The Lord Jesus performed many,
many, many miracles of mercy during the three years of his
earthly ministry. One of the prophets, Isaiah,
said specifically that when Messiah came, he would cause the blind
to see and the deaf to hear and the lame to walk and the dead
to rise. And our Lord Jesus began his
earthly ministry in Cana of Galilee by a marvelous miracle, showing
him to be the God of creation. He turned water into wine. On another occasion, this same
great God spoke, and with his word, calmed a raging storm. This same God, the creator of
all things, on two occasions took a few loaves and fish and
multiplied them to feed thousands. Our Lord Jesus healed the sick. As many as had need of healing,
we're told, he healed. The power of God was present
to heal them when our Lord Jesus was present. We read that this
morning in Luke chapter 5. He caused the deaf to hear. The
dumb to speak. He calls withered hands to be
made whole. He calls the blind to see and
the lame to walk. And three times he raised people
from the dead. We have a lot of fake healers
today. Our Lord Jesus wasn't a fake
healer. He healed folks. He is the giver
of life. He raised folks from the dead
by the mere word of His power. By all of these things, He made
it manifest, so clearly manifest, that He is God, that He is the
Messiah, that unbelief with regard to that is utterly inexcusable. Two of our Lord's miracles stand
out as being of such great importance that they consume an entire chapter. In John chapter 11, you'll remember
he raised Lazarus from the dead. In that 11th chapter of John,
in some 56, 57 verses, describes for us what happened with the
sickness of Lazarus, his resurrection from the dead, and that which
followed Lazarus being raised from the dead. And that we're
told at the very outset of the chapter was for the glory of
God. Our Lord Jesus explained in John
chapter 11 verse 4 that this sickness that Lazarus was going
through and the death that followed it was for the glory of God. That the Son of God might be
glorified in it. This was done so that it would
give an opportunity for the Lord Jesus to show His glory as God
our Savior, and that men and women, believing Him, might see
the glory of God in all that He did. In John the ninth chapter,
we've read already about this man who was born blind. This
is that second miracle that takes up an entire chapter. Surely
these two miracles are intended by the Spirit of God to give
us much needed and very special instruction in the things of
God. Like the resurrection of Lazarus,
this man's healing is a matter of instruction for our souls.
As we were told that Lazarus' sickness and death was for the
glory of God, look at verse 3 here in John chapter 9. This man's
blindness, we are told, was designed and intended. That is, this man
was born blind that the works of God should be made manifest
in him. The reason this poor beggar was
born blind and spent his entire life through all the infancy
years, through all the childhood years, Through all the youth
years, through all the years of his manhood, he spent his
life having never seen a ray of light that God might manifest
his works in him. Wow. That was the reason. The reason
he was born blind. If you had asked him about his
blindness, at any time during all those years of darkness. I have no doubt whatsoever he
would have cussed God who gave him blindness from his birth. Ask him now. God's works are made manifest
in him today even in glory. and God is glorified by this
one who was born blind. The title of my message this
morning is God's Works Made Manifest. God's Works Made Manifest. This great miracle is intended
to illustrate and make manifest the works of God our Savior in
all his mighty operations of grace. Oh may God the Holy Spirit
be our teacher and may he make his works manifest in you. Oh may he make his works manifest
in you. Let's start with verse one. The
story begins, this healing of this blind man with the Lord
Jesus. Everything does. to man's high, lofty, mighty
opinion of himself. Now this is going to be a shocker
to some of you. Nothing begins with you. Nothing begins with you. Nothing
can be attributed to you. Nothing you want attributed to
you. Nothing is done by you. Nothing you wish to admit, do
we? Nothing. Everything begins with
God. We read here, and as Jesus passed
by, he saw a man. Before we read about the man,
or his blindness, or his healing, the Spirit of God says, and connecting
this chapter with that which has gone before it. Connecting
this chapter with the discussion of our Lord Jesus with the Pharisees
in chapter 8 when the Pharisees rejected him and his doctrine
altogether and clung to Moses and their traditions and the
Lord Jesus passed by and escaped out of their midst and as Jesus
passed by He saw a man It was the Lord Jesus passing by and
seeing him That led to the mercy he obtained And so it is in all
God's works of grace. There are no advances made by
sinners to God until God comes to the center. There's no turning
of the center to God until God turns to the center. There is
no repentance in you until God turns you by his grace. Oh, if
you understood the teaching of this book, understood your need
of mercy, and understood your utter dependence upon God Almighty,
you would cry like the psalmist often did, turn us, and we shall
be turned. Turn us, O God of our salvation,
and we shall be turned. Draw us, and we will run after
Thee, for except He turn you, you will never be turned. There are many who hear me preach
various places And here, the message is preached here by various
means, and I'm often given subtle hints that I should spend more
time begging sinners to turn to the Savior. Well, I would if I thought you
could. I would if I thought you would
respond. But I know better. I know better.
I spend my days and nights begging God to turn you to Him. because except he turn you, you
won't be turned. I read in the book of God how
that the Lord Jesus passed by and passing by, he saw him. Salvation begins by God coming
to man. Turn to Ezekiel 16. Let's read
this very familiar, very familiar passage again. Ezekiel chapter
16. Salvation doesn't begin by man
coming to God, but by God coming to man. If we love Him, it's
because He first loved us. Our love is our response created
by His love to us, but it is the response of our hearts to
His love, not the calls of His love. Ezekiel 16, verse 1. Again, the word of the Lord came
to me, saying, Son of man, call Jerusalem, that is, call my people
to know her abomination. and say, thus saith the Lord
God unto Jerusalem, thy birth and thy nativity is of the land
of Canaan. This is where I hatched you.
Thy father was a cursed man, an Amorite. Thy mother was a
cursed woman, a Hittite. You came from a pair of doomed
and damned people, a people under my curse and under my wrath. And as for thy nativity, how
you were born, oh, let's trace out the family tree and tell
folks how notable our birth is. All right, here it is. In the
day that thou was born, thy navel was not cut, neither was thou
washed in water to supple thee. Thou was not salted at all, nor
swallowed at all. None I pitied thee to do any
of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee. But thou was cast
out in the open field to the loathing of thy person in the
day that thou was born. I'd never seen it before last
Sunday evening, I believe it was. Faith and Doug caught our
attention on a program on television about folks being helped to a
great need. And there was an Egyptian on
the program that night. I thought I was going to bawl
out loud. Born with cerebral palsy. He
said, Mom and Dad threw me in the trash can. Threw me in the trashcan. That's
where you came from. Bill Raleigh, that's your nobility
and mine too. We're just trashcan babies. That's
all. Just trashcan babies. And nobody
cared. Nobody. Lots of folks pretend. Nobody cared! Nobody. Nobody. Read on. And I passed
by there. Oh, bless God, he cared. When
I passed by thee and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, when thou wast
in thy blood, live. Yea, I said unto thee, when thou
wast in thy blood, live. I have caused thee to multiply
as the bud of the field. and thou hast increased, and
waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments. Thy breast
are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked
and bare. Now when I passed by thee, and
looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love, and
I spread my skirt over thee. I spread over you the skirt of
my righteousness and grace. I covered thy nakedness, covered
all your sin and shame. Yea, I swear unto thee, I married
you, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God,
and thou becamest mine. Then washed I thee with water,
washed you with the cleansing of regeneration by the Spirit
of God. Yea, I thoroughly washed away
thy blood from thee, And I anointed thee with oil, and I clothed
thee also with broadened work, and shod thee with badger skins,
and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee
with silk. I decked thee also with ornaments,
and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck,
and I put a jewel in thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and
a beautiful crown upon thine head. Thus was thou decked with
gold and silver, and thy raiment was of fine linen and silk and
broadened work. Thou didst eat fine flour and
honey and oil, and thou wast exceeding beautiful. What a change
grace has made. Beautiful, more beautiful than
any people on the earth. How is that? Thou didst prosper
into a kingdom, and thy renown went forth among the heathen
for thy beauty. For it was perfect through my
comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God. And Jesus passed by. Oh, there's
hope when Jesus passes by. Bartimaeus heard a rustling in
the streets one day, another blind man And he said, somebody,
what's going on? They said, Jesus of Nazareth
passes by. He said, what? Jesus of Nazareth. I heard about him as he was coming
in Jericho. He healed two blind men there, didn't he? Yeah. I
heard about him. He claims to be the Messiah.
He's the son of God, the son of David. Jesus, that son of
David, have mercy on me. He began to cry. For Jesus of
Nazareth passes by. Now there's hope for sinners.
and the only hope for your soul is that he will pass where you
are. No other, no other, no other,
no matter who mama, daddy are, no matter how you were raised,
no matter what you're taught, No matter where you go to church
or don't, the only hope for your soul is
that he come to you. Here's the second thing. He saw
him. Turn to Luke 15. I'm reminded
of another passage. He saw a man which was blind from his birth.
This word saw implies much more than, I see Frank Hall now because
I'm looking right at him, implies a lot more than that. It implies
and carries with it the idea of gazing upon, staring at him,
watching him. Jesus passed by and he fixed
his eyes on one that was born blind and gazed on him. He stared at him. He watched
him. He carries the idea of discerning,
understanding, knowing, and caring about. He saw him, this one who
was born blind. Oh, blessed are those people
who are under the watchful eye of God Almighty. under the watchful
eye of Jesus Christ, God's darling son. Look at this picture in
Luke 15, verse 11. A certain man had two sons, and
the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion
of goods that follow me. What presumption. Father works
all his life. Accumulates a little land little
property and the kids said now I got some of that coming to
me. It's gonna be mine, isn't it? Give me what's mine? What arrogance? And he divided into them his
living He's all right. I'll give it to you and not many
days after the younger son gathered all together and took his journey
into a far country and There wasted his substance with riotous
living. That's more than likely what
your kids do with yours, too And when he had spit all, spit
everything. Spit everything. I'll tell you when you'll come
to the Savior, Bobby, when you've got nothing left but Him. And you won't come otherwise.
It won't happen. No, you'll come to church, come
to religion, come to magistrate. You'll come to anything except
Christ, as long as you've got something in your pocket. But
until you've spent all, you won't come to him. There arose a mighty
famine in that land, and it began to be in want. Oh, I love to
see folks in need, don't you? Not need because they don't have
a dollar in their wallet. leave because they got nothing
in their souls. He began to be in want. And he went and joined
himself to a citizen of that country. The Pharisee legalist
preacher said, there's nothing too bad. You can fix this. You
come on over here and feed my hogs. You can work your way back
into good graces. And he tried. He would fain have
filled his belly with the husk that the swine did eat. and no
man gave to him. Like that deserted infant, nobody
cared. And when he came to himself, you who are without Christ are
insane. That's right. Well, Brother Don,
that's not very nice. I can't tell you how nice I'm
being. Without him, you've lost your mind. That's the reason
you're in the shape you're in. But when he came to himself,
he said, what a fool I've been. How many hired servants of my
father's have bread enough in despair, and I perish with hunger? He said, the fellows who sweep
my daddy's chicken house out live better than I do. The fellows
who feed my daddy's hogs live better than I do, and I perish
with hunger. I will arise and go to my father,
and I'll say, father, I sinned against heaven and before thee,
and am no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy
hired servants. And he arose and came to his
father. But when he was yet a great way
off, his father saw him. And my boy, he saw who he was. He saw what
he had done. He saw where he'd been. He saw what he had made of himself. He saw him. He saw what he would
do for him and what he would make of him. And he had compassion. He had compassion. Cold passion. his pain, he felt his want, he
felt his need and ran. Joe, the only time in
this book we ever have an indication of God Almighty getting in a
hurry is right here. He ran and fell on his neck. Here's the sovereignty of God
in the exercise of his grace as it's exemplified here. The
Savior saw the man. He didn't see the Savior. The
Savior came to the man to give him mercy. He didn't come to
the Savior seeking mercy. The Lord Jesus was the one who
took the initiative. That's the way it always is.
All right, here's the third thing. The Spirit of God tells us expressly
that this man was blind from his birth. Jesus passed by and
saw a man which is blind from his birth, and his disciples
asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents?
Somebody sure messed up. Boy, if a fellow be in this shape, his daddy must have been a bootlegger.
His mama must have been a prostitute. Who sinned, this man or his parents?
He was born black? Must have been the parents. Must
have been. Jesus answered, neither hath
this man sinned, nor his parents. You mean these folks didn't have
any sin? Of course not. Of course not. All have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. Wherefore, as by one man's
sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed
upon all men, for that all have said. Without question, all sickness,
and disease, and poverty, and pain, and sorrow, and affliction,
and heartache, and trouble, and death, all these things are the
result of sin. There's no question about that.
There's no question about that. I don't care what kind of sociology
program you get involved with, you can't deny it. These things
are the result of sin. If there wasn't any sin, you'd
never get the sniffles. If you didn't have sin, you wouldn't
need a doctor. If you didn't have sin, you wouldn't
have to make arrangements with the undertaker. These things
are the result of sin. But these disciples had an opinion
that was horrible, an opinion that's shared commonly by most
people, the opinion that Job's three friends had. Boy, if you, how long were you
sick? Seven months before they started doing anything to help
you? What'd you do? Oh, Brother Bob, he must have,
hmm. Mary Lou might not know, and
his boys might not know, but I know. I know. Boy, I wonder what he did. Oh,
God will get you. God will get you. That's the attitude of self-righteous,
will-worshipping men who think they're better than others. That's
not the teaching of this book. That's how these fake healers
stay in business. You won't find them healing a
fellow who was born blind. You'll find them healing a fellow
who bought a new pair of shades and wears them to a meeting that
night. You won't find them healing a
fellow who has never walked. You'll find them healing a fellow
who's got some crutches that look like tips aren't even dirty
on them. They're fake healers. They're charlatans. And they
use people because people are presuming that if good things
happen to them, boy, that's because God favors them. And if bad things
happen to them, that's because God's got you in his disfavor. The fact is, we're told plainly
by our Savior that this man's blindness was specifically for
the purpose of God's works being made manifest in him. His blindness was designed by
God to show Christ as God the Savior. But more than that, it
was designed by God to show Him Christ, His God and Savior. Now listen to me, children of
God. His blindness was an act of God's prevenient grace. Had
it not been for his blindness, he would never have come to believe
on the Son of God. It was by the arrangement, the
special arrangement of divine providence, the arrangement of
God, who works all things together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose. God made him
blind before he ever came out of his mother's womb because
God loved him as he loved none other. He spent his days begging begging,
in blindness, shaking a tin cup, and somebody else had to take
him and set him down to beg. Because God set his heart on
it from eternity. The fact is, for God's elect, for those sinners
loved of God from eternity, chosen unto salvation, redeemed by the
precious blood of Christ. For God's elect, all our afflictions,
be they great or small, of body or of soul, all our heartaches,
all our troubles, all our sorrows, are designed of God. and are
brought to pass by God's determinate counsel for our everlasting good. Let's see if I can make good
on that. Don't take my word for it. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
4. Verse 17. Our light affliction, oh, it's just featherweight affliction. I was just born blind, that's
all. Our light affliction, which is
but for a moment, won't last long. It's just been all my life.
But for a moment, just a moment, what's time compared to eternity? What's a little trouble here?
compared to the glory that awaits us. Our light affliction, which
is but for a moment, watch this now, worketh. Do you see that word? Worketh. Presently, constantly, unceasingly
works. Worketh for us. Worketh for us. a far more exceeded
and eternal weight of glory. Oh, rich poor man. Oh, seeing blind man. Did I know
your name? I'd call your name Exalted and
blessed, I ask you, how much more glorious is heaven today
than it would otherwise have been for you? Worketh for us a far more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory. First Peter chapter one. First
Peter chapter one. Peter's addressing you who are
elect, sanctified, redeemed, blessed of God the Father, begotten
to a lively hope, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that
fadeth not away, kept by the power of God. And then he says
in verse 7, that the trial of your faith
being much more precious than of gold that perisheth. Not your
faith that's more precious. It is, but that's not what he's
talking about. He's talking about the trial of your faith, more
precious than gold. Though it be tried with fire,
it might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ. Let no one ever imagine. You
who are gods don't ever let the thought cross your mind that
there are things that happen in this world that somehow are
out of God's control. Multitudes seem to think that
when Satan, the bright shining star Lucifer, fell from his habitation
and his heart was lifted up with pride, and he set to destroy
and topple the throne of God. They think, oh, God lost control. But when it happened, the Lord
God said, this is the purpose that's purposed in the whole
earth. Read it for yourself in Isaiah
14. Most people think that when sin entered into the world, Satan
tempted our mother Eve, She beguiled and persuaded our father Adam
and the race was plunged into death because plunged into sin. Plunged into the curse because
plunged into sin. Somehow this is beyond God's
control. We who believe understand this
happened to give a background. on which
God's works might be made manifest in his darling son. Had there
been no fall, there'd have been no redemption. Had there been
no curse, Christ would never have been made curse for us.
Had there been no sin, there'd have been no forgiveness. and
we would have been as ignorant of forgiveness and redemption
as the angels of God are this day. No wonder they're visiting
us here today. Come in here, sit on the side
of the pulpit, sit on the end of the pew right beside you,
and listen, so they can learn from you as you sing, redeemed,
how I love to proclaim it, the wonders of redemption, because
they never know it. Blessed fall from which God recovers
his own. Blessed ruin of which Christ
is the remedy. There are no accidents with God.
Nothing happens by chance. Nothing's beyond his control.
And so it is with whatever it is that brings you pain and trouble
and sorrow. For of him And through him and
to him are all things. Do you know how the apostle speaks
of that? Oh, the depth. Both of the wisdom
and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways
past finding out. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord, or who hath been his counselor? Or who hath first
given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For
of him. and through him, and to him were
all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. Just as this man's
blindness made a way for God's works to be made manifest in
him, the ruin of our race and our father Adam, we're told in
Romans chapter 5, was a picture of how God saves grace. Adam
was a similitude. He was a type of Christ. And
just as we were ruined by the work of Adam in the garden, in
his transgression, we're redeemed and saved and made righteous
by the work of Christ, our substitute, our covenant head. And this man's
blindness certainly represents the condition in which all men
are found by nature, blind. Blind to all things spiritual,
blind blind as to the knowledge of God, blind as to the everlasting
love of God, blind to the covenant engagements in person and work
of Christ, blind to the Spirit of God, blind to your need of
grace, blind to grace, blind to your blindness, blind and
cannot see. Now, look at verses 4 and 5. Here tells us something, oh,
how wonderful it is. He tells us that he had a work
to do on this earth that had to be done. He said, I must work
the work of him that sent me. He said, the hour is coming when
I cannot work, but I must work the work of him that sent me.
What's that? thou shalt call his name Jesus
for he shall save his people from their sins. What work is
it that he had to do before he could leave this world? The work
he assumed voluntarily as Jehovah's righteous servant. The work of
redemption and salvation and grace. He said, I'll convince
you by my spirit of righteousness because I go to my father and
I could not go to my father if I had not put away sin and brought
in everlasting righteousness. What work? What work is it that
he had to finish? The work of a covenant surety
in the saving of his people. He said, this commandment have
I received of my father. This commandment have I received
of my father. As our covenant surety, as our
representative, as our good shepherd, the Savior said, I've got to
finish this work. And we get over to John chapter
17 in verse 4, he says, Father, you remember what he said? You remember what he said? I
finished the work. I finished the work. I came here
to do something. I finished it. Righteousness
is finished. Redemption is finished. Sanctification
is finished. Salvation is finished. Forgiveness
is finished. Atonement is finished! Father,
I've finished the work! I've finished the work! I've
finished the work. Thou givest me to do. The gospel
we preach, unlike the religious world around us, unlike the Babylon
wheel-worshippers all over the world, unlike the religion of
Babylon everywhere, the gospel we preach is the good news Salvation
finished. Redemption accomplished. Not
good advice. Not good advice. You listen to
preachers. Turn on the radio, go at home.
I don't suggest you do it, really. I'd advise you to turn on and
listen to a comedian instead. But if you want to listen to
the nonsense, turn on a preacher. Any of them. I don't care which
one. Turn on any preacher in town. Any preacher in this town. Any of them. And if you find
one that says otherwise, I'll shut down and we'll go hear him
next Sunday. Good enough promise? Good enough
promise? Turn on anyone you want to, and
they're going to give you good advice. This is what you ought
to do. Now, if you want to get saved,
this is what you do. If you want God to have mercy, this is what
you got to do. If you want to have a good life, this is what
you got to do. If you want peace, this is what you got to do. If
you want righteousness, this is what you got to do. The religion is well called do-do
religion. Now you folks who are from the
South understand that. You who don't, dung is the word. Manure. Just crap. Oh, you can't talk
like that in the pulpit. I'm being nice. The religion's useless. Dung
religion. The gospel. isn't good advice. It's good news. It doesn't say
David do. It says done. Done. Done. Everything, everything God requires
of all his people is done as God himself demands it. Because God did it in the person
of his son. It's done. And then the Lord
says to this fella, go wash. He said, he made clay and he,
you know, he spit on the ground and mixed up a little mud. And he took that spit compact
of mud and spit and he puts it on his eyes. And he says to this
blind man, Now you go down to that place called Sint and wash
in that pool called Sint, Siloam. Why? All he had to do to raise
Lazarus from the dead was let Lazarus come forth. Why on this earth did he go through
this process to heal this man of his blindness? Because he
would show us that it pleases God to use means. Means that in themselves are
meaningless. It pleased God thereby by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Foolishness
of preaching. Now, you stop and think about
this mud pact the Lord put on this fellow's eyes. Well, the Lord's here taking
away from his sovereignty. He's telling us that if he uses
means, he can't save without them. You know, I never heard
anybody talk like that. I never read anything like that.
And yet that's what folks say about preaching the use of means
in gospel preaching. Why I said missionaries, God
can save the heathen without you. I know that. I know that. Don't you? I know it. In fact,
in fact, Merle, without God's blessing on it, The means he
used would have been more restricted to the man's sight than he was
already unable to see. He wasn't just born blind, now
he's got mud on his eyes. But God blessed the means. He
went and washed. Oh, God! Now I see! Now I see! Who did that? The Lord did. And the means being used today
If God blesses it, will cause you to see. And if he doesn't, it'll make
your blindness worse than it's ever been. Saver of life unto
life to some, death unto death to others. One more thing. The Lord sent this man to wash,
and he came seeing. And the Lord Jesus then comes,
says to him, dost thou believe on the Son of God? What a strange thing to ask.
What a strange thing to ask. Not at all. He's teaching us
something. It takes more than any fleshly
experience, more than even a miracle such as has never been done since
the world began. It takes more than just a display
of the power of God to give a sinner faith in Christ. Judgment won't do it, blindness
won't do it, and deliverance from blindness won't do it. He
had been blind and made to see. He had experienced something.
He had experienced something that put him in conflict with
the religious world around him. The Pharisees churched him. They
kicked him out of church because he wouldn't give up his claim.
He said, I know one thing. I was blind and now I see. That's
all I know. Don't tell me the man who did
this is an evil man. I see. But he didn't know the man. He
didn't have any idea who Christ was. When the Lord Jesus heard
he'd be kicked out of the synagogue, he came to him and he said, hey,
Joe, remember me? Do you believe on the Son of
God? Well, who is he, master? Who is he, Lord? If I knew who
he was, I'd believe on him. And the Lord Jesus said, I that
speak unto thee am he. And he believed. What does it
take to save a sinner? It takes Christ coming to you
and revealing himself to you by his omnipotent mercy as only
he can. Oh, son of God. Come today and
make manifest the works of God in chosen sinners. Amen.