One thing. that John says at the end of
his gospel, if you wrote all the accounts of all the things
the Lord Jesus Christ did, you couldn't, there's not enough
room in all the world to hold all the books that should be
written. And so when we have these stories, these miracle
stories chosen out of thousands and tens of thousands over all
those years, there's a very special significance here in this, the
significance of this. crucified, they're about the
Lord Jesus Christ and his bride, they're about the Lord Jesus
Christ gathering his family to himself, they're about that. But I do love why, I love what
this man says, and I just love the simplicity. If your life and this man says that, and John
says it, and Peter says it, and Moses says it, and Elijah says
it, and Elisha says it, they all say it, all of this is a
testimony. One thing I know, just one thing,
one thing that matters, one thing that's absolutely essential for
me, one thing that can be written on my tomb, one thing that encompasses
my life, Paul is concerned in 2 Corinthians
11 verse 3 that as Eve, as Eve was deceived by the subtlety
of the serpent. Turn there, just look at it quickly
a bit here. So, it's such a significant verse, 2 Corinthians 11 verse
3. As Eve was deceived by the subtlety
of the serpent. The serpent beguiled Eve through
his subtlety, through his cleverness. corrupted from the simplicity
that's in Christ. The singleness, it's the sincerity,
the oneness that's in the Lord Jesus Christ, the simplicity,
isn't it? The simplicity that there is,
the simplicity of the gospel. Let's never try and make the
gospel complicated. Let's never go to the people
of this world and cause them to think that somehow they have
to be great theologians and have great knowledge to be a child
of God. This man grew in his knowledge,
didn't he? He was just a man, then he's
a prophet, then he's a This is the rock. This is life
eternal, and I know Thee, the only true God. And Jesus Christ,
who thou hast sent, if you know Him, you'll have one thing. I
was blind. And now I see. I see Him in this
glory. It's the single thing that you
can die by. We pray often, and I do love
it, in 2 Samuel chapter 23 verse 5, we have the words of David,
he was a man known to God, a man hard to sweep, psalmist of Israel. And he says, although my house
be not so with God, whether that house is his nation, whether
that house is his family, whether that house is his own personal
one, which I think it probably is, because all of them were
a mess at that time. My house be not so with God,
yet, yet, They have made with me an everlasting
covenant, an eternal covenant, made before the foundation of
the world. Order in all things, everything
about this covenant is order. And sure, sure, sure as a foundation,
because this is all my salvation. He just had one salvation, didn't
he? All of his salvation is tied up in God's covenant with him,
not his work with God. This is all my salvation, that's
all my desire. Although he make it not to grow,
there's no need for this eternal covenant in the blood of Jesus
Christ to grow. It's perfect for people, the
foundation of the world. It was perfect 2,000 years ago
when the Lord Jesus died for the sins of all his people on
Calvary's tree. It's perfect now. There's just
one thing, isn't it? Moses died and he was so thankful. He said, the eternal God is thy
refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he shall
thrust out the enemy from before you and shall say, destroy them. There's just one thing in death. There's one thing in death that
means there's one thing in life. There is one thing in eternity.
What are the saints in heaven saying? Thou hast redeemed us
by thy blood out of every kindred and nation and people. And you've
made us kings and priests under God. It's the work that you have
done. This is what this man is professing here, isn't it? The
thief on the cross. Just have one thing, Lord, remember
me. How simple was his prayer. Lord,
remember me. You're a king. You're going to
die on this cross and you're going to come back alive. Remember me when you come into
your kingdom. Mary had one thing, one thing
that she's commended of God for in Luke chapter 10. Mary's commended,
you know the story. Women would just be like Martha.
I have so much understanding and sympathy for Martha. Lots
of people around her, lots of activities going on. You better
be busy or make other people busy, but busyness is what satisfies. And there was Mary sitting at
the Lord's feet. And Jesus said to Martha, you
are not careful. You're caring about lots of things,
and you're troubled about all those things you're caring about.
But one thing is needful. One thing is needful. And Mary
has chosen the good part which shall not be taken from her.
In the midst of all the business, what was Mary doing? She was sitting at the feet of
the Lord Jesus Christ, adoring Him and listening to Him. So there's one thing in life,
there's one thing in this world, there's one thing This one thing
is too simple for the Pharisees. They just can't tip out. So this
is a public event. I love what the Lord says was
going to happen in verse three. He says, this has happened, this
has happened, this blind, this man blind for all this time,
this man a beggar for all this time, this man a blind beggar
and the son of God. they may manifest in him. All of the work of God is a work
in people. It's in him, the works of God,
they manifest. This is, of course, a miracle
of grace. It's a day of grace, and the
Lord Jesus Christ uses unusual means which are offensive to
the world, spitting on the ground and making clay. It's a day in
which the religious people were affected by poverty, particularly
in his work on the Sabbath day. He again and again and again
healed people on the Sabbath day. He again cured them on the
Sabbath day. Why did he do so much on the
Sabbath day? Why so many Sabbath healings?
Well, the Sabbath is a day when you don't work. The Sabbath is
a day when God speaks. The Sabbath is a day when God
works and you're at rest. It's a day of hearing the word
of God. It was offensive, the means were
offensive to the world, the timing was offensive to the religious
world, and the preaching of the gospel is offensive to people
who think they can see. The Lord sent him off to a pool,
and the Lord didn't leave him late for him to come back. He
didn't send him off, but the Lord just went on with his things
and then eventually finally he didn't have to go with him. He
just told him to go. Then he came back seeing this
man, but he didn't send the Lord because the Lord This work of God is a work to
reduce all of these things down to this one thing. One thing. I like what he says. One thing
I know. No one can take away from you
your personal testimony. One thing I know. Faith is always Faith is always particular, it's
always focused on one person, it's on him. And faith is always
in the present tense. Faith never lives on past experiences. For 40 years, they just finished
celebrating the Feast of Tabernacle, for 40 years they lived in the
desert on manna, every morning. For six days a week there was
manna there. And if you tried to keep the
manna, if you tried to keep And faith has a foundation set
on a rock. This is the great rock, isn't
it, of confession. I was blind. I was blind. I was blind to so many things. I was blind particularly to who
God was. I was blind to his glory. And
I was blind to who I was. and the dead. It always says
that there is something in you. You can pray the sin of prayer,
you can walk the aisle, you can do something. This is an act
of God's sovereign grace. This one thing, this one thing
in your life, this one thing in your death, this one thing
in this rock, this one thing above all others, this one thing
before all others, and this one thing upon which all others can
stand. read the rest of the chapter,
we worship God, we are the serpent. We worship God in the spirit,
rejoice in Christ Jesus, have no confidence in the flesh at
all, my past flesh, my present flesh, or what I might do with
my flesh in the future. Then he says, he just wants one thing, doesn't
he? I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord. For them I have suffered the
loss of all things. I can count them but doubt that
I might win Christ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith, the
faithfulness of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that
I may know him. and the power of his resurrection
and the fellowship of his suffering that he may conform all unto
his death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection
of the dead. Then he says, Brethren, verse
13, I count not myself to have apprehended. All of these things
that I'd love to see, and I'd love to see them in detail, I
haven't apprehended them all, but this one thing I do, one
thing. Now this was a senior apostle
who was writing half the New Testament for us, has walked
with the Lord for a long time. One thing I do, forgetting those
things which I've One thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind, forgetting all of his religion, forgetting
all of his good works, forgetting all of his bad works, none of
them matter. One thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which
are before, which are ahead of me. I press toward the mark for
the prize of a high-calling He had one thing, didn't he?
One thing in life. One thing walking this Christian
world. He started off as blind and we're
all blinded when you're on the Damascus Road. Just like this
man was born blind for the purpose of God to be made manifest. He
was blind. What a description. What a description. All he ever saw was darkness.
He never saw anything at all. Never seen light. You see, and there he was with
the courts of the temple and people coming and going and he
wasn't allowed in. He wasn't allowed in and they
walked past him. For thirty odd years they walked
past him. No one took him to the Saviour. What a state this man was in.
What a picture of sovereign grace. Blind. Blindness. You take this fruit. You take
what I suggest for you. You take in defiance of the word
of God, in defiance of the judgment of God, in defiance of the goodness
of God, you take from me. And then he says, your eyes will
be opened. That was his promise, wasn't
it? Your eyes shall be opened. And what's the result of Satan And what happens to someone whose
eyes are opened in that state? The very next act of Adam and
Eve is to hide themselves from God and to stitch together for
themselves stick leaves to cover their nakedness. And that's exactly
what every single one of Adam's race has ever done, is to come
forth from the womb. You come forth from the womb,
speaking lies. You come forth from your mother's womb, blinded
to who God is. We are Adam's children. What
a picture. We are blind and we are beggars. And we think we are able to see
and we think we are kings. How extraordinarily converted
is the reality of human beings compared to what the scriptures
say. I was blind. Blind. Were you blind? I was blind. I was red. I lived in a world of blind people. And there was no light. All of
the light of this world is held in the hands of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is the light of the world. When he says light, let
there be light. When he says spiritual light,
there is light. Spiritual light to see him. I was blind. I was blind. Blindness defined me naturally. Blindness defined me spiritually. I was blind, but now I see. What
happened to you, blind man, blind beagle? What happened to you
to see? This is a testimony of all God's people throughout time,
isn't it? It's a testimony of Saul of Tarsus. It's a testimony
of all of them. God passed. Isn't it? God passed by. I wasn't seeking him, but God
passed by me. And God saw me, if you've read
any of those first few verses of John 9, God saw me, but I
couldn't see him at all. And God spoke. The very first
words this man heard, wasn't it, was this man, this sin, this blindness,
sorry, And when the Lord says, I am
the light of the world, he declared himself to be who he was. And
then God came personally and God touched my eyes. God touched
my eyes. God opened my eyes to see. God gave me a command to go and
wash. God gave me the ability to obey. God did more. I know, one thing I know, I was
blind and he did everything. I was blind and unable to do
anything and he did everything for me. I love what Colossians
chapter 2 verse 6 says, As you have received Christ Jesus the
Lord, so you walk in him. How did you receive him as a
Lord? He came, he spoke, he opened your eyes, he declared the gospel became spirit and life. One thing I know, one thing I
know, now I see, now I see my need because he has been gracious
to me. Now I see my need because he has been gracious to me. Now I see the impotence and the
enmity of man's religion, the futility of man's religion. As polished as it might be, and
how wonderful the ceremonies were, and how magnificent the
temple was, 30 years I've walked past this now, just like for
42 years I've walked past that pupil 38. is, I think it might
be, walked past that cripple at that hill and never was able
to do a thing. It's all the work of God. It's
all the work of grace. God comes. God gives sight. The light of the world shines.
The light of the world shines a light on himself. It shines
a light on who we are. He makes the difference. He makes
the difference. As he passed by, who was blind. He came to a cripple. He came
to a heart who was caught in the very act of adultery. Don't
you like the way the Lord gathers his family to himself? The abilities
are you, brothers and sisters. The work is his. Is this your testimony? Now it will come out because
it's the works of God manifest in him. What's the result of
God doing this in him? I believe. That's the result of God's work.
I believe. I believe in inversion. I believe
if God does a work in someone, it will come out of someone. There was a little girl going
home with her dad from a church that was moving past her and
preaching on Colossians 1.27 about Christ in you, the home
of glory. And she was looking across at
her dad and she looked at herself and she said, if Christ's in
me, he'll stick out. If Christ's in you, he'll stick
out. What's he stick out saying? I
believe. to see who He is, to see what
I was and see what this world was, to see, and how we see,
we only ever see through the eyes of a new creation. people that he loved in Ephesus.
He says that the Father, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and
revelation. That's enlightenment, isn't it?
It's in the knowledge of him that the eyes of your understanding
be enlightened. That means having been enlightened
by God and doing an act by which he can never ever Being enlightened that you may
know what is the hope of His calling, and what is the riches
of His glory, of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the
exceeding greatness of His power toward us. What power? What power? It's a creative miracle
perceived by a new creation. Religion gets men to do things.
We want to tell them what God's doing. We're saying, this is a Sabbath
day's work, brothers and sisters. God works on the Sabbath and
you rest. God speaks on the Sabbath and
you rest. By his word he creates. He says in the beginning, let
there be light. And light was. spiritual light. We see with the eyes of a new
creation. We are brothers and sisters in
Christ. New creation. New creations. We are new creations in you.
He says it's a new man in you that sees the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's a new man in you that sees that you are blind. It's a new
man in you that sees that this world and all of its efforts
in religion is just a deadness. It's a new man which after God
is created in righteousness and true holiness. One thing, one
thing that the new creation sees It sees what we are. It sees that God is able. That
He is God Almighty and creation is His work. That He is faithful. That Christ is all in salvation. He's all in wisdom. He's all
in righteousness. He's all in my redemption. He's
all in my regeneration. He's all in keeping me through
this world. He's all. There's one thing. Paul says, I sought to know just
one thing. There's two things, maybe, but
one thing, really. Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
That's all what preaching is. Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
It's one thing to know. It's one thing to love. It's one thing to look at. It's one person to worship, isn't
it? What's the end result of this
work of God? In a blind, dead, gulfed sea. Lord, I believe. Lord, I believe. Not Lord, I do. But Lord, I believe. And Lord, I bow. I bow in worship to Thee. Let's pray. Heavenly Father,
we thank you for the work that the Lord Jesus Christ did 2,000
years ago, so wonderfully recorded by the Blessed Holy Spirit for
us, because the work that is going on in this world as we
speak right now, Heavenly Father, and we pray for all those who
hear us and all those who might come to hear us, Heavenly Father,
that it be you the time of your love, and you
say live, you say live, and you create life and light and sight,
that we might see the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, his absolute
sovereignty over all things, the wonder of his love toward
us. in the sense of the cause of
your eternal love for your brethren. Bless your word, Heavenly Father,
cause us to have the eyes to see again and again. We cry out
so often, Heavenly Father, Lord, I believe. Help thou my number. and you create yours. Now unto him that is able, him
that is able, to keep you from falling. Now unto him who is
able to present you faultless before the presence of his glory. Now unto him that is able to
present you faultless before the presence of his glory with
exceeding joy. So our Saviour is a joyful Saviour,
with exceeding joy, to the only wise God, our Saviour. Be glory and majesty, dominion
and power, both now and ever. Amen.