blind at least you would have an excuse now what does Jesus mean in verse 39 when he says for judgment I came into this world because remember back in John chapter 3 verse 17 Jesus said God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him are those two verses contradicting themselves how do we make sense of this so did

[34:18] Jesus come to bring judgment or did he come to save I think this is a wonderful way to clarify the balance here the reason for Jesus coming to the earth is exactly what he said in John 3 it was to seek and save the lost his reason for coming was salvation but the result the result of his coming for all those who refuse Christ is condemnation our confession of faith is also helpful the question is simply this how do I know if I'm going to be saved by the coming of Christ or how do I know if I'm going to be condemned as a result of his coming so the confession asks like this what does God require of us because I know I'm no better than a person that's saved or condemned we're all the same we're all sinners in the eyes of God what do I God requires of us faith in

[35:23] Jesus Christ what does that faith look like it's repentance unto life with the diligent use of all the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption do you understand what we're saying the only thing God requires is faith in Jesus Christ and you will be saved what does that look like it looks like ongoing repentance and wanting more and more and more for him to be Lord of your life and to use everything he's promised to bless to speak to you and change you and grow you and sanctify you and prepare you for heaven that's it now if you're if you're refusing Christ you're trying to earn your salvation by your own good works and you're doing all these things to try to earn God's favor for yourself you're going to stand deserving condemnation you have faith in your own good works not faith in Jesus who came as your savior and that's what the Pharisees had fallen into I won't mention any names I want to share this though

[36:24] I believe God has brought every single one of you here because of this truth you want more of God and God has promised to speak this way there was someone who was part of our Bible study years ago a couple years ago and after a very simple lesson on the gospel he wanted to talk just one on one and he said no tell me what do I really need to do and I said well we can go back to Romans what we were just looking at no I just mean like do I need to sell everything give all my money what do I need to do I said you need to have faith in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation and that man would not accept it and he stopped coming to our Bible studies and he was one that originally had asked and even wanting to see if a church would be planted and that's why I look at you look you know you're saved by faith you know it's God's work in your life and you want more and more and more of God discipling you bringing you along opening your eyes to see more and more of his grace and glory so find comfort in that

[37:25] Jesus sees you he has brought you to hear his word and he will keep you to your very last day well shifting our focus away from the Pharisees and the interrogation back to the blind man I want to illustrate this exact same truth that we talked about by pointing out how in verse 7 if the man had simply sat in the dust with mud on his eyes he would not have been healed see Jesus gave him a command and those who will be healed those who will be a true disciple of Jesus will obey Jesus as their king look in verse 7 the blind man obeyed verse 7 says he went and he washed just as Jesus told him and he came back seeing it was grace that taught my heart to fear as we'll sing here in a moment in grace my fears relieved

[38:26] I once was lost but now I'm found was blind but now I see can you sing that song it's only if you've obeyed Jesus those with physical sight disobeyed God look at verse 34 they say you were born in utter sin in other words we weren't we weren't born in utter sin like you would you think you could teach us you see their pride so blind to the gospel and they cast him out when Jesus confronted Saul and made him physically blind but opened his eyes of his heart he says Saul why do you persecute me well here the Pharisees are persecuting the man who's called the man who was blind and Jesus says you persecute my disciples you are persecuting me before healing him the

[39:30] Lord smeared mud on his eyes kids you have probably thrown snowballs at your siblings faces this winter you have probably thrown sand at each other and just one little grain of sand it gets in your eye it irritates doesn't it it it's so uncomfortable and our Lord Jesus took mud and smeared it on the eyes of this man I think the reason he did this is because he's trying to illustrate another spiritual truth remember it's not so much about the method it's the message and John wrote this detail because it signifies something it points to a truth he wants this man to feel the need to obey pilgrim's progress there's a poetic version of it that's so wonderful to hear and I want to read to you this scene to illustrate the same truth there's a man called interpreter and this is an allegory so interpreter knows the

[40:37] Hebrew and the Greek and the Bible and Christian you know this pilgrim on the journey he's being discipled and interpreter just keeps showing him scenes from the Bible and interpreting what it means to him so interpreter calls Christian he says follow me and I will show you many things of more worth than a thousand gold rings when the door was open Christian saw an old man who was working hard to sweep up all the room's dust into a pan but as he swept up all the heavy dust on the ground a dark cloud of dust filled the room's air all around oh this dust is so thick I can't catch my breath this room interpreter says full of dust you can't even breathe in there it's clouded and dark this room is a heart that has never been cleansed by the grace of God from the filth of its sins just as this room is full of filthy dark dust so the heart of the man is full of pride hate and lust the broom only filled the room with dust as you saw to show you that the hearts can't be cleansed by the law the law will expose sin but it can't make us clean it stirs up and increases our sin as you've seen have you experienced that as well when you hear the law of

[42:12] God the rebellion in your heart you are unsettled God the law of God it stirs up the rebellion in us and it exposes our sin God's law first irritates you so that you will quickly move to being cleansed by grace when the Holy Spirit convicts you of God's law he causes you quickly to repent to believe and to obey in verse 15 this blind man said Jesus put mud on my eyes I washed and I seen and in Pilgrim's Progress goes on to describe what happened next that room full of dust well then a damsel was called in who had water to pour over all the dust on the dusty musty floor see it's the grace of God alone that makes you see in the thick cloud of dust by her water was stopped and the filth was cleaned up as she joyfully mopped the water is the good news of the cross of

[43:20] God's grace which has power over sin to cleanse and erase only by the blood of Jesus can your heart like this floor be cleansed put in order and made perfectly pure the man was cleansed by the grace of God and he became a disciple of Jesus we read in verse 24 so when you repent of sin when the grace washes you and causes you to behold the goodness and the glory of God that's represented by the waters of baptism it's the Holy Spirit regenerated you given you eyes to see the goodness of God in the sacrifice and the love of Jesus for you and you don't go off to live now a life of licentiousness a life of sin because you're not a slave to sin you are cleansed and Jesus is your Lord and you walk with him as your master what is repentance unto life our catechism asks it's when a sinner out of a true sense of grief and hatred of sin is brought to grasp the mercy of

[44:29] Christ he turns from sin unto God with full purpose of in endeavoring after new obedience repentance to salvation is ongoing repentance to life first we repent against the law condemning our sin but then later the law becomes the guide it's the rules for living in the house of God as an adopted child of God so then we love the ten commandments because we're not blind anymore he shows us this is what pleases me your loving father and so as Christians we still make use of the law in that third use not only does it restrain all the evil in the world not only does it expose our sin it becomes now a rule of life for us the blind man obeyed and became a disciple let me try to wrap this up this way what was true for the blind man is true for me and you that when you see Jesus truly by faith there is only one way to respond to him we're given one last sentence on this blind man and then he vanishes from the pages of the

[45:39] Bible and of history but he gets one last sentence he's described leading up to that in verse 13 the man who was formerly blind verse 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out and just as Jesus saw him there in the dust alone a beggar when Jesus heard that they cast this man out excommunicated him Jesus went and found that man see if the world is persecuting Jesus goes after you you are one of his lambs and he found that man and he said do you Daniel it's the long awaited the prophesied the last days God man taking on the flesh Jesus tells the man you have seen him it is he who is speaking to you now look at verse 38 this is the blind man's last sentence Lord I believe and he worshipped him

[46:42] Ephesians 1 17 21 tells us that the father sends the spirit so that you may see what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe notice how the man truly believed his spiritual sight was given to him just as his physical sight was given in the healing and what was his reaction he worshipped Christ John Piper says that missions to the ends of the earth Bible translation church planting missions exist because worship does not so the end goal of ministry the end goal of missions is not missions it's worship so that all those that Christ came to save would worship him just like this blind man what a great way to be described as one who believed and worshipped so his first desire was not to go explore all the sights of the world and to become a world traveler but it was to worship

[47:48] Jesus Christ the son of God and the son of man do you see how the works of God were displayed through this blind man Hebrews Hebrews 1 3 says see our Lord Jesus Christ he is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature and he upholds the universe by the word of his power after making purification for sins he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high do you see him I only know one person who was born blind from birth that I really know and you know her too and you love her and I was thinking about I couldn't could not think about faith in this story was it not the sins of her parents why she was born blind and

[48:51] I think what God has just shown me with this chapter and this story is that the works of God are displayed and when the sins of others causes injury God has set his sovereign purpose over all creation and he uses even uses wicked sinful secondary causes think of Joseph and his brothers God God was displeased by the way they treated their younger brother it was sinful what they did to him and sin does not please God but God taught Joseph that same thing what these men intended for evil God intended for good and so even when it is sin that causes pain and sin that causes injury and hurt God works it out for the glory of Christ even in our midst so our reaction should be the reaction that all will have in

[49:58] Revelation 14 7 we will fear God we give him glory one day his hour of judgment will come and all who he has saved will worship him forever so worship him now if you see him let's pray Lord there would be no better sentence to put on a gravestone than to say here is one who believed in Jesus and who worshiped him with his life like the hymn says oh for a thousand eyes to see my great redeemer raised the glories of my God and king the triumphs of his grace Lord cause us to see Jesus we want to see him we pray from scripture in

[51:02] Ephesians 1 that your spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of Christ will enlighten the eyes of our hearts that we may know the hope to which Jesus has called us the riches of his glorious inheritance for Christ's sake alone we pray amen