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Where The Light Shines - Harvest Bible Church Paris - Pastor Andrew Robertson — Transcript

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0:02John chapter 9
0:04verse 1
0:06This is the word of the Lord.
0:09As he passed, he saw a man blind from
0:11birth.
0:12And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who
0:15sinned, this man or his parents that he
0:18was [snorts] born blind?"
0:20Jesus answered,
0:21"It was not that this man sinned or his
0:24parents, but the work of God might be
0:26displayed in him.
0:28I must work the works of him who sent me
0:32while it is the day. Night is coming
0:35when no one can work.
0:37As long as I am in the world, I am the
0:39light of the world."
0:41Having said these things, he spit on the
0:43ground and made mud with saliva. Then he
0:46anointed the man's eyes with the mud and
0:49said to him, "Go,
0:51wash in the pool of Siloam, which means
0:53sent." [snorts]
0:55He went and washed and came back seeing.
0:58The neighbors and those who had seen him
1:00before as a beggar were saying, "Is this
1:03not the man who used to sit and beg?"
1:06Some said, "It is he." Others said, "No,
1:10but he is like him."
1:12He keeps saying, "I am the He kept
1:14saying, "I am the man."
1:15So, they said to him,
1:17"Then how were you uh Then how were your
1:21eyes opened?" He answered, "The man
1:23called Jesus
1:24made mud and anointed my eyes and said
1:27to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' So, I
1:30went and I washed and I received my
1:32sight."
1:33They said to him, "Where is he?" He
1:36said, "I do not know."
1:38They brought to the Pharisees the man
1:40who had formerly been blind. Now, it was
1:42the Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud
1:44and opened his eyes.
1:46So, the Pharisees again asked him how he
1:49had received his sight. He said to him,
1:51"He put mud on his eyes.
1:54He put mud on my eyes and I washed and I
1:58see."
1:59Some of the Pharisees
2:00"This man is not from God, for he does
2:02not keep the Sabbath." But the others
2:04said, "How can a man who is a sinner do
2:07such signs?" And there was a division
2:09among them. So, they said again to the
2:12blind, "What do you say about him, since
2:15he has opened your eyes?"
2:16He said, "He is a prophet."
2:19The Jews did not believe that he had
2:21been blind and had received his sight
2:23until they called the parents of the man
2:26who had received his sight.
2:28And asked them, "Is this your son and
2:31who you say was born blind? How then
2:33does he see?" His parents answered, "We
2:36know that this is our son and that he
2:39was blind, but now he sees. We do not
2:42know how,
2:44nor do we know how his eyes were opened
2:46up. Ask him, he is of age.
2:49He will speak for himself." His parents
2:52said this because they feared the Jews
2:54for the Jews had already agreed that if
2:56anyone should confess Jesus to be
2:58Christ, he would be put out of the
3:00synagogue. Therefore, his parents said,
3:02"He is of age, ask him."
3:05So,
3:06for the second time, they called the man
3:08who had been blind and said to him,
3:10"Give glory to God.
3:12We know that this man is a sinner." He
3:15answered, "Whether he is a sinner, I do
3:17not know. One thing I do know, that
3:20though I was blind, now I see."
3:24They said to him, "What did you What did
3:27he do to you?"
3:28He did what
3:30"How did he open your eyes?" He answered
3:32them, "I told you already and you would
3:35not listen.
3:36Why do you want to hear it again?
3:39Do you also want to become his
3:40disciples?" And they reviled him saying,
3:43"You are his disciples, but we are
3:45disciples of Moses.
3:47We know that God has spoken to to Moses,
3:50but as for this man, we do not know
3:52where he comes from." The man answered,
3:55"Why, this is an amazing thing. You do
3:58not know where he comes from and yet he
4:00opened my eyes. We know that God does
4:02not listen to sinners, but if someone if
4:05anyone is a worshiper and God and does
4:08his will, God listens to him. Never
4:11since the world began has it been heard
4:13that anyone opened the eyes of a blind
4:15man.
4:16If this man were not from God, he could
4:18do nothing. They answered him, "You were
4:21born in utter sin and you would teach
4:23us?" And they cast him out. Jesus heard
4:27that they had cast him out and having
4:29found him, he said to him,
4:31"Do you believe in the Son of Man?" He
4:34answered,
4:36"And who is he, sir, that I may believe
4:38in him?" Jesus said to him, "You have
4:40seen him,
4:42and it is he who is speaking to you."
4:45He said, "Lord, I believe."
4:48And he worshiped him. Jesus said, "For
4:50judgment I came into this world that
4:53those who do not see me may see, and
4:55those who see may become blind." Some of
4:59the Pharisees near him heard these
5:01things and said to him, "Are we also
5:03blind?" Jesus said to them, "If you were
5:06blind, you would have no guilt, but now
5:09that you say we see, your guilt
5:12remains."
5:13>> [snorts]
5:19>> Thank you, Jordan.
5:21It's one of my favorite stories in all
5:23of the Bible and
5:24I'll explain why in a little bit and I'm
5:26sure it'll become evident, but um
5:28I find it it's a humorous story and a
5:31very powerful story at the same time and
5:33uh
5:34it carries a lot of weight, but I don't
5:36want us to forget where we were
5:38a couple of weeks ago. Last week Pastor
5:41Shane gave us a
5:43very convicting sermon on gossip. Hope
5:45you were here for that. If you weren't,
5:47look it up, listen to it. Uh but 2 weeks
5:50ago we were
5:52back at the Feast of Tabernacles and we
5:55were learning about this second reason
5:58for that celebration and it had to do
5:59with these large lanterns that lit up
6:02the sky
6:04in Jerusalem at this time of year. And
6:07it was an autumn feast. It was a harvest
6:09festival.
6:11And it was at that time, under those
6:13large like a large candle, massive
6:17candle, that Jesus, in the midst of all
6:20this partying and celebration, he he
6:23just cries out and says, "I'm the light
6:24of the world. Whoever follows me will
6:28not walk in darkness, but will have the
6:31light of life." Remember that?
6:33Now, what does that mean? Let's stop for
6:35a moment and just consider that. What
6:37does it mean that Jesus is the light of
6:40the world? And what it means is that
6:42Jesus is the full revelation that makes
6:47God knowable.
6:50Like apart from that, we're in the dark.
6:52You cannot know God apart from God
6:56making himself knowable to you.
7:00We were looking at the at this with
7:02men's discipleship a couple weeks ago,
7:05and uh looking at
7:06it was just reminding the group of
7:09something that John Calvin once said. He
7:11said, you know, God revealing himself is
7:13kind of like an adult lisping to a
7:17child. And you know what I mean by that,
7:18right? Like when a when an adult wants
7:21to get down to the level of a child,
7:22what do they do? They go, "Oh, do you
7:24have a boo-boo?" right? And and start
7:27talking like in these weird tones and
7:29stuff. It's like, "What is the matter
7:30with you?" But that's the idea. God, if
7:33we're going to know him, he has to make
7:35himself knowable to us, and Jesus is the
7:38one who shines that light so that we can
7:42see who God really is. You want to know
7:45God? You come to Christ, right? That's
7:48the only way. So, to walk in the light
7:50is to walk in unhindered fellowship with
7:54God in Jesus Christ.
7:57And when you know God,
7:59you see clearly.
8:02And when you see clearly,
8:04you know God.
8:06That's how it works. Now, keep that in
8:08mind because what we're looking at in
8:10John chapter 9 today is a case study of
8:15what it looks like to be walking in the
8:18light.
8:20Case studies.
8:22I'm sure we know what they are, but just
8:24in case we don't, it's kind of like the
8:27science experiment in high school
8:30where you nearly blew up the school.
8:32Right? And it was a bit of a case study
8:35of something you're learning in class.
8:37You got these concepts up on the
8:39whiteboard or the chalkboard or whatever
8:40it is. It was chalkboards when I was at
8:42school. And and and we would we would
8:45sit down at our little labs in say
8:49chemistry class and we would have to do
8:52some kind of a case study or a science
8:54experiment that kind of proved what we
8:56were learning. Right? And some
8:59businesses do this all the time as well,
9:01right? They do case studies. They they
9:02say, "Okay, will this plan work?" Well,
9:05what we're going to do is we're going to
9:06try it over here first
9:08and see how it goes.
9:11It either works or doesn't. If it
9:12doesn't work, well, we're not going to
9:13do it everywhere.
9:15We did a case study and the case study
9:16said, "Not a great idea." Right?
9:19That's what a case study is. And in John
9:229, we have a man who was born blind into
9:27whose life Jesus Christ shines his
9:31light.
9:32Both physically or literally
9:34and
9:37as it turns out, spiritually.
9:40And we're moving from John chapter 8
9:42where we watched people in the bright
9:45light of the festival as Jesus says,
9:47"I'm the light of the world. Follow me."
9:49And the people are like, "Who are you?
9:51We're not even sure where you're from.
9:53You got to prove that you're the son of
9:55God." And like, "We we don't know. You
9:56you you How do we know that you you're
9:58just saying this about yourself?"
10:00Meanwhile, he's got quite the resume at
10:01this point that has been building up,
10:04but they're all arguing about the
10:05concept of Jesus being the light of the
10:07world.
10:09And we're still left wondering, "What
10:10would it look like? I mean, what would
10:12it look like if someone, anyone,
10:16were to walk in this light?
10:19What would it look like? I wonder if if
10:21if I, you know, in this room. What would
10:24it look like
10:25if someone were to go from spiritual
10:28darkness
10:29to spiritual light? I wonder if we'd
10:31notice.
10:32I wonder if there'd be any change. I
10:34wonder if your neighbors might comment.
10:36I wonder if the people at work might go,
10:38"Uh, something happened to you?"
10:40Right? I I wonder what it would look
10:42like. Well, that's what John chapter 9
10:45is all about. A man born blind who gains
10:48not merely physical eyesight, but he
10:50gains spiritual insight.
10:53And we're going to see that. Jesus
10:55himself calls him a case study.
10:57Do you notice that in verse 3?
11:00Jesus answered when the disciples were
11:02asking, "Who Who sinned? Whose fault is
11:04it that this guy was born blind?"
11:06And he says, "It's not that this man
11:08sinned or his parents, but look at this,
11:11but that the works of God might be
11:13displayed in him."
11:17We're going to get a front row seat to
11:18watch what happens when the light
11:22of Jesus Christ
11:25shines into one life.
11:29This is going to be fun. What's the
11:31goal?
11:33Well, the goal of any case study is
11:35either it's going to be relatable.
11:39I read a lot of books, and often times
11:41I'm reading books on things like
11:44relationships or counseling or things
11:46like that.
11:47And
11:48you know, they're going through the
11:50different types of
11:52concepts and whatever.
11:53But, you know what really brings it home
11:55is the moment they go, "And And let me
11:58tell you about Jim."
12:00And they kind of go into Jim's life and
12:01tell you this
12:02about his marriage or about how he was
12:04interacting with his wife or his kids or
12:06whatever, and it's kind of like, "Oh, I
12:07can relate to that."
12:10Right? Um, I do this with my kids as a
12:12dad.
12:13And uh quite often if I'm trying to
12:17share like, "Hey, this might not be the
12:19wisest thing for you to do." What I will
12:22often do is use a case study.
12:24Um, in other words, myself.
12:27And usually
12:30how I learned the hard way why you
12:33probably shouldn't go down this path.
12:35Why you probably shouldn't get into this
12:37debt. Why you probably shouldn't hang
12:38out with those friends because, "Hey,
12:40let me tell you about a time in my life
12:42when I did that very thing and the pain
12:45that it caused me."
12:47It's a case study.
12:49And it's a way in which to say, "Hey,
12:50can you relate to this?"
12:53Or um if it's either relatable or it's
12:55informational.
12:57Or it can be convictional, right? If
13:00it's not relatable, at least the case
13:02study goes, "Okay, well, I I get the
13:04idea. There's no mistaking that Jesus
13:07transforms the lives of the people he
13:11enters."
13:12There's no no question about that. And
13:14it might even go from informational to
13:16convictional when you realize, "Hey, I
13:19don't have that and I need that." Maybe
13:22you're going to watch this blind man
13:24today
13:25come to the light and you may like,
13:27"That's never happened to me."
13:30I've been going to church all my life.
13:31That's never happened to me.
13:33That's the goal of a case study.
13:36So, either be relatable there are going
13:37to be people in this room who be like,
13:39"Man, I'm taking a lot for granted. I've
13:41had this light in my life
13:43and uh I haven't I don't remember the
13:45last time I thanked Jesus for it."
13:47And you're going to leave worshipping.
13:49It's relatable. And there are others
13:51it's not going to be relatable. It's
13:52going to be convictional.
13:54Right? It's going to be something you're
13:55like, "I don't have that and I need
13:56that." Whatever it is.
13:59And so, however God is working in this
14:01room, I want to pray with you in this
14:04moment as we get into what it looks like
14:06for the light to shine into your life.
14:08Would you pray for me?
14:11Would you pray as well for yourself? And
14:14would you pray along with me?
14:17Father,
14:19very simply and yet
14:22this is the cry of our hearts in this
14:24moment,
14:26that you would open our blinded eyes
14:31and help us to see
14:34you
14:36in the face
14:39of Jesus Christ.
14:43Open our blinded eyes.
14:47Shine your light into our souls.
14:50And Lord, may the changes that happened
14:52to this man
14:54be changes that have either already
14:56happened to us for which we're thankful
14:59or changes
15:01which you may begin to work in us
15:04as of today.
15:08We ask it for Jesus' sake.
15:11Amen.
15:12>> [crying]
15:14>> Well, there are four things that
15:15happened to this man when the light
15:16shines into his life.
15:19We're going to see experience, we're
15:21going to see clarity, we're going to see
15:22confidence, and we're going to see
15:23worship. Let's begin with the first one.
15:25Where the light shines,
15:27God's work becomes personal.
15:31Becomes personal experience. What makes
15:34this man so intriguing to us is the fact
15:37that he's never been educated. He's
15:40never gone to seminary.
15:42He's hardly been in a church.
15:44He's a beggar. He's been a beggar his
15:46entire life. He can't work.
15:48He can't do anything but sit outside the
15:51temple and just hope that some religious
15:54people with a conscience might just
15:55throw him a couple extra coins for
16:00for [clears throat] him to survive.
16:02He's born blind after all and
16:05but what he lacks in education and
16:07training, he makes up in personal
16:09experience. You see, the person who
16:11knows Christ
16:13understands more than the brightest
16:15theologian who does not know him.
16:20We need to understand that today.
16:23That you can know all about the
16:25scriptures, you can know all about
16:26theology, you can know all the ins and
16:29outs of what atonement is and
16:31what
16:32sanctification is and you go through the
16:34list of all the terms, you can know all
16:36about that, but if you don't know Jesus,
16:38you don't know.
16:41If you've never personally experienced
16:43his work in your life, this man's broken
16:45condition became the raw material for
16:47God to do his work. And so, as he passed
16:50by in verse one, he saw a man blind from
16:53birth.
16:55So, he's helpless and he's been helpless
16:57all along.
16:59Very, very similar to you and I in our
17:02condition.
17:03Uh we were born sin sinners, blind
17:06spiritually.
17:08Without any way of seeing God or knowing
17:11God.
17:12We were born rebels against him.
17:15And as soon as we had strength, we were
17:18we were using words like, "No." Right?
17:21And we were resisting any authority in
17:23our lives.
17:25And we were just habitually
17:28sinning and rejecting and going our own
17:33way.
17:35And the disciples asked in verse two,
17:37"Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his
17:39parents that he was born blind?" They
17:41assumed the cultural narrative of their
17:43time that any kind of illness like this,
17:47you know, the
17:48the cancer, the tumor must be the result
17:51of somebody's
17:52direct sin.
17:54And on one level, it is the result of
17:55sin.
17:57There's no question. We live in a broken
17:58world.
18:00All of our ailments,
18:02all that happens to us, all the sadness,
18:04all of the grief, all of the death and
18:06funerals and
18:07and hospitals and
18:09all of our pain and agony is all born
18:13out of the fact that we live in a broken
18:15world, we rebelled against God, and
18:20sin has just wrecked us.
18:25And it can often be
18:28direct or indirect consequences of sin,
18:31but there is a third option in scripture
18:34and that is that
18:37things happen to us
18:39not because of anything we've personally
18:41done, not because it's a direct
18:42consequence
18:44of anything, but as Jesus responds, he
18:46explains this
18:49that it was not in verse three, that
18:50this man sinned or his parents, but that
18:52the works of God might be displayed in
18:55him.
18:58That you might be
19:01the billboard of the grace of God
19:04to the world around you.
19:06Whatever pain, whatever sin, what what
19:09pardon me, whatever pain, whatever
19:11results of
19:13a sin-filled world, whatever
19:16whatever struggles you have today, yes,
19:19they can be a result of sin habits in
19:21your life. That is true.
19:23But quite often things happen to us
19:25outside of our control and we grieve
19:28them and we struggle against them and we
19:30ask God, "Why have you let this happen?"
19:33And meanwhile, he has sovereignly
19:35allowed us allowed it into our lives
19:38according to Christ so that his works
19:41might be displayed in us and through us
19:43to the world around us.
19:46Jesus continues in verse four, "We must
19:49work the works of him who sent me while
19:53it is day. The night is coming."
19:57What is that night? I believe the night
19:59he's describing is the cross. Night is
20:01coming when no one can work. The
20:03disciples are going to be paralyzed.
20:04They're not going to know what to do.
20:06They're going to be terrified. They're
20:08going to be hopeless, left in total
20:10despair.
20:13"As long as I am in the world," he says,
20:16"I am the light of
20:19the world." In other words, God may be
20:22setting you up
20:25for this kind of light shining into your
20:28soul even in this moment
20:32to display to the world around you his
20:34power
20:35and his
20:37grace.
20:40I think uh
20:42one example that comes to mind for me
20:45are many of the hymn writers of say the
20:48the period of like the first great
20:50awakening um and and on from there
20:54who penned, who wrote so many of the
20:59traditional hymns of
21:03say the more modern church, I guess
21:05that we still sing today.
21:08Many of those hymn writers
21:11were marked by tragedy
21:14that God used. It was no accident. God
21:16used it to produce the words for the
21:18church to sing.
21:20Men like Horatio Spafford who lost his
21:23family in a
21:25shipping accident and he lost his wealth
21:28in the great Chicago fire wrote for us,
21:30It is well with my soul.
21:33Fanny Crosby was blind from birth or
21:36blind from an illness, I believe it was
21:38an illness in childhood and wrote so
21:42many hymns. In fact, she wrote so many
21:43hymns they had to they actually told her
21:45to write them under different pen names.
21:48So there are many hymns out there under
21:49different names. It was actually Fanny
21:51Crosby that wrote them. Annie Johnson
21:53Flint was
21:55uh confined to a bed most of her life in
21:58agony and pain
22:00who wrote the hymn He giveth more grace
22:02as the burdens grow greater.
22:04William Cooper who wrote in a um
22:07There is a fountain filled with blood
22:09and many other hymns
22:11was himself considered to be insane and
22:13spent much of his life in an insane
22:15asylum.
22:17At one time attempted suicide.
22:20Isaac Watts was chronically ill.
22:22The man who wrote hymns like When I
22:25survey the wondrous cross in which the
22:27prince of glory died.
22:31And so on. I don't believe it's
22:33accidental. I believe God was working
22:34through their suffering to produce hymns
22:37that strengthen our faith.
22:40And it's squeezed out of that suffering.
22:42In other words, the works of God might
22:45be seen in them through what is
22:47happening to them.
22:51And the experience is described the The
22:53experience that this man has of the
22:55light shining into him is just described
22:57matter-of-fact. Verse six, "Having said
23:00these things, Jesus spit on the ground
23:02and made saliva mud with the saliva and
23:04anointed the man's eye." You say,
23:06"Gross. That seems gross."
23:08Um but real nonetheless. That's why
23:11again, it's not like some flowery
23:12language. It's not like some kind of
23:14fantasy world or some kind of fairy
23:16tale. This is like real messy stuff.
23:20He anointed the man's eyes with the mud
23:22and said, "Go, wash in the pool of
23:23Siloam, which means sent." Why does John
23:26tell us that?
23:28I think John is
23:30hinting at
23:31where Jesus came from and why Jesus
23:33came.
23:35He was sent by God to shine light into
23:39our lives so that we could be saved,
23:41redeemed, and know and have a
23:43relationship with God. That you might
23:45have life.
23:47Jesus was sent to both live and die and
23:50rise from the dead. And this pool with
23:54the name sent is where this man goes and
23:58he went and washed and came back seeing.
24:03He repeats the story multiple times
24:05throughout the encounter that in chapter
24:07nine. No one can deny the results in his
24:09life, but they clearly wanted to deny
24:11how it happened. And by the end of this
24:13encounter, this man
24:16is standing up to the intellectual
24:18elites of his culture making them look
24:21really foolish. Like really ridiculously
24:24foolish.
24:26With just his story.
24:28He has no training.
24:31He just has God's work in his life.
24:35You see, if if you're going to make an
24:37impact on this world, then you have to
24:40personally experience the light of the
24:44gospel shining into your life. I'll tell
24:47you one more hymn writer, if I can for a
24:50moment, by the name of John Newton.
24:52You've probably heard of him, but he was
24:54a slave He was a captain of a slave ship
24:58who one night, in the middle of a storm,
25:01cried out to God for mercy. And God
25:04granted him mercy. He His life was
25:07spared, his ship was spared, and he
25:10found Christ in that experience.
25:14And eventually, he was part of the fight
25:16for abolition against slavery, and so
25:19on. God was working his grace in John
25:21Newton's life, and we know his personal
25:24testimony because we sing it
25:26so often,
25:28and it is sung in the secular world, as
25:31well. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
25:35that saved a wretch like me. I wonder
25:38how many people sing that. I've never
25:40experienced it. Have you experienced it?
25:42Can you say that's amazing grace?
25:46I once was lost.
25:49When were you lost?
25:52I mean, when were you lost? Like
25:54drowning in your sins?
25:56In need of a savior, and the only hope
25:59that you had was Christ.
26:03I once was lost, but now I'm found. I
26:06was blind, but now I see. Listen, if
26:09you've experienced that reality in your
26:12life, you know more than most
26:14theologians who don't know Christ.
26:19Paul wrote it this way in 2 Corinthians
26:204,
26:22describing what happens to every true
26:25believer. When he said, "For God, who
26:27said in verse 6, let light shine out of
26:31darkness. He's taking us right back to
26:33creation when the universe was just a
26:35black emptiness.
26:38The same God who said, "Let light shine
26:40out of darkness." into that blackness,
26:43Paul says has shown into our hearts to
26:46give the light of the knowledge of the
26:48glory of God which is in the face of
26:52Jesus Christ. It's not theoretical. This
26:55is a case study
26:57of something very very real and tangible
27:01that when you have Christ, you know it.
27:04You've experienced it. That's number
27:06one. Number two.
27:08Where the light shines, the truth
27:10becomes clear.
27:12There's clarity.
27:13And as the story develops, this man uh
27:16becomes more aligned with
27:18the obvious reality of things.
27:22While others, at the same time, in the
27:25story are becoming more removed from
27:28reality. More absurd, more delusional.
27:33From what's right in front of their
27:35eyes. In other words,
27:37the blind man
27:39is seeing clearer than ever.
27:43And the seeing men
27:46are becoming blinder than ever.
27:51It's kind of like watching a comedy if
27:53it weren't so tragic.
27:56There's a lot of blindness to the
27:58reality to to reality throughout this
28:00story. I'll just give you a few examples
28:02here. Verse eight, the neighbors.
28:05I mean, they won't even take the man's
28:06word for it. The neighbors and those who
28:08had seen him before as a beggar were
28:10saying, "Is not this the man who used to
28:12sit and beg?" And some said, "Yeah,
28:14that's him." And others said, "No, but
28:17he's like him." But notice what John
28:19tells us next.
28:20The man kept saying,
28:23>> [laughter]
28:24>> He's like, they're they're having this
28:25theological debate, right? In the room.
28:27They're like, "Hey, is this the guy? Is
28:29that Is that Joe?" They're they're like,
28:31"It looks like Joe. I think it's Joe."
28:33And there's are like, "No, that can't be
28:35Joe. Joe was blind." And the guy's The
28:37guy's over there going, "Hello, I'm
28:38Joe."
28:40Uh yeah, it's me.
28:42And they're like going back and forth,
28:44totally ignoring him. Hello?
28:47Am I invisible? Can Can anybody see me?
28:52It's like they don't even see the truth
28:54in the room. Like it's right there in
28:56front of them.
28:57And then we have the Pharisees who
28:59don't do much better than that. Who are
29:01fixated First of all, they they're
29:03they're fixated on some rule about the
29:04Sabbath and totally oblivious to the
29:07obvious supernatural work that's been
29:09done right in front of them.
29:12Who are the Pharisees by the way? I
29:14don't want us to in any way separate go,
29:16"Oh yeah, those Pharisees, those bad
29:17guys." No. Do you want to know the
29:19Pharisees are?
29:21They're just fallen people
29:24making their best effort to fix their
29:27own problem.
29:31They're just fallen people making their
29:33best effort to fix their own problem.
29:36So if you think the Pharisees are that
29:37far removed from you, from me, they're
29:39not.
29:41They're just working harder at it.
29:43They're just working really hard to fix
29:45their problem apart from Jesus. Right?
29:48So let's not think for a moment that the
29:50Pharisees are somehow far removed from
29:53us. They're not.
29:54And some of the Pharisees in verse 16,
29:56they said, "This man is not from God,
29:58for he does not keep the Sabbath."
30:01But others said, "How can a man who is a
30:02sinner do such signs?"
30:04You know, opening a blind man's eyes,
30:06that's a big deal.
30:09There was a division among them.
30:12Later on in verse 24,
30:15they demand this man tell the truth, the
30:16whole truth, nothing but the truth.
30:18That's what it means when they say give
30:19glory to God in verse 24.
30:22They call the man a second time. They're
30:24interrogating him all over again, like
30:26they didn't get enough the first time.
30:28Give glory to God that the The other
30:31time that that statement is made, Joshua
30:33made a similar statement to a man named
30:35Achan when he was like, "Hey Achan, fess
30:38up. Like confess your crime. Confess."
30:42And that's what they're doing. They're
30:43saying,
30:44"Tell us now how you lied to us the
30:46first time." Right? They're subpoenaing
30:49him to get his perjury charge out there.
30:53Give glory to God. We know this man is a
30:55sinner. Like tell us the truth.
30:59Have you noticed that the more a culture
31:01departs from the truth of God's word,
31:05the more bizarre the cultural narratives
31:08become?
31:09I'll give you a few examples.
31:11In case you're not aware
31:13of what's going on around you.
31:16Like the people out there screaming
31:18"Gays for Palestine."
31:22Like I've heard that you probably heard
31:24the the parallel that chickens for KFC
31:26kind of thing, right? It's like
31:28um
31:29"Gays for Palestine." Do you realize
31:31what Palestinians
31:34would do to homosexuals? Like that that
31:36doesn't make sense, but it's so absurd
31:38and yet
31:39we're screaming at the top of our lungs
31:41as a culture like it's something. It's
31:43it's some virtue. Or love is love. I
31:46don't even know what that means. You
31:48can't describe a thing by itself, but
31:50love is love. What What does that mean?
31:54I mean
31:55We could take that a long way and and I
31:58I could prove pretty quickly
32:01uh for you who have kids, if if some old
32:04creep was coming down your driveway
32:06saying, "I'm in love with your kid."
32:07You'd be like, "Oh, love is not love in
32:09this case, is it?" No.
32:11It doesn't work. Doesn't work when you
32:13take the extremes. And again, it's
32:16it's it's bizarre. It's a It's really an
32:18extreme cultural narrative and it's it's
32:20amazing to hear how many intelligent
32:22people believe that line. Like, "Oh,
32:24yeah, love is love."
32:26Do what you want. Love who you want.
32:29"Trans women are women."
32:31"Abortion is health care." By the way,
32:33these are not political platforms. These
32:35are truth claims. We have to stop
32:37thinking, "Oh, the preachers getting
32:38political. No, the preacher's not
32:41getting political. These are truth
32:42claims in our culture that the gospel
32:45speaks into. And here's the idea behind
32:48that. Paul explains it in Romans 1 when
32:51he tells us that when we deny God,
32:54everything becomes ridiculous. Claiming
32:57to be wise in Romans 1:22,
33:00they became fools.
33:03That kind of sums up our culture,
33:05doesn't it?
33:07Not just bizarre, but getting more and
33:09more dark and more and more evil. And we
33:12see that playing out in John 9.
33:15The further we get, the more we want to
33:17deny what's right in front of our eyes,
33:20the more blind we become.
33:24But our case study
33:27is, by contrast, drawing a lot of very
33:30simple
33:31conclusions that end up being very
33:33profound. I mean, you think, "Oh, that's
33:35just basic common sense." Like, it
33:37shouldn't be that profound, but it is in
33:39in the backdrop of all this confusion
33:41and and everything that's going on in
33:43this
33:44in this scene.
33:46Now that his spiritual eyes have been
33:48opened, he's seeing clearly.
33:52He's able to identify what's really
33:54going on.
33:56And the clarity of it is getting
33:57stronger all the time. It's growing
33:59throughout the chapter. Like it begin in
34:01in verse 17, when he's asked, "Well,
34:04what do you say about him since he has
34:06opened your eyes?"
34:08The Pharisees asked this guy for his
34:10opinion, and they obviously realized
34:12pretty quickly they made a mistake, and
34:14he said, "Well,
34:15he's a prophet."
34:18Well, that's profound.
34:19Because what this man was saying goes
34:22against everything the Pharisees were
34:24teaching. The Pharisees were teaching
34:25that God wasn't going to send any more
34:27messengers.
34:28He spoke through the Old Testament, and
34:29that's it.
34:31And this man is saying, "No, no, I I
34:33believe this man is sent by God, and
34:36he's he's delivering a message from
34:38God." Now, at this point, the man
34:39probably doesn't know the fullness of
34:41what he's saying, but it's profound.
34:43He's clear on who sent Jesus
34:46based on the work that Jesus has done.
34:49But, he's not clear as on yet on the
34:51magnitude of Jesus' identity. Verse 25,
34:55he answered them again and said,
34:57"Whether he's a sinner I do not know."
34:58But, I love this line. This is my
35:00favorite line in the whole text. "One
35:02thing I do know,
35:05it's not it's not great to just know a
35:08lot of things.
35:10It's great to know one thing really
35:11well.
35:13And that's exactly where this man is at.
35:16One thing I do know that though I was
35:18blind, now I see." Basically, what he's
35:20saying is
35:21there's a lot I don't know. Like you
35:23guys can sit in your little theological
35:27seminaries and discuss whether this man
35:29was sinning because he did it on the
35:30Sabbath or not and what technicalities
35:32there are. Like, I'm not a lawyer. I
35:34didn't go to school for this. I don't
35:35know a lot about that stuff, but there's
35:37one thing I do know. Yesterday I
35:39couldn't see, and today I can see, and
35:43this man was the one who did it to me. I
35:45know that.
35:46And I know it really well.
35:48I'm really clear on that.
35:51It's a bit fuzzy for everyone else, but
35:53it's not fuzzy for me.
35:56Verse 30, we hear the man again he
35:58answering.
36:00And this time it's with this growing
36:02sarcasm
36:03and mockery. Why, this is an amazing
36:06thing. You don't know where he comes
36:08from and yet he opened my eyes.
36:11And he's just drawing natural
36:12conclusions here. We know that God does
36:14not listen to sinners, but if anyone is
36:16a worshiper of God,
36:19I don't know much. I know he's a
36:20prophet. He obviously worships God.
36:23If anyone is a worshiper of God and does
36:25his will, God listens to him.
36:28And never since the world began has it
36:30been heard that anyone open the eyes of
36:33a man born blind. Yes, blindness was
36:36healed in the Old Testament, but not a
36:38man born blind. If this man were not
36:41from God, he couldn't do anything.
36:44He's like weighing up all the evidence
36:46and drawing the most obvious conclusion.
36:50You see, Christianity is not blind
36:53faith.
36:55Yeah, I used that word. I think that's a
36:57good one. It's uh it's a thinking and an
37:00observational faith.
37:02Like this man's just looking around him
37:03going, "It's pretty clear
37:06who this man is."
37:09He's not working against God, he's
37:11working with him and for him.
37:15And if you want to replace the lies that
37:17your mind believes with what's true,
37:21you're going to have to walk in the
37:23light.
37:24Like this is the second way you're going
37:26to know whether or not you are actually
37:28following in the light, walking in the
37:30light. You have a relationship with
37:32Jesus Christ. You know God personally
37:35through his son. You say, "How would I
37:36know?" Well, first of all, you've
37:38experienced it. I was lost, now I'm
37:40found. And secondly, there's this
37:42growing clarity toward the truth in your
37:46mind and in your heart.
37:49It's clear to you what's true, what's
37:52right, what's biblical, what's not. You
37:54say, "I don't know a lot about the
37:56Bible." You don't have to. Over time,
37:59you're going to grow in that and it's
38:01going to take time. You see the gradual
38:03clarity in this man as he moves along
38:06and eventually he's going to learn who
38:08he really is.
38:09But there's this gradual clearing of the
38:12mind. If that's going to happen for you,
38:15you're going to have to walk in the
38:16light.
38:18How do we walk in the light?
38:21How do we feed our mind with truth? How
38:23will clarity grow for us? Well, first of
38:25all, do not ignore your doubts or your
38:28questions. They're there for a reason,
38:31so confront them and deal with them.
38:35Don't just pass them off. Don't just
38:37push them back like good Christians
38:39don't have doubts. No, confront them and
38:41bring them out into the open.
38:45Deal with what you believe about
38:47reality, what you believe about other
38:49religions, what you believe about the
38:51Christian faith, what you believe about
38:53who Jesus is and what he's done for you.
38:57And secondly, identify the main things
38:59that you must know and believe. This man
39:02says, "I don't know a lot, but the one
39:03thing I do know, I know it really well."
39:07What are those things for you?
39:09There are four main one I can
39:11really boil it down to these four things
39:14that you need to know, whatever your
39:16worldview is. You need to know your
39:18origin, you need to know what meaning
39:21is, you need to know what morality is,
39:23and you need to know your destiny. Those
39:26four things. Does Jesus Christ answer to
39:30those four things? Where have I come
39:32from? Why am I here? What is right and
39:35where am I going?
39:37Do you know that? You need to be really
39:40clear on those four things. Really
39:42crystal clear.
39:45Third,
39:46if you don't know, ask God to illuminate
39:49the truth to your heart.
39:51Read the Bible,
39:54but read it in conversation with God.
39:57Like, "Lord, I feel blind to this truth
40:01and I need you to illuminate the truth
40:03to me."
40:05Your relationship with God impacts your
40:07clarity.
40:10Your relationship with God impacts your
40:11clarity. And then, experience the truth
40:14of God's word. Experience it. Wrestle
40:17with it. Discuss it with others.
40:18Meditate on it. Share it.
40:22Think about it.
40:25All right, number two is clarity. Number
40:27three
40:28is confidence. Where the light shines,
40:30fear
40:31becomes irrelevant.
40:34You see,
40:35here's what happens in a culture that's
40:37gone nuts.
40:38Our culture has gone nuts.
40:41What happens is you get punished
40:43for being clear on the truth.
40:47Like a couple weeks ago, I think it was
40:49out east uh one of the eastern states
40:53bunch of high school girls doing a cross
40:55country meet
40:57and there were some boys who decided or
40:59one boy or whatever it was decided
41:02well, I'm going to present myself as a
41:04girl and I'm going to compete and there
41:06were a bunch of brave young girls
41:09in that meet who when the gun went off
41:12they just walked over to the side and
41:14they sat down. They said, we are not
41:17competing with this cuz this is not
41:18real. This is a lie and we're not going
41:20to live your lie.
41:22You know what our culture does with
41:23that, right?
41:25It cancels you.
41:26It punishes you.
41:28It says, oh, you you you think you see
41:30clearly?
41:32We're going to make your life miserable
41:34and not worth living.
41:36And so what do people do?
41:38People decide, well then, I'm going to
41:40put on these lenses so I see things the
41:43way the culture does because I'm afraid
41:46of the consequences
41:48of seeing clearly.
41:51Definitely afraid of the consequences of
41:52standing up for the truth and while
41:55others are terrified of rejection
41:58in this story
41:59our case study
42:01who the light of Jesus has shone into
42:06his heart
42:08he's got no fear.
42:09Just like this quiet, calm
42:12confidence.
42:14Look at his parents, verse 23, his
42:15parents answered, he they're being
42:16interrogated, now they're being brought
42:18into this. They were mentioned back at
42:20the beginning when the disciples said,
42:21who sinned that this man was born blind?
42:23His parents, did they do something?
42:25And now here they are, they're being
42:26involved again and they say, well, we
42:28know that this is our son that he was
42:30born blind, but how he now sees, we
42:32don't know.
42:34Nor do we know who opened his eyes.
42:37We don't know anything.
42:39Ask him, he's of age. They're like
42:41throwing their son to the wolves. Did
42:43you notice that? They're like, hey, call
42:46him back into court. Like we don't want
42:48to be here. We're we're out. Like we
42:49just want to go back to our nice,
42:51comfortable lives. And well, there's a
42:53reason for that.
42:54You see, if and obviously
42:57in verse 22, his parents said these
42:58things because they feared the Jews.
43:01For the Jews had already agreed that if
43:03anyone should confess Jesus to be the
43:06Messiah, he was to be put out of the
43:08synagogue.
43:11Uh, do you know what that meant to be
43:12put out of the synagogue?
43:14That had huge impact in your life.
43:17That was not just you can't come to
43:18church on Sunday mornings, but life goes
43:21on as usual. Yes, there was a social
43:23aspect to it because the synagogue was
43:25not just church. It was like the town
43:27center.
43:28It was the place every everyone went to
43:31um, to congregate. That's where you met
43:34up with people. That's where you
43:35discussed daily things. You discussed
43:37the weather. You discussed the latest
43:39headlines.
43:41You're cut out of that. There's no
43:42social life for you.
43:44Economically, you were going to have a
43:46hard time. If you're If you're cut off
43:48from this and you're out of the
43:49synagogue, you're going to have a hard
43:50time getting job opportunities.
43:53You're going to have a hard time making
43:54business deals because you're not part
43:56of the community anymore.
43:58Your family. Your kids might still be at
44:00the synagogue, but you're not there.
44:03And all of a sudden, there's this divide
44:05in the family and you're not your
44:06relationship with your kids is not what
44:08it might have been. And your
44:09relationship with your parents isn't
44:10what it might have been at one point.
44:13And spiritually, the synagogue was the
44:15place you went to worship God. And if
44:17you didn't have access to the synagogue,
44:18you did not have access to God. That's
44:21how they looked at it in this culture.
44:23It was a big deal.
44:25And these parents are legit terrified.
44:31And if you're terrified of people
44:33knowing you're a Christian or standing
44:35up for what's right and standing for the
44:37truth because well, you're afraid of
44:39losing friends. You're afraid of losing
44:41job opportunities or promotion
44:43opportunities or whatever it is, I can
44:45say today with confidence, you are not
44:48walking in the light. Because those who
44:52walk in the light, for them, fear
44:54becomes irrelevant. Let's look at the
44:58case study of this man who was
45:00formerly
45:02blind
45:03and now he's seeing. Verse 26,
45:06they said to him, "What did he do to
45:07you? How did he open your eyes?"
45:10And he's not even breaking a sweat. This
45:12is what I love about John's description
45:14of this man. Like he's not worried about
45:16what he's going to say. He's not like,
45:18"Oh, what do I I don't have any
45:19training. I I've never been to debate
45:21school. Like I don't know what to do."
45:23He's like, "I've already told you and
45:25you wouldn't listen." In fact, he's he's
45:27told it a few times now.
45:29Um why do you want to hear it again?
45:32And they
45:33Do you also want to become his
45:34disciples?
45:35That's funny. That that is pretty funny.
45:38Kind of like, "Did
45:40You want to follow him, too?"
45:42Which is kind of cool because he's
45:43implying in that that I am a disciple of
45:45his. Do you want to Do you want to be a
45:46disciple like me?
45:49He's kind of teasing them.
45:51And in verse 28, of course, they didn't
45:53like that. They kind of caught onto the
45:54humor.
45:55They didn't find it humorous themselves
45:57and they reviled him saying,
45:59"You are his disciple, but we are
46:01disciples of Moses."
46:03"We know that God has spoken to Moses,
46:05but for this man but as for this man, we
46:07do not know where he comes from." And
46:09the man answered,
46:11Again, he doesn't miss a beat. Like he
46:13he
46:14You think he'd be so intimidated. Like
46:16these guys have your life in their
46:18hands.
46:19Like what they do next is going to But
46:21again, he's got nothing to lose. He's
46:23been begging his entire life. Like what
46:24does he have to lose? And
46:26he just answers in verse 30, "Why this
46:28is an amazing thing. You don't know
46:30where he comes from and yet he opened my
46:32eyes."
46:34Then he goes on and just goes through
46:36the conclusions that I read earlier and
46:37they answered him in verse 34,
46:40They answered him, "You were born in
46:43utter sin." Just going back to the
46:44start. You're born blind. You must have
46:46been born in this messy awful sin.
46:49And you would teach us?" They cast him
46:52out.
46:53Yeah.
46:54The worst possible. What's the worst
46:56possible thing that could happen to me?
46:57Well, it happened to him.
47:00And the outcast
47:02who was a blind beggar, becomes an
47:04outcast all over again. He's just a
47:06seeing beggar now.
47:09Why is he so confident?
47:12I This is why I love this story. I'm
47:13telling you this is one of my favorite
47:15stories in scripture and it has probably
47:18I'm going to tell you it has guided
47:20our parenting mission more than anything
47:24else. Uh but why is this guy so
47:26confident? I'm going to tell you why.
47:27Because the truth is on his side.
47:29And when the truth is on your side,
47:32you don't have to be afraid of the lie.
47:35Do you know how many times I've told my
47:36kids that?
47:38And our dinner table has been a place
47:39where anything can be talked about. I
47:42don't care how messy it is. I don't care
47:44how uh how difficult it might be to be
47:47answer. I don't care whether or not Mom
47:48and I have to say uh
47:51we don't know the answer to that
47:53right now, but we're going to look into
47:55it.
47:55Right? I don't I don't care. The truth
47:57is
47:58I want to be on the side of the truth.
48:00And if I'm not on the side of the truth,
48:02I want to know the truth.
48:04I want to know the truth that I'm not on
48:05the side of the truth and then get on
48:07the side of the truth, right? Because if
48:09if if the truth is on your side, you no
48:12longer have to be running and afraid and
48:14oh I can't I can't I I can't deal with
48:16that. I can't talk about that, right? We
48:19we don't have to be all sheepish and shy
48:22and not going here and not doing that
48:24and
48:25No, we can penetrate the darkness
48:28because we have the light. That's what
48:30this man does.
48:32He's just quietly confident. He's not
48:35trembling.
48:37What did Jesus say?
48:39I'm going to build my church on this
48:41rock
48:42and the gates of hell will not prevail
48:44against it. Gates don't move.
48:46Which means the church is the one
48:48advancing on the gates of hell. Right?
48:52It's not the church backing away saying
48:55we're not going to talk about that cuz
48:56that's a very uncomfortable thing to
48:57talk about. No, the truth is on our
48:59side. We're not going to be afraid of
49:02the lie.
49:04And when Jesus heard they cast him out
49:06in verse 35,
49:08having found him, he said, "Do you
49:09believe in the Son of Man?" They
49:12canceled him. Jesus accepted him. Jesus
49:16found him. It's okay to be canceled by
49:18God. It's not okay to be canceled and
49:21rejected or pardon me, it's okay to be
49:23canceled by people.
49:24It's not okay to be canceled and
49:26rejected by God.
49:29It's okay to be canceled by people
49:33and to be found and accepted by Jesus
49:35Christ. If you have the truth on your
49:37side,
49:39you cannot lose
49:40and that is what makes us
49:43unafraid witnesses for Christ.
49:46One of the pillars of our church. The
49:48other story in the Old Testament that is
49:50very much like this is Elijah on Mount
49:52Carmel. He does very much a very similar
49:55thing where he's mocking and laughing
49:57and and kind of going, "Hey, I think
49:59your God might actually be taking a
50:01bathroom break right now. Maybe that's
50:02why he's not answering you, you know?
50:05And and or maybe he's on vacation. Maybe
50:07he's sleeping. You better yell louder."
50:09And Elijah's just where does that
50:12confidence, that quiet confidence come
50:14from?
50:17I heard a story this week
50:19uh that kind of summed it up for me.
50:22Um I believe this guy was a pastor, but
50:25I'm not sure on that detail. All I know
50:27is he was a father and his son had come
50:29home from a Bible camp and uh
50:32he was asking his he's putting his son
50:33to bed and his he was asking him all
50:35kinds of questions. He said, "Oh, were
50:36they telling ghost stories around the
50:38around the campfire?" And and the boy
50:41was like, "No, they were telling demon
50:42stories around the campfire." He's like,
50:44"Oh man, what am I going to do with
50:45this?"
50:46So, if they're telling ghost stories, I
50:48could at least tell my son, "Well,
50:49ghosts don't aren't real. They don't
50:51exist, so you don't have to be afraid of
50:53them." But demons are real and they do
50:55exist and they're extremely terrifying.
50:58And as he's turning the light out,
51:00his son said to him, "Dad,
51:03will you pray with me
51:06that Jesus will keep me safe?"
51:10And his dad stopped,
51:13turned around, went back, and sat down
51:15in his boy's bed,
51:17and he said, "Son,
51:19I will never pray for you that Jesus
51:22will keep you safe.
51:25But what I will pray for you is that he
51:28makes you so dangerous
51:30that when you walk in the room, the
51:32demons have to flee."
51:37That's how I want to raise my kids.
51:40unafraid
51:42witnesses
51:44for the truth.
51:46If you're afraid of losing something for
51:48the truth, you're not walking in the
51:50light. You're not truly clinging alone
51:53to Jesus Christ. You have idols that
51:56you're clinging to. You need to identify
51:58them
51:59and rid yourself of them.
52:01And finally, where the light shines,
52:04worship becomes instinctive.
52:09It's not enough just to fight the
52:11culture.
52:12A lot of angry, bitter people out there
52:14fighting the culture.
52:16They're saying a lot of true things, but
52:18the heart behind it and the spirit
52:19behind it is all 100% wrong.
52:25It's not appealing,
52:27and it definitely does not reflect the
52:29heart and character of Christ.
52:33Here's a man now who is rejected by the
52:36culture.
52:37He's been canceled
52:40officially
52:41by the establishment.
52:44And he has been caught out of
52:46established religion.
52:48Cast out of the synagogue.
52:53And in this place he finds
52:55true worship, true connection, true
52:57relationship with God.
53:00Jesus heard that he was cast out in
53:01verse 35.
53:03And having found him, he said, "Do you
53:04believe in the Son of Man?" He answered,
53:06"Who is he, sir, that I may believe in
53:08him?" Jesus said,
53:13"This is the final
53:15removal of the blindness.
53:18You have seen him." Notice the word
53:20seen. "You have seen him, and he it is
53:23who is speaking to you."
53:26And the man said, "Lord, I believe." And
53:28he worshipped him. The Greek word behind
53:31worshipped is the word proskuneo, and it
53:33means to kiss before. And what literally
53:37it is describing is what would happen if
53:39you came into the presence of a king,
53:41you would actually get down on the
53:43ground, right down on your face, and you
53:45would kiss the feet of the king. That's
53:48what the word means, proskuneo, to kiss
53:50before.
53:52That's what this man did.
53:56He worshipped
53:58Jesus.
54:00He had a heart of worship.
54:04The world has taken everything from him,
54:08and he's full.
54:10He's wealthier than he's ever been.
54:13He's not a beggar.
54:16He has everything he needs, because he
54:18has Christ.
54:23Life, this life that is in the title of
54:26this sermon series, that is
54:29the main purpose that John is writing
54:31this gospel, that you may have life. I
54:33want you to know Jesus, that you may
54:35have life. Life is an unhindered
54:37relationship with Jesus Christ, where he
54:40is known, he is trusted, he is
54:42surrendered to.
54:45Life is walking in the light that is
54:49marked by this experience, this personal
54:51experience, this clarity, this
54:53confidence, and this
54:55this all out heart and soul filled
55:00unashamed adoration of the one who gave
55:04me sight and opened my eyes.
55:07Like, I mean, how can you How can you
55:09experience once being completely lost
55:14under the wrath of God
55:16and now being in the light, saved and
55:20rescued and chosen and loved and
55:22accepted and one day you're going to
55:25stand face to face with Jesus Christ and
55:27not just have your heart completely
55:29overwhelmed to the point you're not
55:31ashamed who's around to see you
55:33worshipping the king of kings and lord
55:35of lords?
55:37Is that Is that worship in this room? If
55:39Jesus were to walk in the room right
55:42now, how would you respond?
55:46What would the response be?
55:50It's time to come to the light if you
55:52haven't
55:54already
55:56because it's in the light that you have
55:57freedom. And let me just end with a a
56:00warning, the warning that ends this
56:03chapter in verse 40.
56:06And some of the Pharisees near him heard
56:08these things. Now, verse 39, Jesus had
56:10said, "For judgment I came into this
56:12world that those who do not see may see,
56:14and those who see may become blind." Do
56:17you know what that means?
56:18That means that as the word of God is
56:21preached this morning,
56:23there will be some of you that will go
56:25from darkness to light.
56:28But, pay attention to this. Please pay
56:31attention to this.
56:34There are some of you sitting here this
56:36morning, you will hear the word of God
56:38and according to what Jesus just said,
56:41you believe you see clearly, you're
56:44going to reject the truth. And because
56:47of that, you cannot see Christ.
56:52That's what he's saying. I've come into
56:53the world to make blind people see and
56:55to make seeing people blind.
56:57Both are true.
57:00Some of the Pharisees near him in verse
57:0240 heard these things and said to him,
57:04"Are we all so blind?"
57:07Like, I think if you have to ask that,
57:10there's a pretty good chance that you
57:11are.
57:14Jesus said to them, "If you were blind,
57:16you would have no guilt." In other
57:18words, if you were truly helpless and
57:20understood it,
57:22it wouldn't be your fault. But now that
57:23you say, "We see, we see clearly." Well,
57:26your guilt remains.
57:30So, wherever you're hiding today,
57:32whatever you're hiding behind, you hide
57:34behind what you say, you hide behind
57:36what you know, you hide behind your
57:38self-image, you hide behind your work in
57:40ministry, you hide behind your
57:42picture-perfect
57:44family. Whatever it is, just remember,
57:47John in another place, in 1 John 1:6,
57:50says that if we say we have fellowship
57:52with God and we walk in darkness, we
57:55lie, we do not practice the truth.
57:58So, let me ask you, is this case study
58:03relatable?
58:04In other words, are you a case study of
58:06the works of God in your life? Of what
58:09you have experienced of his grace,
58:12the growing clarity,
58:14the calm confidence in the truth,
58:17and the worship that fills
58:20your heart?
58:22Let's pray to that end and then worship.

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