Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the gospel according to John 9. John 9. I'd like to read verses 24 and
25. And as we go and take this book verse by verse, John 9. Verse 24, 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 no, I know not. One thing I know, that whereas
I was blind, now I see. Our Father, we ask you this morning
to bless the Word. Blessed Lord, we ask all to the
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed to the comfort and salvation
of your people. For Christ's sake we ask these
things. Amen. There's been times that I've
watched TV and stuff like that, and I'd hear people on these
religious channels, and they would announce that they were
going to be having a miracle service coming up. As I've said
before, I said this here, how do you know? What makes you think
that God would, you know, I know that they're speaking foolishly,
but somehow in their minds, they feel as though that the Lord
is at their beck and call to be able to, you know, hit somebody
on the top of the head, they'll fall backwards. Got a couple
of guys back there to catch them always. And they're going to
lay there for a few minutes, and then they'll get up. And
then they're healed. They're healed. And somehow,
they think that by watching this so-called healing, that that's
going to give people life. That's going to give Those that
are healed and those that watch the healing. It's going to give
them life. Well, this Scripture that we've
been dealing with proves that that's not so. The Scripture sets forth that
there's one means, one means, that the Lord uses in the salvation
of His people. One thing. One thing. The preaching of the gospel.
That's it. There is no other means that
Almighty God is pleased to use. Paul said, I'm not ashamed. I'm not ashamed of the gospel. The gospel of God. It is the
power of God unto salvation. Well, here was a blind beggar, and he had been healed. The Lord had given him sight.
And this beggar was being questioned. I mean, he was being drilled
by these Pharisees as to how his sight was restored. And they did not want to know
that to honor the Lord Jesus Christ, but they wanted to discredit
Him. Now, these Pharisees, the Scripture
says that they are the ones that love the praises of men more
than the praises of God. And when they couldn't get very
far with that beggar, They called his parents in, and they were
trying to use the parents to get this fellow to buckle. And because the parents, the
scripture says, feared being excommunicated, they would not
have anything to do. with their son. They wouldn't
come to his defense. It's what they said. He's of
age. Ask him. Well, in verse 24, we just read,
Then again called they the man that was blind. Now obviously,
there was a court. They were having court. You know,
he'd come in. He'd give his testimony. And
then they obviously sent him out. They brought him back in. That's what he says. Then again
called the man that was blind, and he said unto him, Give God
the praise. We know that this man is a sinner. Now here was a group of arrogant,
self-righteous Jews. that had set themselves up as
judges before the one that they are
going to stand before. And unless the Lord gives them
a new heart, the books are going to be opened. Now this conversation
right here is going to come up again in the day of judgment. And the Lord Himself, the one
that they're railing on, the one that they're hating, is going
to cause them to have to confess He is Lord to the glory of God. But for right now, He's allowing
these men to do exactly what they want to do whenever the
Lord said of Pharaoh, the Lord hardened his heart. All the Lord
does is restrain his mercy. Let a man do what he wants to
do. Leave him alone. And I'm telling you, that man
will perish unless Almighty God Gives that man a new heart. Men will do exactly what they
want to do. You give God the praise. Now
this is what they said to him. You make confession to God Himself. And you say, this is what the
Pharisees were telling that healed beggar. You say in the presence
of God, that you trust Him only. Now, they're looking in human
flesh, they're looking at God. They're seeing the Lord of glory. Here's the Lord Jesus Christ,
the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And He had taken some spit. And what they said was, this
man that spit on the ground, this man that made some mud out
of spit and dirt, this man that claims to have healed you in a disgusting
manner, this man can be nothing more than an imposter This man
is a sinner. And we want you to tell God that
very thing. You tell God that the man that
claims to have healed you is what we said he is. You give God the praise. Can
you imagine the pressure that they were trying to put this
fellow under? This is what all false religion
does. Now, here's an amazing thing.
This is what false religion says. It's our way or it's hell. And someone says, yeah, but Marvin,
you say the same thing. And you know what I say? You're
right. You're right. Now, somebody is
not right. Somebody's wrong. Either salvation, I put in the
bulletin today, these four stubborn statements, I got that from Brother
Scott. A lot of times, people will ask you, what do you guys
believe? What do y'all believe? I mean,
what do you believe about salvation? What do you believe about this?
And I was reading over those four stubborn statements again.
And I thought, you know what? This is what we believe. Everything
that we believe, if we cannot back it up with the Scriptures,
then we have no basis. You give God the glory. Only
God could do. a thing like this. Now, there's
none so blind as those that will not see. Here's an amazing thing. Nothing could be more obvious
than a miracle had taken place. And nothing can be more spiritually
obvious Then that Almighty God gives men and women new sight,
true sight, true hearing. But unless the Lord gives a heart
for a man or woman to see that and believe that, they don't
see it. The miracle of God's grace is
that men and women give God the honor. There's the sign. There's the evidence. They give
God all the honor, and they take none of it to themselves. None. None. Ask yourself this. Here's your question. Do you
believe that the Lord has saved you? If you do, how did He save you? Now, I'll tell you this. If there's
anything in your answer It has to do with something you did.
If there is anything in your answer that pertains to something
that you accomplished, that you exercised, that you did, then God has not saved you. He
has not saved you. Salvation is all of grace. Unless the Lord gives eyes and
ears to hear, men are blind. And they have one desire, to
ridicule, to mock and discredit the Lord of glory. To discredit
God's sovereign right to do what He will with His own. Here's
the bottom line. Salvation is of the Lord. Totally of the Lord. With no
help on man's part. And then God Almighty tells you
about it. And you believe. You believe. Listen to this. John 3.36. He
that believeth on the Son. Now let me tell you what that
means. That means that you believe that salvation is by Almighty
God everlastingly purposing to show mercy and compassion to
whomsoever He would. Now, we've got God's Word on
that. We have the Word of God. I will have mercy on whom I'll
have mercy. So here's the question. Is God's
choice distinguishing? Yes. Don't argue. Don't argue against
that. Because you're arguing against
the sovereign. You're arguing against God. I
didn't say that. Well, I did, but I didn't come
up with it. I'm just a voice. Here's salvation. God purposed
to save a people. He gave those to His Son, the
surety. The surety came into this world
as God's servant. and lived far and died far according
to the Scriptures. Those that the Father had given
Him. He said, I lay down my life for the sheep. He ascended into heaven, interceding
for His people. Salvation is all of grace and
it's in Christ. Now, when He says, He that believeth
on the Son, that's what He's talking about. For someone to say, I believe
on the Son, I believe that God offered salvation to me and I
accepted it, and I believe that Jesus died for everybody's sins,
and when I make that free will decision, then therefore that
decision was what made salvation effectual to me. That's salvation
by works, your works. No, that's not salvation. Believing
on the Son means that God chose, God performs, God calls, God
keeps, God reveals. Salvation is of the Son. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall
not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. These Pharisees said, we know
that this man is a sinner. He is a sinner. We are learned
men. We are preachers. We know what is best. We recognize
a liar and a sinner when we see one, and this man is a sinner. This man is nothing but a violator
of God's Sabbath day, and he has no respect for God. They couldn't deny that the blind
beggar could now see. They couldn't deny, since the
parents confirmed that he was their son, that he was born blind. They couldn't deny that a miracle
had taken place. But what they wanted to know
now was this. Is this beggar right here, is
he going to say that the Lord Jesus lied that he was a sinner,
are you going to say that this man is nothing but a sinner? You give God the praise for that.
Give God the glory. Speak the truth. Appeal to Him
to forgive you for the dishonor that you have bestowed upon God
Almighty. You have been disrespectful to
God. This violator of God's law. We're
standing up for Him. God's going to get you. This man, verse 25, he answered,
he said, whether he be a sinner or no, I know not. One thing I know, that whereas
I was blind, now I see. You talk about the provenient
grace of God. I've said before, grace before
grace. Grace that draws a man, draws a woman to cross paths
with the Lord of glory. It is by the grace of God that
anybody ever hears the gospel. It is by the grace of God that
anybody ever cross paths with a preacher of the gospel. It
is by the grace of God that you or anybody else ever heard the
truth. There are untold numbers that
never hear the truth. But that Almighty God would give
anyone that time, that place, that privilege to hear the gospel. Grace. Oh, the grace of God. This man crossed paths with the
Lord. Do you remember when the Lord
first came in contact with this man? Remember verse 1, chapter
9? As Jesus passed by, he saw a
man that was blind from his birth. That the Lord of glory would
cause you to sit under the gospel. You that know Him in regenerating
power and grace, we will never thank Him enough. Right now,
we see through a glass darkly and we thank Him, but oh, how
miserably we thank Him. How embarrassed we are that we
don't thank Him as we ought. Here was a man that God directed
and kept It was teaching. And I know, I've already looked
at it, verses 35 to 38. You can see there where the Lord
is going to actually, He's going to reveal Himself to this beggar
right here. And He's going to call this beggar
out. Scripture bears that out. It says He believed. He believed
on the Son of God. Jesus answered, Thus thou believest. on the Son of God. Who is He,
Lord, that I might believe on Him? Jesus says in the hymn,
Thou hast both seen Him, it is He that talketh with thee. And
he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped Him. I know
that the Lord is going to call this man out of darkness, but
as of this moment right here in verse 25, he doesn't know
the Lord. He does not. He actually said,
whether he be a sinner or not, I don't know. I don't know. This
is the only thing I know. One thing I know. I know that
I was blind, and now I know I see. That's the one thing that I know. Oh, how those words ring true,
spiritually, for a regenerated saint. For a son of Adam born
in sin, blindness, unbelief, what do you know? Well, I know
this. I know there's a lot of things
in Scriptures that I don't fully understand. I know that. I don't
understand as I shall. I don't understand. I cannot
enter into the fullness of the trinity. I know that three persons, Father,
Son, and Spirit, and there's one God. I know this. I know that the fullness of the
Godhead of Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit, the fullness of the
Godhead bodily rests in Christ. I know that the Scripture sets
forth that God chose and put all of His elect in Christ from
before the foundation of the world. And they've always been
right there and they've never been anywhere but there. I know
that. I know this. I know by faith
that when He came into this world, that mysteriously, wonderfully
mysteriously, that all of God's sheep were in Him. I know when He went to the cross,
I know that we died in Him. I know that. I know that. Paul says, I was crucified with
Him. I know that when He was buried,
we were buried with Him because we've always been in Him. Raised
with Him, ascended with Him, and seated with Him right now
in the heavenlies. Glorified with Him. God is eternal. Everything with
God is right now. There's nothing future with God.
It's all now. And I can't understand it. I
can't enter into the fullness of that. But I know it's true. I see through a glass darkly.
So I know this. I know that there's a lot of
things that I don't understand. that I can't articulate. I don't
know how the Spirit of God blesses these things to our hearts and
we see by faith. I know this one thing for sure
though. I know that once I was blind,
I know that I was lost. I know that I was without God
and I know that I was without hope. I know that I didn't have
any desire for life in Christ. I didn't care. I know that. I didn't care. I didn't care
about Him. I didn't care about His Word.
I didn't care about His glory. I didn't care about salvation. I didn't care about anything
but myself. It's like that thief on the cross.
He was hanging there and he was railing on the Lord just like
the other one was, and then the Scripture never gives any other
explanation but this. But he looked at the Lord and
he said, Lord, when you enter into your kingdom,
would you remember me? Lord, would you remember me? Lord, when you enter into your
glory, when you're ascended up, He knew. He knew who that was. And the Lord told Him, He said,
today you're going to be with Me in paradise. God's people know they're going
to be with the Lord. They know that. I know that the Lord of glory
crossed my path with the gospel of free grace. I know that He
lifted me up out of the dunghill of self-righteousness. I know
that before I was blind. I know that I trusted in my own
will and my own righteousness and my own decision. But I know
this, I don't anymore. Once I was blind, but now I see.
He has revealed to me, this is the one thing I know, He has
revealed to me that He delivered me from the curse of the law
being made a curse for me at Calvary. I know that through
the Psalms, that when He speaks of His crucifixion, He speaks
of His iniquities. And I know that He knew no sin.
I know that He was made sin for me, and I cannot enter into the
depth of it. As I said last week, I don't
even know what sin is. I don't even know what it is.
I can't explain it. But I do know this, God Almighty
judged it in His Son for His people. I know that. I know this, He has robed me. If I believe Him, And by the grace of God, I do
believe Him. I know that He has robed me in
His perfect righteousness, and I stand in Christ, uncondemned. I know this. I know that this
body is going to die. This is the way of all men. I
know that I shall be, unless He comes back, I'm going to be
laid in the ground, but I believe this, I'm going to be raised
in the resurrection, in glory. I believe that these eyes right
here, that's what Job says, these eyes, I'm going to see Him. That
these eyes are going to be changed. This body is going to be changed.
When the Lord came out of the ground and they saw Him, then
His resurrected, glorious body And they saw Him. They saw Him. This body is going
to be changed. How is it going to be changed?
Paul said, under the inspiration of God's Spirit, this corruption
is going to put on incorruption. This mortal is going to put on
immortality. This is a marvelous thing. God is going to change this body. I know that. They say, how is
it going to be? I don't know. I don't know. But I believe God. This is one
thing I know. Here's one thing I know. I'm
a struggling sinner, saved by the grace of God. I've got an
old nature in me that wars against the law of my mind, my new mind. I know I've got an old man and
a new man. I know the way I was born, that old nature I was born
with, I still got it. And it gives me trouble all the
time, Carla. I have a battle going on in me
right now. I know this. I know Christ is
all and in all. I know that He is all in regeneration.
I know that as many as received Him, To them gave He power to
become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.
I know that He is all in righteousness and sanctification. It says,
But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. I know that He
is all. For my acceptance before God,
He is my everything. He is my all in all. Paul said
to Timothy, for the witch cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless,
I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am
persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day." You give God the glory. You give God the praise. This
man is a sinner. Whether he is a sinner or not,
I don't know. This is one thing I know. One
thing that I'm assured of. I was blind, now I can see. I
know that. It's one thing that a believer
knows. He knows that before, he was dead. He trespasses and
says he knows that. But right now, God's given him
light. And he sees, though he sees through
that glass darkly, I know that, though he knows in part, We preach
and we prophesy in part. As I said, I don't understand
everything. I can't explain everything. But
I can believe God. Give me a heart to believe God.
One thing I know. I was dead and I'm alive. I was
blind and I can see. I was deaf and I can hear. I
was lame and I walk in Him. Walking in His Spirit. Lord bless these words to our
heart and help us, help us for Christ's sake. Amen.