I think the music was a little
too fast for that particular hymn, given the message of it. But we're kind of rusty on that
one anyway. I've got to find my Bible, just
a minute. But I will confess that that
is umpteen times slower than you find it in most places of
worship. If you don't have time to think
about what you're saying, I can't see how it can be any benefit
to say it. So, whether people understand this
or not is not my problem. I'm back in the Bible class,
Doug. I'm back in the book of Acts, and that ain't where I
want to be. John's Gospel, chapter 9. John, chapter 9. Now, I've got a good many of our Scripture
verses This morning, thanks to my wife, that has been printed out, and
so I'll consult this occasionally, but I still would like for you
to follow me when it's not too difficult for you to find, and
we can all look at the Scriptures at the same time. John chapter
9. is one of the most wonderful
statements in all the Bible. This man who was born without
eyes did not come to the Lord Jesus,
rather he came to him. This man was a beggar by the
highwayside begging But I'm using this chapter, if
I can read it without a great deal of comment. Some of you
snickered, I know, but I'll do what I can because there are
many things I want to talk to you about at the end. And here's
what we're after. We're trying to distinguish the
physical from the spiritual. If we don't understand this book
spiritually, then all we have is something that we've memorized
by rote, and it has no meaning or help to us. So here's a classic
case for that to be illustrated. This man is born without eyes.
The Lord Jesus has mercy on him, puts clay on his eyes, and sends
him to the pool of Siloam to wash. And the Pharisees watch
this man and they say, well, you're breaking the Sabbath.
He said, well, the man that gave me my sight told me to come do
this. He's a lot smarter than every Pharisee there is of any
generation. And so our Lord brings this chapter
to an interesting close. Interesting indeed. The man had
perfect eyesight. But he did not know who it was
that healed him. He did not know. Now, if we know
anything, we must be found in Christ. We must discover that
everything that we have that commends us to God is given to
us in Christ. Everything. Every good work,
every penny given to the glory of God, take it as far as you
please, it is all attributable to our Lord Jesus Christ. So
later on, toward the end of the chapter, our Lord puts this question
to this man, Who am I? Let me cheat and see
what that was. The Lord Jesus brought this question
to this man. Now this is more than healing
an eye disease. We have an empty socket up here
where the eyes are. And our Lord Jesus spoke that
into being. So when he found this man after
he had been in battle with the Jewish Sanhedrin and they kicked
him out of the Jews' religion, Our Lord simply posed one simple,
single, solitary question. Do you believe on the Son of
God? And he doesn't know who he is.
Who is he, Lord, that I may believe on him? Now this generation in which
we live, if God were to do a signal miracle such as this, I tell
you what, they would play it till the cows come home and never,
ever realize what they've missed. You remember that little sermon
of Henry Mahan's that we've been distributing? Let's see, somebody
help me here, I had it on my tongue. The missing note in present
day preaching. And what is that note? Christ
and Him crucified. That's what's missing. Virtually
every other Baptist church in Harnett County this morning is
trying to get you involved in something having to do with that
church, or with their recreation, with their gymnasium, with their
Life Center, with all of this tommyrot that we need nothing
of, nothing at all of that kind. It simply takes us away from
Christ. But the problem in those churches
that had gone down that road, the real gospel left those places
a long, long time ago. And they're doing whatever it
takes to get people to come. And that's not our business. That's God's business. Let us
not forget that. Alright, we better get started
reading here. John 9, verse 1, And as Jesus passed by, he saw
a man which was blind from his birth. He was born blind. And
his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin? This man or his parents that
he was born blind? These old boys have got a ways
to go themselves, haven't they? Let's find out. Jesus answered,
neither has this man sinned nor his parents. Now there ain't nobody who's
ever been born in the human race except the Lord Jesus when he
took our nature through the womb of Mary without the aid of a
man that Every human being on this earth from the beginning
of time to the end of time is born spiritually ignorant and
spiritually blind. So these disciples are simply
parroting what they've heard and they didn't hear it from
their Savior. So he means that this man's being
born blind had nothing to do with any sin that he committed
or would commit, or his parents have committed or would have
committed. None whatsoever. Well, how come God did this?
So we could see something of his glory. His glory. You can have 20-20 vision and
go through a whole life and never once have any thought about God,
about Christ, about mercy, about salvation, about grace. And you
might even do that right inside of a church building along with
a whole bunch of other people. Verse 4, I must work the works
of Him that sent me while it is day, The night comes when
no man can work. As long as I am in the world,
I am the light of the world. When he had thus spoken, he spat,
I like to change that, to spit on the ground, and made clay
of the spit, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with
the clay. Now that's a terrible crime to
be in Israel in our Lord's time. They said he's plowing. They charged him with sinning for
getting a little bit of clay off the ground and putting it
on this man's eyes. He anointed the eyes of the blind
man with the clay. And he said unto him, go wash
in the pool of Siloam. That word means sent, which is
by interpretation sent. He went his way therefore and
watched and came seeing. The neighbors therefore, and
they which before had seen him, that he was blind, they said,
Is not this he that sat in bed? Some said, This is he. Others
said, He's like him. But he said, I am he. Therefore said they unto him,
How were your eyes opened? He answered and said, A man,"
he doesn't say a god, he says a man, that is called Jesus,
made clay, and anointed my eyes and said unto me, Go to the pool
of Siloam and wash. And I went and washed. And I
received sight. Then said they unto him, Where
is he? He said, I know not. They brought
to the Pharisees him that beforehand aforetime was blind." Boy, that's
the worst place they could have took him. But in this case, it's
the best place. Trouble is not always to be avoided. They brought him to the Pharisees.
Verse 14, and it was the Sabbath day. I cannot count in my mind how
many times in the four Gospels the Lord Jesus deliberately performed
miracles on the Sabbath day so the Jews could just grind their
teeth down to their gums if they want to. and charge him with
breaking the Sabbath. My soul, Christ is the Sabbath. And there ain't no other Sabbath
but Him. That seventh-day Sabbath in the
Old Testament was simply a type and picture of Christ. Verse 15, then again the Pharisees
also asking how he had received his sight. He said unto them,
He put clay upon my eyes, and I washed, and do see. Therefore
said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he
keeps not the Sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that
is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among
them. I wonder how long that division
lasted. They say unto the blind man again,
verse 17, what say you of him that he has opened your eyes? He said, he's a prophet. He's beginning to see who Christ
is, though not savingly yet. He's a prophet. He's a spokesman
for God. But the Jews did not believe
concerning him that he had been blind and received his sight
until they called the parents of him that had received the
sight. And they asked them, saying, Is this your son who you say
was born blind? How then does he now see? His
parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son
and that he was born blind. But by what means he now sees,
we know not. Or who has opened his eyes, we
know not. He is of age, ask him, he'll
speak for himself." And here's why they put it that way. Verse
22, these words spoke his parents because they feared the Jews. For the Jews had agreed already
that if any man did confess that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah,
the Christ? He should be put out of the synagogue.
Therefore said his parents, Our son is of age, ask him. Then
again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him,
Give God the praise. We know that this man is a sinner.
He answered and said, Whether he's a sinner or not, I don't
know. One thing I know. I know this. Whereas I was blind, now I see. But don't forget this now. Don't
leave this behind. We're just about there. This
man still doesn't know who Christ is. He doesn't know who the Lord
Jesus is. But he's about to find out. Then the Sanhedrin said to him
again, What did he to you? How opened he your eyes? Now this old boy is getting bolder
and bolder by the minute. He answered them, I've told you
already, and you did not hear. Why would you hear it again?
Will you also be his disciples? Now boy, that's like sticking
a knife in them. I'm going to tell you. That's a crime they
don't want to be charged with. Then they reviled him, and they
said, You are his disciple? They're telling him something
he doesn't even know about himself. You are his disciple? I lost my spot here, I see. 28. Then they reviled him and said,
you're his disciple, but we, ha ha, we're Moses' disciples. Well, get this, Moses was Christ's
disciple. Absolutely. We know that God spoke to Moses. My Lord, it had been, how long,
Craig? Eighteen hundred years before
this? And they act like they know it as much as they saw it
today. We know that God spoke to Moses
as for this fellow, this Jesus of Nazareth. We know not from
where he is. We don't even know where he came
from. The only reason you don't is because you won't believe
what you heard him say. He said, I'm the light of the
world and that has to be God. And Jesus Christ is indeed God. The man answered and said unto
them, this is the blind man now, while herein is a marvelous thing,
that you know not from where he is, where he came from, and
yet he's opened my eyes. How come you don't know where
he's from? You all claim to be so smart. Verse 31, now we know
that God hears not sinners. This old boy didn't know much,
but he's certainly telling them what he knows. Now we know that
God hears not sinners, but if any man is a worshipper of God
and does his will, him, he hears. He hears. Since the world began. Was it not heard that any man
opened the eyes of one that was born blind? If this man were
not of God, he could do nothing. They answered and said unto him,
you were altogether born in sin. That's where the Pharisees picked
up this dumb suggestion that the reason this man was born
blind is because He sinned, even in his mother's womb, or his
mother sinned, or his father, whatever. They said, you were all together
born in sins, and do you teach us? We have degrees. We have master's degrees in religion,
and doctors of religion. Well, phooey for you, you ain't
got nothing but a trinket. I ain't impressed. The ones I
know that went that route are lost as jaybirds, and the people
who hear them and believe them are lost as well. So what did
they do next? They cast him out of the Jewish
religion. And in a moment he'll say hallelujah. Jesus heard that they had cast
him out. And when he had found him, he
said unto him, Do you believe on the Son of God? He could have asked a lot of
questions along that line. Do you believe on Jesus of Nazareth? But it was Do you believe on
the Son of God? He answered and said, now this
is pure honesty, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And here's the answer. Our Lord
said, You have both seen him, and it is he that talks with
you. And he said, Lord, I believe. Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. He worshipped him. It's amazing. Nothing short of amazing. Now, this man, unknown to anybody
except the triune God, This man had two blindnesses. One was
physical and the other spiritual. And religion in our day uses
the same methods that the Pharisees used in their day. They are telling
people that to be saved you have to do this, that, or the other. Whatever it is, and it can't
be so. Here this man, all his life, no eyesight, none. And now he has it, but he still
doesn't know God who gave it to him. Who is He, Lord, that I might
believe on Him?" And our Lord said unto him, You have both
seen Me, and it is He that talks with you. And he said, Lord,
I believe. And he worshipped Him. And then
our Lord continues. And Jesus said, For judgment
I am come into this world, that they which see not might see,
and they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which
were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind
also? Now, let's see if we can take
that question and put it to ourselves. Am I blind too? Am I blind also? Let's see. Let's find out. The Lord Jesus
said in verse 41, If you were blind, You would have no sin. None. No sin. Now this is talking about spiritually
speaking. To know God. To see God revealed
in Jesus Christ. To bow at the feet of the Lord
Jesus and surrender to Him. If you were blind, you should
have no sin, but now you say we see, therefore your sin remains." Now don't forget, this man that
was healed is infinitely beyond anything
the Pharisees are capable of. He not only had His physical
blindness healed. But he's had his sins put away. Put away forever. For all time. Well, I've made it through the
chapter. Now I want to talk to you for a little bit about some
application of these things. Some things are very obvious.
in regard to this man, here are four things. How much wiser this
poor man was than all the Pharisees. How cruel and unjust lost religious
people treat those who disagree. And Baptists are probably better
at that than anybody I know. Because that's where I grew up
and that's where I tried to preach since 19... Sixty-something. And I got along fine, and I was
climbing the ladder fine until God revealed Himself to me. And I had no better sense than
to preach what He taught me. I lasted another six months.
in the Baptist church that I pastored at that time. And some years later, I tried it again, spent a few years
in some stupid religion that was just as bad as Baptist, but
I didn't know it at the time. But I agreed to pastor another church,
lasted about, oh, less than three months, I suspect. Because what I saw in the Bible,
and what they saw in the Bible, was two very different things.
And in many of those instances, it'd be one woman in a congregation
that ran the whole show. which according to this book
ain't right. But plenty of men have done the
same. But when compared to the kindness
and condescension of Christ, the cruelty of man is nothing.
How dangerous head knowledge is without heart knowledge. Now to speak specifically to
this, I don't know any other way but
to try to communicate through statements in our Bibles that
address this issue about spiritual blindness. Now this is, you know,
people can look like a million dollars physically and be empty
and lost and dead spiritually. That's true in every place, every
town, every county, every state, every nation, every people on
the face of this earth. All right, spiritual blindness
and its cure. Let me read you a few statements
and when I get to where... Are you still in John? Okay,
hang on to it, please. Our Lord said unto them, He that
hath ears to hear, let him hear. And when he was alone, they that
were about him, namely his disciples, with the twelve, asked of him
the parable. And he said unto them..." Now
listen carefully. I'm talking about Matthew 13
and it's a whole chapter of parables, as well as other places in the
four Gospels. He said unto them, unto you it
is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but unto
them that are without, all these things are done in parables.
And here's why. The very next verse. This is
Mark 4, 9 and verse 12. That seeing they may see, and
not perceive. And hearing they may hear, and
not understand. lest at any time they should
be converted and their sins should be forgiven them. Here's another. His disciples asked Him, saying,
What might this parable be? And He said, Unto you it is given
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to others
in parables that seeing they might not see. And hearing, they
might not understand. Preacher, I didn't think God
would do that. He said He did. He said He does. And we've got no right to tamper
with anything in this book. Nothing. Love it or hate it. It's going to be here for the
duration. The very fact that this book has survived anywhere
similar to what it was 2,000 years ago is a miracle of God. John, if you'll turn please,
chapter 12. John 12. Well, there we go. John 12, I believe it's 35. Verse
35. Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light
with you. What is that light? It is Christ. He's the light of the world.
He is Himself the gospel. Yet a little while is the light
with you. Walk while you have the light,
lest darkness come upon you. For he that walks in darkness
knows not where he goes. While you have light, believe
in the light, that you may be the children
of light. These things spoke Jesus, and
departed, and did what? Did hide himself from them. giving
us and them an object lesson of what he had just said. Though he had done so many miracles
before them, yet they believed not on him, that the saying of
Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, Who has believed
our report? And to whom has the arm of the
Lord been revealed? Those are the opening phrases
of Isaiah 53. And the second question answers
the first one. Who has believed our report?
To whomever God has revealed the saving arm of the Lord. That's
who it is. Verse 39. Therefore, they could
not believe, because Isaiah said again, He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their
eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and
I should heal them. These things said Isaiah when
he saw His glory and spoke of Him. That would be found in Isaiah
chapter 6, where he receives his call from God to be God's
prophet. And the Lord blesses him with
this understanding. These things said Isaiah, verse
41, when he saw his glory and spoke of him. Nevertheless, the
chief rulers also and many believed on him. But because of the Pharisees,
they did not confess him. That is, they became secret disciples,
which in my book ain't no disciple at all. For they love the praise of men
more than the praise of God. It would be like a senator from
the state or national level, knowing if they said certain
things about certain things, they would not be there much
longer. Well, these people are saying that exact thing. If we
tell what we think about Him, our position, in this political
office among the Pharisees is gone. Gone for good. And if you could meet the real
Christ and He opened your eyes and your hearts, oh my goodness,
you can't do anything else but leave. All right, let's continue now
a bit further. Let me find where I'm supposed
to be. How about turning with me to the book of Mark. Mark chapter 4. Verses 9 through 12. Mark chapter
4. And he, the Lord Jesus, said
unto them, He that has ears to hear, let him hear. And when
he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve, more
than just the twelve now, asked of him the parable. And he said
unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom
of God, but unto them that are without, all these things are
done in parables. Here it is again. This statement
recurs several times in our Bibles. That seeing they may see and
not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand,
lest at any time they should be converted and their sins should
be forgiven them. Pretty awful indeed. Let's see, let's do another one. We've been in Acts along in Bible
class, or at least, I don't know how long it's been, Doug, but
a good while. We ought to have found it by now. Acts chapter
28. Acts 28, beginning at verse 26. Acts 28, verse 26. Saying, go unto this people and
say, Hearing you shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing
you shall see and shall not perceive. For the heart of this people
is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their
eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and
hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should
be converted, and I should heal them." Be it known therefore
unto you that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles."
Bless God. Thank God. And that they, not
all of them, but they will hear it. They will. One more turn. Romans. Just over
to your right, the very next book. Chapter 11. Romans chapter 11, verses 7 through
10. What is our subject? Spiritual blindness and the cure. It's Christ and Him crucified.
Alright, beginning at verse 7 in Romans 11. And I probably should say at
this point that there are three chapters in Romans that cover
virtually the same issue from a different perspective. Romans chapter 9 is telling us that unbelief and
damnation is brought upon ourselves by ourselves. Whereas in chapter
10, Paul sets forth the glory of Jesus Christ and Him crucified
in seven different things that have to do with the gospel. And
it is a blessed read. And then if you add Romans 11,
then he settles the issue. Why don't the Jews believe this? And some of them did, but not
very many. Why don't the Jews believe this?
So this is an eye-opener as to why they don't. So instead of blaming this one
or that one or the other one, In Romans chapter 11, Paul lays
everything at God's feet, speaking of his sovereignty. God does as he pleases in the
armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of men, and none
can stay his hand or say unto him, what are you doing? What's
God doing right now? Whatever He wants. Whatever He's
willed. Whatever He's purpose. And He's
not asking our permission. It's all in this book. God help
us to find it. Understand it when we find it.
Alright, let's read Romans 11. Let me back up. I'll just start at the beginning
of the chapter. Chapter 11. I say then, has God cast away
His people? Not on your life, God forbid. For I also am an Israelite. Yeah, yes He is. He was a character
before He met Christ, and He's a character afterwards. Oh, but
He was tough to be around until Christ conquered Him. And he could have done it with
his little finger, but instead he just used his mouth, his tongue. Saul, Saul, I persecute you,
me. And all he could say was trembling,
who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And our Savior
introduces himself. I say then, has God cast away
His people? God forbid. For I am also an
Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God
has not cast away His people, which He foreknew. How long has
He been knowing them? Forever! Forever! Don't you know the word, what?
I'm not comfortable with that word. I just say, know you not
what the Scripture says of Elijah? How he makes intercession to
God against Israel, saying, Lord, they've killed your prophets,
and dig down your altars, and I'm left alone, and they seek
my life. Elijah. You know, don't be quite so bold. You're a little bit off base. But what says the answer of God,
verse 4, to Elijah? I have reserved to myself. What is this reserving business? It's God's electing grace. Without it, no one would be saved. I have reserved to myself 7,000
men, not counting women and children, who have not bowed the knee to
the image of Baal. And Elijah thought he was the
last one left. He missed it by a country mile. Even so then, this is Paul bringing
us up to the very moment that he penned these words. Even so
then, at this present time also, there is a remnant according
to the election of grace. And you can write that down and
put today's date beside it, because the same is true. Every day this
world has stood since the beginning of time This statement is very
appropriate. There is a remnant according
to the election of grace, and if by grace, then it is no more
of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace.
But if it be of works, then it is no more grace. Otherwise,
work is no more work. And the way religion gets around
these statements is that they just mentally take them out of
their Bibles. Just don't ever talk about this.
This is off base. It's like that church over in
Fayetteville some years ago. One of the oldest churches in
Fayetteville, on their sign they said, will you come back to church
if we promise not to throw the book at you? What book are they
talking about? Anything in this book that makes
you uncomfortable, makes us uncomfortable, we ain't going to mention it.
Now, that's some conspiracy, isn't it? They're going to teach
them a God who's not God, a Savior who's not a Savior, a salvation
that is not salvation. So what are they going to be?
Just exactly what they were when they were born. Lost. Lost. Lost. What then, verse 7, Israel has
not obtained that which he seeks for, but the election has obtained
it, and the rest were blinded? According as it is written, verses
8, God has given them the spirit of slumber, even that they should
not see Eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should
not hear unto this day. And David said, Let their table
be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block, and a
recompense unto them. Let their eyes be darkened that
they may not see, and bow down their back always. I say then,
have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid, but
rather through their fall salvation is come. unto the Gentiles, for
to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the
riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches
of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness." These are hard
words to accept, but I tell you what, They're just as authentic
as John 3.16. They are just as authentic and won't get you near the kind of trouble that
Paul got in for preaching those words. The 23rd Psalm can't hold a candle to some of
those things. It is glorious. It's the grace
of God. It's mercy for sinners. Alright, it's time to stop.