Our text is found in John chapter
9, the chapter that we read, John chapter 9, and reading again verses 34 and 35,
they answered and said unto him, this is speaking
unto the man born blind, whom the Lord had given sight unto,
they answered and said unto him, thou wast altogether born in
sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. Or as
the margin says, they excommunicated him. And 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? And in particular, those
words at the end of verse 35, the question that the Lord puts
to the man, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? Now that question must come to
each of us And all of us are we those who believe in the Son
of God. Our theme then tonight, belief
in the Son of God. And we see here how personal
it all is. We have that singular pronoun
in the question, thus thou. That's how it comes to the individual. Real religion is a personal thing. The Lord Jesus here is not asking
the question in any way for himself. He knows the answer to that question. He needed not that any should
testify of man. We read back in chapter 2, He
knew what was in the hearts of men. Again we are told there
at the end of chapter 6 how Jesus knew from the beginning those
that believed not and knew who should betray Him. He is God
and He knows all things. And so the Lord isn't asking
the question because he wants information that he is not privy
to. He asks the question for the
sake of the man that he had healed of his blindness. Does thou believe
on the Son of God? Or this man was sick, and the
condition in which he was born was all for the glory of God. Remember how at the beginning
of the chapter the Lord answers the question that his disciples
make, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was
born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath
this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God should
be made manifest in him. All that the Lord is doing then
is for the good of the man. Oh, this is the ministry of the
Lord Jesus Christ again. Look at what we read later in
the 11th chapter and there at verse verse 41 following we're
told how Jesus lifted up his eyes and said father I thank
you that thou hast heard me and I knew that thou hearest me always
but because of the people which stand by I said it that they
may believe that thou hast sent me you see the purpose of all
that the Lord is doing all that the Lord is saying because of
the people which stand by that they may believe that thou hast
sent me. And so here what a ministry it
is that the Lord is exercising in order that ultimately this
man upon whom he had performed this most notable of miracles,
giving sight to a man born blind, that this man might be brought
to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Dost thou believe on the Son
of God? Well, as we come to consider
the Word, I want to divide the subject into two parts, first
of all to say something with regards to the very nature of
faith, that is saving faith, and then secondly to say something
with regards to the importance of the object of faith. I feel
so often that as I stand here I simply say the same thing week
after week, and I trust that one doesn't tire you with these
things. But this is the truth of God, is it not? It's things
new and old out of the Word of God. It's line upon line and
line upon line and precept upon precept, precept upon precept. It's here a little, it's there
a little. but to say something with regards
to the Lord and the way in which He is dealing with this particular
individual. First of all, I remind you that
in Scripture it is quite evident that there are a variety of different
faiths. Not all faith is saving faith. And this is why we have to examine
ourselves and prove ourselves and know ourselves as to what
is the nature of that faith that we profess when we say that we
are those who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know
that there is a faith that is associated with demons, the fallen
angels, and yet there was no provision of salvation for those
angels that fell. though they believe. Right at
the beginning of the Lord's ministry there in Mark chapter 1 we see
Christ again performing a miracle in the synagogue in Capernaum. He cast demons out of a man who
was possessed. And what did the demons say?
Let us alone! What have we to do with Thee,
Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to torment us? I know thee who thou art, the
Holy One of God. How the demons are brought to
acknowledge, to confess Him. They know who He is. And remember
the language that we have in the Epistle of James. where he
rebukes some who say that they have faith, and yet their faith
is evidently a dead faith. There is nothing of the fruit
of faith. They'll believe us that there is one God. They'll
do us well, says James. The devils also believe and tremble. Oh, there is a faith, you see.
Even with those fallen angels, they believe. They know. They know who God is, they know
who Jesus Christ is. They know that He is the Son
of God and this is the question that is put to this man, does
thou believe on the Son of God? There isn't that faith associated
with the demons, it's not saving faith. And then also when we
turn to the first epistle to the Corinthians we see that there
is there a faith that is associated with the performance of miracles
that church was evidently a very gifted church those remarkable
gifts associated with apostolic ministry was so evident amongst
the Corinthians and there was much abuse of those things and
Paul deals with these matters certainly there in chapter 12
of 1st Corinthians but see how he speaks in 1st Corinthians 12 Verse 7 following, he speaks
of the manifestation of the Spirit, given to every man, to profit
with all. To one is given by the Spirit,
the word of wisdom. To another, the word of knowledge,
by the same Spirit. To another, faith, by the same
Spirit. To another, the gifts of healing,
by the same Spirit. To another, the working of miracles. To another, prophecy. to another
discerning of spirits, to another diverse kinds of tongues, to
another the interpretation of tongues. The whole variety of
gifts and amongst them he speaks of a particular gift of faith,
to another faith. Now, all in that church had saving
faith. He is evidently speaking of something
quite different to that that was common to them all. He speaks at verse 11 of how
the Spirit would divide to every man severally as he would. And to some there was given this
faith. It was a faith clearly associated
with the performance of something miraculous. We're not to confuse
it with those today who would claim to have miraculous powers
of healing, faith healers. So often those faith healers
are so spurious. When their ministry is not successful,
they say that the fault lies in those who come to them, that
they have not faith. They never blame themselves.
No, the Lord is obviously given to that church according to a
whole variety of gifts though they were abusing those gifts
yet in that apostolic day there were those who had a special
a remarkable degree of faith that was something different
to saving faith we might call it then a faith of miracles but
we're not to confuse that with with simple saving faith and
then furthermore We know also that there were some who had
a fight, but it was not an enduring fight. It was just a temporary
fight. I think of those very solemn
passages that we have in the epistle to the Hebrews. You know
the portion. And those searching the words
are there in chapter 6 verse 4 Paul says it is impossible
it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have
tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy
Ghost and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of
the world to come if they shall fall away to renew them again
unto repentance seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God
afresh and put into an open shame or they are those apostates. They had professed the faith
but it wasn't a real and a genuine faith. He says much the same
later in chapter 10, verse 26, if we sin willfully after that
we have received the knowledge of the truth there remain us
no more sacrifice for sin. but a certain fearful looking
forward of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour
the adversaries." Oh, there were some, you see, they appeared
amongst the people of God, and yet they had not true faith,
so they gave every appearance of it. We know that amongst the
Lord's disciples there was one called Judas Iscariot. Or there
is a faith that is temporary. Saving faith is that faith that
endures. He that shall endure to the end,
says the Lord, the same shall be saved. Oh yes, the beginning
of faith is very important. But it is not just the beginning.
We must have a beginning and a middle and an end. We must
be those who are persevering. Or we believe, do we not? in
that perseverance of the saints. These different types of faith
that we see so clearly in Holy Scripture, and then another,
we might say, is just a natural belief, a theism, a belief that
God is. The psalmist says on two occasions,
as you know, Psalm 14 and again in Psalm 53, the fall. I said
in his heart there is no God. The folly of atheism. And so
many today like to call themselves atheists. What folly? when we see around us the wonder
of God's creation, the heavens declaring the glory of God, the
firmament showing His handiwork. And yet they say it all happened
merely by chance. It's a ridiculous belief to call
oneself an atheist. It's no belief at all, of course.
It's the denial of God. Oh, there is that, we might say,
natural belief where a man is brought to his senses and delivered
from his atheism. I've said before that that great
Scottish divine John Duncan, Rabbi Duncan he was called because
of his great Hebrew learning and his passion for the salvation
of the Jews. He was once an atheist. He was
delivered from atheism. He wasn't a real convert to the
Lord Jesus Christ, but how it filled him with joy when he was
brought to be a theist and to acknowledge God. He had a natural
faith. He believed God. He believed what God says in
His Word, and men are to believe the Word of God, the Testament
that we have here, the record that God has given to us. Remember
the language that we have there in the fifth chapter of that
first epistle of John. In 1 John 5 verse 9, it says,
If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. For this is the witness of God,
which he hath testified of his Son. either believeth on the
Son of God hath the witness in himself, either believeth not
God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that
God hath given of his Son." We ought to believe the record.
We're to be those who believe the truth of Scripture. But that's
not saving faith. And maybe when we reflect on
the Lord's dealings with us we may recall how For many years
we believed that God is. We believed that the Bible is
the Word of God, but we knew that was not saving faith. That was not saving faith. It's
theism. It's acceptance of the truth
concerning God, but it's not that faith that saves the soul. No, that faith that saves the
soul is that faith that is born of God Himself. the guy there
in that fifth chapter of John's first epistle it says for whatsoever
is born of God overcometh the world and this is the victory
that overcometh the world even our faith who is he that overcometh
the world? but he that believeth that Jesus
is the Son of God but it says there whatsoever is born of God
not whosoever, whatsoever is born of God over cometh the world. And this is the victory that
over cometh the world, even our faith, our faith. Saving faith,
if we have it, is born of God. It's not something that we can
work up in our own hearts. Not something that we can give
ourselves. Not something that we can weave
out of our own bowels like the spider might weave a web. It
must be that faith that comes of the operation of God, in the
language of Colossians 2.12. Oh, we're so familiar with some
of these scriptures. Oh, they so readily trot off
the end of our tongue. Think of the language of Ephesians
2, By grace are ye saved, through faith. And that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. We are His workmanship. created
in Christ Jesus unto good works. It's a gift of God. It's a work
of God. That is what saving faith is.
It's not something any individual can ever, in any sense, give
to himself. And when men speak of duty faith,
duty repentance, and the Lord is dealing with people and then
they're confronted with this sort of preaching. Why? It's
like striking that poor dying man dead. He wants faith, he
has not faith. And he knows he cannot give himself
faith. He cannot perform those sort of duties. He's brought
to the end of himself. That's how God deals with us.
He turns a man to destruction and says, return you children
of me. In the language of Psalm 90.
Isn't that the way of God? We have to come to that, that
we see that there's nothing in self. It's all of God. It's all
of the grace of God. And again, we think of the language
that we have there at the beginning of Peter's second epistle, where
he addresses those whom he says have obtained like precious faith
with us. All that precious faith. the precious things that we have
in Peter's epistles. And amongst them, he speaks of
precious faith. That's saving faith. And he addresses
those who have obtained it. Obtained, he says, like precious
faith with us. Now, the verb. To obtain. Literally, the word that is used
there means to obtain a thing by lot. to obtain a thing by
the casting of a lot. And what does that say to us? Well, it reminds us of the sovereignty
of God. People think that the casting
of lots is just like a lucky dip. But we defy the very notion
of luck and fortune. We know that our life's minutest
circumstance all is subject to the eye of God. The wise man
tells us in the book of Proverbs, the lot is cast into the lap
but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. There's nothing
chance in the casting of the lot, it's all at the Lord's disposal
and so when Peter addresses those who have obtained and obtained,
as it were, by lots, that precious faith, it means that it has been
sovereignly distributed to them by God. It's a gift of God. It's
the absolute sovereignty of God. This is where this faith comes
from, that the Lord Jesus is speaking to this man of. Does
thou believe on the Son of God. But having sought to say something
with regards to the nature of faith and the fact that there
are these different types of faith spoken of throughout Scripture,
but there's only one faith that is the faith of God's elect,
that saving faith, that justifying faith. Let us turn to the object
of faith. Now you might say to me, but
pastor you've not said enough about the nature of faith. What
is faith? Well it is very difficult for
us to define that saving faith. Because we have very little of
definition in scripture. We do have those words at the
beginning of Hebrews 11, faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen. I can't think of any other
sort of definition anywhere else other than there at the beginning
of Hebrews 11. That is a definition, faith,
the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen. And sometimes we sing of faith,
true faith is the life of God. Deep in the heart it lies, it
lives and labors under load, though damp it never dies, says
Joseph Hart. How true that is, if we have
true faith. We know it, it's in our heart, it's a living thing.
Oh yes, it's under assault. Satan will seek to attack. Satan
will come and he'll seek to insert into our minds all those dreadful,
unbelieving thoughts. It'll fill us with doubts and
fears, but faith survives. It's the trying of faith that
proves the reality of faith. But when we come to Scripture,
the remarkable thing is this, that the emphasis is so much
upon the object of faith. That's what the Bible does. It
doesn't so much give us definitions, but it speaks of the object.
And here you see in the text, we have the object, does so believe
on the Son of God. It is the Son of God who is the
object of faith. And so if you want faith, you
have to look to Him who is the object, looking on to Jesus.
The author and finisher of our faith, says the Apostle. And
here we see this object in terms of who the Lord Jesus Christ
is. Does thou believe, he says, or he asks, on the Son of God. Now, in the whole of this chapter
we see how this man is being dealt with so cruelly,
so severely by the Pharisees those men who were so prominent
at that time amongst the Jews and we know how the Lord Jesus
was a great offense in his ministry to these Pharisees how they were
always ready to find fault with him here they their finding fault
again because the Lord had performed this miracle, this great miracle. But He had done this on the Sabbath
day. And what had He done? He had
made clay with His spittle. and he had
anointed the eyes of the man. A man that is called Jesus made
clay and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool
of Siloam, and wash. And I went and washed, and I
received sight." That's the testimony of the man to these Jews, these
Pharisees. And we're told in verse 14 it
was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his
eyes. So what are they going to say?
He's a Sabbath breaker. He's working on the Sabbath day.
It's the same as what we have back in chapter 5 when the Lord
there at the pool of Bethesda gives
feet to the lame man, tells him to take up his bed and walk,
and it's a Sabbath day. And they accuse him of breaking
the Sabbath. But remember there in chapter 5 it was more than
that. The Jews sought the Moor to kill him because he not only
had broken the Sabbath, they said, but also said that God
was his father, making himself equal with God. Well that was
the offense. He said that God was his Father.
He said that he was the Son of God. And this is the very question
that the Lord is putting to this man. Does thou believe on the
Son of God? In other words, does this man
believe in the deity of Christ? Or does he believe that this
is God manifest in the flesh? And when the man does confess
the Lord, what does he do? Verse 38, Lord I believe and
you worshipped him. Oh, that is belief you see. That
is true saving faith where the Lord Jesus Christ is worshipped
as God, as the only Saviour of sinners. Remember how in the
book of the Revelation, there at the end in chapter 19, John
is so overwhelmed he would worship the angel. But the angel says
to him, so directly, so strongly, he says,
worship God. Worship God. And we sang just
now in the hymn, worship God then in his Son. There is love
and there alone. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who
is to be worshipped and this man worships him and What has
the Lord done for this man? He's not only given him physical
sight. That faith that he has, that faith that he confesses
in verse 38, is not that also the gracious work of the Lord
Jesus Christ? When the Lord asked that question
at the end of verse 35, Thus thou believe on the Son of God,
it's a question, the man answers. Verse 36, He answered and said,
Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said
unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh
with thee. Now, here is the answer, you
see, to the question, What is faith? How does one obtain faith? It's in the answer that the Lord
is given to this man. And there are two parts to that
answer. What does the Lord say? Thou
hast both seen him and it is he that talketh with thee. Here
is the way in which the Lord works that faith in the man.
It's the hearing of faith and it's the sight of faith. There the Lord says at the end
of that 37th verse, it is he that talketh with thee. and that's how faith comes when
the Lord actually comes and speaks and speaks directly to us and
by that speech, by that word, by that command there is the
accomplishment of faith in the soul just as he said at the tomb
of Lazarus, Lazarus come forth and he that was dead came forth.
So when the Lord speaks the word to that soul that is dead in
trespasses and sins there is the communication of spiritual
life and that must be the beginning of faith. There can be no faith
until there's life. Isn't faith the evidence of spiritual
life? All remember the words of the
Apostle when he writes there in Ephesians 4.20 he tells them
you have not so learned Christ if so be ye have heard him and
been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus they heard Jesus
although the Lord was never there in a physical sense they heard
the words of the Lord Jesus through the preaching of the Apostle
it wasn't just the words of Paul that they heard No, their faith
came because they heard the voice of the Lord Jesus. My sheep know
my voice, he says, and they follow me and I give unto them eternal
life and they shall never perish. Remember this great cardinal
truth, faith cometh by hearing. How important then to be hearers
of the Word of God. This is why we make so much of
the of the reading of the Word. The public reading of Scripture
is a vital part of our service and then the preaching of the
Word. Faith cometh by hearing, we are
told. Or what do we read concerning
those of Israel that fell in the wilderness? In Hebrews chapter
4 And there at the second verse, the word preached, it says, did
not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard
it. How there needs to be that mixing
of faith. Is that what we desire when we
come under the Word of God, that there might be that mixing of
faith? We want faith. Where can we obtain
it? Well, we want the Lord Himself to come. Is that your prayer
when you come under the sound of the Word of God? It's not
that you want to hear some favourite preacher. No, you're able to
look beyond the man. It's not the man, it's the Word
that that man is handling and if there is that right opening
up and expounding of the Word, there's the voice of the Lord
Jesus. Is that what you want to hear every time you come to
a service here in this chapel? that voice of the Lord Jesus.
He says to this man, it is he that talketh with thee. And again,
the beauty of our authorized version, it's so clear that it's
personal, it's a singular pronoun. The retention of the thou's and
the thee's. It is he that is the Lord Jesus,
it is the Son of God who's talking with thee, talking with thee
personally. Oh, this is such a personal religion
that this man is brought to. And we see the way in which the
Lord is constantly preparing him. I like that we have earlier
at verse 25, when the man is again answering those Jews and
Pharisees. He answered and said, Whether
he be a sinner or not, I know not. One thing I know, One thing I know, that where
as I was blind, now I see. Oh, can you not say that? One
thing I know. One thing I know, once I was
spiritually blind, once I knew nothing of faith, once I knew
nothing at all of the Lord Jesus Christ. One thing I know, where
as I was blind, now I see. The Lord has done it. It's not
my own work, it's the Lord's work in me. It's the hearing
of faith. But there are two aspects to
the way in which the Lord deals with the man and works his saving
faith in the man. It's not just the hearing of
faith, it's also the sight of faith. Thou hast both seen him, says
the Lord, and it is he that talketh with thee." Though this man was
blind from his birth, the amazing thing is that this man actually
saw with his physical eyes the Lord Jesus. Have you ever thought
of that? He'd never seen at all until the Lord passed by. The opening verse, as Jesus passed
by he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And then the Lord, in verse 6,
having spoken to his disciples, who'd asked that question concerning
why he was blind, 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 is by interpretation sent. He went his way therefore,
and washed, and came seeing." He has sight. And now at the
end of the chapter, it is the Lord who is speaking to him. He sees the Lord. as he speaks
to him. He saw him with his natural sight.
But more than that, he also saw the Lord with the eye of faith.
Verse 38 he said, Lord I believe. That's the sight of faith. Lord
I believe. And he worshipped him. Oh there is such a thing as the
sight of faith. I've already referred to those
words in Hebrews 12 to looking on to Jesus looking on to Jesus
and you know again the the force of that verb to look it means
to look away from every other object it means to look away
from every other object and to look only to look to one object
and one object alone the Lord Jesus the author and finisher
of our faith. He says, look unto me and be
beside all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is none
else. Oh, the Lord Jesus, He is that
One who has come as a light in the world. He says here at verse
5, as long as I am in the world I am the light of the world.
How we have to look to that light? Remember how Evangelist there
in Pilgrim's Progress directs Christian and he directs him
to yonder light. That's where he presses to, to
that light. It's the Lord Jesus. I am the
light of the world. He that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life, says the Lord. Then what of that light? For
God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, says Paul,
has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. With that light
comes the knowledge of God. the knowledge of the glory of
God, and that glory of God revealed in the person and the work of
the Lord Jesus Christ, does so believe on the Son of God. The
salvation nowhere else but in this one, the Son of God, the
Eternal Son, the second person in the Godhead. It was not the
Father that became a man, it was not the Holy Spirit, it was
that distinct person, the eternal Son of God who was manifest in
the flesh, who came to save sinners. Well, this is the one, you see,
it's the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,
the image of the invisible God. But it's not just the knowledge
of God in Christ, there also goes with that the knowledge of ourselves, we
must have some understanding, some knowledge of ourselves,
some sense of our needs as sinners. And though it's interesting what
we have at the end of this chapter, those closing verses, Verse 39,
Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they
which see not might see, and that 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
are blind, ye should have no sin. But now ye say, We see. Therefore your sin remaineth. Those men had no knowledge of
themselves. or they were such self-righteous
men. That's the very spirit of Phariseeism. Come not nigh me, I am holier
than thou. That man that goes to the temple,
that Pharisee, together with the publican and how that Pharisee
comes full of himself and his own religion. Oh, I thank thee
that I am not as other men are. I'm not like this sinner. He has no sense of his need.
Or how we need that sight of ourselves to know what we are.
That we are sinners and we can do nothing for ourselves. Nothing
to help ourselves, nothing to save ourselves. It's looking
on to Jesus. Or what does the Lord say? Thou
hast both seen him. Have you seen the Lord Jesus?
seen him with the eye of faith and have you seeing him believed
on him? Literally here at the end of
this 35th verse the preposition is more into does thou believe
on the Son of God More literally, does thou believe into the Son
of God? Or were to believe into Christ?
He that into Christ believes, what a rich faith has he! In Christ he moves and acts and
lives, from self and bondage freed. He has the Father and
the Son. For Christ and he are no but
one. That's what it is. It's that
union of living faith. to be one with Christ, to be altogether identified with
Him. The life which I now live in
the flesh, Paul says, I live by the faith of the Son of God
who loved me and gave Himself for me. Oh friends, is that the
faith that we have? Is that the faith that we desire?
to be those who are brought to believe into the Lord Jesus Christ. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. All things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. And we see it here, friends.
This man, or this poor man, he was cast out. They cast him out, it says at
verse 34. They excommunicated him. They
put him out of the synagogue. He's an outcast from Israel.
But Jesus heard that they had cast him out. Heard that they
had excommunicated the man. And when he had found him, the
Lord goes and seeks this man, this cast out man. This is the
ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. He gathers together the outcasts
of Israel. Those who feel themselves to
be at such a great distance from God. The ends of the earth, look
unto me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth, those
who are so far away. All the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ here as He comes with this particular question to this
man. Dost thou believe on the Son
of God. One thinks of another question
that the Lord puts to the Pharisee at the end of Matthew 22, What
think ye of Christ, whose Son is he? Thus I believe tonight
on the Son of God. Oh God grant that we might be
those favoured with such grace, blessed with such faith that
we can say with this man, Lord I believe and he worshipped him. Oh the Lord bless his word to
us. Amen.