This morning, I'd like for you
to turn with me to John chapter 9. John chapter 9. I've titled this message, One
Thing I Know. One Thing I Know. In verse 1, the scripture reads,
And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind, from his
birth. Notice those words carefully.
Jesus passed by. Do you think that he passed by
by accident. If you think that, then you have
yet to learn the great truth that God is a God of purpose. He always has and He always will
do things on purpose. There are no accidents with God. The sovereignty of God's divine
grace is again revealed to us in this verse. The Savior came
to where this chosen sinner was. Did you notice that? Jesus passed. He saw a man which was blind
from his birth. Notice that the Savior saw him.
The sinner did not see the Savior. He was blind. The blind man did
not call upon Christ for mercy. It was our blessed Savior who
took the independent initiative. That's the God of the Bible.
That's the God of glory. That's the sovereign God of the
Scriptures. And that is the way in which
sovereign grace acts. Our Lord passed by with divine
and sovereign purpose for this was the day appointed this chosen
blind man to see. All the days of his life had
been in darkness. I've often tried to imagine what
it would be like to be blind. And even when we close our eyes,
we can still see some light. But to be in total darkness,
But friends, it was the same with all of us spiritually until
the Lord gave sight to our blind eyes. Blind beggars. In darkness until the Lord passed
our way. Showed us our need. and had compassion on us and
gave our blind eyes light to see. Look at verse 2. And his
disciples, being the Lord's disciples, asked him, saying, Master, who
did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? And Jesus
answered, neither hath this man sin, nor his parents, but that
the works of God should be made manifest in him." Now this is
common belief today, especially among what we call so-called
faith healers, who imply that some men and women have worse
health than others because they're somehow greater sinners. That
somehow men and women have less health issues because they're
better in some way, or have less sin in their life. And even the
disciples at this time thought that certain fleshly afflictions
came upon certain people because of personal sins committed by
them or even their parents. They wouldn't have asked that
question, Master, who did sin? This man or his parents said
he should be born blind. And though it's true that all
suffering, all affliction, all death are caused by man's sin,
the fall of man, for if sin had not entered the world, friends,
there would be no suffering, no sickness, no death. But good
health and uncommon afflictions are the sovereign and providential
acts of a sovereign God of purpose, and that's clearly taught by
our Lord in His answer in verse 3. He said, neither hath this
man sin. Oh, he was a sinner. But that
wasn't the cause of his blindness. Nor his parents. His parents
didn't do some horrific thing that caused this blindness from
birth. But the reason that this man
is blind is that the works of God should be made manifest in
him. Though all are sinners, dear
friends, our Lord tells His disciples that it wasn't a particular sin.
by this man or his parents that caused this terrible affliction. The man was blind from birth
that the sovereign mercy and grace of God might be displayed
this day to all that were there. God has his reasons for allowing
certain afflictions. But one thing we can know for
sure is that He will be glorified. He'll be honored. He'll be given
all the credit and all the glory in and by these things. Only God makes men and women
to differ. Did you know that? Now men will
tell you different. Men will say, I picked myself
up by my bootstraps. Men will say, oh, you know, I
came to my senses and I decided to follow Jesus. That's not true.
That's not true. Only God makes it. Who maketh
thee to differ from another? Oh, I wish I could get that down
deep in my heart because oftentimes, even now, I must think I made
myself to differ or I would have a different attitude towards
God and His gospel. All the glory and honor and praise
in His marvelous, sovereign and providential work goes to Him
and Him alone. In verse 4, He said, I must work
the works of Him that sent me. While it is day, the night cometh
when no man can work. And I'll say this concerning
verse 4, God the Father sent God the Son in the world to do
work. This is a saying worthy of all
acceptation that Christ came into the world to save sinners. Christ is simply doing the work
that His Father sent Him to do this day. And He must do it,
He says, while it is day. Now that doesn't mean that the
Lord couldn't heal at night. What that means is while the
day of His life on earth lasted. When the night of death comes,
it puts an end to all such work. And Christ left nothing undone
of that which the Father gave him to do. And then what he said
in John 17 4, he said, I've glorified thee on the earth and I finished
the work that thou gavest me to do. That's what he said to
his heavenly father. Christ's healing those who were
physically blind, friends, is a beautiful, beautiful picture
of his healing of the spiritually blind. Each and every one of
us. born blind, couldn't see. The apostles record more cases
of blindness healed than any other one affliction mentioned
in scripture. The Lord gave eyes and sight
to those that were blind and that's exactly what he did to
you, child of God. Christ healing those physically
blind. A beautiful picture of His healing
of the spiritually blind. Now in verse 5, He says, as long
as I'm in the world, I am the light of the world. And this
is what our Lord meant when He said, well, it is day. We're told in John 3.19, and
this is the condemnation. This is why men are condemned.
That light is coming to the world. That speaks of Christ. And men
loved darkness rather than light. Why? He tells us, because their
deeds were evil. But this is God's sovereign grace
and redemption. 2 Corinthians 4, 6, it says,
for God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness. Who
did? God did. He commanded the light
to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts. To give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Who made the
difference, friend? In verse 6, when he had thus
spoken, he spat on the ground, and he made clay of the spittle,
and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. Now
many of the old writers make much to do about this spittle,
this dust, this clay, and the meaning of each. I'll just say
this briefly concerning that. To magnify His power, and making
a blind man to see. Notice that He uses a method
which would think more likely to make a seeing man blind. Our
Lord often worked and did things contrary to the thinking of the
natural mind of men and women. And He makes men feel their own
blindness before He gives them sight. This also shows us that
our Lord used means Now he didn't, every time he healed a blind
man, a lot of times he just spoke and they were made to see. But
in this case he used means. He could have just spoken the
word and made this blind man see, but instead he spit on the
ground and he made a paste and he put it over the man's eyes. And as we'll see in a moment,
he told him to go wash after he had done this. But friends,
what a beautiful picture this is and shows the means that God
uses in the preaching of the gospel of Christ to save those
that are lost. Those that are spiritually blind
and dead are made to see and live in its foolishness to the
world. By the foolishness of preaching,
the Lord saves those that believe. God has a means. And then in
verse 7, he said unto the blind man, he said, You go wash in
the pool of Siloam. And notice those words in parenthesis,
which is by interpretation, sin. I found that very interesting.
I'll tell you why so in a moment. He went his way therefore, and
washed, and came seen. Do you notice first of all that
he was obedient to what his Lord taught him to do? Men make much
to do today over what they call holy water. Holy water? There's
no such thing as holy water. Now I know there would be some
priests that would argue with me, but that's okay. There ain't
no holy water. There was no healing power in
the pool of water interpreted scent. No healing power in that
water. You remember that impotent man
that lay by the pool of Bethesda? And there was a superstition
that ever so often an angel came down and stirred the water, and
the first one that could jump in the water would be healed.
That's nothing but superstition. There was no power in that water.
The Lord Jesus Christ told that certain man. There lay thousands
of impotent folks there at that pool of Bethesda, but there was
a certain man that he set his eyes upon and he said, take your
bed, you rise up and you walk. That man didn't touch the water.
You see friends, salvation is of the Lord. There's no healing
power in the pool of water of Siloam. And I think it's beautiful
here that we're told it's by interpretation sent. The beauty
is in the interpretation of what the word was called. The beauty
in this verse is the simple faith and obedience to where he was
sent. There was no power in the waters
of Jordan in which Naaman the leper was sent. You remember
that story, don't you? It was obedience, his obedience
to the prophet's word. When the great man of war, Naaman,
came to Elijah, he expected some great fanfare because he was
somebody. He was somebody matter of fact
his king had wrote the king of jerusalem Saying we hear about
a prophet in your country that has the power of god at his disposal
And i'm sending my main man naaman down. I want you to set this
up where elijah heals him of this leprosy so naaman and all
his Troops and horses and chariots showed up. Elijah's little servant
came outside. Elijah didn't even come outside.
And he came out and he said, my master says, go dip yourself
in the Jordan seven times and you'll be cleansed. And Naaman
got mad. He said, well, I surely thought
that the prophet would come out and speak to me and tell me what
a great honor it is for him to heal someone like me. You see,
there's the pride of man. There's the pride of man. But
Elijah never came out to greet him. And he stomped off in a
rage. But one of Naaman's servants
said, Master, he said, if the prophet had bid thee to do some
great thing, would you have done it? Well, you know he would have.
He was a great man. He was known for his bravery
and courage. So he said simply to his master,
so why not do the simple command of wash and be clean? So Naaman
went down and he dipped himself seven times in the Jordan River
and he was cleansed. But let me tell you something,
there wasn't nothing about that water that cleansed him. No,
no, it was his obedience to the Word of God. that made him whole. And when he was done and was
cleansed, they said that his skin was like that of a baby's.
And he returned to the man Elijah. And he stood before him and he
said these words, Behold, now I know that there is no God in
all the earth but in Israel. Faith is simple trust and obedience
to God's command. Do you not see that? Saved by
grace through faith. That's not of yourselves. It's
a gift of God, not by works, lest any man should boast. Faith
is simple. Trust childlike faith. In verse 8, the neighbors therefore,
and they which before had seen him, that he was blind, said,
Is not this he that sat and begged? And some said, This is he. And
others said, He's like him, but he sat. You know, they're sitting
there talking right in front of him. Is this him that sits
there and begs every day? No, that can't be him. He looks like him, but that ain't
him. And finally, he just said, I'm he. That's me. Now I want to endeavor to just
paint a picture for you for just a moment concerning these two
verses. It didn't take long before the
town was buzzing. His relatives and those who year
after year had seen him as a blind man begging were saying, why
isn't this the man we knew who sat here and begged? Others said,
yeah, that's him, all right. But others objected and said,
no, that's not the man at all. It just looks like him. And then
he said, it's me. It's me. I've been touched by
the hand of God. Verse 10, Therefore said they
unto him, How were thine eyes opened? Now those of you that
know and trust Christ, I want to ask you the same question.
Because you have the same answer as this man did. How were your
eyes opened? How were your eyes opened? Well,
they were opened by the same one who opened this man's eyes. You see, one day, He passed by
you, and He saw you. And there was nothing about Him
that you desired. There was nothing that caused
you to cry out. He simply had mercy on you and
on me. Verse 11, he answered, A man
that is called Jesus made clay and anointed mine eyes. And he
said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam and wash. And I went
and washed, and I received sight. Then they said unto him, where
is he? And he said, I don't know. I don't know where he is. I know
not where he is. And one thing here that really
caught my attention was that this man simply answered their
question. He didn't overstate his experience. He didn't try to tell what he
didn't know. He didn't glamorize his experience or claim knowledge
that he did not possess. Oh, how people do that today.
How they exaggerate. I hear men say, the Lord told
me. You know what I want to say? You're a liar. The Lord didn't
tell you nothing. God, in times past, spoke through
the prophets. But now He speaks through His
Son. This is how God speaks to men
and women, right here. Through the preaching of the
Gospel. No, He didn't try to glamorize His experience. He
didn't try to make something special out of what He did. He
just told them the truth. And that's exactly what the Child
of God does. We don't want to draw any attention
to ourselves. We simply state that Christ in
mercy and grace did a wondrous work for us. Verse 13, it just
doesn't stop. They wouldn't leave it alone.
So they brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind. And verse 14, oh my. And it was
a Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.
And then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received
his sight. And notice his answer. He said
unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and I do
see." Just a plain, simple answer. Now we're not told who they were
that brought this healed man to the Pharisees, but we are
told this. that it was on the Sabbath. Now
let me just say in passing that there's nothing special about
the day itself. Did you hear me? That it's called
the Sabbath. The Lord Himself is our Sabbath. And it's in Him that we find
true spiritual rest and peace. Here is the Sabbath being accused
of breaking the Sabbath. But the Lord Jesus himself is
our Sabbath. But the Pharisees were in such
bondage to the law that they'd kill somebody for breaking the
Sabbath. So now the Pharisees also asked
the man who had been blind how he received the sight and again
he just simply told them he put clay upon my eyes and I washed
it off and now I see. In verse 16, therefore, said
some of the Pharisees, this man is not of God, speaking of Christ. because he keepeth not sabbath
day. Another said, how can a man that
is a sinner do such miracles? And notice the next words, and
there was a division among them. Many times in the scriptures,
John 7, I believe John 10, it talks about there was a division.
among the people because of him. That day he stood up on the last
day of the feast and said, If any man thirsts, let him come
unto me. As you remember, that day there was a division among
the people because of him. Many left him and never followed
him anymore. But this day the Lord causes
a division between the Pharisees. Some of them say, he ain't no
man of God. He doesn't keep the Sabbath.
And others say, well, if he's a sinner, how does he do such
miracles? And there was a division among
them. Suppose ye that I have come to give peace on earth,
our Lord said in Luke chapter 12, Nay, but rather division. Did you know that oftentimes
a man's enemies would be those of his own household? That's
a sobering thought, isn't it? Christ said, I haven't come to
bring peace, but a sword. And friends, there will be people
that would kill you because of what you believe and be convinced
that they were doing God a favor. The Lord Jesus Christ divides
and there's still a great division today because of him. That's
why there's so many denominations. That's why there are churches
on every corner. I thought about going through
the phone book, just didn't have time, really didn't want to,
but thought about just going through the phone book to see
how many churches were in New Caney. I bet we'd be surprised. You don't have to drive very
far in any direction to find one. Why is that? Men are divided
because of Christ. But not God's people. They're
always in complete agreement when it comes to Him. Absolutely. Okay, verse 17, they say unto
the blind man again, What sayest thou of him that he hath opened
thine eyes? And the blind man said, He's
a prophet. So now the Pharisees begin to
interrogate this poor man that had been healed. For the first
time in his life, he saw. And here he is before these religious
leaders being interrogated. You know, they said, what do
you say of this man? He's like, man, I've only been
seeing for about 30 minutes. I've never seen the blue skies.
I've never seen the green grass. I've never seen the leaves on
the trees, the flowers that bloom. Never seen the face of men or
women. And you're asking me what I say
of this. Well, I know this much. He's
a prophet. And they go, well, you're the
expert. He opened your eyes. What you say, I guess, you think
it means something. He said, He's a prophet. See,
the Jews concluded a man to be a prophet from the miracles and
wonders that were worked by Him. When Christ fed those thousands,
I think 5,000 men plus women and children, with two small
fishes, and five barley loaves. And the scripture says that after
he was feeding that multitude, that they took up twelve baskets
full of leftovers. They took up more than what they
began with. And John 6.14 says, And those
men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is
of a truth, that a prophet has come into the world. They didn't
say God. They didn't say the Son of God. They said a prophet. So the Jews
believed that any man that could do miracles like this was a prophet. And this healed man thought Jesus
to be a prophet, but he didn't know he was the Messiah, God's
precious Son. I'm getting a little ahead of
myself, but if you look down at verse 35, it says, And Jesus
heard that they had cast him out, When he found him, he said
unto him, Dost thou 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 most seen him, and it is he that talketh
with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. Yes, sirree. So the next verse is the Pharisees
doubted that the man had ever been born blind, beginning in
verse 18. Look at it with me. But the Jews
did not believe concerning him that he'd 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, who you say was born blind? How then doth
he now see? Well, his parents weren't even
there when the Lord healed him. And his parents answered to him
and said, we know that this is our son. And we know that he
was born blind. But by what means he now seeth,
we know not. Or who hath opened his eyes,
we just don't know. But he's of age. Ask him, he
shall speak for himself. And these words spake his parents,
because they feared the Jews. For the Jews had agreed already,
that if any man did confess that he was Christ, that he should
be put out of the synagogue. And therefore said his parents,
he is of age, ask him. Then again called they the man
that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise. We know that this man is a sinner. This is my text. I've set all
this to lead up to this. Verse 25, and he answered and
said, whether he be a sinner or not. You see, he hadn't been
yet shown, as we read in the Go, that Christ was a Messiah.
He said, whether he be a sinner or not, I don't know. I just
don't know. But I'm going to tell you one
thing that I do know. One thing I know. One thing I
know and I know for sure. I was blind. I know that. I was born blind. And now I see. It's one thing I know. I was
blind. And now I see. This poor beggar had no education. He'd been a blind beggar from
birth. He didn't have anyone this day
that stood with him while the Pharisees persecuted him. But
yet he wasn't afraid. And after what had been done
for him, he would not agree to compromise with these men who
denied the Lord Jesus. He said, you say he's a sinner.
I don't know. But I do know this, I was blind. Now I see the Pharisees were
trying to change the issue, but the beggar wouldn't be sidetracked.
And you talk to religious folks today now, and you listen to
me, and you know it's so, about what God has done for you, and
mercy, and grace, and they'll try to get you sidetracked. They'll
get you sidetracked on issues of no consequence or importance.
He said, I may not know much, but one thing I know, I was blind. And now I see. And friends, these
are the words which every believer can apply to themselves. What do you know, Brother David?
Well, I don't know much. But one thing I know. I was blind. Blind. And now I see. Now, why do you see? There's
one called the Christ. the Son of the Living God, that
one day passed my way. He passed by, and He saw me. He saw me in my blind condition,
and He gave me eyes to see. He gave us eyes to see His glory.
He gave us ears to hear His voice. He gave us a heart to love Him.
We now know Him who saved us. It's not what we know. Don't
ever think it's what you know, but it's who you know. Christ
is salvation. That's what the blind man winds
up telling the Pharisees. He obviously knew more than first
thought. And he tells them with boldness,
and I just love this, look at verse 26, I'm almost finished.
Then said they to him, what did he to thee? How open he thine
eyes. How many times they asked him
that. And he answered them, and listen to what he said, I've
told you already, and you did not hear. Wherefore would you
hear it again? I love this. Will ye also be his disciples? Now you know what he's saying
there? He said, I've told you over and over and over and you
haven't listened. Why do you want to hear it again?
Are you eager to become his disciples? Then they reviled him in verse
28 and said, Thou art his disciple, but we are Moses' disciples.
And they were still under the law. and bondage to the law. How dare you heal a blind man
on the Sabbath day? They'd rather a man stay blind
than for their law to be broken. And we know that God spake unto
Moses, that as for this fellow, We know not from whence he is. And listen to this. This man
answered and said unto them, Why I hear in is a marvelous
thing, that you know not from whence he is, and yet he hath
opened mine eyes. What the man is saying, he says,
this is amazing. You claim to know nothing about
Him, but the fact is, He opened my eyes. And verse 31, And we
know that God heareth not sinners, but if any man be a worshipper
of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. It's well known that
God isn't at the beck and call of sinners, but He listens carefully
to anyone who lives in reverence and does his will. since the
world began. Was it not heard that any man
opened the eyes of one that was born blind? He's asking these
Pharisees, have you ever heard of anyone opening the eyes of
a man who was born blind? And then he says these words.
God had already done a work of grace in his heart. before the
Lord Jesus Christ revealed himself to him. He said, if this man
were not of God, he could do nothing. The fact that someone
opened the eyes of a man born blind has never been heard of
ever. If this man didn't come from God, he wouldn't have been
able to open my eyes. In verse 34, they answered and
said unto him, thou wast altogether born in sins, and did you teach
us? Well, he was trying, but they
wouldn't hear him. How arrogant they are and they
cast him out. And that's when the Lord Jesus
found him and revealed himself to him. Christ took him in and
not only was he made to see, but he saw the redeemer, the
son of the living God, as we read in verses 35 through 38.
Now this morning, I want to confess to you that I don't know much.
I'm ashamed at really how little I do know. But I know one thing. I was blind, but now I see. Has He opened your eyes? If He
has, then you also know this one thing. You were blind, and
now you see. First thing you know is that
you were blind, and then you know you were made to see. God still delights. Now listen. This is my encouragement to you.
God still delights to show mercy and open in the eyes of the blind.