MHBC Lord’s Day Sermon 4/26/26: John 9:8-17 Pastor Jimmy Hazlett

Mount Hebron Baptist Church Waynesburg KY

Transcript

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And we want to make sure that we can provide these services to them as well. Let's pray together this morning. Father, we pray that your word would be made clear today. I pray that you would challenge us, that you would comfort us, that you would afflict us, that you would convict our hearts, that you would show us what we need to see and help us to understand how to not only hear your word, but how we ought to apply it to our lives. Lord, I pray that all of us this morning would take your word personally, that we would take it to heart, and that we would long and strive by the grace of God to be obedient to what your word tells us. Lord, may Christ be magnified and may people be drawn to him this morning. We pray all this in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Well, you know, we're continuing to walk through John chapter 9, and you remember where we were before. Jesus has just healed a blind man. Now remember that this is a blind man from birth. This is someone who was born blind. And you may remember, we won't go back and read it this morning, but just to jog your memory, they were walking by, they saw this man. The disciples said, Whose fault is it essentially that this man is blind? Who sinned? Did he sin? Did his parents sin? What was the deal? And Jesus made it clear to them listen, there is a reason this man was born blind, and you're getting ready to find out right now what that reason was. He was made blind for this moment, because you are about to see the glory of God displayed over affliction. You're about to see the authority of Christ displayed over blindness. You're about to see the glory of Jesus displayed because listen, only the Son of God could do such things. No one else could heal a man more born blind from birth. Now, we have some amazing modern medical technology that they didn't have in those days. I tell you, if I didn't have these spectacles here, every single one of you, when I took them off, looked very fuzzy. In fact, I have a hard time telling who is who. I see Matthew back there because of that red puff on his head. I know which one he is, but I can have a difficult time with everyone else. But as soon as I put these on, it becomes clear. But listen, I'm not blind. There's people that would give limbs to be able to see the way that I can see even without my glasses. We've got some amazing modern medical technology, but there is no technology, and I tell you, I don't believe there ever will be any technology where someone who is born blind, born without sight, born without the use of their eyes, born seeing total nothingness. Listen, I didn't say darkness, I said nothingness would be able to see. Only Jesus, only Christ, only the Son of God could do such things. And they saw his glory displayed. And today we see, like we have seen before in the Gospel of John, we're going to see the aftermath of a miracle. Now listen, you would think that if a man was born blind and now they see, you would think that the reaction would be celebration. Don't you think so? Don't you think here in this body of Christ, if we had someone who was blind, who now can miraculously see by the grace and the power of God? Don't you think we would celebrate that for a little while? Listen, we celebrate things a whole lot less cool than that, don't we? Boy, Cody's back feels better. We're thankful that Cody's able to come to church today because his back feels better, right? Well, what if we had a blind man who had his sight restored? We'd throw a party, wouldn't we? We'd be so excited, we'd have another hot dog roast for him. Preferably on the day when it didn't rain. But here we're going to see that not everybody responds to Jesus the same way. And I made this point to Jerry this morning and the Sunday school class. Listen, I'll put another shameless plug in for Sunday school. If you don't come, you really are missing a blessing. Jerry, our my Sunday school teacher, there's oftentimes I refer to Jerry as my pastor because he shepherds me with the word of God. He pours the word of God into me on a weekly basis. And I'm thankful for him. Miss Patsy does that for the ladies. Miss Jennifer and the ladies that help with kids' classes do that for our children. It's a blessing. Come to Sunday school. It's wonderful. But I was telling Jerry this morning as we were talking, I said, listen, the thing that amazes me about going through the Gospel of John or really reading any of the Gospels, but I, as a pastor, I notice it more when I'm preaching through a text. Josh, you probably understand that being a preacher yourself, that sometimes you don't think too much about something until you're having to prepare a sermon for it. And you realize as you walk through the Gospel of John, that it's the same story on repeat every single time. Jesus displays his glory in a wonderful, amazing, grace-filled kind of way. Jesus changes a life. Jesus radically transforms someone. You have some people that might be a little happy about it, but then you have this crowd called the Pharisees that are ticked off. Talked about that in Sunday school, didn't we? There they were questioning his authority. There they were, trying to entrap him. There they were. And it's the same story over and over again. And we're going to see it again this week. We're going to see it happen here with this man who was born blind. The first time we saw it was with the man in John 5 who was lame by the pool, sat there for 38 years longing for some mythical angel to come down and stir the water. And Jesus on the Sabbath heals him and tells him to take up his mat and walk. He said, Brother Jesse, wilt thou be made whole? And the man was made whole. And what would be a rejoicing time for almost anyone else? The Pharisees got mad because it was the Sabbath. Well, what did the text tell us this day was? It was the Sabbath yet again. Do you think that was on purpose? Oh, I do. I don't think Jesus said, Man, I really want to heal this guy, but it's the Sabbath. We might make some people mad. No, listen, I think that was divine sovereignty. This man had an appointment with Jesus, and Jesus kept it because Jesus always keeps his appointments. The Pharisees get angry. The Pharisees get mad, they begin to question Jesus, they begin to fret. Not everybody responds to Jesus the same way. John is going to show us that here. That even when the evidence is right in front of someone, even when the truth is staring them in the face, I tell you what, Jerry, you could have come up and preached this message today because it goes right along with Sunday school. It's exactly what we talked about in there. Even when the evidence is staring you right in the face, you can respond to Jesus in a way that excludes you from the kingdom of God. You can respond to Jesus in a way that instead of making you a son, adopted through Christ, leaves you under the wrath of God. Every single one of you that's sitting here in the room today, I know because I've preached it to you for the last two years. Every single one of you have heard the gospel. You've heard it clearly, you've heard it loud, and I can say with as much confidence as a pastor can say, the vast majority of you, I'm confident, have responded in faith to the gospel. You believe it. But this morning, if you're lost, if you're apart from Christ, if you don't know him, what will you do with Christ? How will you respond to him? Listen, the evidence is right in front of your face. You can choose this morning to reject it. Or you can choose to receive it. And I tell you, listen, if you receive this gospel that is going to be preached, you will have eternal life. You'll be, like Jesse saying this morning, made whole. You'll have, like we sang this morning, victory in Jesus. You'll be saved eternally. The first thing we see in our text this morning is the confusion of the crowd. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, Is this not the man who used to sit in bed? Now listen, you can imagine that confusion, can't you? Just imagine this. Put it in your in your context. Listen, someone that you knew who was sitting begging, someone you knew who was blind, someone you knew who could not take care of themselves, who is dependent on others, is now freely walking the streets, is now walking around, seeing, mingling with people. Listen, you'd be confused too, wouldn't you? You'd say, isn't that hang on. Isn't that the dude that my whole life has been sitting there begging? Was he lying to us? I know he wasn't lying. The whole town would have had to bend in on it if he was lying. He was born that way. We've heard the stories about how he was born that way, how it broke his parents' hearts. We've heard all this. We know he was blind, but now he's seeing this must be somebody else. Did he have a twin we didn't know about? They see him and they don't even recognize him. Look, he looks exactly the same, doesn't he? He's got the same clothes, he's got the same hair, he's got the same facial features. But there's one huge difference. There's this big smile on his face. Because he's encountered the living Christ and he can see. He's got vision. And we know that that is impossible. That can't happen. That kind of radical transformation is impossible. Boy, listen, I tell you what, I guarantee you, if you're saved this morning, there's people who said that about you. Oh, listen, there's people that grew up with me at Lincoln County High School, Renee. Brandy. That said, Jimmy Hazlet saved? Hang on. Jimmy Hazel Pastor? Are you kidding me? Isn't that the dude that I won't fill in the blanks for you? I'll let you use your imagination on that one. But isn't he the that can't be? Hang on. Jerry Siler, Sunday school. We worked with him at Hitachi. We remember that guy. Are you kidding me? Rodney Noakes, deacon. I was in the army with him. I parachuted with him. I worked the railroad with him. Hang on now. You're saying he. Listen, every single one of you. Every single one of you, I guarantee you, if you're in Christ this morning, people have said, Ain't no way. And I'm here to tell you this morning, listen, the only way is Jesus. The only thing that could turn Jimmy Hazlett from a sinner under the wrath of God, caring not that my Christ was crucified. The only one is Jesus. That is the only difference. Well, what's different about you, Jimmy? You found religion. No, listen. He found me. Oh, I I found religion my whole life. I was I was in church every time the doors were opened from the time I was born. I had religion forever. I knew everything about the religion of the day. I was pretty daggone good at it. I could sing all the hymns. I could get up in church and sing like a bird. You say, Well, you ain't that good, Jimmy. That's true. Listen, I I I had religion. But when Christ encountered me, it changed me. It transformed me. The man who was blind started seeing. And listen, this morning, if you're in Christ, that's happened to you. And I guarantee you, people have been equally confused. Amen, Duh. People have been equally confused about you. Johnny Blanton. Arlie! Arlie, I won't pick on you. I just love you too much. They're confused. But what does he say? What's the man say? He says, I am the man. Listen, yeah, I'm telling you, y'all are dumb for being so confused. It's really me. I couldn't see. No, I can't. I'm the one. I'm the same man. I was blind, but now I see, and the people are still confused. Why? Because this didn't fit into their box for this guy. Listen, in their minds, this guy's a beggar. He's blind. Listen, I don't want to be, don't take this the wrong way, but in their minds, this guy's worthless. And remember, in their minds, this guy must be a daggone sinner. Or somebody in his family. Remember, even the disciples of Jesus asked that question. They had this mentality that if you had suffering in your life, it must be because of some major sin. And this is divine retribution. That you're just living your life paying the price. And what they witnessed now in the life of this man didn't fit into their box that they had built for him. Because here he is walking the streets. He's able to see, he's smiling. God has completely changed his story. And they have no idea what to do with it. They have no clue. Listen, when God changes a life, it disrupts the expectations of everyone around you. Have you ever experienced that? We just talked about it, didn't we? Everybody all of a sudden goes, no. Hey, hey, give it six months. Give it a year. Matthew got saved. I whatever. We know that guy. Listen, when God changes you, people get confused by it. Because it doesn't fit in their box of what they think about you. Now, listen, let me ask you something. Is that your problem? No. Do you think this blind man cared whether or not people were confused? As I read this story, I get the impression that this blind man is thinking, leave me the heck alone. I'm too happy to be interrogated the way that you're willing to interrogate me. He faces the interrogation of the crowd, and he's getting ready to be drug in front of the Pharisees to have to face their interrogation. And you can just imagine the whole time this blind guy's going, hey guys, I got this new set of eyes. I kind of want to go try them out. I want to see the sights. Leave me alone. I don't care that I'm living in a way now that is different from the box that you had built for me that isn't my problem. Listen, I want to tell you something this morning. It's not your problem. It's not your goal. You don't have to go back and correct everybody's false assumptions about you. That's right. Amen. Listen, when Christ saves you, he saves you. Amen. And there's going to be people that look at that and say, man, what an awesome story. And there's going to be people that look at that and scoff and laugh. And here's the wonderful thing: you've been saved by the grace of God. You don't have to worry about their box. You don't have to go chase people down and say, no, no, listen, it really is. I promise. Listen, it's go share the gospel. Go share the good news. Go be like the Samaritan woman that Jesus encountered that that runs and tells the whole town, be like her. But listen, if they refuse it, if they laugh at you, if they scoff at you, if they kick, if they kick you out, shake the dust off your feet and move on, because you've been changed by the power of God. I love the answer that this man gave. He rubbed it in my eyes. I went and washed. I did what he said, and I received my sight. Hey, you don't have to have a theology degree to explain that, do you? If you want to boil that down, this is what he said. If you want to boil it down and condense it down a little bit, well, we ain't gonna finish this today. If you want to condense it down, this is what he said. He said, Hey, Jesus told me to do something. I obeyed him, and all of a sudden I received my sight. It's that simple. You know what his answer was to their questions? Hey, I was obedient to Jesus. You know, I lived my whole life sitting here in utter blindness, but when I obeyed Jesus, now I can see. Does that sound familiar to you this morning? Does that sound like your story? Oh, I lived my life. Listen, I love that hymn we sing. Caring not my Lord was crucified. Knowing not it was for me he died on Calvary. Years I spent in vanity and pride. Oh, listen. Until I met Jesus. Until he found me. And then all of a sudden, everything changed. All of a sudden, I could see that there was a change that took place. Charles Wesley, I know I've shared this with you before, but Charles Wesley describes it like this Long my imprisoned spirit lay fast bound in sin in nature's night. Thine eye diffused a quickening ray. I woke, the dungeon flamed with light, my chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed thee. And what's your answer? Your answer is, Jesus found me. And instead of shrugging him off, instead of laughing him out of the room, instead of thinking that I was good enough on my own, I acknowledged my own condition. Listen, what did this man have to do before he obeyed Jesus? He had to agree with Jesus that he was blind, didn't he? If he didn't, he wouldn't have obeyed. But he understood his blindness. He understood his need. He understood that he was a beggar. Christ found him. He obeyed his word and he received his sight. What a simple testimony. Jesse, I don't know if you planned this or not. What a wonderful song to start the service off with. Amazing grace. How sweet the sound. That saved a wretch like me. I once was blind. But now I'm what? Found. Ooh, listen. That song is so theologically rich. I once was blind, but now I'm found. Hey, listen, you didn't go searching for him. He came and found you. How can a blind man search? Paul says in Romans 3, there's none righteous, no, not one. There's none who do good, there's none who seek after God. All together we've become worthless, Paul says. So what's the difference in the saints that are sitting here today? And everyone who doesn't have Christ. What's the difference? Jesus found you. He goes and hunts down his sheep. And he finds them. And he brings them into the fold. Amen. This morning. We're going to talk about this more next week. Most of you in here have grown up in church. You've heard old crazy, ugly preachers your whole life. But maybe this morning you're sitting there saying, you know what? Something seems a little different. Jesus is more to me than just a name that we sing about in church on Sundays. He's more, and more than anything, I recognize my deep, desperate need for him. I have a need for Christ. I am blind and I and I and now I'm seeing my need. You know what the answer is for you today? Turn to Christ. That's right. Put your hope in him. Trust in him to save you. Listen, I want to talk for just a moment to the kids that are in the room. Maddie, you looked up awful quick. I want to talk to the children. Ellie, I want to talk to you. I know that you come to church and you hear the gospel every Sunday. You hear the Word of God taught. I pray that you hear it taught in your homes. I could do a better job about teaching it in mine. I'll go ahead and confess. But don't think this morning that you're just a child and you're too young to follow Christ. I want you to understand that you need Jesus too. I want you to understand this morning that if this morning, if you don't know Christ personally, you are also, you're a sinner that is in need of Jesus. You need to be saved. You need to turn to Christ and call on his name. The Bible says the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. And you may be thinking this morning, well, I'm just a kid. I don't need all that gospel stuff right now. Yes, you do. Listen, yes, you do. If you're old enough to hear my voice and to understand the words that are coming out of my mouth, you need Christ. You need to be saved. You need to call on his name. You need to turn from your sin. You need to publicly profess your faith in Christ if you have it in this baptistry back here. Because one day we're all going to stand before God. And we're all going to have to give an account of what we did with Jesus. We're going to have to speak to what Jesus did with us. Do you believe this morning? Do you trust in Him? Do you understand your need to be saved? Do you understand your need to call upon Christ? And listen, this morning we're going to have a time of response, and there's nothing magical about that time at all. But it can be a wonderful time to make something public that you need to make public. This morning, obey the voice of God. The Bible says, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Respond to Jesus in faith. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, I thank you for your word. Lord, I thank you for the gospel. I thank you, Lord, for what you're doing in the life of this church and what you're doing in the hearts of people. And Lord, I pray that you would move, that you would change hearts, that you would call sinners to yourself. Lord, I pray that you would encourage your church, that you would embolden us to not care about what the world thinks of us, but that we would seek to be obedient to you and you alone. That we would be bold for Christ. Lord, help us to glorify you. Not only on Sunday morning, but Lord help us by your grace to apply your word to our lives and to live it out. Lord, if there's anyone lost today that needs to be saved, would you move their hearts? Would you move their hearts to call upon the name of Jesus? Listen, it's not important. You don't have to call upon the preacher's name. Call upon the name of Jesus because he is the only one who can save. Amen. Understand 385 is where.