Good evening, brother. John chapter 9 again. John chapter
9. Entitled my message, I'm not
good at that. My friend, Brother Peter, said,
why do y'all even do that in America? I said, we've got to
have a heading, I guess, for the internet machine or something. I don't know. a hard time titling
them, but examine yourselves. What is it to examine ourselves?
The examining of ourselves. We're told that often, aren't
we? We're warned throughout scripture. Our brother Cassius read it.
The Lord told him. He said, you better watch it.
You think you got health and wealth religion? Lord just blessed
us. Oh, I got a good job and house is doing good. Kids are
growing. He said, you better watch it.
You're gonna get tangled up in things in this world, and you're
gonna forget. You're gonna forget the Lord brought you out of Egypt.
That guy wasn't so sweet about that, was he? He said, you lived
in your sealed houses. What's that? Not a tent. They
had mud huts and had roofs on them. And he said, look at your
big fancy living. You're gonna forget God. He might bend me
over his knee if he come to 2022, huh? We've been looking at this
blind man for a few weeks now in John 5, and it's right. I
need to tell you this. It's right to preach. I've heard
a lot of messages on it, but this man wasn't saved until Christ
was revealed and he worshiped him. I wouldn't fight a man that
preached that. I wouldn't. To show that is to
say that a grand experience, and I don't mean like I had a
warm fuzzy down at the church house, you could not see, and
now you can see. That's a grand experience. That's
up there. This is the miracle that's got
the second most verses committed to it in all of Scripture. We
ought to learn something. But maybe He's going to teach us more than
just one thing. What do you think? Maybe. It's right to show that a grand
experience does not save. It's right to show that just
obeying the Lord, doing what His Word says. You can read through
those Proverbs. Your children are going to mind
you. They'll do what you say if you obey God. They'll do what
you tell them to do. You're going to have money in
the bank. You ain't gonna be broke. Your neighbors will get
along good with you. That ain't salvation, is it?
That ain't salvation. Not simply doing what's said.
Salvation's not witnessing to your neighbors. That doesn't
save you. Going out handing out Bibles in motels and talking
to people down at the airport and saying you're a missionary
sent from God, that does not save you. to the highest levels of organized
religion. He was brought into the synagogue
in front of the Sanhedrin, and he preached Christ to them. He
said, man doesn't do nothing. If we're going to be saved, God's
got to do it. You're going to see something. If you're going to
see Christ, you're going to have the light in you. God's going to have to do
it. He said that at the pinnacle of religion. That didn't save
him. His mommy and daddy came there.
They brought them in. And they said, that's your son?
I said, yeah, that's our son. He's been blind since he was born?
Yeah, he's been blind since he was born. How does he see? I
don't know. You ask him. to be forsaken of
your mother and father. And then for him to tell the
truth kept getting simpler and simpler and simpler and simpler.
Until he finally said, I don't know. I was blind, now I see. He just forsook his mother and
father. Getting kicked out of false religion
does not save you. The Lord looking upon a sinner. The Lord coming to one that does
not deserve anything but eternal wrath. The Lord drawing close
to them, the Lord working in them, in His power as He sees
fit, the Lord giving them a new birth. That comes along with
some new things, that new ears, new eyes, a new heart. That's
life. And that sinner then believing
on the Lord Jesus Christ, that's life eternal. None of that other
stuff matters. My desire is to tear down any
false hope, any refuge, any ground to stand on other than the person
and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. While I was baptized,
I don't care. I joined the church, I heard
the gospel when I was nine years old. I don't care. You're about
to find out it matters today. The Lord asked some hard questions. Each point of this glorious miracle
we have here in John 9. This man redeemed at every turn. If in seeing how God dealt with
this blind man, we're made to see ourselves, we're made to
examine ourselves, and not him. Well, when was this man saved?
How about you about when you were saved? Are you saved today?
You believe God? Well, I think he was saved. I
don't care what you think, that's heresy, right? Opinion, that's heresy.
That's what it means. Well, my pastor told me, don't
matter what your pastor told you, are you saved? Do you believe on
Christ? If we would examine ourselves,
Christ may be pleased to reveal Himself at every step of our
way today. Wouldn't that be something? Do we come into this place expecting
God to speak to us? I hope we do. This blind man the Lord came
to and made the spittle with the clay, put that mud in his
eyes, said, go wash in the pool of Siloam. That's the name of the... Go
wash in Christ, is what he said, and then come forth seeing. That's
beautiful. Be immersed in Christ. We're
commanded to be baptized, aren't we? His children obey. Go be immersed in Him, because
what it pictures is not the doing, what's being done. That's why
we do it. But the Lord finds this man.
He got kicked out of organized religion, didn't he? The big
churches. You think, how many people did the Lord give sight
to in these scriptures? How many people walk around blind
in churches all over? Most of them, wouldn't it? There's
a remnant. Our Lord finds this man who got kicked out, and he
asks him a question, verse 35. John 9, verse 35. Jesus heard that they had cast
him out, and when he had found him, who did the finding? I found Jesus. I didn't know
he was lost. You was the one that was lost. He found you. When he had found him, he said
unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He did not ask
if this man used to believe that morning. All this happened in
one day. Do you know that? I had a couple of different titles.
I said I struggle with that. A bad morning. I thought I've
had a rough week. I've had a pretty hard week.
It's been tremendously unpleasant and lonely. Oh, it's bad. Nothing
like this guy. I can see. You're going to church
right now. Now you tell us how, how, how.
And they're just barking at him. Where'd you go to church? Where'd
you find this out? Who told you? Hey, he unpacked that man to death.
Didn't let him go see a butterfly or watch the waves. He had a rough morning. Then
he met God, didn't he? Our Lord said, he didn't ask
him, he said, did you used to believe this morning? Did you
believe this morning whenever I gave you sight? He did not
ask him if he believed. Did you believe whenever that
mud actually hit your eyes? Is that when you believe? That's
what we ask a foolish questions. Our old man asked that. What
about that? What about me? Did you believe whenever you
walked to the pool of Siloam? I know you obeyed God. Is that
when you believed? He didn't ask him that, did he? He did not
ask if he believed when his neighbors noticed. Did you start thinking
you really was a child of God when your neighbors start seeing
how holy you pray? and how religious you were, and how you read your
little devotionals every day, and you gave a whole 15 minutes
to God every morning. Is that when you believed? He
didn't ask him that, did he? When you got dragged into church,
oh, they're going to church now, it's a good thing. No, it ain't.
Not if the truth ain't there. Whenever mommy and daddy threw
the matter into your lap, is that when you believed? When
you got forsaken and you didn't have no mother and father? When
the Pharisees kicked you out? That's a big deal. You understand
that? I always say that when we have a high priest, That's
important. We don't know what that's like
in our culture growing up. This man got kicked out of synagogue.
You know what that means? He can't get married there if he
finds a woman that loves him. He can't have a funeral there.
He can't be buried there where they are. No more Jewish feasts. What'd our Lord go up Jerusalem
for? Went there for the Jews' Passover. Not the Lord's Passover,
huh? All that religion stops. All
those things the old used to do, it's over. He got turned
from his idols. Christ did not ask this man if
he believed that his name was Jesus. Call his name Jesus, for
he shall save his people from their sins. He didn't ask him,
do you believe that I hold the office of the Son of God? That's a dangerous thing, you
know that? People say, well, I know there's one God. They
say, I know Christ is the God, man. Well, there was a man with
an unclean spirit by the synagogue in Mark 1. He started yelling
at the Lord, saying, Let us alone. What have we to do with thee,
thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us?
These are the demons speaking. Man with unclean spirits in his
heart. They said, I know thee who thou art, the holy one of
God. A demon said that. Does our knowledge
matter? He did not ask, Do you believe
I did a miracle? in you, and I'm here in the flesh, that I'm
really here, not as if I'm a man, but I did something in you, and
I'm really here in front of you. He said, of course, I can see
you. I couldn't see before. And you're here, I'm looking
at you. He didn't ask that, did he? He
did not ask as one that believed in God. Do you believe in God?
People say, I believe in God. If you question at all, are you
sure you believe in God? I believe in God. What'd James
say? Thou believest that there's one
God? Thou doest well the devils believe. And they tremble. They actually have fear of him.
Afraid of him, not fear out of orderly, but they tremble. He
asked, dost thou, who does that apply to? You, me, anybody, right? Dost thou believe on, not in,
dost thou believe on the Son of God? He didn't ask, will you
believe? That man preaches a weak, effeminate
God that comes around and just pretty well pleases wishes you
believe on him. That's not a God, that's a beggar.
We're the beggar, he ain't the beggar. He didn't say, would you believe
on him in the future? He asked right now, you, do you believe
on the son of God? A lot of churchgoers will be
very, very offended. I've seen it in the past. if
you exhort them to examine themselves. If I went one by one, pulled
you off to the side and said, do you believe God? Are you sure? Do you believe him? There's a famous philosopher.
I can't ever pronounce his name, so I won't try. He said, there's
one Christian that ever walked this earth, it was Christ. A
man was quoting him and said, you know, he said, people ask
him if he believed in God. He said, that's one of the most,
atrocious questions ever. How in the world could I have
these scriptures and this God that professes who He is and
I see what I've done against Him walk around and even pretend
like I believe God? I see myself, I see how I walk
in this world. We're to examine ourselves. The
scriptures tell us over and over, examine ourselves. So I'll not
be afraid to tell you, do you believe God? Do you believe Him?
The Lord asked that, didn't he? He warned us in Matthew 7, he
said, Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my
Father, which is in heaven. What did he say the will of the
Father was? Believe on the Son that he sent. You believe him? Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? We said what you
was gonna do, and then you did it. That's why Jonah was so mad
when he went to Nineveh. He's afraid he'd lose his witness.
Say he's gonna burn that city to the ground, and if you save
them all, Lord, I'm out of a job. I ain't gonna be a prophet no
more. That's the rules. What did Judas do? He said, that's
Jesus. Call him Savior. He shall save
his people from their sins, because they're sinners. Now run to him. That's what Judas preached. He
didn't preach a false gospel. Man's not saved under any false
gospel. And he will say to me that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name
cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? And
he said, I will profess unto them, I never knew you. I never
loved you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. Iniquity is the good things we
think we're doing that's bad things. Your sins and iniquities. Paul told us, he said, examine
yourselves whether you be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves?
Don't you know how that Christ is in you, except you be reprobates?
How am I not going to be a reprobate? Christ's going to have to be
in me. That's what he's saying. Examine yourself. See if he's
there. Our Lord sat down with those
12, and he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall
betray me. And you know what? Those apostles, people say, Kevin,
y'all not doubt like that. Y'all not examine yourself. Y'all
just be happy and click your heels and go on. The apostles,
one by one, 11 of them, said, Lord, is it I? I know my frame. You really know my frame, but
I got a glimpse into it. You've committed, you've convinced
me of sin. Am I going to be the one that betrays you, Lord? Lord,
is it I? Lord, is it I? Lord, is it I? Of course, Judah
said, Master, is it I? And he said, you just said it. And then swiftly thereafter,
all was arguing over who'd be the greatest in the kingdom. John Newton wrote that song that
everyone sings at their wedding and funeral and everything else.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like
me. I once was lost, not him, I once
was lost, now I'm found. T'was blind, like this fella,
now I see. Well, that's encouraging, isn't
it? It is, we sing it, we rejoice.
That same man also wrote, "'Tis a point I long to know, oft it
causes anxious thought. Do I love the Lord? or no? Am I his or am I not? That's
not the language of this easy-believe-ism in our generation, or the generation
before, or the generation before, or 2,000 years ago when this
blind man got sight. That's not the language, is it?
I don't hear that often. It's a rare thing for me to hear
somebody. I always hear all the good things they did. If somebody
finds out I'm a preacher, the first thing they do is tell me
when they got saved, what store they got that from, when they
got to faith, how strong their faith is, how often they read.
I read 17 commentaries a day. It drowns me. Not who is he? Oh God, if I could
see the Lord today, if I could know God today. That's a rare
thing. It's a rare thing. This language
is not in this modern religious age and they get offended if
you exhort anyone or put a question mark on their feelings or their
experiences to answer an earnest question, do you believe God?
Right now, not did you, not will you when you turn, I always said
that when I was a young kid, I'll believe that stuff when I turn
35, 40. I did believe when I was 35 and 40. I believed then too. I put it off, that's for grownups.
Not what will you do in the future, not what you do in the past,
right now do you believe him? Paul told us that same thing about
the Lord's table. Let a man examine himself and so let him eat of
that bread and drink of that cup. He said, the reason you
ain't so many of you sick and dying, you know why you get,
you know why you sick? Because you ain't discerning the Lord's
body. I think about it every time I
sneeze, you know. I see Christ today. I see his person, his
finished work. It'd be much better to answer
that question now than to answer it in judgment. What think ye
of Christ? Whose son is he? Kiss the son
lest he be angry. Better do it now instead of in
judgment. Every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess he's
Lord. Oh, that Lord would be pleased to make us do that now.
Turn over Philippians chapter three. Let's see what else Paul
wrote. Philippians three. That blind beggar, he had a great
story. He had a miraculous experience. Everybody in town knew him. He's
up in his 30s, at least, maybe 40s. He'd been blind from birth,
and now he could see. And they said, I watched you
bump into four trees in one day. I know you was blind. And you
can see? Who did this? That's amazing.
That's an experience. I'd talk about it. Would you
talk about it? Nowadays, that'd make a Wikipedia page, wouldn't
it? That'd make headline news. 10, 15 minutes, anyway. That's
something to marvel in, to brag about. Look here, Philippians
3, verse 4. Paul said, though I might also have confidence
in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he hath whereof
he might trust in the flesh, I more. You think you've got
more experiences, more to-dos, more service? Paul said, I've
got more than you do. Circumcised the eighth day of
the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of Hebrews,
as touching the law, a Pharisee. You can't say anything wrong.
I can't bring no charges against it. Concerning zeal, persecuting
the church. You know how zealous he was for
God? He went after God's people to kill them. He had his marching
orders. Touching the righteousness which
is in the law, blameless. Can't hold nothing to me on the
outside of the cup. Verse seven, but what things
were gained to me? Those I counted loss for Christ. Did he mention
that how Christ called him? How did Christ call Saul? Saul
could see fine, didn't he? And the Lord came and shone a
light so bright it blinded him. They said, well, it's probably
cataracts. Well, the Lord gave him cataracts like that. He said, look what
a big letter I wrote you. It wasn't as long. He had to
write big letters. He couldn't see nothing. He didn't
say, well, the Lord made me blind. Remember that guy he gave sight
to? He made me blind. That's what we want to be made
blind. But he didn't mention that experience, did he? He says in verse eight,
yea, doubtless, I count all things but loss for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I've suffered
the loss of all things and do count them but done. Done. What kind of language do you
think that'd be in 2022? That I may win Christ. What happens
when you win him? Well, I get to go to heaven.
I don't have to be underneath the law no more. No, that I might be found
in him. Be made one with Him. Not having
my own righteousness, which is of the law, or an experience,
or a baptism, or a devotion, or a church membership, or whatever,
or watching the Lord's table. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ. Not even my own faith, His faith.
What's your faith? He's faithful. That makes people
mad. That makes me glad, because I
know it won't fail. the righteousness which is of
God by faith, that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection,
and the fellowship of his sufferings, be made conformable unto his
death, if by any means, no matter what the cost comes, if I have
to be crucified on a cross, if by any means I might attain unto
the resurrection of the dead. Does that just mean I want to
come out of the grave? I want to come out of the grave
and be with him. What does he put my hand to do? It don't matter,
just do it. Make time go by faster. Look
into him till we're made like him. Paul had the same heart
and the same position as David. Do you know that? King David. And the same one as all of God's
children. Well, my grandma didn't have that. Well, I don't know
if she's God's child or not, but all God's children had the same
position, same heart as David and as Paul and all of them.
What do you and I find when we examine ourselves? Well, we need to fly a little
straighter. We need to cut the grass down at the church more.
I need to do some more reading. Is that what we find? It's real
important, pay attention. What do we find when we examine
ourselves? I'm gonna take, give me 10 seconds. Tim, you remember
that? On your feet, half right face,
front and lean rest position move. Yeah, let's take some deep
breaths, this is important. I wouldn't make everybody stand
up, shake it out some, but take a deep breath. What do we find
when we examine ourselves? Do we need something more to
do? No, no, no, no, no, no. When a child of God examines
their selves, they find nothing. Nothing. Nothing. It's dung. It's lost. Throw it
away. It's garbage. Worm food. In my
hand, no price. A 38-year-old Augusta top lady,
that's how long he lived. In my hand, no price I bring,
simply to thy cross do I cling. I'm empty. That's what David
said. We looked at a couple of months ago in Psalm 17. Thou
hast proved my heart. You proved to me, Lord, what
I am. Thou hast visited me in the night in my lowest part.
Thou hast tried me and shalt find nothing. I'm empty. Without Christ, I'm nothing.
I don't have a leg to stand on. If I'm just blind, sitting on
a wayside, he passed by me. He came to me. He gave me sight.
He keeps my sight. He strengthens me. Yesterday's
mercies will not do for today. Dost thou believe the Son of
God right now? Do you believe on him? What about
that great Apostle Peter? The Lord asked him a third time,
didn't he? Three times. Simon, thou son of Jonas, lovest
thou me? And he was grieved because he
asked him a third time, lovest thou me? And he said unto him,
Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee.
Jesus said unto him, feed my sheep. We will know. I know whom I have believed.
I know that, but it matters if he knows. Lord, it matters if
you know. What did he say to the prophet?
He said, I know the thoughts I have towards you. My thoughts
prone to wonder. My thoughts are so small. We don't have faith to move a
mountain. Faith is a grain of mustard seed.
It matters what his thoughts are. It matters his knowledge,
his loving. He has to love me first or I
can't love him. Back in our text here in John
9. Verse 35 says, 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 I thought, you
know, there's not an assumptive or presuming statement. That
man said, I received sight. You believe God? Yeah, but I,
I can see now. He answered and said, who is
he Lord? And I might believe on him. What a wonderful question.
Who is the son of God? I would that all men, women and
children would forsake their own knowledge and their own experiences
and be made to sincerely ask the question, who is he? Who
is He? I can tell you who He is. We've
been going through His names for a while, haven't we? He's
the Lord that provides. He's the Lord that heals. He's
the Lord our banner. He's the Lord our righteousness,
the Lord that sanctifies. He's our Sabbath, wonderful counselor,
the mighty God, the Prince of Peace, the everlasting Father.
His person, He's the holy God. the whole Godhead manifest in
a human body. He came to this earth as a substitute
for His people, because their blood doesn't count. It won't
atone for nothing. He shed His own blood on the
tree for His people. He was made sin, the feminine
noun. He was made His bride, His people,
that we might be made His righteousness, His works of a holy nature. We're
His workmanship, aren't we? And it's finished. When a Kevin
you got to, you got to what? Add to it? You going to do something
better than him? It's finished. It's plum done.
He's seated at the right hand of God right now, ever living
to make intercession for his people. The work's accomplished. Bow to him. Surrender. Believe
on him. Believe on him. Isn't that why
we're here tonight? Who is he? Well, I know who he
is. I don't ever have to hear that
again. No, I need to hear it now. I need to hear it again
tomorrow morning, tomorrow at lunchtime. Tell me, I want to
know who he is. Don't you know who he is, Kevin? Of course I
do. Tell me again. Tell me what he's done. Read
it one more time. Let's read this one more time,
but let's put our fang caps on this time. John 9, 36. He answered
and said, who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? The commentators,
the men of old that aren't in this generation anymore, they
got a lot of things right. Old Brother Gill said even though
he had been cured of his blindness by him and he vindicated him
and he pleaded him before the Sanhedrin and he suffered so
much for him, those things did happen. Physically, Old Brother
Gill, that writer, Old Brother Hawker, Old Brother Rusk, Old
Brother Spurgeon, Old Brother Fortner, Old Brother Thacker,
we've never been born blind in a given sight physically. I don't
know what that's like, but we've heard of some things, don't we?
We understand some things. If someone's born blind, their
sense of hearing is a whole lot better than my sense of hearing,
isn't it? Our sense of smell is probably
sharper than my sense of smell. And he heard the voices just
a few hours ago, right before mud was applied to his eyes.
He heard some people talking, and he said, he heard them guys
say, well, is this one sin or his parents? And likely, he said,
here it comes again. Somebody's gonna come up to me
and say, how was you blind? What's it like not seeing? Somebody's
going to come up to me and says, have you ever tried these herbal
supplements? But the snake also outcome of the warning disclaimer. But he obeyed God and he saw
and he heard the voice of the Lord, didn't he? What's the message
that he heard? Look back, verse one, John nine,
verse one. And Jesus passed by. He saw a
man which was blind from his birth. That's us, we're blind
from Adam. And his disciples asked him,
saying, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that
he was born blind? Jesus answered in complete patience
and long-suffering, that self-righteous question, neither hath this man
sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made
manifest in him. What do you hear? God's gonna
work in him. The workmanship of God's about to happen in you.
I must work the works of him that sent me while it's day.
The night cometh when no man can work. As long as I am in
the world, I am the light of the world." That's a pretty good
message, isn't it? That's a pretty good declaration.
I can say those words. God can apply them in power if
it pleases him. 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, He
gave a command, wash in the pool of Siloam, which is by interpretation,
sin. And he went his way thereof and
washed and came seeing. That's the words he heard. That's
that souped up hearing and improved hearing he had because he's never
seen his whole life. He heard people speaking. He heard what
was said. This is the light of the world. And I heard somebody
spit. We know what that sounds like. You know, it sounds like
somebody spit. Right. And I heard. Mud was made, and
all of a sudden, I felt some, I couldn't tell how close, somebody
touched me. They put mud on my face. Nobody's asked me a question
yet. Nobody said nothing to me. Somebody
put mud in my eyes. And now, he sees. A couple hours
have passed, he's went to the Pharisees and come back. He's
probably seen in his entire life, in his four decades of living,
25 people. How many people has he seen?
50 people? Maybe 100? Ever? In his whole life? Ever?
But he's heard something. He recognizes these voices and
he knew the light of the world was one of these men that's sitting
right in front of him. The one sin of God was here.
The one that God was manifesting his glory through in the hearts
of his people was one of them people right in front of him.
And he says in verse 36, he answered and said, who is he, Lord, that
I might believe on him? Which one are you? I can't distinguish. Who is he, Lord? That's why we're
here. hear who Christ is, hear about
what he's done, to see him. Let me eat, let me drink, let
me see, let me live, let me rejoice one more time. Those men in John 12, they came
to Philip, and they said, sir, we would see Jesus. We would
see him. Would you see him? Would you
believe on him? Verse 36 says, and he answered,
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, and he said, Lord, I believe, and he worshiped thee. Do I believe on the Son of God
right now? Not did I, not will I, not, well,
I've been baptized, and I've confessed, and I've preached,
and I taught Sunday school, and I've been a member of the church.
I walked an aisle. I was born into it. I had good
believing parents. No, do I believe on him right now? What is it
to believe on? We've looked at this many times
before, and I'll say it again tonight. Believe on. He's my
foundation. He's what establishes everything
else. Not just believe in, believe
on Him. I believe on the Son of God. He's the source. He's
the one that first loved me. He's the one that came to me,
worked to me, preserved me. And He's the one that keeps His
word. I don't keep His promises. He keeps His promises. I believe
on His promises. Our Lord said, therefore whosoever
heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken
him to a wise man which built his house upon a rock. You know,
I don't build my house in a rock or about a rock, but on a rock. The rain that set in the floods
came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not,
for it was founded upon a rock. What did Moses say there in Exodus
33? Lord, show me your glory. And the Lord said, I will be
gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on
whom I'll have compassion. That's his prerogative. He's
God. That's his rock, not man's. And he said, I'll make my glory
pass in front of you, Moses. And people say, oh, they pound
on election, don't they? The Lord elected people, that's
a fact. What was the most glorious and miraculous and merciful thing
he did? He put him in the cleft of the rock. He set him on a
rock, on the rock, and then he put him in that rock and covered
him with his hand. He put His child in Christ so
He didn't die. Pretty good, ain't it? If you believe on Christ, you
will believe in Him. If you believe on Him, you'll
obey. If you're His, you'll obey. Now, if you just believe in Him,
you may worship or you may be like those demons. You may know
His name and His titles, but if you believe on Him, you will
worship Him. Our Lord said, What is this then that is written?
The stone which the builders rejected is the same become the
head of the corner. Whosoever shall fall upon that
stone shall be broken. You fall on Christ, on him, you
believe on him, you will have a broken heart because you won't
see what you are. That's what the Holy Spirit, I bumped into this people
this week, I had a unique week. They said, trouble me about the
Holy Spirit. And I said, well, did that Holy
Spirit profess Christ? No, it did some magic tricks.
I don't know what the hell, I was scared to ask. He said, he will
come speaking of me, and he will convict this world of sin. Not
sins, not plural, sin, that's what we are. That's running through
our veins, that's our DNA, it's our instinct, our nature. He'll
convince of sin, he'll convict of righteousness, that Christ
is the only thing that's righteous. He's the Holy One. And that judgment's
been totally satisfied, Satan's been defeated, and it's all finished,
ain't nothing else to do. Now if you come in contact with
the Holy Ghost, that's what he's gonna tell you. Christ said so, God said
so. We'll have a broken heart if
we fall on that stone, but whosoever that stone shall fall on, it'll
grind him to powder. Oh, fall on him. I pray it'll
make us trip on him right now. Verse 38, and he said, Lord,
I believe, and he worshiped him. And Jesus said, for judgment,
I come into this world that they which see not might see. He came to seek and to save the
lost. He did it. And they that which, and that
they, which see might be made blind. All those that know something
I think just because they have physical side they have spiritual
side. He's going to show them that they're blind. And some
of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words and said
unto him are we blind also. They didn't get it as paying
attention. You saying I'm blind. You say I ain't one of God's.
That's how it started. It hurt some feelings it hurt
their feelings didn't it. What else did he tell us? The
healthy don't need a physician. You saying I'm blind? So says
you. You ain't got a problem going home. You don't need an
ophthalmologist. You don't need a physician, do you? You have
to be blind to be given sight. You have to be lame to be able
to heal, to walk. You have to be dead to be given
life. Has the Lord gave you life? I
don't know. Was you ever dead? I know all kinds of people say,
I live in Jesus. When was you dead? Don't tell me when he got saved,
tell me when he got lost. That's a good thing. Jesus said
unto him, if you were blind, you should have no sin. What's
this man said? Who's Jesus? I don't know. He
saved me, he came to me. Do you believe on him? Who is he? I worship him, Lord.
He was blind, he didn't know nothing. Lord says, if you were
blind, you should have no sin. This man's sins forgiven him.
But now you say, we see. Oh, we see. I see, I see. I understand. I know what you're
talking about. I get it. I get that prayer. You know, what did
his apostles do? The Lord said, if you have ears to hear, let him
hear. That's a command, isn't it? They got him to the side, all
them people left, and the apostles said, Lord, what'd that mean?
And he said, come here, buddy. Sit down. Let me explain to you.
That's compassion. That's a different thing than
sonship, isn't it? But now we say, we see. Therefore, your
sin remains. If you believe, I'll tell you
this, if you believe on the Son of God, you shall have everlasting
life. Do you believe on him? You gotta
know who he is to believe on him. How can they believe on
him of whom they've never heard? And how can they hear unless
a preacher, not a book, not a, Henry Mahan said that, and I
turned somebody's head upside down. Holy Spirit ain't never speak
through a cassette tape, did you know that? How can they hear unless somebody
tells them? How can they tell unless they,
how can they preach? Unless they be sent, sent of
God. That's important. Darwin has a good article I'm
putting in Bulletin this weekend. That someone will believe on
him now, that I'd believe on him now. Not now. Tomorrow morning, guess what?
I might believe on him tomorrow morning. Lord, come to me, come my way.
Give me eyes to see your son. That'd be good, wouldn't it?
Let's pray. Father, thank you for this hour. Lord, we're blind. Give us eyes while we're deaf.
Give us ears to hear. Lord, we have cold, dead, stony
hearts. Give us new hearts. Make us alive. If you give life, it's eternal,
Lord. Allow us to see Christ, who he is, and allow us to worship
him as our Lord. As our Lord. Forgive us for what
we are, Lord. Save us. It's in Christ's name
that we ask it. Amen.