Turn with me to the book of John,
chapter 9. John 9. This morning, Lord willing, I'd
like to begin in verse 31, and we'll plan to go through the
end of this chapter. I've entitled this message, Dost
Thou Believe? on the Son of God. There was a formerly blind beggar
that the Lord had opened his eyes. And he made an outstanding
statement to a group of Pharisees that had just continued to question
him concerning how was his eyes open? Are you sure you were really
blind? I know your mom and daddy said
you were, but this man that you say healed you, he's a lawbreaker. This formerly blind beggar said
this, verse 30, while herein is a marvelous thing. Here is
something that just completely transcends human comprehension. Here is something that should
be held in admiration. is a marvelous thing that ye
know not from whence he is, and yet he has opened my eyes." Now, the opening of that beggar's
eyes, now that was a marvelous thing. I mean, he knew he was
blind. His parents knew he was blind,
and really the Pharisees knew he was blind. They knew it. Everybody else that knew him
knew he was blind. But the thing that was to be
marveled at in his mind was that they didn't know or wouldn't
admit where he was from, the Lord Jesus. Here, a miracle had been openly
performed. Almighty God spit on the ground, but that
was His spit. Boy, what a precious thing. And
He made some mud and put it on His eyes, told Him to go and
wash in the pool of Siloam, and He came to see Him. He said,
this is a marvelous thing to me. This man made me see. And you say that you don't know
where he came from. Now, with that thought in mind,
I want us to consider three blessed truths about this miracle. And
then our Lord's answer concerning those that believed it, and those
that didn't believe Him. Here is the first blessed truth
out of this passage of Scripture. Here it is. That this beggar was, by the grace of God, able
to come to an honest conclusion. Honest. Verses 31 to 33. This beggar says, now we know
that God heareth not sinners. But if any man be a worshipper
of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. Now 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." Now here was an honest an honest answer. We know that God heareth not
sinners. Now, according to the Lord's
everlasting covenant of grace, we know that God does hear the
cry of a needy, helpless sinner, one that cries out for mercy
One that has been made to know his need of Christ. That was two men that went up
into the temple one day to pray. It was a publican and a Pharisee. It was a despised tax collector. And the other one was a self-righteous
Pharisee. And this publican, the Scripture
says, went into the temple to pray. And he would not lift up
so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying,
God, be merciful to me, a sinner." The Scripture says, the Lord
speaking, He says, I tell you, this man went down to his house
justified rather than the other. You know, that is a That is a
miracle of God's grace that God would break a man's heart, a
woman's heart, and give them a heart that truly would just
truly need Him. Lord, I'm not even worthy to
look up. I'm not even worthy to lift my
eyes toward Your heaven. Have mercy on me. If God Almighty brings a man
or woman to a point where they're broken, they're broken, oh, what
a place of mercy, grace, and compassion. So I know this. I know that it's
not the cry for mercy from a needy sinner that spoken of when he
said, We know that God heareth not sinners. But what this beggar
was doing, he was refuting what they had formerly said. They
had said over in verse 24, they said, Give God the praise. We
know that this man is a sinner. What they were saying is, We
know this. that God doesn't hear with regard
and act and move and respond to men that have not His honor
and glory as their heart. We know that
God does not hear sinners, those that speak with disrespect and
think that they can call down God's mercy or something by their
own ability. We know that God heareth not
sinners with regard to their will as opposed to here. That beggar was saying, I know,
we know. We know that God doesn't hear
or work through imposters, charlatans, blasphemers, liars, Only a true worshipper of God
does the will of God. Believes on Christ. We know that. Only a true worshipper of Almighty
God is heard by God for the sake and glory of His blessed Son
and enabled by faith to work the work of God. Remember that fellow that came
up Good Master, what must I do to work the works of God?" And
the Lord said, this is the work of God. This is the work of God. This is the work of God to you.
This is God's doing to you that you believe on Him whom God has
sent. That's the work of God that you
believe, that you trust. From the beginning of the world,
He said, there's been no miracle performed like this. Scriptures
don't bear that out. Scripture doesn't set forth.
We've never heard of that before, that there was ever one born
blind that was healed. He said, if this man were not
of God, he could do nothing. That's what Nicodemus said. We
know a man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be
with him. Now, I want you to notice something.
Here it is, here's an honest conclusion, honest, a God-wrought,
God-blessed-forever conclusion. This man now is now admitting,
he said, that this one right here is more than just a man. I want you to notice the progress. of what this man has said. In
verse 11, look at this, in John chapter 9, verse 11, he says, John 9, 11, concerning this fellow's
conclusion of who opened his eyes. He said, a man called Jesus
made clay. Who is this? A man named Jesus. Then at 17, he says, They said
unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him that he hath
opened thine eyes? He said, Well, he's a prophet.
This man is not just a man either. This man is a prophet. And now
he declares Christ to be a man of God. Proverbs 4.18. Let me just read this to you.
This is a beautiful passage of Scripture concerning God's mercy
and grace to teach His people. Proverbs 4.18 says, But the path
of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more
unto the perfect day. Think about what Almighty God
has graciously taught you. You that know Him. You that love
Him. You that believe Him. You've
never gone beyond Needing, trusting, casting yourself upon Him. You've
never gone beyond that. The way you receive Christ Jesus,
as you have received Christ Jesus, for walking in that way. How
did you receive Him? By faith. Needy. Helpless. Lord, I need You. You've never gone beyond that.
But by the grace of God, you've grown in wisdom and knowledge. Here's a marvelous thing that's
happening. Here is pervenient grace we've
talked about. Grace before grace. Here is the
Lord teaching this man something. As of yet, in a moment, we've
been talking about this for weeks. As of yet, this man is not a
believer. But the Lord is showing him something. He sees he's got a hunger. He's
got a desire. I want you to look next at the
mark. Now, there's an honest confession. Verse 30 and 31. He says, We know that God hears
not sinners, not with regard to them. No man dictates to God
what God does. God doesn't hear them with regard. But here's the mark of a blessed
man. Verse 34, They answered and said
unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost Thou teach
us?" And they cast him out. They excommunicated
him. You're out. Who do you think
you are? You are nothing more than a beggar. You don't know anything. You
ain't going to school. We're the teachers. We're the
Pharisees. We're the overseers of this flock.
We know what we're talking about. And here you are, born in sins,
and you teach us. Now, here's the mark of those
that Almighty God gives light to. In the arrogance of their
pride, the actions of the Pharisees. The actions of the Pharisees
showed or displayed or evidenced the mercy of Almighty God when
they cast Him out. They did what they wanted to
do. They cast Him out. But their actions evidenced that
Almighty God had shown mercy to that beggar. Hold your finger
there, John. Turn to Luke 6. Luke chapter
6. Now, if you want to know the
evidence of God's blessing, Luke 6, verse 22, 23. Luke 6, 22,
23. Blessed. Luke 6, 22. Blessed are you. Blessed of God. When men shall
hate you and when they shall separate you from their company,
and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil for the
son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap
for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the
like manner did their fathers unto the prophets." Now if you
want to know the evidence of the blessing of God, no believer
goes around looking for a fight. No believer goes around looking
for somebody to hate. I just want to find somebody
today, Mitch, that'll hate me. You know, I want people to like
me. I really do. You know, I don't
want to be unnecessarily repulsive. I don't. I don't. But I do know
this. There is one that I'm going to
give an account to and give an account to this morning to my
conscience before you. especially before Him. I know
this. I know that this Word is the
final Word. I know this Word is eternal.
I know that Almighty God is just and right. I know He's sovereign.
I know that He does as He will. I know that Almighty God is going
to save His own. I know that. I know the preaching
of the gospel is the power of God and salvation. And I know
this, by the grace of God, I cannot and shall not, by the grace of
God, compromise on this. I know this. I'm not going to,
for the sake of someone's company and acceptance of me, just say,
well, I'll just compromise on this truth. I cannot. Somebody
says, well, I'll tell you this and I'm not going to have anything
else to do with you. Well, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I hate that. I really do. And whenever somebody
leaves and says, I'm not going to hear that anymore, or you
get away from me, you're not welcome here anymore, I hate
that for their sake. But I know this, according to
this Word, blessed, blessed are ye when men revile you, persecute
you. Persecution and resentment, the
cause of the gospel we preach, is said by our Lord to be a mark
of His blessing, hatred, slander, reproach for
Christ's sake is a sign that Almighty God has given a heart
after Him. And the world's resentment and
the rage that is soon going to come whenever you take by God's
grace a stand, that rage is going to be silenced. In the day of
God's judgment, I'm telling you, John 15, 18 says, if the world
hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. Blessed,
Matthew 5, 11, are you when men shall revile you and persecute
you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely.
For my sake, rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward
in heaven, for so persecuted there the prophets which were
before you. As I said, no believer is looking
for a fight. But a believer is not by the
grace of God, only because he's kept by the power of God through
faith, believing God, ready to be revealed in the last day.
The only reason that he doesn't compromise is because God keeps
him. That's the only reason. That's
the only reason. Outside of that, he'd compromise
anything. Third, Here's the question of
eternal consequences. Back in John chapter 9, 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? How merciful is our Lord toward
his own. No sooner had the Pharisees cast
him out and the Lord found him. The eyes of the Lord was ever
on this beggar. Now you know that. You know that. You know by the grace of Almighty
God that Almighty God ever beholds His people, His elect. When our
Lord said, O the sheep, I have. which are not of this fold, and
them also I must bring." Do you think that He ever beheld them
in mercy, compassion? Sure He did. Sure He did. I've
loved you with an everlasting love. When Almighty God allowed
this man, this beggar, to go through what he did, and He allowed
him to be there. He allowed him to hear the ridicule. the slanderings
and the resentment toward him because of the God that this
man was going to see soon, now by faith, very soon. He saw Him. That beggar was walking in the
light that he had. And now, according to God's everlasting
covenant of grace, the Lord is going to give that man life. Does thou believe? Do you trust? With no merit of your own, do
you trust? Do you believe? Do you cast yourself
upon the Son of God? But for the grace of God, where
the Spirit of God would give a man or woman an understanding
of that statement. I mean, we can sit here and try
to say, well, how does a man How does he start to believe?
God gives him faith. And he believes Christ. He hears
His voice. You may say, well, I've never
heard that before. If the Lord gives a man eyes
to see, he's going to hear. He's going to hear in his very
soul. You believe on the Son of God. And he answered, verse 36, he
said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? You know, that's
just about what Saul of Tarsus said, wasn't it? Saul, Saul. Now, here's a voice,
just a bright light shining around Saul of Tarsus. Saul, Saul, why
persecutest thou me? Who are you? Who are you, Lord? Man, it's amazing how much a
person can know. Think about what this beggar
had said. Who is that? Well, he's a man. He's a man
called Jesus. No, he's a prophet. Now, I'll
tell you what, this man, unless he was of God, he couldn't do
these miracles. How much light can a sinner have
until God opens his eyes? He can have a lot. He can have
a lot. But I'm telling you, when Almighty
God gives life, everything else is cast away, and Christ is all
of his hope. That's when you know God gives
him a new heart. He knows a lot of things. He
can talk a lot of Scripture. He can say a lot of spiritual
things. Who is He, Lord, that I might
believe on Him? Jesus said unto him, verse 37,
Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee." Oh, the grace of God toward His
people. I know my sheep. They hear my voice. They follow
me. And the proof of this, verse 38, He said, I believe. And He worshipped
Him. I got to looking at that this
morning as I was going over these notes this morning. The Scripture
says He worshipped Him. God saw His worship. You know,
I've said before, this world, there's all kinds of outward
stuff that they attribute and call it worship. As I've said,
you know, I've seen people, they'll say, well, let's just praise
the Lord. And what that means is, you know, lift up your hands,
tilt your head back a little bit, close your eyes, you know,
and then, you know, maybe moving back and forth or something like
that. Worship. Play an organ. Play it softly
though. That's worship. No? Worship is in the heart. Worship is that adoration of
the heart, that need of the heart, that cry of a new regenerated
sinner, saved by the grace of God, that worships in spirit,
by the Spirit, internally, and truth. Truth. You cannot, you do not have worship,
true worship, apart from The truth of God wrought by God's
Spirit in the heart. He believed God. He worshiped. He bowed before Him. He said,
Lord, I believe. Philippians 1, 6 being confident
of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you
will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. That beggar,
formerly blind beggar, he was a scourge of society. But the Lord passed by and looked
on him in mercy, gave him physical eyes first, and then spiritual,
opened his heart. And in conclusion, finally, Here's
the Lord's answer to every man's desire or refusal of God's Lamb. This is the Lord's
conclusion. Now, here's the scenario. Here's
the scenario. Here was the Lord of glory. Here's
God. God Himself come in human flesh. Here's God Almighty. A sinner regenerated by the grace
of God. One that worshipped Him. One
that bowed. Bowed in heart. And then on the
other side, here's a group of religious, lost, arrogant Pharisees. Here's where we are. Now, what
has just happened? What happened? Verse 39, and here is the Lord's
conclusion of why He came into this world. And Jesus said for
judgment, I am coming to this world, that
they which see not might see, and that they which see might
be made blind. Now, here our Lord gives the
reason of His coming. He just said now, for judgment
am I come into this world. He gives God's reason for sending
him into this world. And the effect that this Word
that he brings is going to expose the difference in men for judgment. I'm come." That word judgment
there means to separate or to make known a decision. Now, if you understand, we've
talked about this before. If a judge sits on the bench, here's
the evidence, and he makes a judgment call, either for or against the
accused. He makes a judgment. A judgment. And he says, verse 39, for judgment. I'm coming to this world." Obviously,
we know this. The Lord has a people. We know
that from Scripture. A people that God's everlastingly
known and chosen. We know that. It's not up for debate whether
or not God elects a people. He says He did. It's not up for
debate whether or not God predestinates His own. unto the adoption of
sons?" We know that. It's not up for debate when Paul
says, we're bound to give thanks to you, brethren, beloved of
the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth.
That's not up for debate. We know that. But our Lord says,
I've come into this world for judgment, to set forth and to
make known that which Almighty God has decided on, for judgment,
for the separation, to make known a decision. He came to make known,
to evidence, to expose God's decision, God's purpose, God's
judgment concerning life eternal. He came into this world to make
known what Almighty God eternally purposed to do, to set forth
that Almighty God moves in power by His Spirit and that He does
not leave His own to Himself. All that the Father giveth me. How many, as we've said so many
times, how many of them are coming? All. All. that the Father has
given me shall come to me." The Lord says, for judgment, for
God's decision, for God's separation, I'm coming to this world. That
they which see not might see those that are in the darkness
of sin and unbelief and are made to see that they're blind in
themselves. That those that see not might see. You let Almighty God
move on the heart of one of His people. And I'm telling you,
they will be the first ones to say this. I admit, I was blind. Oh, I thought I saw, but I didn't
know. I trusted in myself. How many trusted in themselves?
I did. Baptized. Walked down the aisle twice. Rededication. I kind of slipped
a little bit. I'm going to rededicate my life.
Come down and get this thing. Let's get this thing back going
again. I'm going to turn over a new leaf. How many of those that
see not and thought that there was something that I was doing,
I was maintaining, that they might see? For judgment I'm coming
to this world. That they might see and they
would see. Think they see. Die thinking
they see. Die thinking that they If they
have that ability, I'd be made blind. And those Pharisees stood by
and they listened to what they said, what he was saying. In
verse 40 and 41, and some of the Pharisees which were with
him heard these words and said unto him, Are we blind also? Is that what
you're saying? Is that what you're getting at? Is that what you're insinuating?
And Jesus said unto them, if you were blind, you should have
no sin. But now you say, we see. Therefore, your sin remaineth. Here is the attitude of unbelief
and the exposure of that unbelief, sarcasm, against God. A believer will say, I recognize
by the grace of God that I did not see, and I must have Him
to see. An unbeliever says, I see. And what you say, Lord, concerning
your sovereignty and you're electing grace and you're choosing and
separating grace. I don't believe that. But I see. Don't tell me I don't see. Those
that truly see, trust only in Christ. Dost thou believe on the Son
of God? Do you believe that salvation
is all of grace? without any efforts or addition
on your part? If you do, God has given you
light and life. Do you believe on the Son of
God without any addition on your part? The Lord has called you
out of darkness. Lord, bless these words to our
heart for Christ's sake.