John chapter 9, I had Brother
John read this portion for the reading to set before us the
scripture that we'll look at and to consider the words, whereas
I was blind, now I see is the basis, the four points in the
message. Now as Brother John mentioned,
the man was born blind. He is born blind, couldn't see.
Think of that in light of us spiritually. We're born spiritually
blind, beloved. We can't see the things of God
and we don't know the things of God. John 9.25, he answered
and said, whether you be a sinner or no, I know not. One thing
I know that whereas I was blind, now I see. That's a cry of every
believer. We were blind, but now we see.
Another thing we can notice in this text, the man couldn't help
himself, could he? Couldn't make himself see again.
He'd been in that state for years. So he's born blind, he couldn't
help himself, and in the text we see no one else could help
him. No other person in the same state
as him. Look, it says John 1 and 2, it
says, And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind
from his birth. And his disciples asked him,
saying, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents? That he was born blind. Now think
of this. You and I who believe, we were born in the same state
as this man. We were born blind to the things
of God. And no one could help us. You
couldn't help me because you're sinners just like me, and I can't
help you because I'm a sinner just like all you. There was nothing we could do,
was there? And we weren't even aware, really,
of the state until God revealed it to us, right? And little did we know that we
were vessels of honor. Did you know? I'll ask you who
believed. Did you know all through growing
up in your life that you were a vessel of honor? Did you have
any idea? Because I sure didn't. Not by
my words, not by my actions, not by my thoughts. I had absolutely
no idea at all. The disciples asked him in verse
2, "'Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was
born blind?' Jesus answered, "'Neither this
man's sin nor his parents, but that the works of God should
be made manifest in him.'" Think of that for us who are believing. This verse is amazing. This man
is a vessel of honor from before the foundation of the world.
He has no clue. He doesn't have any idea. Those
around him have no idea. But Christ knows who his sheep
are. This man's loved by God with
an everlasting love for maternity. And he doesn't have any idea. But it says here, but that the
works of God should be made manifest in Him. Think of that in our
lives. That the works and grace of God
should be manifested in us. That the fact that we were objects
of His love from eternity. We who believe. It's amazing grace. And we had no clue. I didn't
have a clue. I still marvel to this day. And I think I'll marvel even
in glory, because what are the saints doing? They're worshiping
the One who redeemed them with His blood. That the works of God should
be made manifest in him. The shepherd seeks out his sheep. Look at verse 4. I must work
the works of Him that sent me. He's seeking out his sheep, beloved. And he's still doing it today
through the preaching of his gospel. Well of his day, the
night cometh when no man can work. So this man is in utter
darkness. Now he can hear those around
him, and he can feel things. But he's in utter darkness. And
like I say, what a picture of us when we come into this world.
We can hear things, right? Natural things, but not the things
of God. We can see things, but not the
things of God. We're blind as bats before the
Lord saves us to the things of God, to who he is. But this man's
about to encounter this man who's in darkness. He's in darkness. He's about to have an encounter
with the light of the world. He's in other darkness. He's
about to have an encounter with the light of the world. Look
at verse 5. The man Christ Jesus, as long
as I am in the world, I am the light. I am the light. Now, there's a lot of folks who,
when they hear the doctrines of grace, they recoil right away. I did it myself before the Lord
saved me. They recoil. They recoil about election. They're
like, what? They recoil about limited atonement. But I was blind at one time to
those things of God. And remember that when they do
that. They're just blind to the things of God. And we would be
too if God hadn't shown mercy to us, if God hadn't taught us
and showed us in the scriptures these marvelous truths. We'd
be absolutely blind. And aren't you thankful that
God didn't leave you in that situation you were in? Because I am. I'm
sure thankful God didn't leave me where I was, blind and deaf
to the things of God. I was religious but lost, but
by his amazing grace, he was pleased to reveal Christ to me.
And I've learned a little bit since then, just a little bit,
just scratching the surface. That's all. But like Donnie and
I were talking yesterday, ain't it marvelous when he reveals
those things? We just go, this is incredible. And we rejoice. And we seek to give Him the glory
and the honor and the praise. Look at this verse in Job 15.8.
I found this verse this week and thought it would be well
suited for me when I was lost, and for others, those around
us who are lost, when we proclaim the great things that God has
done for us. And when we see lost folks confronted with the
truths of the Bible, that go against what they believe, this
is a good verse to bring up. Look at this, Job 15, 8. Has
thou heard the secret of God? Has thou heard the secret of
God? Have you heard the things of Christ? Have you heard the things of
Christ? Have you heard of who He is and what He's done for
sinners? Has thou heard the secret of God? And doest thou restrain
wisdom? to thyselves? Think of this. When someone brings
up the doctrines of election, and when they did it for me,
I recoiled on that. I did, I admit it. I was like,
oh my gosh, but was I there in the secret councils of God when
he chose the people before the foundation? No. Did he seek any
of our counsel when he did these things? No. He's God, he can do whatever
he pleases. He needs no permission to do
things. And this is said by one of Job's miserable counselors,
or miserable comforters supposedly, but they were no comforters at
all. But this question can be turned back upon him and upon
others who don't believe the things clearly stated in scripture. Has thou heard the secrets of
God, the secret of God? Now our president-elect is now
choosing advisors and cabinet ministers who will counsel him
in different matters, right? And every president does that.
They've always done that. But beloved, our great God, our
great God and King, he doesn't seek counsel from anyone. No one. See, the president and
other leaders, they need people to help them to make decisions,
don't they? But God doesn't need no help.
Now you'd think by the way religion talks that he's in a heap of
trouble. But we know that's not the God
of the Bible. The God of the Bible has no need for any counselors
at all. None. Absolutely none. None. Let's look at our text again
here. We start where John left off. Now, there's been a great miracle
that's been performed, right? This man who was born blind,
who couldn't see, has had the works of God manifested in him.
And what happens to them religious folks? They get all bent out
of shape, don't they? And I love the simple response
of this man in verse 25, whereas I was blind, now I see. Look at verse 26. Then said they
to him again. They didn't hear what he said. What did he to thee? How opened
he thine eyes? He answered them, I have told
you already, and you did not hear. Wherefore would you hear
it again? Would you hear it again? Do you
want me to tell you again the great things God did for me? I love this. Will ye be also
his disciples? Well, that rubbed them the wrong
way, didn't it? Then they reviled him and said, thou art his disciple,
but we are Moses' disciples. And we know that's a lie because
the Lord said, if you were Moses' disciples, you'd follow him. No, they're their own disciples.
They're following their own self-righteousness. Because the law, Moses, and the
prophets testified of Christ. We know that God spake unto Moses,
As for this fellow, we know not from whence he is. They don't
know him. He's not revealed himself to them. They read the scriptures
and they're the blind leading the blind, beloved. This man
answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing?
What a marvellous work God's wrought. A man was born blind. No one could help him. And God
in the flesh, God incarnate in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ
gave him sight. But they hate, these religious
Pharisees, they hate the Lord of Glory. Why, hearing is a marvelous thing,
that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath 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, it was
not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born
blind. Now, think of this. This is not a master of Israel. This is not some great learned
man, is he? He's a man testifying of the
great things God has done for him. All I am is a man testifying
to you all what God's done for me. I'm not highly educated like
these seminary guys. But I'm a man who's been saved
by the grace of God in Christ. And he saved me from all my sins,
beloved. And as long as he gives me breath,
I'll proclaim that. Because he's done great things
for me. Has he done great things for you? You want to tell everyone
about him too, don't you? This is a man who just received
his sight. And he has more knowledge of
who God is than these Pharisees, who are supposedly masters of
Israel, who have spent years studying the Bible, but know
nothing. They're the blind leading the blind. 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. Verse 33. Verse 34. Then they
answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in
sins, and dost thou teach us?" Do you teach us, you sinner?
Do you see what they just revealed? They don't believe they're sinners. Is that not how religion is even
nowadays, beloved? I know that because I came out
of it. So these supposed masters, are just hammering this poor
sinner who's been saved by the grace of God. And we see later
on here in our text, the Lord saved him. He didn't just open
his eyes physically. He's a believer in Christ. We'll
see him in glory. They answered and said unto him,
thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. Get out
of here. Oh my. But look at our master. Jesus heard that they had cast
him out. Here comes the master. Here comes
the great shepherd of the sheep, beloved. And when he had found
him. Oh, he found him, didn't he?
Just like he found every one of us, beloved. We who believe. He found us. We weren't looking
for... I wasn't looking for God. I was lost. I was wandering off doing my
own thing. He sought me out. It was fetching
grace. Remember Mephistopheles? Go and
fetch him. David said, go and fetch him. Also, the shepherd, the great
shepherd, seeks out his sheep. When he had found him, and he
will always find his sheep beloved. Every single one of them. That's
why I keep praying for my family. I don't know if they're one of
God's sheep, but I keep praying for them as long as they got
breath to breathe. Oh, my. And when he had found them, he
said unto him, dost thou believe on the Son of God? Dost thou
believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, who is
he, Lord? 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. Can
you imagine that? This is God incarnate. This is
the great shepherd speaking to one of his sheep. He sought him
out. My, this is the master speaking
to one of his sheep. My goodness, and he does this
through the preaching of his gospel to his sheep. Look at
this though, right before him, he sees him in the flesh. Thou
hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And
he said, Lord, I believe. He called him Lord. You know,
there's that whole aspect out there in religion where they
say, just make Jesus Lord of your life. God's people call
him Lord right off the bat. We acknowledge His Lordship.
We don't make Him Lord. He's already Lord. He's already
Lord. Lord. Lord, I believe. And what did
He do, beloved? He worshipped Him. Is that not
what God's saints do? When the Lord of Glory reveals
Himself, when Christ reveals Himself to lost sinners who are
blind and dead in our natural state, what happens after He
reveals Himself? And we run to Him, don't we, in faith? We're
regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God and we, by faith, we run
to Him. That's a gift. And we repent of our sins and
we flee to Christ. And we say, I believe. And Jesus said, for judgment
I am coming to the world. Look at this. And Jesus said,
for judgment I am coming to this world, that they which see not
might see. Okay, now this blind man couldn't
see, right, until the Lord gave him sight. Look at this. And
that they which see might be made blind. Hey, look at what the Pharisees
said. And some of the Pharisees which
were with him heard these words and said unto them, are we blind
also? Now mark what he said, mark what
he said. I am coming to this world that they which see not
might see, so the blind might receive their sight, and that
they which see might be made blind. Those who are self-righteous,
pharisaical, and think that they see the things of God, They won't
see. And we saw that, we saw that
in action in how these religious Pharisees cast out that sinner,
right? That saved sinner. Look at this, verse 41. Jesus
said unto them, if you were blind, you would have no sin. But now say we We see, therefore,
your sin remaineth. They don't see themselves as
sinners. They don't see themselves as
sinners. They don't think they have any sin at all. And we know
that from verse 34. And they answered and said unto
him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach
us? And they cast him out. They cast him out. So what are some things that
now that we're able to see, we who believe, what are some things
that we see, just a few quick points, what are some things
that we see that we never saw before? Well, we see our sin,
don't we? You see, those Pharisees, they
didn't see their sin. They told that guy, you're a
sinner from birth. Yeah, yeah I am. By birth, by
nature, and by choice, unfortunately. And God's revealed that to me.
Has He done that for you? Every believer feels the same
way. We all do. We've had revealed to us. We were blind. We were once blind,
and now we see. And since the Lord has given
me eyes of faith to see Christ, my Lord, And to look upon Him,
we see our sin. We look to the sinless One, the
One who had no sin at all, in thought, word, or deed. He's
perfect. We see ourselves as sinners.
The question is, do you see your sinfulness before God? Has God revealed to you that
you're a sinner? And in yourself, not in others, because we're
experts at pointing out other people's sin. It's just in our nature. But do you see yourself a sinner?
Do you see yourself in desperate need of Christ? I pray God will
show you that. I pray He will. I pray that God the Holy Spirit
would make it as the hymn writer once penned these words. What
comfort can a savior bring to those who never felt their woe?
A sinner is a sacred thing, the Holy Ghost hath made him so.
New life from him we must receive, for sin we rightly grieve. Ye must be born again, ye must
be born. Regeneration always precedes
faith and repentance Faith and repentance are both gifts which
are given to us, and then we see our sin. We see what we are.
We see our desperate need for Christ. And the hymn writer went
on to say this, this faithful saying, let us own, well worthy
tis to be believed, that Christ into the world came down, that
sinners might by Him be saved. Sinners are high in His esteem,
and sinners highly value Him. This is true. So one of the first things I
saw when God gave me sight, turn if you would to Isaiah 6. I know
we've looked at this many times, but this is a marvelous portion
of Scripture just to show this. The first thing I saw when God
gave me sight to look to Christ is that I'm a sinner. And I ask,
is it so with you? Has God shown you that you're
a sinner? Because Isaiah had revealed to
him that he is a sinner. Look at Isaiah 6, and we'll just look at verses
1-7. Now, Isaiah got a glimpse of Christ and Him upon His throne,
and again, He made His headquarters in the dust, beloved. Look at
Isaiah 6, verses 1-7. In the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon the throne, high and lifted
up, and His train filled the temple. He's a King Supreme.
He's ruling and reigning. Above it stood the seraphims.
Each one had six wings. With twain he covered his face,
and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly."
They covered themselves before the presence of the Lord. These
are holy angels. And one cried to another and
said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth
is full of His glory. And the posts of the door moved
at the voice of him that cried from the house, and the house
was filled with smoke. Then said I, now here, here,
he gets a glimpse of who, he gets a glimpse of who God is,
right? And look, then said I, woe is me. Every sinner that
has been given eyes to see, that the blind are made to see, say,
woe is me. Woe is me, for I am undone, because
I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips. He sees the whole depravity of
man, but first of all he sees his own depravity. For mine eyes
have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the
seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand. which he had
taken from the tongs from off the altar, and he laid it upon
my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips, and thine
iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." There's a picture
of the precious, precious blood of Christ right there before
us. Cleanses a sinner from all their sins. Note after Christ reveals himself
to Isaiah, he proclaims in verse 5, then said, woe is me. Then said I, woe is me. Again,
he sees the sinfulness before God, for I am undone, because
I am a man of unclean lips. He sees his own depravity, and
I dwell in the midst of the people of unclean lips. He sees the
depravity of all mankind. From mine eyes, why? Why? The
blind eyes have been opened, and what? Mine eyes have seen
the King, the Lord of hosts. Oh, my beloved. So I once was blind, but now
I see that I'm a sinner. The second point is, I once was
blind, but now I see that God, who is holy, rules and reigns
supreme. He has no equal. Our God is a
King enthroned, and we saw that in Isaiah 6. He's a King enthroned. And He watches over His dominion,
which includes all things in heaven and earth. Turn, if you
would, to Psalm 8. He rules, think of this, beloved,
he rules supreme over the smallest, the smallest creature. Microorganisms
that we can't even see, he rules over all of them. Microscopic
ones and all the way to the largest ones. One time I was out with
Vicky's dad on the ocean and he said, look over there, a big
old blue whale coming out of the water. My goodness, huge. He rules over all of them. He
rules over everything, small and large, everything. This is
His creation. And beloved, He supplies all
the needs. All the needs. Everything comes
from His sovereign hand. And as we read this psalm, let
us consider the majesty of God, the majesty of His works, and
the insignificance of man. Look at this. O Lord, our Lord,
how excellent is Thy name in all the earth. Who has set Thy
glory above the heavens? Out of the mouth of babes and
sucklings hast Thou ordained strength because of Thine enemies,
that Thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger? When I
consider Thy heavens, just consider, go out in the night sky and just
consider, just look up and consider He just spoke it all into existence.
It just manifests His glory. when I consider thy heavens.
And remember, David was a shepherd. And as I mentioned in Sunday
school, when you're out somewhere and there's no light like the
street lights and stuff, the sky is magnificent. It's absolutely
magnificent. So remember that when David's
penning this, he's seeing that. He's seeing that night sky like
that. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the
moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained, they are exactly
where they are according to God's sovereign power, according to
where He ordained them to be. What is man that thou art mindful
of him? In the Son of Man thou visited
him, for thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast
crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion
over the works of thy hands. Thou hast put all things under
his feet." Who's the one giving man any dominion? It's God, right? All sheep and oxen, yea, and
the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fish
of the sea, and whatsoever passes through the paths of the sea,
O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth."
He's matchless. So blind sinners have revealed
to them that our God is holy, and that He rules and reigns
supreme. And this psalm wonderfully foreshadows Christ as He is the
revelation of the Father's excellent name, beloved. His glory is set
above the heavens. He has sovereign dominion, right? All power is being given to Him,
we know that. John 17 speaks of that. He has all power, all
authority to give eternal life to whomever He's pleased. And
He gives it to God's sheep. He gives it to the ones the Father
gave Him in eternity. Oh, he has sovereign dominion,
beloved. And he's clothed with glory and honor. He's clothed
with glory and honor. And for a little time, he was
made lower than the angels, and he took upon himself the form
of a servant, and all creatures are under his feet. He is Lord
of all. That sinner, our dear brother,
was rightly said when he said, Lord, I believe. He's just called
him by his rightful title. He's Lord. He is Lord. He's Lord of all. He's Lord of
what we see and what we don't see. And everything is the works
of His hands. There's nothing that is not under
His dominion. And I was once blind, but now
I see. What do I see? I see the infinite holiness of
God's law. Do you? The infinite holiness
of God's law. I never saw that before. I'll be honest with you, I didn't
even think about it before the Lord said it. I didn't even think
about the law of God. I knew the Ten Commandments,
but I'll be honest with you, I was ignorant to the things
of God when it came to that. I knew that there were things
that we should keep. Little did I know that none of
us can keep. But now we see the infinite holiness
of God's law. And we see that the law requires
perfection, a perfection that we can never get. But our God is a holy God, beloved.
The Bible is called the Holy Bible. The elect angels are holy
angels. The believer in Christ is made
holy in Christ. The Father is called the Holy
Father. The Spirit of God is called the Holy Spirit. And our
Lord is called the Holy One. I didn't see that before the
Lord saved me, but now I do. By His grace and mercy. Turn,
if you would, to Leviticus 22, verse 21. So God's law is infinitely
holy, right? Now, what would... As I said,
we have to be perfect to satisfy God's law, right? A sacrifice
before the law of God has to be absolutely perfect or it won't
be accepted. Look at Leviticus 22, 21. 22,
21. The sacrifice must be perfect
to be accepted. And as I said, you and I are
sinners in everything we do. Everything we do is tainted with
sin. Everything. Therefore, anything we offer
up to God based upon our works is imperfect, right? Look at
this in Leviticus 22, 21. And whosoever offereth a sacrifice
of peace offerings unto the Lord, to accomplish his vow or a freewill
offering in breeze or in sheep, it shall be, what? Perfect. Perfect, to be accepted. If it's
not perfect, It won't be accepted. Do you see how fruitless man
trying to gain merit and salvation with God by his own works? We're
imperfect beings. As I said, everything we do is
tainted with sin. Everything. So what are we to
do? What estate mankind finds in
himself? Scripture here says, it shall
be perfect to be accepted. There shall be no blemish therein."
Christ is perfect. There's no blemish, no spot,
no sin at all in Christ. He's the God-man. He's the perfect
man. So what are we to do? What estate
mankind finds him in? The law demands perfection. And
I cannot provide it for my sins. I can't. Can you provide it for
your sins? I can't. But praise be to God. In Leviticus
22, 21, it says that the offering must be perfect. And beloved,
there is a perfect substitute for sinners. The one who has
fulfilled the law of God on the behalf of his people, perfectly
for his people. And His name is the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that's why we say, flee to Him. We who have fled
to Him are sinners, sinners saved by the grace of God in Christ.
We fled to Christ who is our only refuge from the law of God. And think of this, the scripture
in Leviticus 22, 21 there before us, was fulfilled when Christ
has bought forth the Lamb of God. Pilate himself declared that
he could find no fault in Him. No fault at all in Christ. Why? Because He's perfect. He's the
Lamb without spot and without blemish. Turn, if you would,
to John 19.4. And we see right here that verse fulfilled. Because
we know Christ is the Lamb of God. John said, Behold the Lamb
of God. Behold the Lamb of God. So the only hope for sinners
is an absolute perfect substitute. And look at what John 19, 4,
Apollo therefore went forth again and saith unto them, Behold,
I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault
in him. No fault. He's perfect. He's
spotless. And he's the only one. And now
that I've Now that I see, I once was blind but now I see that
the only hope, the only hope for sinners is a perfect substitute
like we saw in Leviticus, right? A perfect substitute, a perfect
sacrifice. And there's only one perfect
spotless sacrifice for sinners and that's the Lord Jesus Christ
and Him alone. He's the God-man, perfect in
all things, thought, word and deed. He knew no sin at all. That doesn't mean that he didn't
know what sin was. He's God. It means that he didn't
experimentally. He never sinned. Never. Never. As God, he knows what sin is. But he's perfect. He's perfect. He's the God-man. What a contrast
to those he came to save, beloved. What a contrast to we who believe.
What a contrast. The perfect one, the sinless
one, dies for we who are sinners. As one grace preacher says, sin
is not what we do, it's what we are. It's what we are, but
praise be to God, Christ is the perfect substitute for sinners. The perfect substitute for sinners.
Again, since I cannot fill the law of God, and neither can you,
We must have one who can accomplish righteousness for us, right?
We must. We must. One who can accomplish
a perfect righteousness. One who can qualify me for heaven,
as Colossians says. And when Paul pens that the believer
is qualified for heaven, it means you're made fit. How are you made fit? By Christ.
clothed in the righteousness of Christ, clothed in the robe
of righteousness which our blessed Redeemer, our blessed Substitute
weaved for us while He was upon this world, satisfying all that
God demanded. I found a Substitute. His name
is the Lord Jesus Christ. He found me. He found me. I was lost. I was like that blind
man. I was blind to him. I was even blind to the things
that he'd done for me. He did them 2,000 years ago for
his people. I was blind to who he was. I
was blind to what he had done. Just like the blind man, we looked
in John chapter 10. I was blind, but praise God,
now I see. Is it so with you? Do you see
Christ for who He is? Do you see yourself as a sinner
before a holy God who demands perfection? Oh my. The only hope we have
is in Christ and Him alone. Being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood to
declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at
this time, His righteousness, that He might be just, and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." Romans 3, 24-26. I was blind, but now I see that
faith in Christ is the only way a sinner can find acceptance
with God, and that faith is a gift from God, and that faith has
one object, beloved, and that's Christ and Him alone. We can't
muster it up. We can't reform ourselves. It's
a gift. Faith is a gift of God. And it
would seem from what we hear at funerals of folks who did
not love Christ and who did not have an interest in Christ that
everyone goes to heaven. The truth of the matter is all
who do not believe in Christ will perish in their sins. That's
the truth of the matter. Turn, if you would, to John chapter
1. God's grace of salvation comes to sinners through faith in Christ
and Him alone. We receive Christ. Why? Because
we're made willing. And then what do we do? We believe
on Him. Do you see even in our text before? Lord, I believe.
The Lord revealed Himself to him. He said, I believe. I believe. John 1, verses 12 and 13. But as many as received him,
to them gave he. He gave the power to become the
sons of God. It's by the power of God that
we become the sons of God. Even to them that believe on
his name. The believer in Christ, the one who's born again by the
Holy Spirit will believe on Christ, there's no doubt. Which were
born not of blood, it's not by the lineage. Just because these
people were born Jews doesn't mean that they're in, that they're
saved. No. Nor the will of the flesh, well
there goes free willism. Nor the will of man, there it
goes again. So not by your works and not by your will. But of
God. It's God who has mercy upon us.
We're born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Then we flee to
Christ. The last point I'd like to look
at, I once was blind and now I see, I see that faith in Christ is
a gift of God. Now, there was a time when I
thought, in my natural state, that I could work my way to heaven,
that I was not as bad as my neighbor. And I remember saying that. You've
all heard me say that. I remember saying, I'm not as
bad as... There's a guy down the street who's really a bad dude. Little did I know I was a sinner
just like him, probably worse. You know, I remember reading
in the papers when I was a kid, you know, this guy's a serial
killer. Man, he's going to burn in hell. Well, little did I know if God
hadn't saved me, I wouldn't. It's mercy, beloved. We receive
mercy. It's a gift. Faith is a gift
of God. It's not in the realm of human
ability. The way you hear some folks talk
about it, the way you hear some religious preachers preach it,
it's something you could just muster up on your own. But that's
not what the scriptures say. It's a gift of God. It's not
something we can drum up or have on our own. And if you believe on Christ,
rejoice. Rejoice! He's given you the gift
of faith. He's given you the gift of repentance.
It's by God's will that you believe. Why? Is there any doubt that
we give Him all the glory and all the praise and all the honor? Like this man said in John 9,
it's been a marvelous work done here. Oh, my. 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. The scripture
can't be any plainer, Ephesians 2, 8, and 9. Not of works. Not of works, not of works, not
of works. Think of this. When I was in
religion. I used to think I had to pray
a certain length of time. And I used to beat myself down
if I didn't read a certain amount of scripture. But you know what? I get to pray. It's a privilege. I get to read
my Bible. And like Brother Henry said,
better to read a chapter with understanding than 10 chapters
with no understanding. Come to the word of God and ask
the Holy Spirit to illuminate the scriptures, to just teach
you. See, my rest and my comfort is
not in what I do. Again, it's in the one who the
blind man said, Lord, I believe. I believe. It's in Christ. Turn, if you would, to Colossians
2. Colossians 2. We're close in here. Colossians 2. Now, faith is an
operation of God. It's the work of God's grace
in a man's soul. We've seen that in our study
in Colossians. Look at this in Colossians 2, verses 11 to 15. And Paul's writing again to the
Colossian believers. And they're under attack from
all different false teachers. And He's written to them that
you're complete in Christ, in verse 10. Look at verse 11. "...in whom also ye are circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands, and put off the body of
the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ." So we're
born again of the Holy Spirit of God. It's not anything we
do. It's His operation, His work. His work. What comes first, faith
or regeneration? Regeneration, the Scripture says
right here. It's an operation of God. You're not born again
because you believe. You believe because you're born
again. Buried with Him in baptism, wherein
also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of
God, who hath raised Him from the dead. It's an operation of
God in our lives. And you being dead in your sins.
We were blind. Not only were we blind, we were
dead. We were blind and dead. And that dead in your sins, in
the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened, born again,
quickened together with him, heaven forgiven you, and we could
sit right here, all trespasses. That's good news for sinners.
Isn't that good news? All trespasses, not just some,
not just the big ones, but even the little ones. All, all sins,
all of them. Blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us,
and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. And having spoiled
principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing
over them in it." So faith is not the result of man's free
will, beloved. It's an operation of God. It's
a gift of God. We're given that, and now we
see that. We didn't see it before. The will is bound to our nature,
and when our nature was dead, we had no idea who Christ was. But we're born again of the Holy
Spirit. We have a new nature. And faith is given to sinners
according to God's sovereign will. And I believe that now.
I didn't before. Now I do. I see it all through
Scripture. I don't just see a sovereignty
in Ephesians 1 where it's marvelously displayed. Beloved, I see it
everywhere. Do you? It's all over. He's absolutely
sovereign. He's a king supreme. He does
whatever he pleases, whenever he pleases, and he seeks no one's
counsel at all. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy."
And he had mercy on this poor blind man, didn't he? He had
mercy. No one else was showing mercy.
Oh, but Christ. Christ, the sinner's only hope. The only hope. He is the one
you must trust. He is the one who we who believe
trust, who we rest our eternal souls upon. Oh, if you don't
believe, may God grant you faith to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Gracious Heavenly Father, we come before thy throne. We
looked at today this blind man This blind man, blind from birth,
in darkness, couldn't do anything. But oh Lord Jesus, you came to
him. You sought him out. What a picture of what you've
done for we who believe. You sought us out. You gave us
light to see. You made the blind eyes see.
No one could help us. We couldn't help ourselves and
no one could help us, but you, who are the light of the world,
has given us sight to see. May we just marvel and praise
this week as we think upon the great things that you've done
for us. In Jesus' name, Amen.