I please almighty God to bless
us together this morning as we meditate in his holy word. Let's
turn to the Gospel of John chapter 9 and we'll read verse 25. The Gospel of John and chapter
9 and reading verse 25. 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. It's interesting to realize that
we have quite a long chapter in this Gospel of John and it
concentrates really just upon this man who was born blind and
how the Lord restored his sight and how there were those that
came and argued with him and discussed how he was cured and
the good and gracious and honest answers that he was able to give. And we're not told his name.
We're just told that Jesus passed by and saw a man which was blind
from his birth. Now, I want to just give the
picture that we have here in this chapter. What we have is
a picture of a man that was naturally born blind and that man was blessed
with a miracle to receive his natural sight. We also have the
same picture of the same man who was born spiritually blind,
but also received his spiritual sight. So it's really a wonderful
account, a comprehensive account to show how the Lord gave him
natural sight and also gave him spiritual sight. Now, as we apply
that to ourselves this morning, to realize that of course, by
the grace of God, all of us here this morning, in actual fact,
do have natural sight. We were born with natural sight.
We weren't born blind like this man. We were born with natural
sight. but we were all born blind spiritually and we all need the
great and wonderful blessing of spiritual sight and how necessary
and important it is and what a blessing if you and I do receive
the wonderful favour of spiritual sight. And you may say, well,
it doesn't actually speak about that in the chapter. Well, it
does really because spiritual sight is given to those who are
blessed to believe the great and glorious truths of the gospel
and to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's just what
this man did. As we come towards the end of
the chapter, Jesus came to him again. And Jesus heard that they'd
cast him out, and when he had found him, he said unto him,
dost thou believe on the Son of God? And the man was very
honest, and the man asked an important question. He said,
who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? Again, it's a
question perhaps which you and I ought to consider, to put ourselves
in this place as this blind man, this man who hadn't got spiritual
sight, and as the Word of God speaks to us, which it does,
on many occasions as to whether we believe the truth of God,
whether we believe on and in the Lord Jesus Christ or not? It's a very important question. It's a very necessary question. And it's a wonderful blessing
if the Holy Spirit asks us this question. It's a good thing for
us today if we look at ourselves and ask ourselves whether we
have been asked this question. And as Jesus said very clearly
to him, thus I believe on the Son of God, thus I believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, all of us here this morning.
No, before God, whether that is true or not, and it is only
between. Each one of our souls and our
God that we can answer, because no one else knows what each of
us has in their heart. No one knows whether another
person believes or does not believe. You see, we can appear to be
very good Christians, we can appear to be good believers,
but we may not be. And we have that very solemn
example in the Bible of Judas Iscariot and it's good sometimes
just to think upon the various characters that we have in the
Bible to instruct us and to warn us and to direct us because there
was Judas Iscariot who'd been with Jesus for at least three
years as a disciple he'd been with the other disciples and
you see when on that last time when the Passover was celebrated
and Jesus was there with his disciples he said that one of
them would betray him and none of them pointed at Judas none
of them said oh well he's the one that's going to betray you
None of them. And in actual fact, Judas was
so trusted that he was the treasurer. He kept the money. But you see,
he was not a believer. He did not believe. So you see,
we have to be very careful that we do not judge by an appearance,
because we may give a good appearance. but we may be false. Well, Jesus
asked this question. He put this question to this
man, this man who had been blind naturally, could now see naturally,
and was asked this question really, which pointed to his spiritual
life. Dost thou believe on the Son
of God? And the honest answer was, Who
is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? Well, that was a good
answer and it was a good question. We ought to always relate our
lives to the questions and answers which are given us in the Bible. They're there for our instruction,
for our direction. And we shouldn't think that they're
there just out of interest. They're there for a wonderful
and divine purpose. And in this case, really, it
directs us to this great question. And the great question was put
to this man in the verse that we read together. And he tells
us, One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see. And that was, at that stage,
a natural position. But the same statement is true
with regards to our spiritual position. That we come and say,
whereas I was blind, Whereas I did not know what my spiritual
standing was. Again, let us always be honest. Don't pretend what you do not
know. And so he says, one thing though,
I do know that whereas I was blind, now I see. So turn that into a spiritual
question, and be able to come and say one thing I know, whereas
I was blind. There was a time in my life,
there has been a time in my life, I was born like it, when I did
not have spiritual sight. I did not realise my need. I did not realise I was a guilty
sinner. I never came and stood before
God confessing my sins. I never came with that urgent
need to receive the mercy of God. But what a mercy, what a
blessing if you and I today can come before God and be able to
confess and to say, whereas I was blind, now I see. And if you and I have come to
that position, it's because we've come in the way that this man
did. As we've spoken this end of this
chapter, ask the question, and he says, who is he, Lord, that
I might believe? And Jesus responded, thou hast
both seen him, And it is he that talketh with thee. Now that's
a grand and glorious statement. And we may say, well, of course,
Jesus doesn't live physically today. So how can I say that? Well, we can, as God gives us
faith to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as a person that
lives forevermore. The God who lives forevermore. and be able to, therefore, and
humbly say, who is he, Lord, that I might believe? And then,
as Jesus says, thou hast both seen him, what a blessing if
you and I have seen him by faith as we read the word of God, as
we heard the word of God read, as we heard the gospel preached,
that through that we have come to by faith see the Lord Jesus
Christ as the only one, the only one that could save our souls,
the only one who could deliver us from the wrath to come, the
only one by faith to behold the Lord Jesus Christ and so We're
told, thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with
thee. Well, again, a great and glorious
blessing if God has talked with you and me. When I say that, of course, it's
not in a physical sense, but it is in a spiritual sense. When
the Lord has come alongside us and has spoken to us in such
a way that he's directing us to plead for mercy. And we've come in with that wonderful
publican who came and said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And what was he doing? He was
speaking to God. He was praying to God. And so
here is this statement. It is he that talketh with thee.
Well, I wonder this morning if we can look into our little lives and
see that have been an occasion, those occasions when we have
spoken with God. We've come to him in prayer and
we've prayed for his blessing, and we prayed for his mercy. Well, what did this man say? The Lord had told him this situation
to see whether he did believe or not, explain what it needed,
and the man was unable to say, I believe. Simple, simple statements,
not a long account, is it? But he had the evidence of spiritual
life in his soul and he was therefore able to declare, I believe. And there was a result. And the
result was he worshipped. He bowed down and worshipped
the Lord Jesus Christ as his God, as the Lord of Lords, as
the King of Kings. We see, don't we, here then,
in this lovely account, very simply, really, put before us
the reality of true religion and the effect of true religion. And it's very helpful to have
the analogy of natural sight. Because natural sight, you and
I can understand with our natural mind. The spiritual life, we
understand with our spiritual mind, which is that which God
gives to all of his people, the great and glorious gift of eternal
life. And we might say, when that gift
is given, what occurs is the light of the glorious gospel
shines into our heart. And whereas we were in darkness,
whereas we didn't understand the things of God, when the light
from heaven shines into our heart, like it did into this man's heart,
What a wonderful blessing it is to be able to come and say,
Lord, I believe. You know, that's the great blessing
of the gospel. That's the great simple truth
that all of us need to enter into to possess faith, to believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we come back to this statement
we read in this ninth verse as this blind man was able to say,
one thing I know, one thing I know, whereas I was blind, now I see. It's not a complicated statement,
isn't it? but it is, we might say, the one thing needful. In your life, in my life, we
study, we work, there are many things that we do and say and
think about, and we might recognise and think they're all needful,
sometimes they are, naturally, but you see, they all pass away,
but the one thing really needful And it is one thing, and it's
spelled out here, whereas I was blind, now I see. What a mercy, what a blessing. You can go on your way rejoicing
and praising God, and as this blind man did, worshipping God. Sometimes we don't really understand
the great truth of the Word of God and the great glory of it
and the simpleness of it. It's not complicated, but it
is straightforward, but it is necessary and it is needful and
it is important that you and I come to this position that
this man did and be able to say, one thing I know, one thing I
know. Whereas I was blind, now I see. So really, as we come this morning
and stand before God, to realise that yes, by God's grace, And
it is His grace. You might say, what is that?
Well, it is, of course, the free unmerited favour. You have to
come and recognise you don't deserve God to have looked upon
you. You don't deserve the fact that
God has given you faith to believe. You don't deserve any of these
things. It is through His great and wonderful
grace that free unmerited favour. And that really is an amazingly
humbling thing to think that God, the ruler of the universe,
has looked down from heaven, looked down upon you and me as
sinful individuals on this earth and has come and using the words
that the Apostle Paul used, called us by his grace. We've heard His voice. He's called
us. He's directed us and brought
us to that place where we've realised before a holy God we're
an unworthy and undone and lost sinner. And we've had to plead
and to cry unto God for mercy. You see, it's a heavenly conversation. It's a conversation that an unworthy
sinner has. before a holy God, but you see,
you and I will come in a right way. And again, the way that
that publican came was a right way. We have the example of a
Pharisee was a proud man. He was really proud of his prayers
and he thought God would look upon him because of his wonderful
prayers. Whereas the publican, on the
other hand, smote upon his breast, didn't dare lift up his eyes.
And to look down, he felt so unworthy. But he did pray the
right prayer. He did pray a good prayer. God,
be merciful to me a sinner. And God said, And it's encouraging
for us. I tell you, this man went down
to his house justified rather than the other. That means to
be made just with God. Not because of what we've done,
but because of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done. That's
the glory of the Gospel. And we stand justified. And we stand complete in Him. And we don't stand because of
what we've done. We won't even stand because of
what we prayed, because we will know it's God that has given
us that prayer, that God has inclined us to pray in that way. And God has heard and answered
our prayer. So we are able to come in with
this man and in answer to that great question, thus I believe
to be able to say, Lord, I believe. And we bow down and worship. What a wonderful truth that is. And how encouraging it is, because
if you and I are able to trace out the evidence of the Lord's
work, God's work, in our heart, like this, then we have the evidence
that we are born again of the Spirit of God. And the light
from heaven has shone into our hearts. Whereas we were at one
point spiritually dead, now by the grace of God we are spiritually
alive. And what a mercy! And what a
change! You see, there's no real Greater
change, is there? From darkness to light. We understand,
don't we, I'm sure, what darkness is and what light is. They're
the complete opposite, aren't they? And you and I are born
spiritually in darkness. But when the light shines, there's
a complete change. And we can bless God for it when
the Holy Spirit shows us where we are. We're not what we were. Perhaps
we're not what we would be. But we know there's been a change
and we know the light shone and we know that light has directed
us to the great and glorious salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And by faith, we've come to Calvary. By faith, we viewed The Lord
Jesus Christ. Taking away all our sin. And the way that sin was taken
away. By himself giving his life as a sacrifice to his father. To take away all our sins. This is the great plan of salvation,
the plan, my friends, which originated in eternity past. It's the marvel of the grace
of God. How wonderful it is to be able
to trace out in our life the wonderful work of the Spirit
of God that has led us in this path and has brought us to recognise
our true condition by nature. Darkness, no life, and yet the
work of the Spirit of God has brought us to receive the grand
and glorious gift of God of eternal life and has shone light, the
heavenly light, into our soul. And we're able to come and say,
Truly, in a spiritual sense, like this blind man, as he said,
one thing I know, one thing I know, whereas I was blind, now I see. And so he doesn't go into a long
rigmarole of making a statement about this and statements about
that, no. But he knew the one thing needful.
And my friends, that's what you and I need. The one thing needful. To know this great and wonderful
blessing. One thing I know that whereas
I was blind, now I see. Well, it's a good exercise for
each of us to examine ourselves. The Word of God encourages us
to examine ourselves, whether we are in the faith or not. And you see, as we examine ourselves
and we see then that these evidences that we've outlined this morning,
we possess. We can then rejoice that God
in his great love and his great mercy toward us has given us
this wonderful gift of eternal life. And therefore, whereas
we were blind, we were born spiritually blind, through the great and
glorious work of the Spirit of God, now we see. And my friends, this This sight,
this spiritual sight, if it's been given to us, if the spiritual
light from heaven has shone into our hearts, it will not be erased
because we are once in Him. in him forever what a truth that
is isn't it to think of that if the light has shone the heavenly
light has shone into our hearts it will never be erased it cannot
be erased because it's God's light it doesn't go out it's
there eternally perhaps sometimes when we feel perhaps down and
oppressed to just ponder the great blessing of God and be
able to come and say, with this man, one thing I know, one thing
I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see. The devil may tempt
you and say, well, you don't know this and you don't know
that. It may be true. But what a mercy if you and I
can come and say, one thing I do know, that whereas I was spiritually
blind, I never understood these things at all. And this is the
wonder of the Gospel, because when that light shines, things
that you and I never understood, the heavenly light shone into
our hearts. and we then are thankful and
then we rejoice in this great and wonderful plan of salvation. It's not then a closed book,
it's like the Bible. You see, the Bible perhaps may
have been spiritually a closed book, but as the light from heaven
has shone into our heart, it becomes alive. The light shines
and as we read it then, as we read and we realise we never
understood that before, we never appreciated that before, the wonderful evidence of divine
life. The encouragement to you and
me to know therefore that we are those who are now blessed
with spiritual sight. Whereas I was blind, now I see. Well I hope by the grace of God
you and I do possess this wonderful blessing of heavenly
light and our eyes have been opened. Our eyes have been opened. You see that's why the analogy
of natural sight is so wonderful because you and I can understand
The picture we have of this man receiving his natural sight and
the Lord came to him and put clay upon his eyes and told him
to go wash in the port of Siloam and he received his sight. And
he knew that had happened. It was very simple, wasn't it? It was very wonderful. But then
we see the outworking of the great blessing of spiritual sight
which enabled him to believe. You see, you and I will not believe.
We won't be blessed with faith to believe unless that light
has shone. And as I've said, and just to
reiterate it, that that light shines and directs us to our
need as a sinner and directs us to the wonderful Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ. You may have heard about Jesus
all your life. He may have meant nothing to
you. Well, God tells us, is it nothing to you or you that pass
by until the light shines? It means nothing to us. Then
when our eyes are open, the light shone and we realize the glory
and the blessed work of the Savior. And he came into this world to
save sinners. And we can say we can come alongside
and say, perhaps like the Apostle Paul, came to save sinners of
whom I am chief. You won't be a little sinner
in the sight of God, but God will show us that we are great
sinners. It's a blessing when he shows
us we are the worst sinner, because the Lord shows us what's in our
heart. As well as what we might have
done and said and spoken, he shows us the sins of our heart.
And when those are displayed to us, we realise indeed how Jesus to
us is the one thing needful. I, without him, perish must. And all of us will be in that
place. We need the Saviour. We need
to come to Calvary. We need to view, by faith, the
Saviour suffering and bleeding and dying and conquering. So the Saviour conquered. Yes,
the devil was defeated at Calvary. The Lord Jesus Christ did not
fail. He did the will of his Father. And then, of course, the glory
of the gospel is the death could not hold the savior. He rose
again on the third day, as had been prophesied. He rose again
the third day, a conqueror, a glorious conqueror. My friend, you and
I are conquerors through him, not because of our own ability.
We have no ability, but we can Look to the Saviour who gloriously
came into this sinful world to save our souls and to deliver
us from the wrath to come. This will produce a thanksgiving
in our heart and praise in our heart to our God. We stand amazed
just like John Newton did in his A wonderful statement, amazing
grace, how sweet the sound. That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm
found. Oh, my friends, it is grace.
has made us free. And again, we read further on
in this gospel. If the son, therefore, the Lord
Jesus Christ shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. And that means that we are freed
from the condemnation of the law of God, which says the soul
that sinneth, it shall die. And we've all sinned and we're
all under condemnation. But what a wonderful thing it
is to know that we are free from that condemnation. If the Son,
therefore, shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. And
if we have the wonderful evidence that we alluded to this morning,
we have the evidence that we are free. We're free from that
condemnation. We're understanding what the
Apostle did when he wrote to the Romans. There is therefore
now, today, No condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,
who are born again in His Spirit. The light has shone into our
hearts, redeemed we are with the precious blood of Christ. What a glorious gospel it is
to unworthy and undone sinners to recognise that we have such
a Saviour who hasn't dealt with us as our sins deserve, otherwise
there'd be no hope. but there's forgiveness, there's
mercy with our God. Wonderful, isn't it, that you
and I today can hear the gospel, can read the gospel, can rejoice
in the gospel, and I hope we do, and I hope we can, and I
hope we can join with this blind man who received his sight, and
was able to declare naturally and by clear inference, spiritually,
one thing I know, whereas I was blind, now I see. Now let's be clear, all of us
must be able to say that. And I hope that we can perhaps
say that now. And if we can, it's to the glory
of God. If we can't, may we earnestly
seek that God will shine into our hearts and bless us with
a glory of forgiveness and the glory of the Saviour and bring
us to this wonderful position that we will be able to say,
one thing I know, whereas I was blind, now I see. Amen. Closing hymn in worship this
morning, hymn 195, to the tune Warrington 432. Hymn 195, the
prayer of 195. Assist my soul, my heavenly king,
thy everlasting love to sing. Joyful spread thy praise abroad,
as one through grace that's born of God. No, it was not the will
of man, My soul's new heavenly birth began, nor will nor power
of flesh and blood that turned my heart from sin to God. In 195. ? And join the strength of praise
and love ? ? And sound the praises of your God ? ? For this was
born of the Father ? O say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave? ? And so we crown thy good with
brotherhood from earth ? ? As it was in the beginning ? ? I am, I know, the Lord God. ? ? How great is the power of
Christ's love for us today. ? ? There are no tears left to cry
? O come, O come, O come, O come,
O come, O come, And shall my soul triumphant
rise, to Him that Now may the grace of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ, and the love of God our Father, and
the fellowship and communion of the Eternal Spirit, rest and
abide with us each, now and for evermore. Amen.