The reading is on the second
page of your hymn sheets. It is the Gospel according to
John chapter 9. And we read from verse 24 to
verse 41. And that's a part of the chapter
in which the Lord had opened the eyes of the man that had
been born blind. We read from verse 24, Then again
called they the man that was blind, this is the Jews calling
him, and said unto him, Give God the praise, 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, that whereas
I was blind, now I see. 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. 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' disciple. 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, herein
is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and
yet ye have opened mine eyes. 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? 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? And they cast him out. 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? 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. And Jesus
said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which
see not might see, and that 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? Jesus said unto them, If ye were
blind, ye should have no sin. But now ye say, We see. Therefore your sin remaineth. Now the word that I want to speak
to you on is verse 25. And it is the answer of the man
that had been born blind. to the Jews that said they wanted
him to give God the praise. And they said that we know that
this man, that is Jesus, is a sinner. Blasphemy that was. But then
we have the answer of the man that had been born blind. And it is a good thing for us
to learn from this passage, there are several things. The first
thing is, he answered and said, whether he be a sinner or no,
I know not. There was that which he did not
know, he could not answer them as to what they said, it is obviously
he is questioning, he doesn't just straight agree with them
when they say we know that this man is a sinner but he cannot
refute them, he cannot testify and it's something he doesn't
know but that does not stop him from believing, it doesn't hinder
him, it doesn't stumble him Now there may be those of you here
that there are things that you feel you do not know. And Satan
will say, if you do not know that, how can you be a child
of God? If you do not know that, how
can you know anything of the things of God? Remember when
Philip came to the eunuch, and he asked the eunuch who was reading
in Isaiah 53, understandest thou what thou readest, he says, how
can I except some man guide me? And he wanted to know who the
prophet was speaking of in that passage, either himself or some
other man. There was something he did not
know. And yet again, that did not hinder him in reading the
Word of God, in listening to the preaching, in asking a servant
of the Lord for this. And so it may have been encouragement
to some of you, because I'm sure there are those of you that have
known and do know things, but because of failing memory, you
can't remember them. And so you might even be asked,
well, how were you called? When were you called? And your
mind might just go blank and you can't remember. You may remember
it sometimes, but others you just cannot. And so just think
of this man, that that which he did not know, that did not
stumble him, he was still able to answer these Jews. And still able, we may say in
this, to defend the Lord Jesus Christ, to speak well of Him. to lift him up and to extol him
and that's a beautiful thing that God will allow a poor sinner
that has not got maybe a full knowledge of salvation or knowledge
of the things of God they don't have a theological degree they're
simple souls but they speak well of the Lord Jesus Christ and
may that be what we do because in the gospel we know that Jesus
was not a sinner. And that's a wonderful thing,
again, for us to realize. All that are born into this world,
all the sons of Adam, are sinners, all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. But the Lord Jesus Christ, and
He was worshipped here, He did not forbid this man from worshipping
Him, He is truly God and truly man, and He had no sin. If He had any sin, He would never
have risen from the dead. He could not have atoned for
the sins of His people. He is the sinless, spotless One,
made in all points like unto His brethren, sin accepted. So in the very thing that these
Pharisees and Jews were saying that they knew or they did not
know, they were still spiritually blind. And that is what the Lord
is speaking to them at the end of this portion. And it is a
great blessing if we are not spiritually blind. The Lord has
opened our eyes. He's shown us ourselves. He's shown us the Lord. And we
think of the psalmist, open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous
things out of thy law. It's a great blessing to have
our eyes open. And so this man that had been
born blind, he was holding fast his own faith, the faith that
God had given him, what Jesus had done for him, he held it
fast. And let me remember that we will
have assaults by Satan if he came to our Lord and said, if
thou art the Son of Man, if thou art the Son of God, he will come
to us also, he will come to you and question, are you really
a child of God? Are you really saved? Do you
know anything? Have you faith? These things
will be the same. And the Jews here were questioning
this man. They said, we are Moses' disciple,
you can be this man. But they despised him and they
tried to take from him what he had, but they couldn't. And that is a great blessing,
when we're able to say that there's one thing we know. What a blessing. Each of you friends here can
say with this man, but one thing I know, and this man knew it
because it was personal to him. God had opened his eyes. Jesus
had opened his eyes. He now saw, and no one could
take that away from him. And what did he see? Of course, at the present, when
his eyes were opened, the Lord had conveyed himself away. hadn't
seen him, but the Lord came to him again and revealed himself
to him. But in a natural sense, he could
see what he could never see before, and in a spiritual sense, the
people of God, they see, they see their own sin, they see the
Lord, they see his creation, they see the Word of God as it
truly is, the Word of God, They see a beauty in Christ which
they never saw before. In the beginning of Isaiah 53,
He is a root out of dry ground. There's no form nor comeliness
that we should desire Him. Naturally, we do not desire,
we do not see any beauty in Christ. If our eyes are opened, we do
see that beauty, and no one can take that away from us. and may
we hold fast to what we see in Christ and what he has shown
us by precious faith. So this man is a real example
to us, example of a simple believer who doesn't know much but knows
enough and was taught by the Lord Jesus Christ and is subject
of the miracles of grace, the miracles what the Lord Jesus
was able to do. And so may we truly be concerned
that our eyes have been opened. You know the John Newton, he
is very clear as he speaks in that hymn that he once was lost
but now am found, was blind But now I see, and there's the contrast. He knew what he once was, and
now what he is now. The Apostle Paul, once he was
a persecutor, an injurist, but when the Lord met with him, then
he preached the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord makes a difference,
and that should be a concern with us. Has the Lord made a
difference to us? Has he shown us Himself, shown
us His beauty as He's shown us ourselves and then shown us what
is in heaven reserved for His people. So may you be encouraged
by this word this afternoon and if you keep your sheets and read
over it again and have in view what the Lord Jesus Christ In
the end, he spoke to this man and revealed himself to him.
Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and he it is that
talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. May we
be a believer like that.