Well, it's good to see you all out tonight. Surprised you could all make it out. I appreciate it. As I said, Flora and Steve got the flu, so remember them in your prayers. I see Flora stepped forward. Remember the others who requested prayer also.

Sunday is the Lord's table and the last Sunday of the month, but stick close to your phone to see what this weather's going to do. And I'll let you know one way or the other whether we're going to have services. Hopefully, you'll miss us and we'll be able to have services. We'll see.

Let's begin our worship service tonight with hymn number 256, Well With My Soul.

When peace, my Forgiver, continues my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll,
Whatever, my Lord, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

It is well with my soul.
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Nothing new trials should come.
is well.
with my soul.
It is well, it is well with my soul.

I send all the bliss of this glorious thought.
praise the lord with my soul.
It is well, it is well with my soul.

And Lord, each the day in my face shall be my soul in my soul.
It is well, it is well with my soul.
from my inside Saved from wrath, they made me pure.
Could my tears forever flow?
Could my seal of anger know?
These four sins could not atone.
Thou art saved when Thou art alone
In my hand, O Christ, I bring
Saving to Thy cross I cling
While I draw near to Thee in prayer
I shall close in death when I rise to worlds unknown and behold Thee on Thy throne.
Rock of Ages, light for me, let me hide myself in Thee.

Turn in your Bibles to John chapter 9, Mary verses 13 through 34. Verse 13, they brought to the Pharisees him that was a four-time blind. And it was the seventh day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. Then again, the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. And he said of them, he put clay on my eyes and I washed and do see.

Therefore said some of the Pharisees, this man is not of God because he keeps not the Sabbath day. Others said, how can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? There was a division among them. And they said to the blind man again, what sayest thou of him? And he, that he opened that eyes. He said, he's a prophet.

But the Jews did not believe concerning him that he had been blind and received his sight until they called the parents of him that had received his sight. And they asked them saying, is this your son who you say was born blind? How then does he now see? His parents answered him and said, we know that this is our son, and that he was born blind. But by what means he now seeth, we know not. Or who hath opened his eyes, we know not. He is of age, ask him. He shall speak for himself.

These words his parents said his parents because they feared the Jews. Well, the Jews had agreed already that if any man should confess that he was the Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. Therefore said his parents unto him, He is of age, ask him. Then again called they the man that was blind, 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 not, I know not. One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see. Then said they unto him, What did he do to thee? How opened he thine eyes? And he answered, I have told you already, and ye did not hear. Already, and ye did not hear. Wherefore would ye hear it again? Would ye also be his disciples? Then they reviled him and said, that weren't his disciple. Would we be Moses' disciple? We know that God spoke to Moses. As for this fellow, we know not from whence he is.

And the man answered and said, why, herein is a marvelous thing, that you know not from whence he is, and yet he's opened mine eyes. Now, we know that God is not a sinner, but if any man be a worshiper of God and doeth his will, him he heareth. Since the world began, was it not heard that a 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.

Let us pray. Our Father, we are thankful for your word, for the glory of it, for what it teaches us. We are thankful that it is indeed a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path, the entrance of which gives understanding to the simple. We know that what we have of Thee and what we understand of Thee is simply because You have given us faith to understand and appreciate Your Word. Help us tonight as we look at Your Word to see the glories of our Lord Jesus Christ and the amazing testimony of this man who received sight, as he pictures all who have brought to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, having received the mercy and grace of God. We pray for those who are sick, remember His best glory, Stephen, as they're suffering with his flu, we ask you to be with them. We continue to pray for Wayne, Lord, we ask you to continue to be with him. For the others who are struggling with whatever thing, we ask, Lord, you to be with them also. Help us as a congregation to remember to pray for each other. Call each other's name out to heaven. We ask for tonight, Father, if we look at your word, you might enable me to declare the glories of your grace. Hold me up that I might speak right things concerning thee. Help us all to hear and to believe. We pray in Christ's name, amen.

Now, if you're reading along with me or listening to what's being read, One of the most glorious passages in all of Scripture which sets so many things forward. Our Lord had performed a great amount of miracles. He was hated and despised by the Pharisees. They had put a warrant out for his arrest. They wanted to kill him. Anybody who confessed to him, they were throwing out of the synagogue.

Our Lord had done some wondrous things and yet those things were so wonderful that even the Pharisees couldn't quite deal with it because a man that could do these things to say that he was not of God put them in an awkward position because nobody could do God be with them. Nicodemus understood that. When he came to the Lord by night in John chapter 2, he said we know. We know thou art a man come from God because no man could do these things except the Lord be with him. We know. Of course, our Lord said you don't know anything because you're not born again. But he said his response to the fact that Christ had done miracles was that he must be from God. must be a prophet or something that was sent from God.

Now this was the dilemma that the Pharisees faced. Our Lord had turned water into wine. He had made a lame man walk. He had fed 5,000 with a few morsels of bread and fish. And He had made this man who was born blind to see again. And how do you deal with that? How do you deal with that? That was the issue of the Pharisees.

Now what the neighbors did, they brought him to the Pharisees. They had told him about the Lord Jesus Christ and this man Jesus had made clay of his spindle and put it on his eyes and said go wash in the pool of Siloam and receive thy sight and it happened and that's what he confessed to his neighbors and his neighbors immediately brought him to the Pharisees in verse 13. It says they brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind.

Now why they brought him to the Pharisees is not known. They might have brought him to the Pharisees to see if they would validate what the Lord Jesus Christ had done. They might have brought him to the Pharisees because there was a warrant out for his arrest. I don't know why they did, but they did. They brought him to the Pharisees. I know sometimes that's what people do. Call the preachers. Call the religious folks. Let's bring him to the religious folks. Get some idea of what's going on with this miracle.

But it also, we understand somewhat of why they brought him in verse 14. It says, And it was the Sabbath when the Lord had made the clay and opened this man's eyes. I don't know whether this was the message they carried with them, but it was the Sabbath and this means something. Because these Pharisees, according to their own testimony, they lived by the law. According to the Lord's testimony, they didn't keep the law. They just put it, put the constraints upon other people to keep the law. That's what Paul dealt with in Galatians. He says they, to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain others to be circumcised, and they themselves don't keep the law. But they were people who wanted you to keep the law. That was their ministry. That's what they, that's what they wanted to do.

But the fact is, if you keep the law, you can't serve God. You can't live for the Lord. Look at Galatians. Galatians 2, verse 19. Paul makes it clear that For I, through the law, am dead to the law. That is, the law has been so satisfied by Christ that the law has no way to accuse me of anything. So the law says he must go free. I'm dead to the law, but most people forget this last part of this person. I'm dead to the law that I might live unto God, which is saying you can't live unto God unless you're dead to the law. That's just the fact. So those people who would put the believer back under the law, they're not living under God. And they're making sure that nobody else does either.

But the fact is that these Pharisees, they said, we keep the law. So Galatians makes it clear that they weren't living under God, though they were saying, we are God's men. We are God's people. So verse 15, it says, again, the Pharisees also ask him. already questioned him, asked him how he received sight, and he said of them, he put clay on my eyes and I've lost and I didn't see. He didn't name the Lord Jesus Christ. He did to his neighbors, but he didn't to the Pharisees. And therefore, since some of the Pharisees about the Lord Jesus Christ. This man is not of God.

Now what has our Lord been doing since He began talking to the Pharisees way back when, early on in the book of John? All He's been doing from John chapter 3 when He talked to Nicodemus all the way through to this place, He's been declaring Himself to be the Son of God. He's declaring himself to be a very God, and the one whom God had sent into this world to do the works of God, which according to this, one of the works was to make this blind man see because he was ordained to be blind before the world began. This man is not a God, they said in verse 16, because he keepeth not the savage. This is their issue. All the wondrous things he's done. This man was blind from birth and has never been heard of such a thing that a man that's blind from birth could be made to see. Never such a thing been heard of. They were there. They knew of this man. Perhaps they had come into the temple or into the synagogue and there he sat with his hand outstretched. A blind man. Maybe they had even dropped arms into his hand to make themselves feel self-righteous because they did it publicly. They didn't do it privately as the Lord said to do in Matthew chapter 7. But they knew this man. And they knew what Christ had done for them. And their word was this. He didn't keep the Sabbath. He didn't keep the Sabbath day. Well that was how they judged whether he should be killed or not. this man is not of God because he was not a Sabbath.

Now some people, some of the Pharisees and some of the Jews had a little differing opinion on that. They said, how can a man that is a sinner, that is anyone who's not a Pharisee and not a Jew, how can a man who is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among, because of them. Well, that's, that's not been the first time that's happened. I believe it's in chapter six. Verse 14, it says, then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, this is the truth of that prophet that should come from God. There was a division over them about who the Lord Jesus Christ was, when they asked this man again.

Now, I was kind of interested in the fact that there was a division among the Jews and the Pharisees, and they asked this man, the one who received disciples. What's your opinion on the matter? We already know pretty much what he thinks. But they ask him anyway, in verse 17, they sent him to the blind man again. What do you say that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, what do you say of him? He said, he's a prophet. And what he was saying, he's that prophet. He's that prophet, that prophet promised back in Deuteronomy chapter 18.

Now when he said that, these fellows knew that passage because they looked at that passage to teach them that the Messiah was going to come. This is very important, back in Deuteronomy chapter 18 and verse 18. It says, I will raise them up a prophet, capital P, From among them, in verse 18, among their brethren, likened to them, he was a man who was God, and will put my words in his mouth. The Lord said, I say what the Lord tells me to say. All that I shall command him, and it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which he shall speak in my name, I will require of him.

" Now, they had spent a great amount of time listening to Christ speak. So when he said, that prophet, and that's what it says in the original, he's that prophet in Deuteronomy 18, they hadn't heard the words of Christ. They refused to hear the words of Christ. So this statement was a condemnation to them from this blind man.

Who was he? He ain't no student of theology. He ain't a member of the Sanhedrin. He ain't been to the prophet's school. He's not supposed to know anything. He knows the word of God. He knows the word of God.

John chapter 6 and verse 14 says, I just read about it. He said he's that prophet. He's that prophet. But the Jews, it says in verse 18, did not believe concerning him that he had been blind. They said, I'm not sure that he had been blind. Maybe this was a fraudulent attempt. Maybe he's been faking it all these years just to get money. That's what they're saying.

But the Jews did not believe concerning him that he had been blind and received his sight until they called his parents, the parents of him that had received his sight. Now they called his parents. You imagine that. They must have thought he'd been a really good actor because he's been blind since birth, he's a grown man now, and he's been outside the temple begging all these years, and they say, well, we're not really sure he was blind. What they're really saying is we don't believe Jesus Christ made him see. That's what they're really saying.

So they went to his parents and his parents answered kind of vaguely. And the reason was because they feared the Jews. They was afraid of the Jews. Afraid of the Pharisees.

Verse 20. Verse 19, they asked the parents, say, is this your son who you say was born blind? Whom you say was born blind? How then does he now see? His parents said, we know that this is our son, and we know that he was born blind. But by what means he now seeth, we know not, or by who hath opened his eyes, we know not. He's grown up. Ask him yourself. He'll tell you, ask him yourself.

These are words of faith of parents because they feared the Jews. The way they answered this, they got themselves out of the picture. Don't ask us, ask him.

But so because they feared the Jews, because the Jews had already agreed among themselves that this has not been spoken of to this point. This was agreement that was made and not recorded by the Lord Jesus Christ until this point. That anybody who said they believed on Jesus, and we know that many did believe on him. Already, many had believed on Him. Anybody who said they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ would be cast out of the synagogue. Excommunicated. They wouldn't be welcomed in God's house. They couldn't worship God anymore.

Therefore, his parents had said it this way. He's of age, as Kim in verse 23.

Then in verse 24, then again, They called him that was blind and said unto him, give God the praise. Give God the praise. We know that this man is a sinner. We know that Jesus is a sinner. That means though he was a Jew, and he was an outcast, and he was a sinner, therefore he couldn't do those things that he was doing as an act from God. Must be some other spirit, some other vile creature making him do these things.

Give God the praise. I thought of that man who sat outside the temple at the gate, beautiful, who was lame all his life. And Peter and James and John went into the temple, and the old man was holding out his hand for alms for silver or gold. Peter said, silver and gold have I none, but what I have I give unto thee in the name of Jesus Christ, take up thy bed and walk. Well, he did. He took up his bed and he began to leap like an arch and ran into the temple and was leaping and shouting and rejoicing that he could walk after he'd been lame all his life.

And he had a great opportunity there, this man did, to tell them and get on their side. He could have said, God be praised. They said, how is it that you're walking? He could have said, God did it. I'm so glad God did it. And everybody would have patted him on the back. But he didn't say that. He said, Jesus of Nazareth has made me whole. And it cost him everything.

But that was the difference. This is what they're saying. Jesus Christ says he's God. We say he's not God. Give God the praise for making you to see again. Give God the praise. Because we know this man couldn't have done it, basically what they're saying.

And he answered and said, well, I know what you say. I know what you believe. Whether he be a sinner or no, I don't know. That's what you're saying about him. But I know one thing. I know one thing. Oh, if we only knew one thing, this could be our testimony. This one thing, this one thing I know, whereas I was blind, I now see. I know that. You can say what you want to about him, and I don't know who he is. And he doesn't know who he is yet. He just knows his name, but he doesn't know who he is. And he said, I know this. He did something for me. And this is the testimony of this man throughout his, the record of him here is what God has done for me, what God has done for me.

And then he said to them, what did he do to thee? How did he open your eyes? Ask this again. Why does somebody keep asking the same question over and over again? Well, it's an interrogation trick. It's a way to get somebody to answer differently, somewhere along the line, then get to say they were caught in a lie. But this man's saying the same thing over and over again.

What did he do to thee? How did he open his eyes? Verse 26, and he answered, I told you already. I told you already. And then he gets sarcastic. He's had about enough of this mess. He answered and said, I told you already, he did not hear. Wherefore would you hear it again? Would you be his disciples if I told you one more time? That's what he said. If I told you one more time how he made me see again, would you become his disciples? And of course, that just tore them up. He said that they reviled him, and what that means, They slandered him. They called him all sorts of names. They discounted him and disowned him and just run him down. They reviled him and said, thou art his disciple. This is how they reviled him. Well, you believe in him, don't you? You're one of his disciples. He said, well, we're not. Doesn't it sound kind of like an argument between two kids in a third grade recess? You're His disciples, but we're not. We're not His disciples.

They reviled Him. Thou art His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples. They didn't say we're a child of God. They didn't say we believe in God. They say we're Moses' disciples. Why? Because the law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by the Lord Jesus Christ, according to the words of the Lord Himself. Will you hear it again? Will you hear it again? And they said, we know that God spake unto Moses, but as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is.

But look at where you find the italics here. Remember, the italics were added by the translator, supposedly, of our understanding. And it does, because it makes more sense than the sentence in the English language. But this is the way it would read. We know that God spake unto Moses, This, this we know not from whence it came. That's what they called it, the this. This, this thing.

Then the man answered. Here he goes being sarcastic again. He said, fellas, this is a marvelous thing. Herein is a marvelous thing that you don't know from where he is. And yet he opened my eyes. It's an amazing thing. Amazing thing. And then he says this, you called him a sinner, saying he was a sinner, which meant to you that he was not of God and couldn't do those things because he was a sinner. He must be of another spirit. But he says, now we know that God here is 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? This is really a marvelous thing. If this man were not of God, He couldn't have done anything. He couldn't have done what he did. He couldn't have spit on the ground and made clay out of his fiddle with the mud and put them on my eyes and told me to go dip in the pool of Siloam. And I came out as a blind man born from birth. I came out seeing. He couldn't have done that if it wasn't for God.

Now this is the testimony. This is what he did for me. And their answer was this. They answered and said, if thou art altogether born in sins, altogether. They weren't talking about what we know to be the doctrine of original sin, where Adam's sin was imputed to all his people. He wasn't saying that. They're saying, you are a filthy lying wretch, is what they're saying. You're a sinner. You're born altogether. And you'll see nothing you say is of value whatsoever. that value whatsoever. Thou was all together born in sin, and dost thou teach us? You can almost hear the pride of their ladies. Dost thou teach us? They wouldn't hear the Lord Jesus Christ. He had told them the truth. And they wouldn't hear this man. He had told them the truth also of what Jesus Christ had done for him, and they would not hear it.

But you see, those who are under the law, and love to say they live by the law, can't stand the truth. The truth kills them, because the truth is a person named the Lord Jesus Christ. I am the way, the truth, and the life. They believe in Moses. Well, the law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the truth. Our Lord has already confronted them with this fact. Back in chapter 8, in verse 45, He said to the same people, because I tell you the truth, you believe me not. Because I tell you the truth, you believe me not. Then in verse 47, he that is of God, heareth God's words, ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. He's talking to the same outfit. to the same people. You're going to teach us. You know who we are. You're a sinner and a liar. And you're going to teach us. They're full of pride, full of hubris.

Our Lord said something about people like that. over in Isaiah chapter 65. This is what they're saying to this dog. You're a sinner, all together, but we're not. We're not. In Isaiah chapter 65 in verse 5 it says this, which say, which say, speaking of people, which stand by thyself. Come not near to me, for I am holier than thou. The Lord says, these are smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all day long. The Lord said, such language makes my eyes water.

Then our Lord in the parable of the publican and the Pharisee in the temple in Luke chapter 18, he described the Pharisees and their pride this way. Luke chapter 18 in verse 9, it said, He spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. That's pretty much the picture of what's going on. They didn't want to hear the Lord, they didn't want to hear this man, so they cast him out. They cast him out.

Over in Acts chapter 7, Stephen The first man martyred for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ was preaching the gospel to these people who would pick it up and stuff it, and were going to kill him. And this is how they reacted to the truth. Now, he told them the truth. You can read Acts chapter 7, read what Stephen said, and it was the truth.

Here's how they reacted to it. In verse 57, Acts chapter 7, it says, they cried with a loud voice and stopped their ears. They put their fingers in their ears and ran upon him with one accord and cast him out of the city and stoned him to death. Stoned him to death. They stopped up their ears. That's what kids do. You ever seen them do that? I've done that. I don't want to hear it. Stop, I don't want to hear it. That's what they say.

You're altogether a sinner. The result of that was, and he is, that they cast him out. Why? Why were they casting out people if they confessed that Jesus Christ was Lord?

These fellas were looking for the Messiah, so they said. But they believed that the Messiah was going to come as a political reformer and change the structure of the politics of Israel being under the power of Rome. And deliver them from the power of Rome and perhaps even destroy the Roman people. This is what they believe about Poseidon. They believe he's going to come and redo Israel. But that's not why Jesus Christ came. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. Paul said, of whom I am chief.

This man was cast out. But as we'll see next time, somebody found him.

Son of mighty God. Father bless us to understand and pray for us. Amen. God bless you.