Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the Gospel according to John 9. John 9. We continue going through this
blessed book. And I'm going to look at verses
13 to 17 this morning. We pray that our Lord might be
pleased to bless it to our hearts. Before we read, though, let's
ask our Lord's blessing. Our Father, we call on You and
ask You, have mercy. Lord, help us to worship. Bless
Your Word. Call out Your people. Comfort
Your saints. We ask these things for Christ's
sake. As we were going through this
particular passage of Scripture, this particular chapter has been
dealing with a man that was born blind. Now this man is a picture,
a type of every man, every woman born spiritually so. in Adam. And every one that the Lord Jesus
Christ has been pleased to spiritually heal. This particular instance
right here, it's not just history. You know that. It's not just
history if it's just history. What does it have for us? But
I want to know what is set forth Let me see the gospel in this
instance. Now this beggar, just like every
object of God's mercy, he wasn't looking for the Lord. The Lord himself crossed this
blind beggar's path sovereignly. This beggar had absolutely no
idea who spoke to him. Now, the means used by our Lord
concerning the healing of this blind beggar would seem to the
world to be repulsive. What happened was, the Lord came
to this man, and he spit on the ground. And he took that spit,
he picked it up, and there is just spit and dirt. And he picked it up, and he anointed
the eyes of this blind beggar. But as we considered last time,
is this not representative of the world's resentment to the
Lord's means of salvation in the calling out, in the awakening,
in the enlightening of His people? The preaching of the gospel.
Foolishness to the world. Repulsive to the world. You mean to tell me that you're
going to give man no honor, no glory, no praise in salvation? That's exactly what I mean. I'm
not going to give man one ounce of glory. Because he deserves
none. He has none. What am I going
to say concerning salvation and man's work and man's will and
man's obedience when the Scriptures sets forth that there's none
good that no man seeks after God? That from the sole of his
foot to the crown of his head, he's just putrefying sores, oozing,
not bound up and not anointed. Man at his best state is altogether
vanity. He doesn't have any honor. He's dead. He's blind. He's lost. Unless Almighty God
does something for a man or a woman, they're going to perish. Here's
the amazing thing, is that Almighty God in His infinite mercy and
grace has been pleased to show mercy. Now, according to His
Word, according to God's Word, He's going to show mercy and
compassion to whomsoever He will. And the world says, I don't like what you just said. I'm just a preacher. I preach
what God has to say. I proclaim His Word. I told somebody
one time, if I didn't proclaim it, is that going to change it?
No. Almighty God has a people. He's got an elect. He says He
does. And we would do well, Brother
Henry says, woe unto me if I don't preach the gospel. And woe unto
you if you don't believe it. Well, having obediently gone
after the Lord, took that spit and dirt and anointed his eyes. But I think to myself, oh, but
whose spit it was. who spit that He would anoint
me, that He would give me sight.
It's who spit it was. Somebody said, I just don't like
the way you talk. I pray God give you heart to
like it. This is what our Lord did. What
are we going to do? Reprimand Him for that, Carl? He told this man, he said, I
want you to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. The Scripture
says he went and he washed, just like the Lord told him to, and
he came seeing. Well, this man, after he had
received his sight, he was questioned by some of his neighbors concerning
where the Lord Jesus Christ was. I'm just bringing this up to
where we're going to start in verse 13 here. And he says, where is
He? And this was his answer. Verse 12. I know not. Where is he? I don't know. I
don't know. He spoke with all the light that
he had. He wasn't trying to embellish.
He wasn't even just honest. Where is he? I don't know where
he is. Well, let's look at verses 13
and 14. They brought to the Pharisees
him that aforetime was blind. And it was the Sabbath day when
Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. You know that a miracle
was performed. That was without question. So
therefore, who better to get to the bottom of this? Who better
than to give some understanding? This is a miracle. So let's go
to the religious folks. Let's go talk to the Pharisees.
These are the most religious people we know. So they brought
Him to the Pharisees. And I want you to notice something,
too, that the Scripture reveals that this miracle had been performed
on the Sabbath day while the Lord was in the temple. Our Lord performed many miracles
on the Sabbath day and therein. Have you ever wondered why it
mentioned how many times He performed miracles on the Sabbath day? that He was performing miracles
on the Sabbath day. He was setting forth Himself
who is our Sabbath day. He is our day of rest. We're healed spiritually by Him
who is God's servant. in whom we rest. You know, we talk about, well,
we rest on the Sabbath day. The Sabbath day is a picture,
it's a type of the Lord Jesus Christ in whom we rest from striving
and struggling, trying to establish righteousness before God ourselves. We rest in Him. We rest in God's
Sabbath. But this miracle also, I've noticed,
was performed while the Lord Jesus Christ was in the temple. Now, if we want to know the right
thing to do, I've often said this, notice what the Lord did. Notice what the disciples did.
Notice the habits of God's people. He was in the temple hearing
the Word of God read. It was concerning Himself. Let
me read something to you. In 1 Timothy 4.13, we looked
at this scripture here the other day. 1 Timothy, I'll just read it to
you, or you can turn to it. 1 Timothy 4.13 says, Till I come,
give attendance to reading. And I looked this up this morning. Reading personally, whether you
read for yourself, I would encourage you, start your day reading God's
Word. Start with what does God have
to say? before what anybody else has
to say, what does the Lord have to say? But not only reading
personally, but especially what we're doing right here. The reading
of Scripture. Just a few minutes after this
message right here, but Mitch, don't come. We're going to read
Scripture. The reading of Scripture. Vital,
vital to worship. Vital to worship. There's no
reading of Scripture Oh, how disrespectful we are to God's
Word. Give attendance to reading, to
exhortation, to the preaching of the gospel, to the proclamation
of what's being read. And to doctrine. To doctrine. To the truth about what's being
taught. If what I'm teaching is contrary
to Scripture. Shame on me. If what I'm teaching
is contrary to God's Word, it can't be. It can't be. If men
teach not according to this Word, according to this Gospel, they're
lying. They're lying. It must be according
to God's Word, God's doctrine, God's Christ. So here's a man,
and he was healed by the Lord. The Lord spit on the ground.
He took some dirt. He anointed his eyes. He told
him to go wash. And the man came seeing. They brought that man after he
was washed, brought him to the Pharisee. Where is he? I don't
know. I don't know. This man's physical healing is
a picture of our spiritual healing. But remember, it was done without
His works, without His will. It was accomplished by Christ
alone, who is our Sabbath, our rest. And that is, from any input
on our part, we are the recipients of the grace of God. Salvation
is all of grace. This fact. Set forth by our Lord
healing on the Sabbath day is what was so offensive to the
self-righteous Pharisees. Verse 15, back in John 9, Scripture
sets forth, Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received
his sight. He said unto them, He put clay
upon mine eyes, and I washed, And I do see. How did He do that? You notice that they didn't ask
who did it? How did He do that? How did He cause you to see? You ask a believer. How did He
do that? You know what they're going to
say? He opened my eyes. I see. Before, I didn't believe. Now I believe. There was a time
when I heard this gospel preached, and it offended me. It went against
my will. It went against my flesh. It
went against my glory. It went against my honor. It
told me that everything that I had ever done wasn't worth
anything. And that made me mad. I wanted a little glory. I wanted
a little honor. I wanted to be able to pat myself
on my back and just be able to express what I had done for the
Lord in the accomplishment of my salvation. But He opened my
eyes, gave me sight, and I heard. He gave me ears to hear. And
I realize that salvation was by grace. How did He do it? Not
who did it. How did He do it? Man by nature,
deliberately, closes his eyes against the truth. Nicodemus
asked the same thing. How can these things be? Man
must be born again. How? God's people walk by faith. They don't walk by sight, we
walk by faith. But this enlightened beggar,
he said just exactly what he knew. This is all he knew. He
put clay on my eyes and I washed, and I do see. God's people, by
the grace of God, they never deviate from the glory of God
in salvation by grace. They just don't deviate. How
did he do it? He put mud on my eyes. He put
clay on my eyes. He spit on the ground. He told
me to go wash. Here is that sinner's, that redeemed
object of God's mercy. Here is his safety against the
fiery darts of Satan. Stay on Christ's honor. You want to be safe? Stay on
the glory of Almighty God. You want to have comfort? You
want to have peace? Stay on God's honor. Stay on salvation by grace. Faith doesn't ask how. Faith
believes God. How? He saved me. He saved me. Taught me. Kept
me. If He had left it up to me, I would have perished. Can you
imagine what that beggar, how long would it have taken him
to open up his own eyes? He could have spit on the ground.
He could have made some clay. He might have had to feel around
for it for a minute, find it. If he'd have found it, what do
you think would have happened if he'd have anointed his own eyes? Nothing.
Nothing. I'm going to spit on the ground.
I'm going to anoint myself with the spittle and the dirt. I'm
going to put this clay on my eyes. I'm going to go wash in
the pool of Siloam. And I'm going to make myself
see." He said, no, you can't do that. I know. And I'll tell
you this, man can't regenerate himself either. Almighty God
crosses the path of His people. Those that He's everlastingly
loved. those that He has everlastingly known. And in time, He calls
them under the sound of the gospel, under this sound that is foolishness
to the world. This sound that is the blessed
gospel of God's honor, God's grace, God's purpose, God's will,
God's power. This gospel that gives no glory,
no confidence to man in himself. And the Spirit of God, according
to God's Word that Paul sent, Under the inspiration of God's
Spirit, he said, I'm not ashamed of this gospel. This is the power
of God in salvation. This is the message of salvation
by grace and power. Verse 16, then said some of the
Pharisees, this man is not of God because he keepeth not the
Sabbath day. Others said, how can a man that
is a sinner do these miracles? And there was a division among
them. Now we see what the Lord promised would happen when His
Word is preached. Division. Can two walk together
except they be agreed? That's Amos 3. Luke 12.51 says,
Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth, The Lord said, I tell you, nay. But rather, division. Those that
will not hear, will not bow, will not honor Him. Those that
will not hear the glory of God in salvation. I've said this
before, but it's so true. But Gary told me one day that
he had heard this. What's wrong with God getting
all the glory? All of it. Not him and me. Not the Lord
and I have a good thing going. No. Salvation. Let me speak of Him. Let me exalt
Him. And when Christ alone It's honor. When man is given no glory, I
mean when you tell a man, listen, you're not saved because you
walked down an aisle. You are not saved because you
exercised your free will. You are not saved because you,
by faith, decided to take hold of God's honor. That's works. That works no matter how you
look at it. We do believe God. We do come
to Him in heart. But that's the evidence of a
new man. That's the evidence of life given. It is not the source of life. It's the evidence of life. I just took a breath. I just
made myself alive. No, you didn't. You were alive. Therefore, you took a breath. I just looked. I just saw you.
I just looked and saw you. That means I gave myself sight.
No, it doesn't. You already had sight. Therefore,
you saw. You see, salvation is of grace. There was a division. He stood by what God Almighty
had done for him. Where is he? I don't know. How
did he do it? He spit on the ground. He put
some mud. Went and washed. I saw. This man can't be of God. How can any but God do this?
There was a division between them. Joshua 24, 15. And if it
seemed evil unto you, to serve the Lord, to bow to the Lord,
to honor Him. If it seemed evil to you to serve
the Lord, choose you this day whom you'll serve, whether the
gods, the little g-gods which your fathers served that were
on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites in
whose land we dwell, but as for me and my house, we will serve
the Lord. Oh, by the grace of God, A man
or woman has a heart that bows to Him, that honors Him, that
exalts Him. I'll tell you, in that day, when
we stand before God Almighty, who do you think is going to
have all the honor? Who do you think is going to have all the
glory? Who do you think will be the one that will be admitted
as being the only hope of salvation. Oh, the blessed resolve of one
that God has shown mercy to. And then this last verse for
this morning, verse 17, they say unto the blind man again,
What sayest thou of him that he hath opened thine eyes? And
he said, He is a prophet. Two things that I notice in closing
in this verse. Number one, the continual wiles
of the devil using these Pharisees as his mouthpiece, as the devil's
mouthpiece. They say unto the blind man again,
hoping maybe he'll make a mistake. Maybe he'll speak inconsistently
that they might find some error in what he said against the Lord
Jesus Christ. Men want there to be error in
what these Scriptures say. They'll stand and they'll say,
I'll tell you what, I believe that book from cover to cover. But for the grace of God, no
you don't. by the grace of God alone. In
regenerating grace, you do. They say they believe it, but
when the Scriptures are preached, and God is honored, all of a
sudden, they'll find out, you know, I didn't know that was
in there. But secondly, I see this. I see the mercy, and as
the old writers used to refer to it, the provenient grace of
God exhibited. in the Lord drawing this sinner
to himself. The beggar was asked, there again
in verse 10, How were thine eyes opened? He said in verse 11,
A man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes. In verse
17, they said, What sayest thou of him that he hath opened thine
eyes? And he said, He is a prophet.
Now let me tell you this, as of this point, according to these
Scriptures as best I can understand it, this man, it's very doubtful
at this point, that this man was actually regenerated by the
grace of God. I don't think he was. If you
turn over and just look with me, we'll just, Lord willing,
we'll look at these verses, 35 to 38. It says, Jesus heard that
they had cast him out, and when he had found him, he said unto
him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said,
Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? Then Jesus said
unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh
with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe.
And he worshipped him. Now this man, according to these
Scriptures, we look ahead and we see where the Lord is going
to call this... formerly blind beggar. He's going to call him out of
darkness, and we know. But at this point right here,
he does not know the Lord. He knows that he can see. He
knows that spittle was put on his eyes. He knows that he washed.
I don't know where he is. How did he do it? He put clay
on my eyes. I could see. They question Him. They question Him. Who is He?
He's a prophet. He's a prophet. So I know that
at this point, it's doubtful that this man had been called
out of darkness. But obviously, we behold something
of the miracle of God's grace in drawing this man to Christ. Here we behold grace before grace. The grace of God before the regenerating
grace of God. This man walked in as much light
as he had. And he confessed what he knew.
Where is he? I don't know. How did he do it? Put clay. I can see. Who is he? It's a prophet. It made me see. Did he know the
Lord in grace and power? Obviously, according to Scriptures,
he didn't. But when we behold the indescribable
mercy of God, to cause the objects of His mercy,
those that He shall, show mercy to in regenerating grace, and
how he draws them and gets them under the sound of the gospel.
This gospel is the power of God and salvation. That's scripture,
John 1, 16, 17. Therein, in this gospel, is the righteousness
of God revealed. But that Almighty God would draw
the objects of His mercy and cause them to be under the sound
of the gospel before He calls them out of darkness. That's
a miracle of God's grace, that God would cause those that He
shall regenerate, that He causes them. I don't know who the objects
of His mercy are. I don't know who they are. I
know that He has a sheep. I know that He has an elect.
He said He did. But this is what I know. If Almighty
God is going to call out one out of darkness, it's going to
be from under the gospel that honors Christ, that gives man
no honor. I know that. Therefore, we preach
the gospel and we pray, Lord, bless Your Word. Lord, comfort
Your people. Lord, call them out of darkness.
Lord, bring honor to Yourself. Save Your own. I know He's going
to do that. He said, if you ask anything
in My name, I'll do it. Freddie, I know that. I know
it's in His name. I know it's according to His
honor. I know He's going to save His people. Thy people shall
be willing in the day of His power. All that the Father has
given Me shall come to Me. I know the means. I know that. Lord, bless today. Lord, help
us today. I pray that God saves your kids.
I pray that God saves my kids, my grandkids. I pray that He
saves your spouse. I pray that He saves your family,
your neighbors. Lord, have mercy today for Christ's
sake.