I want you to take your Bibles
and turn with me to the gospel according to John 9. John 9. I'd like to read verses 1 to
5. We continue going through this precious account under the
direction of God's Spirit. John 9, verses 1 to 5. 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? And Jesus answered, Neither hath
this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God should
be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him
that sent me while it is day. The night cometh when no man
can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of
the world." As we continue with this blessed
account of our Lord's earthly ministry, and realizing that
these words Here's the voice of the Savior blessing these
words to our hearts. These words are alive. They're
real. God speaks. Our Lord, back in
chapter 8, verse 59, had been speaking to a group that opposed
Him. In verse 59 it says, Then took they up stones to cast at
him, but Jesus hid himself, went out of the temple, going through
the midst of them, and so passed by. And in the next verse, chapter
9, it says, And as he passed by, as he was going, as he was
continuing to walk, as he continued to go and do those things, that
the Lord had given him to do. The Scripture says he saw a man
that was blind from his birth. It was a group that didn't want
to have anything to do with him. He told them the truth. They
despised him, wanted to throw stones at him. You know, it's
only by the grace of God that any of us don't want to do that.
Only by God's grace that the Lord would have mercy and compassion
on anybody this morning, you that long to hear His voice. Thank Him for that. Lord, thank
You that I find a desire within my heart. He passed by and He saw a man. There was a look, a vision, a
gazing of grace. I wonder how many people He passed
by that day. No way of knowing. But the Scripture
says that here was a man that the Lord saw. I mean, you just
stop right there and just say, Would you look on me? Lord, would
you look on me in mercy?" The only person that will ask that
is the one that God has already shown mercy to. Give them a heart. Lord, don't pass me by. Pass us not, O gentle Savior. Pass me not. I think about that
Scripture when the disciples were out in the boat and the
Lord came walking on the water. and appeared as though that He
would have passed them by. Oh Lord, would You have mercy
on me? He saw this man, but I know this,
the man didn't see Him. Why? He was blind. He was blind. Boy, you just stay
right here. Now that verse of Scripture right
there, When Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind, how
long? From his birth. And you just
take that and just preach that. That preaches itself, doesn't
it, Neal? Here's a picture. Here's a picture
of all men. Blind physically, yes, but this
man was blind spiritually too. Why? Because of sin. Sin. See, now there's a state, there's
a man right there that represents all mankind, all of us. Ephesians 4 says this, Ephesians
4, 17, 18. I say therefore in testifying
to the Lord that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk,
in the vanity of their mind, having their understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that is in them because of the blindness of their heart." They
are just blind. They are blind, they don't know
it. Men that are blind spiritually can't even see that they are
lost. They're blind. They don't see that. They do
not see that they just took a breath, one more breath, and it was only
by the grace of God that God Almighty has allowed them to
be here. It's just by God's mercy and
grace that anybody is still alive. They don't see. They're blind
to the imminent danger. They're blind to the need of
a Savior. They're blind. They don't care. Now just stop. Just a minute. Just stop. Just
a second. And just ask yourself this. Does it really bother me? Does it really concern me? I'm talking about leaving this
world. Does it bother me whether or
not I know Him? Now that's a serious question. Blind. Blind. Blind men don't
need education on the beauty of their surroundings. I got
to thinking one time, I was in art school. And we were looking
at colors. We were just looking at the color
wheel and stuff like this. And this thought went through
my mind. How would you describe a color to somebody that was
blind? You know, okay, I'm going to
describe red to you. Do you know the only way that
somebody understands what red is? And see, every one of you
is thinking right now, I see red. I said, you've seen it before. A person that's blind doesn't
need glasses, he needs some eyes, he needs new eyes. He doesn't
need to be propped up, he needs to see. I'll give you eyes to see it,
ears to hear. Here was a man that the Lord
passed by. He saw the man. The man was blind
from his birth. And his disciples asked him,
saying, Master, who did sin? This man or his parents that
he's born blind? You know, we are the most self-righteous
people, aren't we? There's somebody over there. He's blind. I wonder what he
did. I wonder what his parents did. Surely he's suffering the consequences
of God's judgment. I'm not. I can see. Evidently, I'm in pretty good
shape. Who sinned? Oh, the self-righteousness
that resides within every one of us. How little pity, compassion
do we have for others. We don't believe that we are
as bad as others, and only regeneration reveals that. We see God's providential
dealings with other people and assume that we know about it. Obviously, this man has done
something really bad. Jesus answered in verse 3, neither
hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of
God should be made manifest in him. You know, I think about
the Scripture, Romans 8.28, all things work together for good
to them that love God, to them who are called according to His
purpose. The Lord rebuked their self-righteousness. They assumed that he had done
something bad. Neither this man nor his parents.
Now, the Lord wasn't saying that neither this man nor his parents
was without sin. He didn't say that. You know
that's not so. But He's saying that it wasn't
because of judgment, because of a sin. particular sin that
this man was born blind, but this was the reason that this
man was born blind. For the glory of God. That just
goes so far in contradiction to our natural thinking. People
talk about, if you're blessed of God, you're going to be healthy
and wealthy, and wise and pretty. That's being blessed of God.
The Lord said this man was born blind for the glory of God. Almighty God has good reasons,
wise reasons for permitting sickness and death. Almighty God knows
what is best. Sickness is because of sin. The
Lord orders that sickness. He rules and reigns. Somebody
gets sick, you think, oh, Buddy Young, I was just telling you
about him a while ago. I was talking to Bruce yesterday about
him, and this is what was said. Oh, what he knows now. What he sees now. He with the Lord. I'm convinced
of that. Gave a good confession of faith. I thank you. Saddened. Saddened. Rejoicing
while we weep. Miss him. Poor wife, Gail. Sweet lady. But I'm telling you,
I think of the glory of Almighty God to remove one of His own
precious, precious, in the sight of the Lord, the death of His
saints. Sickness ordered by Almighty God. John 11, verse 4, the Scripture
says this, when Jesus heard that he, Lazarus, was sick, He said,
This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God. that
the Son of God might be glorified thereby. We're going to die. God's people die just like unbelievers
die. But the Scripture sets forth
the death of God's saints is precious to Him. Precious to
Him. In John 21.19, the Lord is talking
to Peter. John 21, 19, this is what he
said concerning Peter. Then spake he signifying by what
death he should glorify God. And when it's spoken this, he
said unto him, follow me. Follow me. See, we always speak,
I say that humanly speaking, we always speak of death. It's
always a bad thing. Think of the glory of Almighty
God. God taking one of His own out
of this world. Being with Him, in our Lord's
words right here, we find great comfort in a time of sickness,
death for God's people. Who sinned, Lord? This man or
his parents? Neither. This man was born blind
that the works of God should be manifested in him. I'm not
going to leave you. I'm not going to forsake you.
I must, verse 4, work the works of Him that sent me." Almighty
God is going to do something for this man. Lord willing, we'll
look at that next time, what He did for him. I must work the
works of Him that sent me while it is day, the night cometh when
no man can work. I must work the works of Him
that sent me while I'm on this earth, the day. The day. While it is the day. Almighty God had predestinated
this event right here. He said, I do only, I do only,
only, and always those things that please Him. I don't do anything
except what He sent me to do. He was right here crossing the
path of that man. He must cross the path of this
blind man. God sent him to. Almighty God
had ordained this man. We're going to find out this
later. You've read this story. You know what happens. The Lord
is going to reveal Himself to him. But here He is. The initiation
of this man being called out of darkness is God Almighty in
the person of His Son crossing His path. This man wasn't looking. And you that know Him, you weren't
either. You didn't seek God. No man seeks
after God. No man. You were blind. You were dead. You didn't know
God. Alienated. Alienated. The Father
had given the Lord Jesus Christ the responsibility of bringing
this lost sheep back to Him. That's Christ's work. That's
His work. This man, according to verse
38, you can look at it and see, he's one of the Lord's. He's
going to reveal Himself. That man is going to believe
Him. But right now, here he is in ignorance. And the Lord must
save him, must have him. All that the Father has given
me, He said, the night cometh. I must work the works of Him
that sent me while it is day. When he says he's talking about
that, he is the day. All the works of Almighty God
that is required in the salvation of God's elect, all the works
took place while he was here. That was it. I must work the
works of him that sent me the night coming. That is, when he's
gone, when he's physically gone. Now let me ask you something.
If everything that was required, Mitch, was not done when he's
here, what now? If everything was not
accomplished, if when He said, if we said a minute ago, it is
finished, the day, I must work the works of Him, while it is
the day, the night cometh, when He is taken out of this
world, when no man can work. You see that? No man can work. Nobody has the ability. Nobody
has the knowledge. Nobody has the will to do so.
What is a man going to do save for what he's done? A man's not
going to do anything. He said in verse 5, as long as
I am in the world, I am the light. I'm the illumination. I'm the
light of the world. Our Lord's earthly ministry is
about three and a half years. That's how long. He was manifested
by three and a half years. That was His day. That was His
day. All of God's works, all of God's
will, all of God's purpose, the day of His time here, He accomplished
it. Three and a half years. That whole life he spent obeying
God, he established righteousness. Righteousness as the federal
head and representative of all God's sheep. All of His works. I must work the works. While it's the day. Night comes. No man works. Nothing else to
do. Nothing else can be done. I'm the light. I am He. You that know Him, you
know this. He is my life. He is my light. He's my all. My all in all. Without Him, I have nothing. You that know him not, your day is fleeting. Your night
approaches. Today, if you will hear his voice,
harden not your hearts. 2 Corinthians 6. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. The Lord knew that his day was
ordained. As long as that time was here,
He was the light. He was the light of the world.
Everything else is darkness. Everything else is death. He's
manifested Himself today in the preaching of the gospel. The
preaching of the truth. Trust Him. Lean upon Him. or you'll perish. If the Lord
reveals himself to you, reveals that you are a helpless sinner,
and have no hope whatsoever but Christ alone, God Almighty has
given you a new heart. If God revealed that to you,
the Lord has already given you life. If you trust in nothing
that you can do or have done, confess Him in baptism. Confess
Him. Lord, You're all my hope. You're
my life. Here's a blind man. Lord willing,
next time we look, we're going to see how the Lord opened his
eyes. You know how He did it. He spit on the ground. Made some
mud. Put it on his eyes. What did
that signify? You know he didn't do it for
no reason. What did that mean? We'll look at that, Lord willing,
next time. Lord bless these words to our hearts, for Christ's sake.
Amen.