John chapter 9. Last week we looked at those
first three verses, and I tried to talk to you about
why was a man born blind. And what that says by Jesus as
He answers that question, and at the same time answers so many
more questions. But as I told you in the beginning,
all these miracles that we find performed on these physical cases,
in the gospel of John, they are but just pictures of us as sinners
and what God must do in order to save us from our sins. I know you have heard and we
have sung and heard sung the hymn we sang tonight So many
times. Amazing grace. But there are very few people
in this world that believed or do believe the gospel that John
Newton believed and preached and which gave rise to this hymn. I don't know if you noticed it
as we sang it again, but in that he says that he was once blind,
but he says, but now I see. And since he was not blind physically,
we know that he was a sea captain, Captain over a slave trading
ship, but he was confessing in that hymn that he had been blind
spiritually. Blind spiritually. And it is a blind man that the
Lord Jesus Christ encounters here in John 9. Adam and Eve gave evidence to
their blindness after the fall when they lost any sight of who
God really was and of what they really had become. And they demonstrated
it by going and hiding there in the garden from God. They were blind then to the fact
that you can't hide from God. And they were blind as to their
own condition that was the result of their disobedience, and so
they sought to hide their nakedness by this hiding, and not only
that, by making for themselves a fig leaf garment, to cover
their nakedness. Had they not then been blind
to the effect of sin, and sin as it is before God, they would
not have done such things. And they were blind then as to
how God puts away sin. It won't be through a man-made
work, such as sewing together a fig leaf apron. But it is,
as God demonstrates, through a sacrifice. God taking those
innocent lambs, whatever it was, and making for them coats of
skins which is indicative of a God-provided covering and righteousness. After the fall, they became spiritually
blind to these things. And now, and since that day,
every one of their race From that day to this day is born
into this world spiritually blind. As the scriptures tell us, like
begets like. And all are from their birth,
all Adam's race are spiritually blind. and with a natural rebellious
mind against God, which as we say in our own speaking, there
is none so blind as the man who will not see. Man cannot see. Man will not see. And not only does he come forth
from the womb, it says, in this blindness, speaking lies, but
on top of that, Satan in his deception blinds him even further. Blinds him to the truth. Blinds him to the blessings of
God in the gospel. blinds him to the things of God. Paul, writing to the Corinthians,
he described it like this. He says, but if our gospel be
hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this
world," now he's speaking of Satan, the devil, in whom the
God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe
not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the
image of God, should shine unto them." He has blinded their eyes
especially to the glorious gospel wherein the grace of God is demonstrated
and made manifest in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible speaks
of blindness of mind and blindness of heart. And then, as if that were not
bad enough, he goes even further in seeking to blind every one
of Adam's race by using false religion, using false teachers,
such as the Pharisees were in this day. They were moral people. They were religious people. They were people who often quoted
the Scriptures. They were generally accepted
as those closest to God. But they were as blind as any
other. And so he says to us, writing
in Matthew 15, Christ does. He says, let them alone, they
be blind, and leaders of the blind, and if the blind lead
the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. If the blind lead
the blind. It doesn't matter whether they're
a Pharisee or a Sadducee or whatever religious denomination they are. It doesn't matter if they're
a preacher or a person in the pew. If they are blind, leading
the blind, they will both, he says, fall in the ditch. So how? Did someone like John
Newton, who was not looking for God, who was involved in a most
horrible trade, and who by his own confession was a vile and
wicked man living in this blindness, how did he come? to know God. How did he come to see the truth
as it is in Christ Jesus? Well, he came to believe he was
absolutely saved from all his sins, and came to know the true
God as He is in Christ, as he writes in his hymn, by amazing
grace. Because amazing grace, much unlike
the grace of our day that we hear spoken of. The grace of
God, as it is in Christ Jesus, is omnipotent grace. all-powerful grace. And every aspect of a sinner's
being makes that necessary if anybody is to be saved. God's grace, as we find it in
the Bible, is that almighty grace that free grace, that sovereign
grace that is in Christ Jesus. And man's condition is such,
he is in this blindness so helpless and glad really to be that way,
that only a work and an act of almighty grace can save him."
In other words, it requires a supernatural spiritual miracle just like what
we find pictured in this text. This man was blind from his birth. In other words, whatever happens
to him, the one thing that we hear at the very beginning, it
says, and as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind
from his birth. He had never known sight. And he is in this a picture of
every sinner all of whom are blind from birth spiritually,
blind to God as He is, blind to their own state and condition,
and in desperate need of a divine miracle. Now hold your place
right there and turn back to John 3. Because our Lord speaks of this
when He is talking to this man Nicodemus who came to Him by
night and who was himself one of those Pharisees, one of those
rulers. And when Christ says what He
does, He is so blind at that point to take what Christ tells
him and applies it just to the external and the physical. Christ
talks about the need to be born again. And He says, can a man
enter again in his mother's womb and be born again? That shows
his blindness. But notice what Christ says here
in John chapter 3. In that third verse, talking
to him, even as Nicodemus calls him a rabbi or a teacher, which
by the way was just confessing him to be his equal. It says in verse 3, "...Jesus
answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, or truly, truly, I say
unto thee, Except a man be born again." That means born from
above. given life from above, spiritual
life, that is characterized by these spiritual senses, so as
to be able to hear, so as to be able to see. Now look at what
he says, "...except a man be born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God." the things of God's grace in His King, the
Lord Jesus Christ. He may see a lot of things, but
he cannot see the kingdom of God or the things of the kingdom,
which is simply the kingdom of God's grace. Grace in Christ. It is necessary for God the Spirit
to do a work on a sinner, to come where the sinner is, who
in his blindness never seeks God. A lot of people say they
do, but they're seeking a God they want. They are seeking a
God of their own imagination. They are seeking a God of a false
religion. But God says, there is none that
seeketh after God. And part of the reason is because
of this blindness. This man receives two miracles. That's what I call this tonight,
a blind man's double miracle. And the first miracle that he
receives is that Christ gives him physical sight. Now that was for a number of
reasons, many more than I'm sure I'll ever be aware of, but I
know one of them. And one reason why this man received
physical sight is because this is one of the things that the
prophets of old had been led by the Spirit to say that Messiah
would do. This was a sign that would follow
the true Christ. Look at verse 4. Christ says,
"...I must work the works of Him that sent Me while it is
day. The night cometh when no man
can work." Christ came into this world to do a work, the work
of salvation. But a part of that were many
other works, one of which was to give sight to the blind. You'll read in this chapter,
when you read it, how that there in all, this man who is blind
himself and others, they say, this has never been heard of
before. that a man would be able to give sight to a blind man. But Isaiah had written a long
time before, and in that day shall the deaf hear the words
of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity
and out of darkness." Messiah is going to do that. And when
old John the Baptist, you remember John the Baptist, he's just so
much like every believer in his times of weakness and in his
lapses of unbelief. He's not some kind of super-Christian
like preachers today try to make people to be and think they are
themselves. John, who was the forerunner
of Christ, prophesied often about by the prophets themselves, the
last prophet until Christ, when he was arrested and put
in prison. He's there in his bonds. And
He's weak like us. And He sends a message to the
Lord Jesus Christ and says something like this, Are you the One that
was to come? Are you really the Christ? Or
should we look for another? Now, I could never honor an unbelief
like that, but there's something about that when I hear it, it
gives me a little comfort in my own unbelief. This is what Christ said to those
messengers He sent. Then Jesus answering said unto
them, Go your way and tell John what things you have seen and
heard. How that the blind see, the lame
walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised,
and to the poor The gospel is preached. You see, John knew
what the prophecies were. And Christ didn't have to simply
give him a yes or no. He just simply told him in reminding
him of what the prophets had said, led of God's Spirit. And one thing was that where
the Messiah walked, where He engaged in this ministry while
on the earth, while he carried out the works while it was still
day at the blind sea. And this man received physical
sight. Christ did some things, mixed
the clay with spittle, put them in his eyes, Some imagined that
that was the only way he could do it, but it wasn't. At another
time, he just opened a man's eyes. He told this man to go
wash as one sent. And he could see. And his parents
knew he could see. He knew he could see. Those religious Pharisees, they
were not interested really in the fact that a miracle had been
performed on Him. But the truth is, even with that
miracle, being supernaturally brought
from not being able to see with his eyes to being able to see
with his eyes, he was still spiritually blind. So much for all those who say
to God, just show me something. Just give me a sign. So much
for all these preachers and religious folks in our day and in days
past who are always interested in signs and wonders. He had a great miracle. But just having physical sight
does not mean that you're not still spiritually blind. That was his case. Look down in verse 6. It says, 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 sin. And he went his way therefore,
and washed, and came see." The neighbors therefore, and they
which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this
he that sat and begged?" You see, that's what blindness renders
a person, makes them a beggar. Some said, this is he, and others
said, he is like him, but he said, I am he. Therefore said they unto him,
How were thine eyes opened? And he answered and said, A man
that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said
unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam and wash. And I went and washed,
and I received sight. Then said they unto him, Where
is he? And he said, I know not. And they brought to the Pharisees
him that aforetime was blind, and it was the sabbath day when
Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. Then again the Pharisees
also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them,
He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see." Therefore said some of the Pharisees,
this man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day."
You see the attitude of these religious but lost and blind
Pharisees concerning a miracle that the Lord Jesus has done. Why aren't they saying, if they're
such leaders, have such sight, why aren't they just saying,
oh, come let us bring all these sick ones to Him? No. They want to say He can't be
of God because He did this on the Sabbath. You see, the Sabbath
to them is just a day. had they sight, spiritual sight,
they would know that the only true Sabbath is Christ. Because Sabbath means rest. And that Sabbath was just like
every other thing under that old covenant. Priests, sacrifice,
whatever, they all pictured One that was to come. And something
about Him. The Sabbath is simply a picture
of Christ who says that He is the rest of His people. It says, this man is not of God
because He keepeth not the Sabbath day. Another said, How can a
man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division
among them. They say unto the blind man again,
What sayest thou of him that he hath opened thine eyes? He
said, He's a prophet. Did you know that there were
a lot of people who said that Jesus was a prophet? That's what essentially Nicodemus
is doing, and a host of others. Whenever Christ asked, who do
men say that I am? They said, some say you're Elijah
or one of the prophets, but who do you say that I am? And Peter
said, you're the Christ, the Son of the living 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 his
sight. And they asked them, saying,
Is this your son, whom ye say was born blind? How then doth
he now see?" And 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 hath opened his eyes,
we know not. He is of age, ask him, he shall
speak for himself." And these words spake his parents
because they feared the Jews. They knew that these religious
people who did not know God, they are the meanest people on
this earth. There have been more people killed
in this world in the name of God than you and I can even imagine. But most notably, they hung the
Son of God on the cross thinking that they did God a favor. For the Jews had agreed already
that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put
out of the synagogue, which was essentially to a Jew to kill
him. Therefore said his parents, he
is of age as Kim. 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. That's what they thought he was. Anytime anybody talks about the
Lord Jesus Christ being a sinner, I get all shaky. I get all concerned. Because the Bible says he knew
no sin. He knew no sin. Else he could
not have been the perfect sacrifice, the Lamb without spot and without
blemish. And he answered and said, whether
he be a sinner or not, I know not. One thing I know, that whereas
I was blind, now I see. Now listen, you see he's still
spiritually blind. He said whether he's a sinner
or not, I don't know. The only thing I know is, whereas
I couldn't see, now I can see. Then said they unto him again,
What did he to thee? How opened he thine eyes? He answered them, I have told
you already, and you did not hear. Wherefore would you hear
it again? Will you also be his disciples? Then they reviled him and said,
Thou art his disciples, but we are Moses' disciples. The one that Christ said wrote
of Him. Moses wrote of Him. They said,
we're Moses' disciples. In other words, we're disciples
of that principle of gaining God's favor by doing. Alright? We know that God spake unto Moses. But as for this fellow, we know
not whence he is. This fellow. The blindness of
a sinner is most clearly demonstrated
in what he would say about the true Christ. They referred to
him as this fellow. They said, we'll have none of
Him. We don't believe on Him. They
were simply saying something like people say today. That's
not our Jesus. How many times do we hear this?
Our God is not like that. Our Jesus wouldn't do that. Our
Jesus wouldn't say that. Even in the face of plain print
wherein He's already said it. I just want to say to them, when
they say, our God wouldn't do that, I want to say, my God already
has done that. He wouldn't say this. He already
has said it. That's where I get it from. And
the man answered and said unto them, Why, herein is a marvelous
thing, or an amazing thing. that you know not from whence
he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes." Now here they were,
thought to be the people of God, had been entrusted as a people
with so many privileges, most especially the written Word of
God, He said, it's a strange thing
to me that you people who have for so long by yourselves and
by many claimed to know God, to know everything about God,
to be the final say on God, and here is this man who is no part
of you, who you will have nothing to do with, and yet he has given
me sight. And they said, Now we know that
God heareth not sinners. But if any man be a worshipper
of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. 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. And they answered and said unto
him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, like I told you last
week. This was their mentality, and
I'm afraid it is so much so amongst many today, that if some great
bad thing, affliction, or something happens to someone, it must be
cause of their great sinning. They answered and said unto him,
Thou wast altogether born in sins, and do you try to teach
us? Are you trying to teach us? Those sent of God in Christ's
day, none of them were a part of this religious establishment. They were fishermen and ordinary
workmen. But look at verse 35. Jesus heard that they had cast
him out. And when he had found him..."
Now, who's looking for who here? Oh, that is so wonderful. All
these people claim to be searching for the Lord, searching for the
truth, searching for God. In their blindness, they're groping
around in the darkness. And that's what makes it necessary
for him to seek us. Who seeks who? The sheep or the
shepherd? Who in the gospel of Luke goes
after the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son? You see,
the Lord Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. And when he had found him, he
said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" Now, he could
have said, he could have made it easy on this man's flesh.
Do you believe in Jesus? You go on the street, you ask
a hundred people, do you believe in Jesus? Probably at least 95%
are going to say, well, yes, yes. That's not what he says. Do you believe on the Son of
God?" And he answered and said, "'Who is he, Lord, that I might
believe on him?' And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen
him, and it is he that talketh with thee." Now, if you think that this blind
man, blind from birth, If you think it was a miracle for him
at one minute to be blind and the next minute to be able to
see, let me assure you that was nothing compared to this next
second miracle. Because a man is looking at another man is looking at a man that all
the religious people around him have called him a sinner and
a liar and a devil and everything else. He looks at that man and
he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. You see, God's the only one worthy
of worship. Christ is the only one in whom
God can and will be worshiped, because He's the priest, He's
the sacrifice, He's the altar, and He's the one by whom we come
before God. He's the Lord our righteousness.
He is our Savior from our sin. He is everything. And Jesus said,
for judgment I am coming to this world, that they which see, or
claim to see, might not see, and that they which see might
be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which
were with Him heard these words and said unto Him, Are we blind
also? Let me ask you this, when did
this man first, even in the natural sense, when did he find out that
he was blind? When he was unable to see. We
only begin to see what we are as sinners, we only begin to
see who God is when He comes to us and gives us sight. which is the sight of faith enabling
us to see in this spiritual sense. Because faith is the substance
of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Not seen by the natural eye.
Here are all these people To show you spiritual blindness,
here is no doubt a crowd gathered around God manifest in the flesh. But they can't see who He is.
They don't know who He is. And in their blindness, they
call Him the most awful things. This man received that second greater
miracle, spiritual sight. Because true sight, true spiritual
sight, which is true faith, is to see Jesus Christ for who He
is. And to see Him in the light that
shows us who we are, and when we see who we are, and see who
He is and see how God is, we run to Christ. We don't have
any other hope. Don't want any other hope. The
Pharisee's sight, it was great blindness. And the only way God's
elect are brought to see is by a divine revelation. Now, what do I mean by divine
revelation? I mean the revelation of Christ
that the Spirit of God reveals to us through His Word. Now, I want you to turn to 1
Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. And listen to what Paul says. Beginning in verse 7, 1 Corinthians
2 verse 7, he says, but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. Now, I've told you many times
what a mystery is in the New Testament. It simply means a
thing that was not before revealed. It was before, but it was not
before revealed, and it is revealed by God to the faith that He gives. But we speak the wisdom of God
in the mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before
the world unto our glory. which none of the princes of
this world knew. For had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory, but as it is written."
Written all the way back, I think, in like Isaiah 64. But as it is written, I hath
not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."
Now, what's the next word? But. But. hath revealed them unto us by
His Spirit." Now, who is he writing this letter to? He's writing
to these believers at Corinth. and to believers in every age. God hath revealed them unto us
by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. For what knoweth the
things of a man save the spirit of man which is in him? Even
so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God." Now there are all these people
in our day. The Lord woke them up last night and told them this
and all these preachers on television that God gave them a revelation. And guess what it was? That if
a hundred thousand of you will all give a dollar apiece, He'll
help me to build this or that or the other. That's the kind
of revelation men claim to have. But now I want you to listen
to this. Paul says, now we have received
not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God,
that we might know the things that are freely given to us of
God. You see, that's what the Spirit
of God does for the people of God. gives them this revelation,
gives them this sight to see in the gospel, in the word of
truth, the things that God freely gives to them. All these preachers are standing
up and telling people what they are to do. to gain God's favor,
how they're to live in order to gain a better place in heaven,
how to do all these things. Do this, do that, do the other. I just call it doo-doo religion.
Doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo. But the gospel has to do with
done, finished, things freely given. to a people in Christ. which things also we speak, not
in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy
Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the
natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned." This is a spiritual sight. And
when we are given this spiritual sight, when we are brought out
of this darkness into the marvelous light of Christ, when we are
given eyes to see, we see what God in His amazing
mercy and grace has done for us and given for us. blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in Christ before the foundation
of the world, hung on that cross and cried out, it's finished. Finished. It's not a kit that
you take and build for yourself. It's a finished work. It satisfies
God. And it meets the elect sinner's
needs. All of his people, he says, will
be taught of God. And everyone that has learned
of the Father, Christ said, comes to me. People who have sight,
this spiritual sight, they have it because of a work of God's
grace. And when they have it, they can't see anything but Christ
crucified, risen again, seated at the right hand of the Majesty
on High. For something like 35 plus years, I've tried to preach this. A
friend told some of my family they knew how I was a kind of
a hop to one thing and hop to the next thing kind of a fella.
And they said, Gary will do this for a while and then he'll hop
on for something else, do something else. No. The sight of Christ and Him crucified. God's grace in saving me in spite
of myself. That's the best news I ever heard.
He came looking for me. I didn't go looking for Him.
I was already a very contended preacher. But He didn't leave
me in that state. He showed me Christ. I thank Him for it. I thank Him
for all you that He's done the same thing for. If He hadn't already, I pray
that He will. Father, this night, we thank
You and we praise You. Ascribe to You all the glory.
Give to You all the thanks. Attribute to You all that is
deserving for this work of salvation. We thank You and we praise You. We pray that you'd continue to
help us see more of Christ, more clearly about Christ, as we grow
in the grace and knowledge of Christ. And we ask all things
and praise you in His name. Amen.