Okay, I'd like you to open, and
I'll just read some verses out of John. We'll read John chapter
9 together. It's just a glorious picture
of what the Lord does. If you want to know what God
is doing in this world now, then you just have to go back and
look at what He did in the past. You go and look at what He did
in the Old Testament, and our God doesn't change. You go and
look at what He does in the New Testament, and our God doesn't
change. Our God operates in exactly the
same way. The circumstances might be different,
our clothes might be different, but sinners are still sinners,
and our Saviour is still the glorious Saviour. He doesn't
change. He can't change. Nothing can change Him. He sits
on a throne, a work finished. He sits. I love the picture of
him sitting. It means that the work's finished.
It means he's in absolute total control and nothing bothers him.
There's a backlight that bothers us in this world, but our God
sits. Our God sits. I was talking to
Kai about it the other day. He stands. Occasionally our Saviour
stands. What a glorious thing it must
be and what wonder it must be for the angels in heaven and
all the saints who watched Him sitting and sitting and sitting.
And then occasionally He stands. You know, when He stood. When they stoned Stephen. They were cut to the heart, these
religious leaders, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. If they
could have put their teeth into his flesh, they would have, but
they just picked up rocks. Didn't get their hands dirty. But he,
this is Stephen, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly
into heaven. the glory of God, and Jesus standing
on the right hand of God. And he said to them, Behold,
I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the
right hand of God. He stands to welcome his people,
and just like the prodigal son, the only description in all of
the scripture is God being in a hurry, when the father runs
to embrace his son, to take off those filthy robes and put on
that ring, a picture of the everlasting covenant, and robe him in the
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, and have a feast. and
have a feast and have his feet shod for the rest of his journey,
gathered into his father's hands. Well this in John chapter 9 is
a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ gathering one of his own and
it's a picture of how he gathers all of his people and it's a
glorious picture and there are so many wonderful things in this
picture. But I want us to remember what
we just read from Acts chapter 7 and be reminded of what the
situation was in the Lord's day, because it's exactly what Isaiah
29 describes of those people. And we don't have time to look
at it very closely, but I just want to remind you that in verse
29, verse 10, the Lord has poured out upon Jerusalem a spirit of
deep sleep. And so the people of God were
in a slumber that God had put upon them and he's closed your
eyes and your prophets and rulers as he covered. He's actually
hidden his word from these people and they carried on in their
religion. In verse 11 it talks about the fact that these people
not only were in a sleep that is the judgment of God upon them,
they are ignorant. They can't understand the word
of God, they can't read it. Whether you're learned or unlearned,
they still have an ignorance. It didn't matter whether they
were great philosophers or great theologians, they were still
ignorant, both of them. And then he says in verse 13,
these words that you can read in Matthew 15, For as much as
this people drawn near to me with their mouth and with their
lips to honour me, but have removed their heart from me, and their
fear toward me, their reverence of me is taught by the precept
of men. It's just something you learn.
and not something that's in the heart. They have removed their
heart. So there's hypocrisy and that's exactly what the Lord
described the people of Israel doing in his day in the people
in John chapter 9 are these people. So there's a slumber, there's
an ignorance, there's a hypocrisy and they turn things upside down. There's a general perversion,
isn't there, and confusion. They turn things upside down.
They turn the character of God upside down. They can turn the
character of man upside down. They turn the dealings of God
with man upside down, and what they see as a blessing is a curse.
They thought these Jews that the safest place on God's earth
was in Jerusalem, and as close to that temple as you could possibly
get. And in fact, in Jesus' day or after, he promised that that
would be the most dangerous place on all the earth. And he took
all of his people out of Israel, out of Jerusalem. He took them.
He took them to Mount Pelah, and then he destroyed the place.
So there is a slumber, there is an ignorance, there is a hypocrisy,
there is a confusion, and ultimately there is rebellion. There's rebellion
against God who is the maker. God who is the maker. Shall the
work of him that made it say, he may be not. On my own, on
the master of my own destiny, I worship my creation. He may be not. Or shall the thing
frame say of him that framed it, he has no understanding.
This is exactly what the Lord confronted in John 9, and into
that situation, into that slumber, into that sleep of judgment,
into that ignorance and hypocrisy and perversion and confusion
and turning things upside down and into that open rebellion
against God, He says, in that day I'm going to do something
marvellous. John 9 is the marvellous thing, is one of them. But this is a marvellous thing.
Okay, let's just read this chapter and then we'll have a break.
I want us to know the picture of it. These Old Testament promises
made 700 years before are fulfilled in living reality by the Lord
Jesus Christ. The promises that we read in
the Bible today are living realities fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ
in his people now. Always. Our God doesn't change. Our God's throne is unchallenged. His people are perfectly safe
and secure. Let's read John chapter 9. make
a couple of comments as we go along. And as Jesus passed by,
he saw a man which was blind from birth. Don't you love it
that the Lord comes? The initial act of saving grace
is the Lord comes and the Lord sees. And when he sees, he sees
with perfect clarity what you are and where you are and all
of the circumstances of your life. But what a blessing that
he comes. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did
sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus
answered, Neither has this man sinned, nor his parents. He's
not saying they weren't sinners, but he was saying that what your
reasoning of God's act of providence in this world is completely upside
down. You've turned it upside down. Haven't you? You've made
salvation a work of man. You've made damnation a work
of man. You make it all. You turn it all upside down.
But that the works of God should be made manifest in him. In Isaiah 29 he talks about this
marvellous work. So this is the marvellous work.
I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day. Isaiah 29 talks about that day. There is a day, and this is the
day that we're reading about here, and it's the day of the
salvation of this man. That day, the night cometh, the
night of him, that darkness that came on the cross, and no man
can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of
the world. And when he had thus spoken,
he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed
the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him,
Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which by interpretation is sent. He went his way therefore, and
washed, and came seen. The neighbors therefore, when
they which had before had seen him that was blind, said, Is
this not he that sat and begged? Some of them said, this is he.
Others said, he is like him. But he said, I just love the
testimony. You listen to the testimony of
this man. It's a glorious testimony. It never goes beyond anything
that is just absolutely true. He would be a glorious witness.
When Daisy gets to be some accusing barrister one day, she'll just
love to have a witness like this guy. He just says what it is,
doesn't he, all the time. I am, I am he. Therefore they
said unto him, How were thine eyes opened? And he answered
and said, a man called Jesus. So listen to and watch how his
eyes are opened here. This is glorious. You can see
now, but listen to what he says. He calls him a man that is called
Jesus. Made clay and anointed my eyes
and said unto me, go to the pool of Siloam and wash. And I went
and washed and I received sight. Then said they unto him, where
is he? And he said, I don't know. Him to the Pharisees that aforetime
was blind. And it was the Sabbath day when
Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. So many of the Lord's
miracles are done on the Sabbath day. Was it work for him? Was it work for him? He's Lord
of the Sabbath. He perfectly kept the Sabbath.
He's the only one that ever did keep a Sabbath. No one else has
ever kept a Sabbath. Then again the Pharisees also
asked him how he had received his sight, and he said unto them,
He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see. Therefore
said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he
keepeth not the Sabbath day. You might recall that the reason
for their anger and desire to murder him from John 5 through
to now is because he healed the crippled man on the Sabbath day,
and here he does it again in their midst. It's just one of
the wonders of grace, isn't it, that the darker the darkness
is, the brighter the light shines. Anyway, this man's not a god
because he keepeth not the Sabbath day. Others said, how can a man
that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among
them. They say unto the blind man again,
What sayest thou of him that he opened thine eyes? And he
said, He is a prophet. He started off saying he's a
man. Now he says he's a prophet. Because the prophets are the
ones that heal people. But no one ever healed the blind. And he'll go on to show these
people that he had a special interest in blindness, this man.
For so many of us, it's just something that happens to other
people. This man, it was a living experience. But the Jews did
not believe concerning him that he'd been blind and received
his sight until they called the parents of him that had received
his sight. And they asked them, saying, is this your son who
you say was born blind? How then does he now see? His
parents answered them and said, we know that this is our son
and that he was born blind. But by what means he now saith,
We know not, or who hath opened his eyes? We know not. He is
of age, he's over thirty years of age, this bear. Ask him, and
he shall speak for himself. These words spake his parents
because they feared the Jews. Isn't it amazing how people fear
religious people in this world, as they did then. And the more
self-righteous, and the more legalistic, and the more The
more zealous they appear to be and the more knowledgeable they
appear to be, so often we find ourselves like these people,
fearful. These words, verse 22, because
they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that
if any man did confess that he was the Christ, he should be
put out of the synagogue. Therefore said his parents, his
of age, ask him. 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 not, One thing I know, this is the
glorious thing to know, is that one thing I know, that whereas
he was blind, now I see. If that is your destiny, brothers
and sisters of the Lord coming and passing by and meeting with
you, then it's a glorious, glorious thing. Then said they unto him
again, what did he do to you? How opened he thine eyes? He answered them, I have told
you already, and you did not hear. Wherefore would you hear
it again? Why do you want to hear this
story again? Do you want to be his disciples? They reviled him. They reviled him and said, Thou
art his disciple. That word disciple means learner. This man's eyes are open and
he's learning and learning. But we are Moses' disciples. The Lord had already established
before all these same people in John chapter 5 that if they
really believed Moses, they'd believe Him. Because Moses had
one purpose in writing all of those five books of the Old Testament.
He had one purpose in writing all of them. They're all about
the Lord Jesus Christ. Genesis 1-1 is about the Lord
Jesus Christ. Malachi chapter 4 is about the
Lord Jesus Christ. And every little bit in between
is about the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified and Him saving
His people. We are Moses' disciples, John
9, 29. We know that God spoke unto Moses. As for this fellow, our text
says, we don't know where he's from, where he is. Listen to
what they say. God spoke unto Moses, and in
italics it says, this fellow, as for this fellow, they couldn't
even bring themselves treading this planet. He's a
nothing is what they're saying. That's what the text is saying.
He's a nothing. That's what Herod did. You read the end of Luke's
Gospel. Herod set him before all those people and he set him
as naught. Just a nothing. A nothing. Verse 30. The man answered and
said unto them, Why, herein is a marvellous thing. And Isaiah
29 says, talks about this marvellous of them, he inspired the words
of this man to bear witness to his saviour, wherein he was a
marvellous singer, you know not from whence he is, yet he hath
opened mine eyes. Now we know The God heareth not
sinners, but if any man be a worshipper of God, now he calls him a worshipper
of God, and doeth he will, he does the will of God. Him he
heareth, he's one that God hears. What a great description of our
Lord Jesus Christ. This man's eyes are being opened.
He's gone from a man to a prophet. Verse 32, since the world began,
since the world began, And since all of the scriptures
were written, it was not heard that any man
opened the eyes of one that was born blind. This was a special
miracle that was reserved for the Messiah. And the very presence
of this man standing before those Jews in Jerusalem was all you
ever needed to prove that the Lord Jesus Christ was the Messiah.
It's as simple as that. Elijah raised the dead. Elisha
raised the dead. They both produced food. Moses
performed all sorts of extraordinary miracles. But this is a miracle
for the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a miracle. This is the
Messiah's miracle. And of course it's a glorious
picture of what he does in the hearts of his people when he
brings them to, when he passes by and he comes to them and he
sees them and then he opens their eyes. Verse 33. If this man were not a God, he
could do nothing. This man is sent from God. This
man's testimony is growing, isn't it? He could do nothing. His
origin, that word of means, is from God. They answered and said
unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins. So where did the
disciples get their understanding that this man was a sinner? They
got it from these Pharisees had been good disciples of that religious
teaching, and it's exactly how we all think all the time when
we see people downcast in this world and lying in the gutters
and other things, don't we? This is just natural man. This
man has had his eyes opened to see something much, much more
significant in all of these things and to see things right side
up instead of upside down. There was also altogether born
in sin, thus thou teach us, and they cast him out. And he's cast
out of the temple. It seems a small thing to us
to be cast out of one church or something else, isn't it?
That meant, in those days, they were saying, you are destined
for hell. There is no sacrifice for you.
There is no place of meeting with you and God. There is no
priest in this place to represent you before God. There is no blood
atonement. You are cast out. It wasn't a
little thing that they were doing to him. Jesus heard, and this all happens
to the cast outlines, isn't it? He's a friend of the downcast,
he's a friend of, he puts the lonely in families, he brings
the lonely, the outcast to this world and he gathers them to
himself. This is just glorious, brothers and sisters. Jesus heard,
he'd heard, as he always says, and listen
to what this next phrase is. In verse one, he saw him and
he healed him, and now he found him. He found him, he found him. None of God's children are lost
from him, brothers and sisters, and God is not lost, is it? He
knows exactly all the circumstances of all of his bride's life. And he said unto him, dost thou
believe on the Son of God? And I love this man's honesty.
Just lay your life out before God. Be truthful. He answered and said, Who is
he, Lord, that I might believe on him? Jesus said unto him,
Thou hast both seen him, What a sight that must have been for
this blind man. What a sight for Bidemars to
open his eyes. What a sight for the saints of
God to have their eyes opened and to see clearly the Lord Jesus
Christ. Thou hast thus seen him, and
it is he that talketh with thee. And this is the confession, isn't
it? Lord, I believe. I believe you are the Son of
God. That is what worship is, isn't
it? It's not what you believe about
yourself. It's what you believe about God. That is what salvation
is about, isn't it? It's what you believe about the
Lord Jesus Christ. All through the Gospel accounts
and Acts you'll find that that's exactly what it is. It's what
you believe about Him. Do you believe He's the Christ?
Do you believe He's the Son of God? Do you believe He's God
the Son from all eternity? Do you believe He was sent by
God the Father into this world to achieve exactly what God the
Father purposed? To save His people from their
sins. To glorify all of the holy character
of God in the salvation of sinners. worship is to bow. That's what
that word means. It's to bow. It's to bow. It's to read the word of God
and bow. It's to read the word of God
and put up the white flag and say, I can't understand all of
this with all the clarity that I'd like and you'd better open
my eyes if I'm going to see it, but I'm going to believe it.
I'm going to just believe what you say. I just believe God. I believe what he says. bow,
he worshipped him. And this is one of the most graphic
verses in all the scriptures, isn't it? Jesus said, for judgment
am I come into this world, that they which see not They that
don't see, they that cannot see within themselves any reason
why God would save them, why God would have mercy upon them,
they can't see any evidence in themselves, might see. They might see what this man
saw, the Lord Jesus Christ coming, the Lord Jesus Christ revealing
Himself, even if it's gradual, it's all His revelation of Himself,
and worship Him, to believe and worship Him. And they which see,
those which claim to see, these men claim to see that they can
stand in judgment of God and stand in judgment of his word
and stand in judgment of his people, which is what they did
in casting this man out, might be made blind. Sometimes we just need to pause
at the gravity of the statements of the Lord Jesus Christ, made
blind. Matthew 7 describes these people
going through all of these events and going through all of this
witness and going to meet the Lord Jesus Christ. Not everyone that saith to me,
Lord, Lord, Remember in Isaiah 29, they honour with him at the
lips and their hearts have been moved far from him. Not everyone
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father. The will
of God is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and worship which
is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? We have proclaimed
you, declared prophecies, in thy name, in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ, using the words of his name. And in thy
name cast out devils. He's not denying their prophecies
and he's not denying their exorcisms. And in thy name done many wonderful
works. Look at the quantity of them,
many of them. Look at the quality of these
works, wonderful works. And then I will profess unto
them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. They had plenty to say, didn't
they? many wonderful works, many declarations about a being called
God and his son called Jesus. For judgment, I am coming to
this world that they which see not might see, and they which
see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which
were with him heard these words and said unto him, Are we blind
also? Jesus said unto them, If you
were blind, you should have no sin. But now you say, We see. Therefore, your sin remaineth. My beloved brethren, my fellow
travelers in this world, These verses should cause us
to call out for mercy, to bow and worship, to plead with God,
to give us faith, for the Lord to pass by, for the Lord to see
us, for the Lord to look upon us in grace and mercy. What a remarkable blessing. Let's
pray. Our Heavenly Father, Thank you
for the way you save sinners. We thank you for the way you
come. We thank you for the way when you pass by so many others,
you come to your own, who are blind and beggars. and you heal their blindness
and cause them, by your teaching Heavenly Father, to have their
eyes opened, that we might, like this man, believe on the Son
of God. worship. May you make us worshippers,
our Father. By your grace and by your mercy
and by your sovereign power and hand, come and make us worshippers. We pray in Jesus' name and for
his glory. Amen.