All right, let's go back to John
9. John chapter 9, verse 1. It says, and, and, that's an
important word. That means the beginning of chapter
nine is immediately connected with the end of chapter eight,
and. All right, now let's watch the
truth of God's sovereignty here, okay? Our God is sovereign. Look
at chapter eight, verse 56. It says, your father, Abraham,
rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. Then said
the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast
thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took
they up stones to cast at him, but Jesus hid himself, and went
out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed
by. He hid Himself. They were looking
right at Him. They all picked up stones and
they were ready to start throwing stones right at Him. But He hid Himself from them. Alright, now look at chapter
9 verse 1. It says, And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man which
was blind. He hid himself from the ones
that thought they could see. These were the Pharisees, the
religious leaders. And he hid himself from the ones
who thought they could see. And he's going to reveal himself
to someone who knows he's blind. That man knew he was blind. That's
sovereignty. His right and His ability to
do whatever He will, with whom He will. That's sovereignty.
Alright, now look at this. Chapter 8, verse 59 says, Then
took they up stones to cast at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and
went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and
so passed by. Oh, man. The horror of that. Their only
hope for all of eternity was right there, right then. That
moment. Those people were there in that
moment, right then. And there was God right then.
And he heard the actual, they heard the actual voice of God. And they picked up stones and
he just passed by. The horror of that. Now look at chapter 9, verse
1. It says, and as Jesus passed
by. Oh, the glory of that. That's sovereignty. To pass by
one and to pass by another. Pass me not, O gentle Savior. Don't pass me by. Please don't
pass me by. We are hearing His voice. If
His Spirit will come, He is speaking through His Word. Let me not
pick up a stone to cast it at Him. Don't pass me by. Don't we see His goodness here,
His kindness, His mercy? These Pharisees had rocks in
their hands ready to kill Him. Did he say, I'm done with this. I'm done with this. Father, my own have received
me not. Receive me back to glory. That's
what he should have said. He left that hatred and he saw
another sinner that he knew was exactly the same as these other
sinners, no difference. And the God of all grace and
the God of all mercy is about to show grace and mercy in spite
of sinners. In spite of them. Verse 1 says,
And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man which was blind from his
birth. This man didn't see Him. This man couldn't see Him. He
was blind. And so is every single man and
woman who's born into this world. They are born into this world
spiritually blind. Cannot see God, has no idea who
he is. This blind man had no idea who
the Lord Jesus Christ was. No idea. He had no idea of his
ability. If he would, that blind man would
have been begging for mercy. You know that? He would have
been begging for mercy, but he wasn't. He wasn't calling on
the Lord for mercy. Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. He wasn't saying that. The only
thing that we can say about this blind sinner is God came to him. And the only thing that we can
say about this blind sinner is God came to him. But God. That's the only thing
we can say. But God. Verse 1 says, And as Jesus passed
by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. This man had
never seen not one day in his life, not one ray of light, total
darkness, absolute total darkness. That's every one of us by nature.
This natural man thinks that There's a little bit of good
in everybody. There's just a small ray of light
in everybody that just needs to be cultivated. But it's just not so. We're born
with completely blind hearts, blind souls. That's what we are. We are blind souls. Turn with
me over to Ephesians chapter 4. when I hear that I think, thank
you Lord for saving my soul. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 18
says, having the understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that is in them because of the blindness of their heart. That's every one of us right
there. The blindness of their heart by nature. Our Lord said,
having eyes they see not and having ears they hear not. Back
over in John 9, not only can this man not see God, he cannot
see himself. He has no idea what he looks
like. No idea. That blind man had no
idea what he looked like. Could you imagine not knowing
what you look like? I wonder what I look like. I
guarantee you his imagination was much better than it really
was. He had no idea what he looked
like. He had no idea the awful condition
he was in. He had no idea the danger he
was in. The danger that he was in. He
had no idea how much he needs this Savior. We see people in
this condition every single day. Every single day. And I'm so
scared for him. I am truly, honestly. That's
not just in my notes. I'm so scared for him. Would to God that he would reveal
himself and that He would reveal sin, and that He would strike
utter fear in blind sinners, absolute fear in blind sinners,
and cause them to fall to this earth, crying, God, be merciful
to me. The only way that's going to happen is if the Savior passes
by. That's the only way. And if He gives light, if He
gives life, a brand spanking new life. Our Lord said, except
a man be born again, he cannot see. anything, the kingdom of God,
he cannot see. Come Holy Spirit, heavenly dove,
with all thy quickening power, kindle a flame of sacred love
in these cold, dead, blind hearts of ours. That's what's going
on in here. It's cold, it's blind, it's dead. Kindle something, Lord, quicken
me. Verse 1 says, John chapter 9
verse 1, it says, And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which
was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him,
saying, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that
he was born blind? What an insensitive question
to ask. That is an insensitive question
to ask. This man is in a miserable condition. This man's only hope
is standing right in front of him. And did they kneel down beside
this man and whisper in his ear, Sir, there is a man standing
here right now who can redeem thy life from destruction. who
can crown thee with loving kindness and tender mercies, who can satisfy
thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like
the eagles. Cry out to him right now. He's
standing here right now. Cry out to him, and he will have
mercy on you. Is that what they said? Verse 2, his disciples asked
him, saying, Master, who did sin? this man or his parents
that he was born blind. Let's talk philosophy. Challenge
our minds. Let's use this man's condition
as a reason to debate the law. I've got a margin in my Bible
right here and it says Exodus 20 verse 5. Don't turn there,
that's the Ten Commandments. Exodus 20, that's the Ten Commandments.
Verse 5 says, Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the third
and fourth generation of them that hate thee. That's what the
law says. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the third
and fourth generation of them that hate thee. So they said,
his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man
or his parents, that he was born blind? A man named Arthur Pink
said this, Let us beware. of becoming so occupied with
the problems of theology that we fail to preach the gospel
to lost souls. Amen. Amen. Verse 3 says, Jesus answered,
neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents. He's not saying
that they never sinned. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. But he's saying that is not the
reason this man was born blind. Now, all sickness, all disease,
all infirmities, all wrinkles, all spots, Everything is a result
of sin. Every single thing is a result
of sin. But he's saying that's not the reason this man was born
blind. That's not why this man is sitting here right now blind. Verse 3, Jesus answered, Neither
hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of
God should be made manifest in him. That is the reason for all
of the suffering and all of the heartaches and all of the trials
that God's people go through. That is the one and only reason. Why is our dear sweet sister
Mary Bell going through so much suffering? It's so that her God may be glorified. That's why. And she is giving
God all the glory. She really is. Turn with me over
to John chapter 11. John 11 verse 3, Therefore his
sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest
is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said,
This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that
the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Lazarus, come forth. Why did he get sick and die?
The glory of God. That's the whole reason. Turn
over to John 21. John 21 verse 18 says, Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest
thyself, and walkest whither thou wouldest. But when thou
shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another
shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This
spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this,
he said unto Peter, follow me. Glorify God. Look at 2 Corinthians
chapter 12. 2 Corinthians 12 verse 7 says, And lest I should be exalted
above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was
given unto me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan
to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this
thing, I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, my grace
is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will
I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. Every single one of us are born
into this world blind, dead sinners, so that Jesus Christ might get
all the glory for every single one of us. The work that was
done to us and in us, Christ gets all the glory for it. All
the glory. Go with me back over to John
9. John 9. Now, we are not always
promised relief from our trials. This man's physical relief represents
all of our spiritual relief. Sometimes the Lord does relieve
us of our trial, but he does it in his own time. Look at verse
23. John 9, 23. Therefore said his
parents, he is of age, ask him. That means he was at least 30
years old. That was considered of age. But the Lord allowed
him to remain blind for over 30 years. And this man had no
idea that today was a day. He had no idea it was coming
today. So whatever his purpose is for us, may he give us a heart
to say this. It is the Lord. Let him do what
seemeth him good. We know that all things truly
do work together for good. All things. Verse 4, John 9 verse
4 says, our Lord said, I must work the works of him that sent
me. And that word sent is a good
one. I must make the blind see. I must. Here's a blind man. I
must make the blind see. I must make the lame walk. I
must make the lepers clean. I must make the deaf hear, the
dead alive, and I must preach the gospel to the poor. I must.
All things must be fulfilled. Verse 4 says, I must work the
works of him that sent me while it is day. What does he mean
by that? Verse 5 says, As long as I am
in the world, I am the light of the world. I must do the work
because I'm the only one who can. It says in verse four, the
night cometh when no man can work. The night is coming. God is light. And while he's
here, he said, the day is here. But I came here to die. and I'm
going to leave this earth. And without me, a man can do
nothing. So while it is day, I must work
the work. I must finish the work. Verse
6 says, 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. Our Lord said, I must work the
works of him that sent me while it's day. And then after he said
that, our Lord spat on the ground. And I thought about how, humanly
speaking, that is a vulgar thing. And to think that God would come
to this vile earth is a vulgar thing. It's this despicable place, that
God would actually come down to this despicable place. He
spat on the ground, and he made clay, and he put it in this man's
eyes. And if he couldn't see before,
he really couldn't see now. If this man was blind before,
he's really blind now. If there was any possibility
that there was any light in him, the first thing that Christ did
is made him totally blind. You're going to see first of
all that you are completely blind. Totally blind. There is nothing
in there that can cause you to see on your own. This blind man was made to see
by some clay. All right, now what was it really,
spiritually speaking, that made this blind man see? Verse 6 says,
When our Lord had thus spoken, he spat. That's something that
came out of his mouth. Do you know what else comes out
of his mouth? His word. His word. Verse 6 says, He spat
on the ground, on the dust of the ground. You know what Adam
was made out of? The dust of the ground. What caused this man to see?
The Word was made flesh. Our Lord stooped down to the
ground and He made this clay. It was a vessel of honor. And he showed that blind man
his humiliation, that God would come down. And he put that clay in this
man's eyes. Christ put the clay in his eyes. That man didn't
pick up that clay and put it in his own eyes. Christ anointed
that man. And if that man's eyes opened
right then, I thought, I wonder if his eyes
opened when he washed or right then. But if his eyes opened
right then, as soon as that clay went in his eyes, all he would have seen was that
clay, which is Christ. The word made flesh. That's all
he'd see is clay. Ask the man, do you see these
trees? Nope. I just see this clay. That's
all I see. Well, you see that big church
building over there? You see all this religion around
here? Do you see the law that's written up on that wall right
there? Nope. I just see this clay. That's all I see. I just
see Christ. That's it. Why do we come here? We just want to see Christ. That's
the only reason. I just want to see Christ. The Savior of sinners. the one
that the Father sent. He said, I must work the works
of him that sent me, the one the Father sent. Well, look at
verse 6. 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. Christ was the one who was sent. Our Lord told that man, you go
be immersed in me. You have been immersed in me. Heaven has come down. God came
down. The Word was made flesh, dwelt
among us. You have been blinded to everything
but Christ. Be immersed in me. Be immersed
in my blood. Are you washed in the blood of
the Lamb? Did that blind beggar say, I
don't understand all of this? Why did you do that? I don't think this is going to
work. I really don't think this is going to work. No, verse 7
says, The Lord said unto him, Go wash in the pool of Siloam,
which is by interpretation sent. He went his way, Christ's way,
the way that Christ said to go. He went his way, therefore, and
washed and came seeing. He washed and came seeing. The
works that the Lord does shall not fail. They shall not fail. There's a man from 1647, his
name is John Trapp, and he said that this man obeyed Christ blindly. He obeyed Christ blindly. That's
what we're doing. Do we understand all this? No. You know there's a lot more to
that than what I just told you. And I don't understand it to
the fullest. But we obey Christ blindly. May God give us that
same exact faith to obey Christ and obey His Word. He said, you
go wash. And that man went and washed.
And he came back seeing. His Word will not return void.
And His Word is not going to fail. He shall save His people
from their sins. Lord, save me. Anoint mine eyes. Blind me to everything but the
clay, which is Christ. That's all I want to see is Christ.
I don't want to see any of that other stuff. Just let me see
Christ. All right, let's stand together.