Though I was blind, now I see.

Q: What does the Bible say about disability and suffering?

The Bible teaches that disability and suffering are consequences of the fall, but they also serve God's purposes and allow for His glory to be revealed. Disability and suffering are part of the human condition due to the fall of Adam. Romans 5:12 tells us that through one man, sin entered the world, resulting in death and decay. This includes physical sickness and disabilities, and it's essential to acknowledge that these are not always direct punishments for specific sins. Jesus made clear in John 9:3 that the man's blindness was not due to his or his parents' sin. Instead, it was an opportunity for God's works to be displayed. In suffering, believers learn patience, grace, and often find ways to glorify God through their endurance and hope. Moreover, God's sovereignty extends over all aspects of life, including suffering, as He permits or brings about events according to His divine will (Ephesians 1:11).

Q: How do we know God is sovereign in our suffering?

God's sovereignty in suffering is evident through His control over all things and His purposes that ultimately glorify Him. God's sovereignty means that He is in control of all events, including those that lead to suffering and disability. The Westminster Confession of Faith states that God, from all eternity, freely and unchangeably ordains whatsoever comes to pass. This is supported by Romans 9:15, where God declares He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy. Even in suffering, God is working out a plan that may not be fully understood by us but is ultimately for our good and His glory. The healing of the blind man in John 9 illustrates that his disability was not a punishment but rather a way for God to manifest His power. In every affliction, we can trust that God has a purpose, and through our trials, we can glorify Him.

Q: Why is faith in God's sovereignty important for Christians?

Faith in God's sovereignty provides comfort and assurance that He controls all aspects of life, especially in times of trials. Faith in God's sovereignty assures believers that nothing happens by chance and that all events serve His divine purposes. In a world filled with suffering, knowing that God actively ordains or permits circumstances helps Christians rely on His plan instead of despairing in trials. As R.C. Sproul stated, if there were even one maverick molecule outside of God's control, it would undermine our trust in His promises. Romans 8:28 assures us that 'all things work together for good to them that love God.' This belief not only strengthens our faith but also enables us to face life's challenges with hope, knowing that God is at work even in our suffering.

Q: How does God use suffering for His glory?

God uses suffering to manifest His power, reveal His character, and draw believers closer to Him. Suffering becomes a means through which God reveals His glory and purposes. In the case of the blind man, Jesus stated that his affliction was so that the works of God could be shown in him (John 9:3). Likewise, believers can experience growth in faith and witness God's provision and strength during trials. Suffering can bring individuals to depend on God more fully, resulting in a deeper relationship with Him. Moreover, the faith displayed in enduring suffering can serve as a testimony to others, inviting them to recognize God's greatness and mercy. Through each hardship, whether enduring or alleviated, God is glorified in how we respond and testify to His faithfulness.

Q: What does it mean that we were 'blind but now see'?

Being 'blind but now see' reflects spiritual awakening and transformation through faith in Christ. The phrase 'blind but now see' encapsulates the transformative effect of coming to faith in Jesus Christ. For Christians, it signifies moving from spiritual blindness to enlightenment. Just as the blind man in John 9 received physical sight through Jesus, believers experience a new perspective and understanding when they accept Christ as their Savior. This concept is echoed in Ephesians 1:18, where Paul prays for believers to have their hearts enlightened. The change signifies more than mere knowledge; it represents a radical transformation in one's life and worldview, with new desires aligned with God's will. Each believer’s testimony reflects this transition, affirming that through Christ, they now understand the truth of God's grace and sovereignty.

Seeking once again the help of God, I'd like to draw your attention to the chapter that we read together, the Gospel according to John, chapter 9, and the text you'll find in verse 25. And he answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not.

One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see. We come to the next miracle of the Lord Jesus Christ which is this 26th miracle, another healing of a blind person. So we saw last week in the morning we looked at the feeding of the 4,000 and how the Lord Jesus was working to teach his disciples how he is the light to the Gentiles as he dealt with the Jews and the feeding of the 5,000. Then the Gentile lady who asked for a crumb from the master's table. Then the 4000, the Gentiles, and then as he heals that blind man there in those two different stages and he says that he sees trees as men walking, there is that partial sight and as Jesus is teaching his apostles at that time that they were partially sighted he says to them, how is it that you don't understand? And so he takes this miracle and he shows them that this is how they are, that they were partially sighted, unable to fully see all that the Lord Jesus Christ was teaching them.

And then he heals the man completely and is able to see and we saw that the first person that he saw would have been the face of the Lord Jesus Christ and what a wonderful thing it is when people are healed. even from just general sickness. Many of us know how it is at this time of year. There are colds and flus and coughs and different ailments that are going around and how just a small illness affects us so much. And yet when we come to being well, it's such a relief to be back to normal again, we say. And think how it must have been for this man who was blind. and then he is miraculously healed by the Lord Jesus Christ.

What a joy that must have brought, not only to him, but also to those people who brought him to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so here today we have then another miracle and the Lord Jesus healing a blind man and then the abuse that he gets from the Pharisees and how he is thrown out of the temple instead of being embraced by the Pharisees and instead of the Pharisees seeing the prophecies of the Old Testament fulfilled, it seems to harden their hearts, it seems to blind them even further.

And so the Lord Jesus Christ says that he has come for judgment. He says, for judgment I am coming to this world that they which see not might see, and they which see might be blind. Speaking to the Pharisees who said that they see, we follow Moses, we know everything, you don't know anything. And they said that they see, but they were blinded.

But this man who could not see, naturally speaking and spiritually speaking he could not see and yet by faith he obeys the Lord Jesus Christ and he washes in the pool of Siloam and he comes seeing and he comes with this simple testimony as they ask him who is it who healed you give glory to God we know that this man is a sinner and he answers and says whether he be a sinner or no or in or no is added there by the translator but it can be said whether he be a sinner i know not one thing i know whereas i was blind now i see that the facts what had actually taken place in the life of this man caused him to be, without doubt, he was able to see the evidence, the workings of the Lord Jesus Christ in his own life.

And he says, I don't know anything about the Lord Jesus. I don't know whether he's a sinner. I don't know if he's not a sinner. I don't know where he's come from. I know nothing about him. But all I know, this is what he has done for me. I was blind, I was born blind, and nobody is able to heal somebody who has been born blind. What I know is that Jesus Christ did this to me.

What I want us to see today, there's some interesting things that take place that the scripture reveals to us. First of all, it is the question that the disciples bring to the Lord Jesus Christ as to the reason why this man is blind. In verse one, 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?

And so they were confronted with a beggar, begging by the road, a blind man. And the immediate thought that came into the mind of the apostles is, there must be a reason for this. Something must have happened. His parents must have committed some specific sin for their child to have been punished with blindness. Or, they say, was it this man? How could it have been this man if he was born blind? How could he have sinned or done a specific sin that he was punished with blindness? And so you have to look at the mindset of the apostles. What is the thought process that's going through their mind? What is talked about in the context of their lives? Remember that the Romans and the Greeks, their culture had infected Jewish thought. And so with their culture came some of their ideas. are many religions in the world, aren't there?

And some religions don't believe that our birth is the start of our existence. Some people believe that before we are born into this world we had already existed as something else. We had a previous life. That is something that the disciples were thinking about. They believe that this man may have sinned in a previous life, therefore God is punishing him in the present life because of the sins that he had committed in the life before. We know that that's not true.

We know that before we were born into this world, before we were conceived, we did not exist. God is the father of spirits. He is the one that gives life. He gave, he brought us into existence. We did not exist before we were conceived in the womb of our mothers.

We are not punished in this present life for anything that we did in a previous life before, because we never had a previous life before, but we didn't exist. therefore it is impossible to say, it is completely wrong to say that someone is experiencing a punishment in this life because they have sinned in a previous life before.

And it's even wrong to say that somebody is being punished by God for the sins that had been committed by their parents. And Jesus stamps that thought out immediately from the mind of the apostles. He said, no, neither has this man sinned nor his parents, referring to a specific sin. We know that there is a general sin, that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The Bible tells us that we are, David tells us, in sin did my mother conceive me, that we are brought forth speaking lies, that our frame, our bodies, are corrupted by sin and that our spirits are spiritually dead by nature because of the fall of mankind in Adam. And so Jesus is not saying that his parents didn't have any sin or that this man didn't have any sin. He is saying that his parents and him, this blind man, had not done a specific sin that they were being punished for.

We know because of the fall that there is sickness and suffering in the world. We know that Adam was to labour in the garden, labour to bring forth food for his family by the sweat of his head, by the sweat of his brow. That the earth was going to bring thorns and thistles, that sickness and sorrow and death was to come into the world and therefore Sickness is part of everyday life, part of the consequences of the fall of the human race. And so it is disability. Disability is part of the fallen race, the effects of the fall upon the human race, and ultimately death.

But still, Although there is disability, and although there is sickness, and although there is death, yet God remains sovereign in his distribution of those sicknesses and disabilities. As we saw the other day, who has made man's mouth? Have not I the Lord? I am the one that makes the blind and makes the deaf. It is God. We elevate God to a position of sovereign over all things, even in suffering, disability, sickness and death. He holds the keys of life. It is Him who gives life and it is Him who takes life. Individuals are not punished because of an individual's sin. They are not dealt with because of individual guilt, but God is a sovereign in his distribution of sickness and suffering and disability.

The world believes in random selection. They believe in luck and they believe in chance. They believe that the events in this world are uncontrollable. They believe that there is just random things that take place that are out of the control of man. They believe that this world formed itself over millions of years by random events that caused this world to come into being in all its perfection. The sea, the land, the insects, the animals, the people.

But we know or the word of God teaches us that God in the beginning spoke and it was done. And we know that man rebelled against God and therefore sickness, suffering, sorrow and death have entered into this world. And so it's not a random selection that somebody gets a cold or that somebody gets cancer or that somebody has a disability. God is at work. God wills or permits all afflictions. Now he may use means to bring about his will or to allow his purposes to unfold.

It may be, as in some cases, say for Elsie and me, for instance, we are both carriers of the genetics that give Jesse and Isaac the problems that they have. and that God uses that as the means to bring about the disability that is seen in Jesse and Isaac.

But the disability that is in us is as the result of the degeneration of the genetics of the human body. Sin has made our bodies imperfect. There is weaknesses. We know in families there are family weaknesses. Some families have weak hearts, some families have weak lungs, some families suffer with arthritis and some families suffer with diabetes and the Lord is able to use those means to bring about his purposes in the lives of individual people.

We can never say that God has lost control, that somebody is unwell because God has lost control of the events in that person's life. These things are there. They're not randomly selected, but to fulfill the purposes of a sovereign God, he allows these things to come about in the lives of individuals. in the lives of believers specifically for specific purposes, and the lives of unbelievers to bring about his own purposes in their lives. He is sovereign.

There are so many things that we cannot understand about God because his ways are far higher than our ways. But just because we don't understand the things about God does not mean we have to reject them. But we hold them high. that God is God and we worship him. As the scripture says, it is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. The Westminster Confession of Faith says this regarding affliction and the sovereignty of God.

God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass. That is deep. written in 1646. These men sat down for months on end to seek to fathom the attributes of God and to write them down for the church. And where did they get that idea from?

Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 11 it says, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purposes of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise and glory who first trusted in Christ all things. not some things in our life, some things are down to us, some things are down to God, no. He works all things after the counsel of his own will. Romans 9, it tells us there. Romans 9 verse 15. For he said unto Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God. that showeth mercy.

And so the scripture elevates God to this sovereign ruler, this sovereign king who has a role in everything that takes place in the world. He either actively wills it to take place or He permits it to take place. If it is sinful, he does not actively will it, but he permits it to take place. Think of David and Bathsheba. God did not will that to take place. He did not force David to sin or Bathsheba to sin, but he allowed it to unfold. He allowed David to be driven by his own lust and by his own desire and his own selfishness. But even in that, that sin brought about the purposes of God.

To help us in our life, the scripture elevates God to this, or describes to us a God for who he is. Far greater and far powerful than you or I. If any of you know a man called R.C. Sproul, he passed away, but he is famous for saying this, if you do not believe that God ordains everything that comes to pass, you don't believe in the God of the Bible. And he goes on to say in his lecture that if you don't believe that God is sovereign, then you are an atheist. because God in the scripture is described as the sovereign, all-powerful, almighty, all-knowing God. And he says that you don't believe in the God of the Bible. You've boiled God down to a small person like yourself who is no God at all.

You might not understand how God is intimately acquainted with every detail that is taking place in this world, but we are not called to understand it. We're called to believe it so that it may help us in our times of trouble. God ordains everything that comes to pass.

He says, If there is one maverick molecule, you know that we have atoms and molecules, a maverick one is one that is without control. One maverick molecule in the universe, if there's one molecule in this universe that is not under the control of God, then he says, running loose outside the scope of God's sovereign ordination, then there is not the slightest confidence that you can have that any promise that God has ever made about the future will come to pass. So he's saying if there's one molecule that's not under the control of God, how can you trust in his word? Because his word may be that one maverick molecule that doesn't obey God.

If the Word of God has revealed to us all future events and we put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ because He gives us eternal life and we will be with Him forever and ever, how do we know that is true? How do we know that that is actually going to take place if God is not in control of every single thing? Because one thing may take place in your life which stops the Word of God from happening. So we must have faith to trust in the sovereign God, that he is in control of every single event in our life, either willing it to take place or allowing it to take place, permitting it to take place. And that will help us. in our suffering, that will help us in our affliction, that will help us in our disability, that will help us when the time comes for us to die to know that God is in control. Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not for such is the kingdom of heaven. How many little children worry about where their dinner's coming from or whether mum is going to give them a hug.

They don't. They believe and they look up to their parents. They don't have to worry about the bills. They don't have to worry about the shopping. They don't have to worry about the heating or going on holiday or anything like that. They just look up to mum and dad. And they know that mum and dad will sort it. Whatever it is, they'll sort it out. And we are told then to have the faith of a little child, to look up to a heavenly father and say, God will sort it. God is in control. God knows what he's doing. Every molecule in this universe is created and is running by him. From all eternity did God, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass.

And so Jesus says to his apostles, no. stop right there. It's not because this man sinned in a previous life, and it's not because this man's parents have sinned, that this boy, this man is being punished. This man has been created in this way. This man is unable to see why, so that the works of God should we manifest in him.

Christ was going to be glorified in his healing. The works of God, the outworking of God was going to be manifest in the life of this man. You might say, well, what about all those people that don't get healed? What about all those people that just continue on in suffering? That is the works of God. That is the working out of the will of God in the life of that individual person.

And in the lives of believers, we know that suffering and sorrow and disability gives them an opportunity to glorify God in their suffering as they wait. They may continue in prayer, asking for healing, or they may submit under the sovereign hand of God and say, well, if this is how the Lord wants me to be, then I will serve him in the frame that he has given to me. And I will wait patiently for the day when I am delivered from this tent, delivered from this earthly tabernacle, and I'm given a new body. in heaven where I will be with Christ forever and ever.

And so we look on with those with disability and prolonged sickness and we watch them and we see them await with patience. their coming of their Lord and gives us an opportunity as Christians to be drawn out in concern for them and love for them that we may assist them as the Lord Jesus passed by that way. He knew the man was there. He passed by that way so that he would show compassion upon him and heal him and demonstrate to his disciples that there was, that he was going to to heal them. So Christ was going to be glorified and Christ can be glorified. God can be glorified in the way that we deal with our prolonged disability, our prolonged sickness and even our death. Christ can be glorified as we talk with those who are near their end and they can speak of the goodness of God. that God has never failed them nor forsaken them, and he's going to take them to be with him forever.

In Acts chapter four, when Peter and John entered into the temple, there was a man there that was lame. And they healed him, silver and gold have I none, but such as I give you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, rise up and walk. And they did this, and then they were arrested. Verse 21, it tells us, so then when they had further threatened them, they let them go. So they'd healed this man of his lameness, and then they had been arrested, and they threatened them that they would not speak in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Finding nothing how they might punish them because of the people, For all the men glorified God for that which was done. For the man was above 40 years old in whom this miracle of healing was shown. And so this man who had been healed, it was evident to those people round about him, they saw him. And the healing brought glory to God. the works of God might be manifest in him, that God brings about his own purposes, that he will be glorified in either the patience and endurance of that one or in the deliverance of that one, that God is glorified, Christ is seen.

With or without means. Jesus chose in this healing to use clay. The Bible tells us that we are dust, we are made from the clay. God formed Adam out of the ground. Jesus now takes a spit, he makes clay from the dust of the ground and he puts it into the eyes of this man.

Naturally speaking you would wonder what he is doing. With the other ones you may be able to understand spitting and putting it on his eyes, the people would be able to understand that he is in the process of healing him. But now it looks like that he's making the situation worse. That he's spitting and putting clay into the eyes of the man. And naturally that would make the situation worse. Our eyes are very sensitive even if somebody can't see properly or is blind. To put clay into the eyes would to make it worse.

But God, or the Lord Jesus, is also sovereign in the means that he chooses to heal or in aiding his people with, with sin or without. Did the clay have any healing properties? Did the clay have any benefit to this man whatsoever? Or maybe it just gave him something to wash out, as the Lord Jesus tells him, go and wash in the pool of Siloam. And he went and he washed and he received his sight. God throughout the scriptures has used various means to bring about the deliverance of his people. He doesn't use the exact same thing every single time. He is sovereign in the way that he aids his people.

Think of Gideon, when Gideon was told to go and fight and he takes with him the lamps and the pitchers, the clay pots in Judges chapter 7. And so Gideon and a hundred men that were with him came onto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch. And they had but newly set the watch and they blew the trumpets and break the pitchers that were in their hand. And the three companies blew the trumpets and break the clay pots and held the lamps in their left hand and the trumpets in their right hand to blow with all. And they cried, the sword of the Lord and of Gideon.

That was the means that God used for Gideon to defeat the army. Naturally speaking, again, a flame and a clay pot and a shout could not defeat an army, but God gets the glory. He shrunk the size of the army to those 300 men, and he now gets the glory. Was it Gideon's ability? Was it the army's strength and tactics?

No, it's God. Think of David and Goliath. David, the shepherd boy who had faith and trust in God. God has helped me before. The sovereign God has helped me before. And this sovereign God is going to help me again. This Philistine, the cursed, the God of David.

David said, you know, my God, he will defeat you. in 1st Samuel 17, verse 45. And David said to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with the sword, and with the spear, and with the shield. But I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defined. This day will the Lord deliver me into thy hand, and I will smite thee and take thine head from thee, and I will give the carcasses to the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword or spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands. That's what David had come to see, that the battle was God's. that God was going to fight on behalf of the people of Israel and he was going to give them into his hands. How does he do it? What means does God use in this battle? A stone, a small stone slung by the hand of a shepherd boy. that sinks into the forehead of Goliath and the man is dead. God is sovereign even in the means by which he delivers his people.

There's another place that I thought of in 2 Kings 7 with the lepers. As Jerusalem is surrounded, the people of Israel are starving, and the Syrians are outside. The lepers said, we're going to die if we stay here. Let us go to the camp of the Syrians and see. They may take us captive and feed us. But as they go, as they arrive at the camp of the Syrians, they find that they're all fled. They have gone. verse 6 it says, for the Lord made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots and the noise of horses, even a noise of a great host, and they said one to another, lo the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to come upon us, Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight and left their tents and their horses and their asses, even the camp as it was, and they fled for their life. And so as the lepers arrived at the camp of the Syrians, they find nobody there.

They've left everything. Their horses are there. The camels are there. All of their food is still there. Their tents and clothes, their gold and silver, it's all still there. They've run away. How did God do that? He made them to hear a sound that wasn't there. He filled their hearts with fear and they ran away. And he delivered his people. So this sovereign God has sovereign ways by which he delivers his people. He can use any means. We can never say that he's unable to do it. We can never say he's unable to help us. We can never say that he's unable. For all things are possible to those that believe.

He delivered David. He delivered Gideon. He delivered the people of Israel from the Syrians by unusual means. And he chose to deliver this man by placing clay into his eyes and telling him, go and wash. He could have said, what's the point? What is washing this mud out of my eyes going to do? But he obeyed the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ and he went and he washed in the pool of Siloam and he came and he received his sight. That's what he tells people. He tells people that's what happened.

He made clay, he put it into my eyes and he told me to go and wash and now I see. And so the means that Jesus used actually magnify the greatness of Christ even more. As he takes that unusual means and uses it for his glory. Clay in the eyes that would normally make the matter worse is now used in the hand of Christ to make the man see.

And he comes then with a simple testimony. We've seen that over time recently, the eunuch. What does hinder me to be baptised? I believe, he says, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. A simple testimony. And here we have a simple testimony. Whether he be a sinner, I know not. One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, but now I see.

He knew the facts. This is what Jesus had done to him and given him his sight back. He knew nothing about where Jesus came from. He knew nothing, it seems, of the other miracles that Jesus did, because he just says, I know that his name's called Jesus.

But one thing he knew was that his life was changed, that he could see. There was a certainty. about the changes in his life. I wonder if we have any certainty about the changes in our lives. Do we have in our life a point whereby we can see that we have been changed? John Newton, remember he wrote, I once was blind but now I see.

He also said, I am not what I ought to be. I am not what I want to be. I am not what I hope to be in another world. But still I am not what I once used to be. By the grace of God I am what I am. Do you see that? in your life? Do you see, although you may not see a great change, yet there has been a transition from what you once were? Do you have that desire You see that there is something in you that you don't want, but you have a desire to be something that you aren't.

As he says, I'm not what I hope to be. He says, I'm not yet perfected in Christ. I'm still undergoing this battle, this change. I know I'm not what I ought to be. I know I should be pursuing holiness and godliness and I desire to be better than I am, but I see failings in myself and I want to be better. This man had a simple testimony. Whether he's a sinner, I don't know.

But one thing I do know, whereas I was blind, but now I see. Newton saw that transition. He saw that change. Wonder if we have seen that change. A simple testimony, I was blind, but now I see. And he obeyed the Lord Jesus. He went to the pool and he washed and he came seeing. But we see that he didn't stay there out of simple faith. He didn't stay there. He wanted to know more.

Jesus says to him, do you believe on the Son of God? Do you believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, who is he? Point me to him, show me who he is and I'll believe in him and that I might believe in him. And Jesus said unto him, thou hast both seen him and it is he that talketh with thee. He was face to face with the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Pharisees, if you remember, they said that they see, yet they were blind. They had been face-to-face with the Lord Jesus Christ, yet they did not believe and they did not trust in him, and they called him a liar and a sinner. But Jesus says, you have both seen him, and it is him that speaks with you.

And he said, Lord, I believe, and he worshipped him. Isn't that the effect of everyone who the Lord has begun that work, who has opened their eyes? I believe and I worship. Well, we've come here this morning because we believe. and we have a desire to worship. Our eyes have been opened to the fact that we are sinners. Our eyes have been opened to the fact that Jesus Christ is the saviour and we have come to hear his word and we have come to worship him. We might only have a simple testimony, it may not be a prolonged experience but we've come to this point. I believe, I believe and therefore I have spoken that I, whether he be a sinner or I know not, but one thing I know, that wherein I was blind, but now I see.

And may the Lord add his blessing. Amen. We began our worship with one of Ted's favorite hymns, and we'll end our service with another of his favorite hymns. From Hymns for Worship, number 101 to the tune 26. Blessed be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love. The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above. 101 from Hymns for Worship. The fellowship of King Solomon. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave from year to birthday, and often fully jar upon the sympathizing tears.

That we shall soon be free. from the weight of each unexpected be free and perfect love and friendship reign through all eternity. Dear Lord and Heavenly Father, we do thank Thee, Lord, that there is not one maverick molecule in this universe that is outside of Thy control. Therefore, we can trust in the promises of Thy Holy Word and we thank Thee that the Lord Jesus Christ has gone to prepare a place for us and we thank Thee that we can come to Thee then and have that hope, have that faith that we will enter into that place where there is no suffering and no sorrow and no death and we thank thee for that promise that we will be with the Lord Jesus Christ which is far better in glorified bodies like unto his body. Do then we do pray, dismiss us with thy blessing, be with us in the interval of worship, do bless the conversation and fellowship, and do be with us this afternoon as we meet together. Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit, do rest and abide with you each now and forevermore. Amen. Amen.

Though I was blind, now I see.

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about disability and suffering?

How do we know God is sovereign in our suffering?

Why is faith in God's sovereignty important for Christians?

How does God use suffering for His glory?

What does it mean that we were 'blind but now see'?

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Though I was blind, now I see.

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about disability and suffering?

How do we know God is sovereign in our suffering?

Why is faith in God's sovereignty important for Christians?

How does God use suffering for His glory?

What does it mean that we were 'blind but now see'?

Sermon Transcript

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