[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alpharetta, Georgia. This is the next message in our series on the book of John, entitled, Jesus is God.
[0:15] Don't you praise the Lord that our sins have been washed as white as snow, amen? And what a privilege it is to be saved and know that our sins are forgiven, know that Jesus took care of that on the cross of Calvary.
[0:26] Take your Bible, if you would, and open it to the book of John, chapter 9. I'm excited to be back in the book of John with you and to share with you what God's doing and to share with you one of the wildest stories in the Bible.
[0:41] He's going to say, and I call this message, you say, we say, because look if you would in verse 41. We'll read it again in a second. Look at verse 41. Jesus said unto them, if you were blind, you should have no sin.
[0:55] But now you say, ye say, we see, therefore your sin remains. Oh, John, you say, we see. I think that's a cute saying. I mean, I bet one of those rappers could make a song around that.
[1:07] Ye say, we see. And you know what he was saying was, he was saying, you guys can't get saved. There's a blind man got healed. When the blind man got healed, Jesus comes to him and shows him how to be saved.
[1:22] And then the Pharisees are like, no, wait a minute. Are you saying something about us not being able to see? And Jesus said, no, you can see just like you say you can see. And since you can see means you're blind, you can't see.
[1:35] What in the world? So read with me, if you would, John chapter 9, verse 34, down to verse 41. And let's see what the Bible says. They answered and said unto him, thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us?
[1:52] And they cast him out. And Jesus heard that they had cast him out. And when he had found him, he said unto him, dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?
[2:04] 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 worshiped him. And Jesus said, for judgment I am coming to this world, that they which see might not, see not, might see.
[2:21] And they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words and said unto him, are we blind also? And Jesus said unto them, if you were blind, you should have no sin.
[2:34] But now ye say we see, therefore your sin remains. We'll pray in just a second, but you just got to see this. You know, all through the book of John, the apostle John is trying to prove one major thing.
[2:48] Jesus is God. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is God come to earth in human flesh. And in this story, the man gets healed.
[3:01] And Jesus comes to him and talks to him. And Jesus said, do you believe in the Son of God? And the man says, who is he? I don't know. How can I know who he is?
[3:12] And then look at what it says. You need to underline this. It needs to be marked in your Bible. Look in verse 37. And Jesus said, Jesus said unto him, thou hast both seen him.
[3:23] And it is he that talketh with thee. It is he that talks with thee. Some people say Jesus never claimed to be God. He never claimed to be the Son of God.
[3:34] He says to the man, man, do you believe in the Son of God? And the man says, well, who is he, Lord? And Jesus said, you're talking to him. You're talking to him. The guy you're looking at and the guy you're talking to him, he's one and the same.
[3:47] And then the man said, well, I believe and I worship. Father God, I pray you'd work this morning. God, there are some here that might not be born again, might not be saved.
[3:57] And I am praying that you would take the word of God and drive it home and help them to know for sure they're saved. Then, Lord, there are some here that might be religiously, culturally Christian, but they've never really been born again.
[4:10] They've never seen themselves as sinners. And they, like these Pharisees, see too well to see. And I pray, God, that you would work in their lives and cause them today to see their sinfulness so they can trust you.
[4:22] And then I pray, dear God, that you'd help all of us today to learn to worship you and to magnify you like this man did when he found out who you were and he trusted and he believed.
[4:35] In Jesus' precious name, amen. Now, if you would, take your Bible. And the first thing I want you to write down, beside verse 41, some people are beyond help.
[4:46] Did you know that some people are beyond help? Look, if you would, in verse 41. Jesus said unto them, if you were blind, if you were blind, you should have no sin. But now ye say, ye say we see, therefore your sin remains.
[5:01] What's going on? Do you know that there are people that can't get saved? And I wish you'd make, look these verses up with me. I want you to know there are people that can't get saved. And you know who can't get saved?
[5:12] It's people that refuse to see their sinful condition. It is people that refuse to see that they need help. Look, if you would, if you would, in your Bible, Revelation chapter 3 and verse 17.
[5:25] Jesus was talking to one of the churches, the church of Laodicea. And as he talks to the church of Laodicea, he says, Because thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods, and I have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
[5:41] This is a very straightforward story. In your Bible, I wish you'd underline, put a circle around, thou sayest. This is what you say about yourself. And then go down a little bit further in the verse and put, knowest not, circle that.
[5:55] He said, this is what you say, but this is what the truth is. This is what you say, but this is what the truth is. Here's what they said. I'm rich. I'm increased with goods. I don't need anything.
[6:06] But he said, that's not the truth. Facts are, you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. And in America, in the United States, in all this wealthy, rich country we live in, it is so hard for us to admit that we are wretched and poor and blind and miserable.
[6:25] That keeps us from coming to Christ. We don't really need salvation. Those poor Africans in Burkina Faso where I just was last week, oh, we all agree. We all understand. Our hearts are moved and we're warmed to think about all those poor people over there and how they need to hear the gospel and how they need to be saved.
[6:41] We even think about those people that are on drugs and alcohol. We even think about those people that have really bad sins. But do you not understand? I live in Alpharetta. I am rich and increased with goods and I don't need anything or anybody.
[6:55] That's an attitude that's typical and it has been for a long time because Jesus said the common people heard him gladly and Jesus said it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it was for a rich man to come to Christ.
[7:08] You know why? Because he thinks he's okay. Some people are just beyond help because they refuse to admit that they have a problem. In Matthew chapter 9 and verse 12, only the sick can be helped.
[7:23] Only the sick can be helped. In Matthew 9, 12, the Bible says, But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that behold need not a physician, but they that are sick.
[7:33] Who needs a doctor? Who needs a doctor? Sick people need a doctor. Jesus came as a doctor for sin. Jesus came to show us or to save us and to heal us and to give us salvation and to give us new life and to let us be born again.
[7:50] To save us from our wretched, filthy, wicked, dirty self that we were. But the truth of the matter is, most of us in our minds would think things like this. Hey, I mean honestly, that person, they really need help.
[8:04] That person, boy do they need help. I see that. And that person needs help. But I don't need help. And those people are the people that couldn't get saved. They had to come to a point that they could see that they were sick.
[8:17] Some people judge that they are worthy of salvation. In Isaiah 64, 6, a very famous verse that I'm sure you know very well. The Bible says, But we are all as an unclean thing and all our righteousness are as filthy rags.
[8:33] I just want you to know this. Did you know that when you get to get saved, you got to repent? How many of you believe that? Say amen. Do you know that you have to repent of your sin? But are you ready to hear a wild one?
[8:44] Not only do you repent of your sin, you got to repent all your goodness too. See, it's not just your sin you got to repent of. It's your goodness too. Because some of us just think this.
[8:55] Some people need 100% salvation. And other people only need 50-50 salvation. I mean, I'm 50% good. And so I'll need about 50% help. I don't need a lot of help.
[9:05] No, you need help. If you see yourself as not, if you see yourself as being well off, you can't get saved. Did you know that all the good you do, all the good you do is just like garbage at the dump in the eyes of our God?
[9:25] You say, well, wait a minute, wait a minute. I've helped a lot of orphans. And I have given a lot of money. And I have given the goodwill. And I've done a lot of good stuff. And God will look down and say, you think that has the same value as my son hanging on a cross after he's been beaten and smote and his beard plucked out of his face and a crown of thorns placed on him and people mocking him?
[9:47] You won't equate. You're giving $50 of goodwill to my son. Your righteousness stinks. You can't get saved. Hard on us. Hard on us.
[9:59] But the church has to be full of a bunch of people that realize, man, I'm saved only by the good grace of God. And I was completely and totally unworthy of it. He's a good God.
[10:09] Can you say amen? We're saved today not because of our goodness, not because of what we've done, but because of him. Here's some thoughts you might think about. If you can see, you're blind. If you're blind, then he can make you see.
[10:22] If you can, then you can't. If you can't, then he can make it. He will make it happen. If you think you're in good shape, you're really sick. Go with me if you would to verse 35 now.
[10:32] Second thing I wish you'd look at and mark down there in your Bible. Look at verse 35 if you would. And I want you to write the question down. Do you believe? Do you believe?
[10:43] The Bible says in verse 35, Jesus heard that they had cast him out. And when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? Do you believe?
[10:55] The first thing I want you to see about this believing thing was this. Are you ready? Are you ready? It was Jesus that came to this man. This man had nowhere to go. This man was a cast away.
[11:06] He was cast out. He was thrown on the garbage heap. He was not. Nobody loved him. Nobody cared about him. He's gone. Look if you would at verse 34. Look at the attitude of the religious crowd.
[11:17] The people that ought to help. The guys down at the local church that ought to help. Look at verse 34. For they answered and said unto him, thou was altogether born in sins. And you're trying to teach us?
[11:30] And they cast him out. This guy has nowhere to go. Nobody loves him. Nobody cares about him. He was a sinner. He was blind. He got saved.
[11:40] He tries to tell his testimony. The religious crowd is not ready for that. They're not ready to admit that Jesus, a man on earth, did those things. And they throw him away. I want you to notice this.
[11:51] It was Jesus that came to him, to came to the man to save him. Look at verse 35. It was Jesus. Jesus heard that they had cast him out. And when he had found him, he said unto him, dost thou believe on the son of God?
[12:04] Would you underline this? When he had found him. Now that's important. Because something in us wants to say we found him. Something in us wants to say we came to him.
[12:17] Something in us would like to put emphasis on what I did to get to God. But let me remind you that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Amen?
[12:28] For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. God came to us. When I couldn't get to him, he came to me.
[12:39] It's God loving me. I love him because he first loved me. That man was cast out. He got his eyes fixed, and then they threw him out on the street. And he's going down the street saying, man, I'm glad I can see, but I have no family.
[12:52] I have no friends. I don't know where to turn. The religious crowd turned me out. My nation turned me out. Everybody turned me out. I have no one. He's at the bottom of the barrel, and that's a great place to be. Because when you get to the bottom of the barrel is when you're ready to accept the grace of God.
[13:06] The wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. I want you to look if you would at verse 36.
[13:18] This is for a church that believes in discipleship. This is for all of you that ought to be involved in foundations, which is written on that wall right there, and written on that wall right there, and you ought to get involved in it. Do you understand that for a person to get saved, they need instruction?
[13:35] They need instruction. If you would, in verse 36, the Bible says, he answered and said, who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?
[13:46] And Jesus said unto him, thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. Now, I don't want to make any fun, and I don't want to be mocking anybody. But I have preached on lots of places, and I've been in a lot of parts of the country, and I've been in church all of my life, and I watch country churches.
[14:03] And I've seen a whole lot of people, they go to a church, and then when they get under conviction, they know something's wrong. They hear the preaching, and they feel so utterly horrible inside, and they realize, man, I know I need to be saved.
[14:17] I know I need to do something. I know something's wrong. And so they go to the altar, and then 25 men come and lay hands on them and start praying at the top of their lungs.
[14:28] And the poor guy's on the bottom and scared to death because all these people got their hands on him, and they're praying for him. I was in a church on a Sunday morning one time, and I'd gotten through preaching, and this guy came forward to get saved. And I was sitting on the front row, and he was down at the front praying, and all the men were all on top of him.
[14:42] And the pastor looked at me and said, pray for him and help him. And so I said, okay, so you'll not believe it, big as I am. But I got walked up to those men. I had my Bible open like that. I had my Bible open like this, and I walked up, and I got down to those men.
[14:54] I kept pushing them apart, and I was swimming through the men. And I got down inside. I said, hey, can you hear me? Listen, the Bible says you're a sinner. In Romans 3, I went for just like it.
[15:06] I preached to him the whole time. And somewhere down about the middle of it, he said, I understand that. I said, well, let's ask Jesus to save you. And the guy goes, okay. And finally, they all said he got through. And he prayed through.
[15:18] The truth is that a man needs instruction. This guy just got his vision. And Jesus himself walks up to him and says, do you believe? Look at the verse.
[15:28] I want you to see what the verse says. Look at the verse. In verse 36, he said, who is he, Lord? He was looking at him. But he said, who is he, Lord? Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?
[15:41] I'd like to believe on him, but I don't even know who he is. And Jesus said unto him, thou hast both seen him, and he is it that talks to you. Now, look this way. Listen to me. You're praying for lost people to get saved.
[15:53] You've got to learn to use your Bible to tell people about Jesus. You've got to learn to use your Bible to tell people about Jesus. Do you know why so many of us doubt our salvation? Because we never got it founded on what the Word of God says.
[16:04] It was some emotional thing in some church. And then somebody else plays with your emotions, and you get all messed up. But we're a Bible-believing, Bible-preaching, Bible-teaching group of people.
[16:14] Say amen. Huh? And so what you do is you teach people. The Bible says in Matthew 28, 19, and 20, that's the great commission. That's the great commandment from the king to his church.
[16:25] But look what it says. And I want you to look at the verse, and look what he says. In Matthew 28, 19, go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing. I need to ask you a question.
[16:35] Why are you teaching them if they're not baptized? Why are you teaching them if they're not baptized? I thought teaching was for saved people.
[16:47] Well, evidently not. Because I didn't write the verse. Does it say that in your Bible? You see, what happens is you're going to go teach. You're going to go make disciples. In other words, they need somebody to show them what the Bible says about them.
[17:02] I don't know. So how do you know? You take your baby into the hospital or to the doctor, you know? They take them in for all those checkups. And your baby's perfect in your mind.
[17:13] You get to the doctor, and the doctor looks at your baby and says, your baby's in the 12th percentile. What's that mean? Well, on this chart here, your baby's a runt. Or your baby's really big.
[17:25] And you know how they do that. There's this one young man, and the doctors told him how short he was, how little he was, told his mom, and they had him all scared. And when they came home and told his daddy, his daddy said, ah, they said all that about me, and I'm six foot now.
[17:37] I'm not too worried about it. But the whole point is, you know how we know what's right? Somebody tells us, well, you're supposed to be 6'1 and weigh 189, not 6'1 and weigh 260, preacher.
[17:48] I mean, that's what they tell us. Well, here's, how do you know you're a sinner? I don't feel like I'm a sinner. I feel like I do pretty good, you know?
[17:59] But how do you know you're a sinner? Because of what the Bible says. But whoever showed them in the Bible? In fact, as most churches, preaching amounts to this, find something and yell about it, but don't really teach what it's saying. They need to know what it says.
[18:10] Teach them, teach them, teach them, baptize them, and then look what it says in verse 20, and teach them to observe all things. So we teach. Second verse I would like to remind you of is found in Romans chapter 10 and verse 13.
[18:23] And you know this verse very well. It's a very common verse to all of us. The Bible says, Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Let me just tell you that's not true. I just do that for effect.
[18:39] You see, it's really not true because the guy that's down the street knows all Jesus Christ. He didn't get saved. And he did call on him. See? But you see, you can't call on him until verse 14.
[18:52] Look what the Bible says. But how shall they call on him in whom they have not? How shall they call on him in whom they have not? Believe. And how shall they believe in him whom they have not?
[19:03] Heard. And how shall they hear without a? Now let me just say this right here. That preacher right there is not just like a pastor. I mean, this is a whole room full of preachers. We believe in women preachers on this one.
[19:13] You know what? That word preacher, there's an announcer. That word preacher, there's a disciple or a teacher. Somebody would say to somebody, let me show you. And so when somebody starts telling, let me show you what the truth is.
[19:25] Let me show you what the Bible says. Let me show you not what just makes for good one-liners on television or on the internet. But let me show you what the Bible says. And then they hear. And when they hear, they say, wow, I think I'm finally understanding that.
[19:37] And I believe that. And when they believe that, then they call on him and then they are saved. See? But calling was based on believing, which was based on hearing, which is based on somebody teaching them the truth.
[19:51] That's why I want every one of you to go through foundations. You say, well, I'm already saved. I don't need it. Oh, it'd help you a lot. You see, when you go through there and you find out what the Bible says, you no longer hang your hopes on.
[20:02] Well, I remember I had, I got oozy-goosy chill bumps when I got saved. I remember crying a bunch. You don't want to hang your eternal destiny on a feeling that was 75 years ago and you about forgot.
[20:17] You want to hang your eternal destiny on, this is what the Word of God says. I studied it. I believe it. I put that in faith. In faith, I believe that and I am saved. You understand what I'm telling you?
[20:28] Get involved in discipleship. Get involved in discipleship so you can know. The next thing I want you to write there is the question is, do you believe? Not did you do something?
[20:42] That's another big thing. You see, the man was blind. The Pharisees were seers, so they couldn't get saved. And he was blind, so he couldn't get saved. Because when he realized he needed help, he could get help.
[20:53] And when you don't think you need help, you can't get help. But then when the question comes, the question's not, what did you do? It's do you believe? I'd like to remind you of some verses right out of the book of John that we've gone through.
[21:05] In John 1, 12, the Bible said, To as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Not everybody's the son of God.
[21:17] Everybody's the creation of God. People always go around saying stuff like this. We're all the children of God. No, we're not. Hey, look at me. No, we're not. No, we're not. You hear this one?
[21:28] No, we're not. No, we're not. Some of us are the children of God. You have to be given permission, authority, or power to become a son of God.
[21:39] You just don't walk into the house. I mean, it'd be like me sitting at the house this afternoon, and some kid walks up the door and walked in and said, I'm your child. I'd be like, how did you figure you'd be my child? I didn't give you the right to be my child.
[21:50] That's not how it works. You can't walk up to God and say you're his child. Look what it says. Read the verse for me. Would you read it out loud with me? Would you read it with me? Ready? But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.
[22:07] So you receive him, you believe in him, you get the power to become the son of God. It comes from God. That's how you get in the family. Can you say amen right there? So it's believing.
[22:18] It's believing that makes you the son of God. Go me to John chapter 3 verse 15. In the book of John, you've studied this as we've come through. John chapter 3 verses 15 through 18. Those that believe will not perish.
[22:29] The Bible says in verse 15, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
[22:42] For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he had not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God.
[22:55] I just want you to notice, watch this. Not one time in there didn't mention baptism. Not one time in there didn't mention tithing. We preachers love you all to tithe. Fact is, if we could get you to 90% tithe and just keep a tithe, we'd even be happier.
[23:08] Amen. But it's not even mentioned. You know what it's mentioned? Believe. No do, just believe. No do, just believe.
[23:19] If you believe, you won't perish. If you don't believe, you're condemned already. That's what the verse has said. You just got through reading. It's believing. Now what's perishing there?
[23:29] What in the world does it mean to perish? Well, perishing is dying. Romans chapter 6 and verse 23. For the wages of sin is death, death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.
[23:43] Perishing. You believe, you don't perish. You believe, you don't die. Perishing is the second death. If you got your Bible there, open it to Revelation chapter 20, verses 11 through 15, and mark some things.
[23:56] Now I have time to go through the whole passage, but look at what it says in Revelation chapter 20, verses 11 through 15. See, there's coming a judgment time out in the future. There's coming a time when Jesus himself will sit on the great white throne.
[24:10] It'll be Jesus, and he'll judge all of mankind. And those that believe not will be at this judgment. And look at what it says. If you would, in verse 11, I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it.
[24:21] Skip down, if you would, to the middle of verse 12, and it says there's a book of life, and they are judged out of those things that are written in the books. In verse 13, they are judged according to their works.
[24:33] But verse 14, this is what I want you to focus on. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Now listen to this.
[24:45] Ever since Adam sinned, all men die. We die a physical death. I believe it's Hebrews 9, 28. It's appointed unto man once to die, but after that, the judgment.
[24:57] The physical death is a result of sin. The second death is also a result of sin. But you don't have to have the second death. If you'll believe the Son of God who died on the cross, you don't have to have the second death.
[25:09] Jesus took that death for you. Say amen. See, Jesus already paid that sin debt for me. For the wages of sin is death, and Jesus already died for those of us who are believers. He died on the cross to pay our sin debt.
[25:22] The wages of sin is death, and Jesus died. If you do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God, you will die in your sins. If you do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God, you'll die in your sins.
[25:37] Look at John chapter 8 and verse 24. In John chapter 8 and verse 24, the Bible said, Believe or die in your sins.
[25:58] Believe or die with no remedy. Remedy. Believe or die. When you believe, you believe with all of your heart.
[26:09] When you believe, you believe with all of your heart. This isn't some mouth thing you say. This isn't some mental acceptance of some facts. It is from way down deep in the insides of my being, I believe Jesus is God.
[26:26] It's like way down from the innermost parts of my being, I believe that Jesus truly is God, that Jesus died on a cross for me, and Jesus was buried, and Jesus rose again.
[26:36] I believe in Jesus. That's how you go to heaven when you die. It's Jesus and what he did. You remember the Ethiopian eunuch stories found in Acts chapter 8, verses 35 through 38.
[26:48] You remember the story? The Ethiopian eunuch was riding along. He was reading the book of Isaiah, and he couldn't understand what he was reading. And Philip came along, and Philip gets up beside him and says, Hey, you understand what you're reading? He said, How can I if nobody explains it to me?
[26:59] You need instruction to understand. So Philip climbed up in the chariot with the man, riding down the road. He's telling the man about Isaiah chapter 53 and how Jesus died and how the sins of the world were placed on Jesus.
[27:10] And the guy looks at him and says, Hey, there's some water. Can I get baptized? And here's what Philip said. Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God with all your heart? Let me read the verse to you.
[27:21] Look, if you would. Acts chapter 8, verse 37. And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
[27:35] I believe. Stop just a second. Let me say something to you. Did you know you don't really have to pray to get saved? You know how we always tell everybody you got to pray that prayer?
[27:46] The truth of the matter is, it's not about the prayer. The prayer is the only expression of the belief. Because a lot of people pray the prayer but didn't believe. There's a lot of people done some praying without any believing.
[27:57] And this guy didn't even pray a prayer. He just said, Philip said, Well, you got to believe. He said, I do. He said, All right, get in the water. So it's believing. Do you believe with all your heart that Jesus is the answer?
[28:12] Now, before I go to the last point, to show you the most beautiful thing in the world, it's believing, not doing. It's believing, not working to get you saved.
[28:24] In Romans chapter 4, verses 2 through 5. In Romans chapter 4, verses 2 through 5, Paul is trying to get it across to some Jewish people and other people that it's not about what you do.
[28:37] Somewhere along the way, you have bought into the idea that what you do is what pleases God. And you think it's your doing, but it's not your doing, but it's your believing.
[28:48] It's not your doing, but it's your believing. And so the apostle Paul is teaching a story about Abraham. In Romans chapter 4, verses 2 through 5. And he said, If Abraham were justified by works, if Abraham got right with God by works, if Abraham got just by works, if Abraham fixed his record by works, he hath something to brag about.
[29:09] He hath whereof to glory, but not before God. Now watch. So many Christian people are meeting in churches today so they can brag about having gone to church or mass or synagogue yesterday.
[29:23] And they're bragging because, Hey, I am somebody special. I give 10% of all that I have. It's kind of like a guy that went into the, he went into the temple and he lifted up his eyes and his hands and he spoke to the Lord and said, God, I thank you.
[29:34] I'm sure not like this bum. And they want to brag. But the other guy, he just smoothing himself on the chest and said, God be merciful to me, a sinner. Abraham didn't get saved, but what he did, the Bible says, he believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness.
[29:52] He believed God. Verse 3, Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. Look at verse 4. By the way, don't even start the good works game.
[30:06] Don't even start the good works game. Because look at what verse 4 says. Now to him that worketh is a reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. So if you start working, he's going to say, okay, you want to pay it off.
[30:19] Well, you owe so much you never could. So don't stop working, start working, start receiving a gift. Wages take you to hell, grace takes you to heaven. Now it's a lesson that was told there.
[30:32] Now go with me if you would to verse 38. Man, I hope you get this verse. Six minutes, some of those precious, beautiful truths in the world. Look at verse 38. And he said, Lord, I believe.
[30:45] And he worshiped him. You see what happened? Now watch this. He got physical sight first. And then when he walked out and had physical sight, he still didn't have spiritual sight.
[30:59] Then Jesus came up to him and Jesus explained that he was the son of God and he believed God from the way down deep depths of his heart, he believed God.
[31:09] And when he believed God, he truly got saved. And when he did, he worshiped. And that's a word we don't understand. So I'm going to take a few minutes to try to get you to understand it.
[31:21] We have what we call praise and worship music. And by that, we think it's the music, but it's not that at all. Worship is showing tremendous reverence and respect.
[31:35] When you worship, you do not treat the person like you would anyone else. When you worship Jesus, you do not treat him like you would anyone else. Psalm chapter 95, verses 6 and 7.
[31:45] Listen to what the Bible says. Psalm chapter 95, verse 6 and 7. Oh, come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker, for he is our God.
[31:57] And we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you will hear his voice, you say, we come, we kneel, we bow, we worship, we praise, we show complete, utter respect.
[32:11] Somewhere along the way, we've almost got the feeling that because we're saved, we're going to walk up into heaven and put your hand in the hand of Jesus and you're going to just look at him out of eye. But let me tell you, in the Bible, every time they ever saw him, they fell at his feet as though they were dead.
[32:24] They realized, this is God and I am not on his level. This is God and I am not on his level. It is literally the idea of falling on your face before him to honor him.
[32:35] It's the idea of recognizing that you're inferior and that he is superior. Listen to what the Bible says in Isaiah 45, 9 and 10. Woe unto him that striveth with his maker, with his maker, let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth.
[32:52] Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, what makest thou or thy work he that hath no hands? Woe unto him that saith unto his father, what begettest thou? What did you do having a kid like me?
[33:02] Or to the woman, what have you brought forth? You know what he's saying? You see, it is in our nature to think we are somebody. Well, I was raised in the hills of Tennessee.
[33:13] I was raised with the idea that American ends in the four letters that spell I can. I was raised in a family that says you can pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
[33:24] I was raised in a group of people that wouldn't take welfare and wouldn't take, I'm telling you, it was like, we don't need anybody and we won't be beholden to nobody. That was what they're saying. My dad, we won't be beholden.
[33:35] That means we won't be, we want to be owing it to nobody. We got that attitude. I made myself. I built my farm. I used to sit down at the dinner table with my dad.
[33:47] When we were kids, there'd be six of us sitting around the table and he'd bring over families from the church and my dad, he was a proud country man and you'd sit there and he'd look across the table and he'd say, everything on this table was raised on this farm except for the sugar, the salt, and the tea.
[34:01] The rest of it, we did it. We made the butter, we raised the corn. We got, we raised, we raised, we raised. My daddy warned you, no, we made ourselves. Now he knew about God.
[34:11] I'm just talking about on that one part but let me show you something. Isn't that our attitude? How many of us want to look at God and say, whoa, you made me. I am just a broken piece of clay.
[34:21] You are the almighty God who made me. But that's what worship is. Oh, I fall down before you. I recognize that you are great and I am nothing. Worship's the idea of giving great honor.
[34:33] It's the idea of not mocking but respecting. In Isaiah chapter 1 and verse 3, the ox knows his owner and the ass his master's crib. But Israel does not know.
[34:46] My people do not consider. Jesus said, you people, a donkey is smarter than you. A donkey. And he didn't use the word donkey but I'll just say donkey.
[34:57] He said, an ox knows his owner and a donkey his master's crib. You guys are dumber than animals because you don't know. I made you. I'm the king.
[35:09] I'm God. Worship me. So I could get across to you the great idea of worship, I want to give you a story in the Bible that I think illustrates real worship.
[35:21] Solomon was the wisest man. If you want to look this up later so you can say it, 1 Kings chapter 10 verses 1 through 10. Solomon was the wisest king of his day. And people came from all over the world to listen to him and to hear about him.
[35:33] And they would come and sit and just listen to his wisdom. He wrote a book called Proverbs and they would come and just listen to all the wisdom that spilled off of his lips. There was this woman, the queen of Sheba.
[35:45] She was extremely wealthy, extremely powerful. She was a political leader. She was a great person in her own right. And she heard so much about Solomon that she loaded up all of these camels with a whole bunch of riches and she took a big whole log line of camels with all the riches and she went to Jerusalem just to find out if Solomon was all they said he was.
[36:06] And so she sat down and talked to Solomon and she listened to Solomon and she heard his words and before it's over she is doing exactly what we ought to think of as worship. She is doing all the things that go with the word worship.
[36:18] Let me just show you a couple of things that the Bible says in verse 4, 1 Kings 10, 4 and when the queen of Sheba had seen all of Solomon's wisdom, the house he built, the meat on his table, the sitting of his servants, the attendance of his ministers, the clothing they wore, the cupbearers, the way people went up and down from the house of God, there was no more spirit in her.
[36:39] She was in Solomon's palace and she was looking around. She saw the way the people stood at the door. She saw the servants coming and going and she stood there, she said, I cannot believe it.
[36:51] She passed out. She had no more. Wow. I'm a queen. I'm a queen and I'm rich and I'm powerful but I've never in my life ever seen anything like this and as great as I am.
[37:07] Wow. The spirit left her. Watch this. She said, I heard how great you were but I'm here and I'll tell you in verse 7, the half was not told me.
[37:19] Verse 8, listen to this worship. See, worship is what you say. It's kind of like what the, it's that young guy falling in love with a girl and he says all those sweet things that you guys forgot to say because you've been married 200 years.
[37:30] You know, he used to look at her and say, ooh, your eyes. He talks so good. Well, look what she says. The queen of Sheba says this to him. Happy are your men and happy are your servants that stand in front of you continually and get to hear you talk.
[37:45] Get to hear you wisdom. She said, you're just sitting here and there's a servant holding a spear and he's a happy guy because he just gets to listen in and hear all the wisdom that comes out of your mouth. Then she said in verse 9, she said, obviously God loves Israel or he wouldn't have given Israel a great king like you.
[38:02] You are like a special gift from God. And in verse 10, she gave him 120 talents of gold and spices, very great story and precious stones.
[38:14] Just so you'd know, I looked up, find out about what 120 talents of gold would be in today's market. Exchange rate from Friday, not today.
[38:25] 120 talents is four and a half tons of gold. It would be worth $241,678,000.
[38:38] She was worshiping. All I want you to see, all I want you to see is that this guy believed and he worshiped.
[38:50] You know, true believers worship. Man, when those songs are sung and they sing, forgiven, forgiven, I sowed a field of all this wicked stuff and I did what was wrong and I deserved to be punished, but he sowed another field and in that field, he sowed all these good works and he gave his field for my field and then he took his blood and his blood cleansed me and wiped me clean and I want to stand up and say, I love you.
[39:15] I worship you. I don't deserve you. You're the greatest God. You're fantastic. You're wonderful. You're above anything I could have ever dreamed of or expected. The freeness I get because my guilt is gone.
[39:27] I love you. Worship. It'll affect the way you give. Honestly, I just, you ready for this? If you're not a giver, you're not a worshiper because see, when you're in love, you give.
[39:44] Extravagantly. 241 million. It's like something to 78,000. You say, that's a lot of giving. But you see, it's not a lot of giving when you go watch your ball team and you put something on your head that makes you look like an idiot and you get something else to wave in your hand like that or a big old cheese cone put on your head and then you go buy $900 worth of hot dogs and junk.
[40:09] You could have bought the same stuff for $4 and eat it at the house and watch it on TV. But that ain't the same. I'm worshiping. I'm not against the ball game. Hey, I'm not against the ball game.
[40:21] But I'm telling you, you know, it's amazing when it comes time to give to God, you're like, whoa, whoa. Because you're not into it. You're not into it. But preaching's going on and you're like, because you're not into it.
[40:40] I was blind, but now I see and I worship. God, you're good. Would you bow your heads and pray with me.
[40:50] Father, I love you. I thank you for the chance to be in your house. I thank you for these wonderful people. I pray, God, that somebody would be saved today. I pray that somebody would begin to worship you more.
[41:02] I pray, God, that it would begin to affect our lives for your honor and your glory. You have been listening to Austin Gardner, pastor of Vision Baptist Church.
[41:16] For contact information, location, service times, or more audio and video recordings, log on to www.visionbaptist.com. www.vision.com.
[41:30] What is your faith?