If you would turn with me to
the Gospel of John chapter 9, please. John chapter 9. Whenever John
chapter 9 is mentioned, my thoughts immediately go to that poor man
that was born blind. The whole chapter is about him. By nature, he's a picture of
you and me. We're all born spiritually blind. as this man was, we see from
verse 1. And for a believer, it's for
the glory of God, as it was for this man, according to verse
3. And like him, we're nothing but mercy beggars, according
to verse 8, that's what he was. And like this man, we were all
together born in sin, as he was, according to verse 34. And like
him, we're cast out, until Christ finds us, as we see in verse
35. Now verse 35 will be my text
this morning. And I've preached more than once
from John chapter 9 concerning this poor soul, this poor beggar,
but this morning I want us to consider the urgent question
asked by our Lord in verse 35. Verse 35, Jesus heard that they
had cast him out, and when he had found him, this man didn't
find the Lord. The Lord found him. You see,
the Lord's not lost. I hear folks say all the time,
I found the Lord. Well, He's not lost. We're the
one that's lost, and He must find us. He said unto him when
he found him, dost thou believe on the Son of God? What a question. I propose this morning for your
consideration the same urgent question. Dost thou believe on
the Son of God? Do you believe in and on the
Lord Jesus Christ? You know, I think sometimes we
just automatically assume and believe that those who attend
this church faithfully believe and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. That would be a great and a wrong
assumption. Not everyone that says Lord,
Lord. shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. But he that doeth
the will of my Father, which is in heaven, our Lord said.
Now, what is the will of God? Our Lord tells us in John chapter
six, verse 40. He says, and this is the will
of him that sent me, that everyone would seeth the Son. We're born
blind. God's got to give us eyes to
see. Everyone would seeeth the Son and believeth on Him. Well, we're dead in trespasses
and sin. How can we believe? God's got to give us life. May
He have everlasting life, and I'll raise Him up at the last
day. For the people of God, God's will for them is to see the Son
and believe on the Son, and that being the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God. Now, I don't do social media,
but I have a friend who recently sent me a post, a comment of
another acquaintance of ours, who has a little slogan that
he always adds at the end of one of his comments, and it says,
and it sounds good, it says, be humble, be kind, and most
of all, believe. And that's all it says. And on
this particular post, someone challenged him by asking him,
what am I supposed to believe? Well, that's a good question.
You say to believe, but what or who are we supposed to believe? Faith must have an object, or
it's just blind faith. A man responded by saying, I
believe there's one God, and it was this one God who created
this wonderful planet on which we live. And a lot of folks believe
that. Matter of fact, most everybody
does if you ask them. Even devils believe it. James
wrote, thou believest that there is one God, thou doest well.
The devils also believe and tremble. Now are the devils saved by believing
that? No, no. And if that's all you
believe, neither will you be saved. Most everyone believes
that there's a God, and most of them believe that their God
is the only God. People today imagine God to be
this, and they imagine God to be that. They say they trust
in this one God. They often refer to their ideal
of God as a higher power. They call Him the good man above.
They refer to Him as a supreme being. a power greater than themselves,
yet many claim that this higher power, this supreme being, this
good man upstairs, to be someone named Buddha, or Mohammed, or
Confucius, or some other imagined deity. But the question that
our Lord Jesus asked this man who was born blind was, does
thou believe on the Son of God? Very specific question. It can
also be asked this way. I've often said from this pulpit
that it's the most urgent question ever asked. What think ye of
Christ? Whose Son is He? He's the Son of God. Dost thou
believe on the Son of God? The devils believe that there's
one God, but you see, that's not the issue, nor the means
of eternal life. You can believe that there's
one God and perish. Believing there's one God can
be seen in the creation, it can be seen in the light of nature,
why it can even be seen in the works of providence. So much
so that Romans 1 tells us that those things, those who see those
things and do not believe the gospel will still perish and
be without excuse. The question of all questions
is, does thou believe on the Son of God? And I'll add, He's
God the Son. No less God than God Himself,
God the Father. What do you think of Jesus Christ?
Do you know whose Son He is? This is a question I don't believe
we ask enough. It needs to be addressed more
in preaching, even in my preaching. We should ask ourselves this
question more often. Do we believe in and on Jesus
Christ? Do we trust Him as our only means
of salvation? Do we believe that He is the
only one who can put our sin away? The question is not if
there's a God. The question is not if there's
only one God. The question is, do you believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ is the Son of God
and God the Son. What do you think of Him? Now
when the Scriptures give us bad news, they always give us the
alternative in why. Let me show you what I mean.
The Scriptures say, he that believeth on the Son of God hath life.
And he that believeth not the Son of God shall not see life,
but the wrath of God abideth on him. That's the alternative
of not believing. But the wrath of God abides on
you. The Scriptures say, He that believeth on Him, Christ the
Son of God, is not condemned. But he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. John 3.18. And that's why men
are condemned. They don't believe on the Son
of God. You see, there's great consequence to not believe on
Christ. The question is not if you've
been christened or if you've been confirmed or if you've been
catechized or baptized. That is not the question. The
question is, does thou believe on the Son of God? Is Jesus Christ
alone your place of safety and refuge? The question is not if you've
made a profession. A lot of people make professions. The question
is not have you said a sinner's prayer. A lot of folks have.
Still lost. The question is not if you've
joined the church. There's a lot of members of the
church that are going to be in hell. The question is simple. Does thou believe on the son
of God? You're going to hear that a lot
this morning. First, this is a most necessary question. The
question is a matter of life and death. It really is. You
know, men say that, but it really is. And one day, we're going
to find that out for sure. We're going to see that that's
so. Condemnation awaits those who do not believe. The wrath
of God abides on an unbeliever. We just read that. That's straight
from God's Word. It's not something that we make
up to scare people into confessing Christ or believing on Christ. And friends, it's become way
too custom for preachers to think and address the whole congregation
as believers or brethren. It's an injustice to both the
believing and the unbelieving to assume that all who are present
in church services are saved. It's an injustice. It's wrong
to presume that everyone here has a part in the spiritual promises
of God. Only those who believe do. Does
thou believe? Does thou believe on the Son
of God? Because of this, many men and women have gone out to
meet God without a substitute and without a Savior. They believe
that everything with them and God is alright. We should clearly declare the
truth knowing some believe and some don't. That's always been
the case. That's always been the result
of preaching. Some believe and some don't believe. Some fear God and some don't
fear Him at all. Yes, it's God's business who
believes and it's God's business who doesn't, not ours. I'm thankful
for that, trust me. But it's my responsibility as
your pastor and as a preacher of the gospel to ask you the
question often, do you believe on the Son of God? We constantly
need to be examining ourselves, proving our own selves, whether
we be in the faith. It's Christ in us that keeps
us from being reprobates. That's what Paul said. He said,
examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith, prove your own
selves. Know you not your own selves,
how that Jesus Christ in you, except you be reprobates. Now that word reprobate in the
Greek dictionary means counterfeit. We had a lady from overseas,
about once a year, she always, around Christmas time, we just
got it today, sent us a card, and she always puts a $100 bill
in it. And I had it sitting out on the
table, and Larry came in, and he said, is that real? Yeah. I don't believe it's counterfeit.
Counterfeit looks a lot, I mean, to pass as real, it's got to
look really close. It's got to look a lot like it.
It's counterfeit. The word reprobate means counterfeit.
Webster defines the word reprobate as unprincipled, hardened, rogue,
degenerate, unregenerate. Without Christ, every one of
us are just that. Now that's not a popular message,
I know that. But it's true. It's true. In Christ, we're not reprobate,
we're not cast away, we're not rejected, we're not unapproved.
Because we believe in Christ, the Son of God, God has made
us accepted in Him. I'm accepted in Jesus Christ,
the beloved of God, and because of that, I am now one of the
beloved. One beloved in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Boy, if that don't make you happy,
I don't know what will. No sir, I don't. And this is
why we ask sinners if they believe. Believing is our only hope of
salvation. And that's why we plead with
men. That's why we persuade men and
women alike. Knowing therefore the terror
of the Lord, we persuade men. 2 Corinthians 5.11. Now that
word persuade means convinced by argument. Now, that doesn't
mean we argue and debate with men. That never does any good. Most people that want to argue
and debate with you are not interested in changing their mind whatsoever.
They're just interested in arguing. They're interested in trying
to change your mind. We assure sinners with confidence
that the things we preach are so. And we do it through the
Word of God. This is what God says. And no
matter what you say, some are going to say, well, that's your
interpretation of it. No? He that hath the Son hath
life. Is there any interpretation to
that? That's pretty simple and plain, isn't it? He that hath
not the Son of God hath not life. What about that? Is there to
misunderstand? And what is in that to debate
or to argue about? We persuade men that they're
walking in a way that leads to destruction, a way that leads
to eternal ruin, by being under the curse of the law and under
the wrath of God. But only the Lord Himself can
reveal this truth to you and to me. Only the Lord can intervene
to put you on the narrow road that leads to life. I fear there are some of you
here this morning who are yet without Christ. You have religion,
or you were raised in religion. You have some zeal, but it's
not according to knowledge. You have some knowledge, but
it's not according to the Scriptures. So you're without Christ and
without hope, unless God divinely intervenes. Now, salvation is
something that must not be taken for granted. Without Christ,
you're outside of the bounds of the kingdom of grace. Matter
of fact, apart from Christ, there is no love, there is no mercy,
and there is no grace. It's all found in Him and in
Him alone. You can't get to heaven without Him. May God enable and cause you
right now to solemnly search your own heart and ask yourself
this question, do I believe on the Son of God? Some of you have
heard the glorious gospel for some time now and you've yet
to profess the Lord publicly. You've yet to identify with Him
in baptism, and at the same time, there are some of you that have
been baptized more than once, and yet without Christ. You've
gathered around the communion table, you took the bread and
the wine without truly understanding that they represent the One in
whom you must believe in order to be saved. Oh, what a most
necessary question this is. Does thou believe on the Son
of God? Secondly, this is a very clear
and plain question. It's a yes or no question. It's
not a difficult question. It might be a difficult question
if I asked you this morning to describe and explain the election
and predestination of God. That's not the subject nor the
question. The question is, do you believe
on Jesus Christ? And you've heard me time and
time again tell you that Christ died in the room instead of sinners.
And you've heard me again and again testify that His sacrifice
atoned for the sins of all who trust and believe in Him. And
you've heard me over and over say that Christ died the just
for the unjust. and that He is just and the justifier
of them who believe in Him. But have you believed? That's a clear and plain question.
As clear and plain as any I've ever heard. Do you believe? Dost
thou believe on the Son of God? If I could just show you the
Son of God, I would. But I can't. Only the Spirit of God can. Those
who believe in Jesus Christ shall be saved. Are you one of them
that believe? Thirdly, this is a very personal
question. Does thou believe on the Son
of God? Do you? Not your neighbor, not
your wife, not your husband, not your mama, not your daddy.
Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Salvation is not by proxy
of your wife, not by proxy of your husband. Salvation is not
by proxy of your children or your parents. They're not qualified
or authorized to act upon your behalf. That's what the word
proxy means. They do not have the authority
to represent you before God Almighty. But there is One who is. Does
thou believe on Him? Fourthly, this is a basic, elementary
question. It comes down to the very foundation
of faith. What is the hope of your salvation? No, who is the hope of your salvation? This is not a question for the
highly educated. The most illiterate man or woman
can answer it. Do you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ? Do you believe on the Son of
God? No examination needs to be taken.
No questionnaires to be filled out. There are no ceremonies
to be performed. No complicated work to accomplish. The only fitness that God requires
is that you feel your need of Him. Those that are well have
no need of a physician, but those that are sick most certainly
do. Are you sick? Do you need the great physician?
Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? The gospel, the good news is
for sinners. We all qualify for this salvation. Only the unworthy do. And fifthly,
this is the weightiest question that's ever been asked. Do you
know this man of whom I speak? Life, death, heaven, hell, bliss
or woe depend upon your answer. If you're washed in his blood,
then you are clean. If your soul's trusting in him
alone, it is well with your soul. And it's well with your soul
now, and it's well with your soul forever. Sixthly, this question
demands an immediate reply. Does thou believe on the Son
of God? One might say, well, I'll give
you my answer at a more convenient time. Some will say, you almost
persuade me to believe. My experience has been that you
will not answer later. And my experience is more than
likely you will not be persuaded. This is a question that must
be answered now. There's no promise of later.
There's no promise for tomorrow. This is a question that needs
to be answered by everyone. This is a question from the very
lips of the very one whom we must believe. So it must receive
an immediate response because of who it is that ask it. What
are the benefits of believing on the Son of God? Now I only
have time to give you a few. They're too numerous to tell.
The world itself couldn't contain the books, the volumes of the
books if they were all written down. The eternal Son of God
possesses the perfect righteousness that God requires and the perfect
righteousness that you must have to be reconciled to a thrice
holy God. That ought to be reason enough.
That's what saving faith is. It's believing, it's trusting,
it's relying, it's adhering on Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Go thy way, thy faith, thy believing in Christ has saved thee. No
other way to be saved. Paul wrote, the life that I now
live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who
loved me and gave himself for me. How do we conquer sin and
death? We're more than conquerors through
Him. Through Him that loved us, Romans
8 37. Who is he that overcometh the
world? But he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. Do you believe? How are we justified? Only by
the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, His faithfulness,
and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. You know what that means? That
means you can't do anything to save yourself. How are we forgiven? And you,
being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
had He quickened together with Him, having forgiven all your
trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that
was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the
way, nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2, 13 and 14. Oh,
what glorious benefits are found in believing on Christ. But what
if you don't believe? Unbelief exposes the greatest
of curses. Oh, that's not a pleasant subject.
Let's don't talk about that. Let's talk about edifying things. No, we're going to talk about
this for a moment. He that believeth not is condemned already. We've
already seen that. He that believeth not shall be
damned. He that believeth not shall not
see life. He that believeth not shall be
confounded, disgraced, dishonored, and made ashamed. That's what
the word confounded means. He that believeth not makes God
a liar. 1 John 5, 10. If you die in unbelief, not trusting
in Christ, that is a sin that God cannot forgive. I thought God could forgive everything,
everything but unbelief. We can't make too much of faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you ever considered to whom
the question was asked? It wasn't asked to an angel,
it wasn't asked to a prophet, it wasn't asked to an apostle,
not a preacher, not a Pharisee, but this question was asked to
a poor beggar. He'd been blind all of his life. He just now saw for the first
time. He lived in physical and spiritual
darkness all his life, and he was an ignorant and confused
man. Does that sound like anybody
you know? By nature, we're the same. It is to these kind of
folks that the Lord asks, does thou believe on the Son of God?
That's what I'm asking you this morning. Isn't it an amazing
thing for Christ to ask me, a poor beggar, blind most of my life,
ignorant and confused about many things, such a question. Would
He have asked if He didn't care? Would He have asked if He took
pleasure in condemning me to die? Friends, the Lord finds
no pleasure in the death of the wicked. The Lord says, why will
you die? Would He have asked if He was
bent on condemning me? Could it be that He died for
me who caused His pain? Could it be that He's going to
grant me faith if He asks me such a question? How does such
faith come? Only by divine revelation from
the divine One whom we are to believe. Christ asked such a
one as this. He asked an ignorant beggar. That's what gives me hope. His question again is, does thou
believe in the Son of God? And did you notice the man's
answer? Look at verse 36. He answered and said, who is
he, Lord, that I might believe on him? Well, you and I can't believe
in someone that we don't know. Who is he, Lord? I don't know him. Who is he? Tell me who he is. I can't believe
in someone I don't know. The only way to believe on the
Son of God is for Him to make Himself known to us. Isn't that
what we see here? We can't believe on an unrevealed
Christ. Who is He, Lord? Tell me who
He is. You know, many seem to have it
all figured out, who don't have it figured out at all. They say
that God wants to save you. They say that God is trying to
save you. Steve, that's why... We distinguish
our God from theirs. Our God is sovereign. Brother
Tommy and I were talking a while back and he said, I know when
you say God, that God is sovereign. I do too. But a lot of folks
don't. Because their God is trying.
Their God wants to do something. Not my God. Not my God. And we distinguish Him as sovereign
to show Him that He's different. He doesn't try and He doesn't
want to do anything. He does what He wills. And I
love how the Lord revealed Himself to this poor man. There was no
big hoopla. There was no big emotional to-do
or taboo or whatever you want to call it. No visible supernatural
commotion. The Lord simply answered in verse
37, Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He that talketh with
thee. Have you seen Him? Has He talked
with you? Has He revealed to you who He
is? Dost thou believe on the Son of God? And the poor beggar
answered, Lord, I believe. That was all he had to do. Lord,
I believe. What did he do next? And he worshiped
Him. Worship always follows believing.
That's a true sign of faith in Christ. Worship. That's why Christ
came in the world. He came in the world to save
sinners. And those sinners will worship Him. That's why some
of you are here this morning, to worship the One who loved
you and gave Himself for you. So do you see? Do you believe? Dost thou believe on the Son
of God? You know, I find it very interesting
that the Lord didn't ask this man if he could now see. Well,
he knew he could, physically, because He'd give him sight. He asked him if he believed.
And this is why, look at verse 39. And Jesus said, for judgment
I came, I am coming to the 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 those words and they said unto Him, are we
blind also? And Jesus said unto them, if
you were blind, You should have no sin. But now you say, we see,
therefore your sin remaineth. Now in closing, I want to give
you four very quick questions that may help you to answer the
question of all questions. And that being, does thou believe
on the Son of God? First, who is the Son of God? He's God in the flesh. He's the
seed of woman. He's the surety of the covenant.
He's that prophet like Moses. He's that priest after the order
of Melchizedek. He's the lion of the tribe of
Judah. He's the Lord our righteousness.
He's the ark of Noah. He's the Passover, that smitten
rock. He's the tabernacle in which
we dwell. He's the mercy seat. He's the
sacrifice. He's the city of refuge. Peter
said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. He's the
God man. He is Emmanuel, God with us. That's who he is. Secondly, what
did he do? He came in the world, the very
world that was made by him. He who made woman was made of
a woman. The ancient of days became an
infant of days. He was bone of our bone and flesh
of our flesh and He lived a perfect, righteous and holy life. He obeyed
the law in every jot and tittle as the representative of His
people. And then burying our sins in His own body on the tree,
He died the just for the unjust that He might bring us to God.
We're not walking along the narrow road by ourselves. No, He's bringing
us. Like the shepherd brings that
lost sheep, puts him on his shoulder, and carries him all the way to
the fold. That's what He does for us. He knew. He that knew no sin
was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. He went to the cross to satisfy
justice and justify sinners. Thirdly, why did He do this? Well, he had to. You see, if
God is going to be a just God and a Savior, and if sinners
are going to be saved, He's going to justly save sinners, and our
sin has to be paid for by Him. The law of God has got to be
kept. The holy justice of God has to
be satisfied. We can't do it. Someone has to
do it for us. Does thou believe on the Son
of God? He's the only one who can. Why did He do this? We couldn't
keep God's law. We couldn't satisfy His justice.
So Christ, as our substitute, did both. Of Him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness,
sanctification and redemption. Everything God requires of us,
Christ became for us. Lastly, where is He now? He's at the right hand of God.
He's the express image of God. He's the brightness of God's
glory. He Himself purged our sins and He sat down on the right
hand of God. What's He doing now? He ever
liveth to make intercession for us. For me? Yes. So let me ask you one last time.
Yes, I believe on the Son of God. May God be pleased to make
it so. For His glory, our good, and
for Christ's sake. Amen. Amen.