WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:04.080 Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:12.480 We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the Spirit of the Great Commandment. 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:14.640 Thanks for joining us today. 00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:17.920 It's good to be back with you this morning. 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:24.000 I want to begin by thanking ultimately God, but also you, our church family. 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:30.320 These past four weeks with our little newest baby Lucy have been such a gift to us. 00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:47.119 And we and my family, I'm so thankful for this, have just seen the love of the church poured out on us, and we've been thanking God for his steadfast love displayed through meals, I mean, amazing meals, messages, prayers, but most especially, I think, just the gift of rest. 00:00:47.600 --> 00:01:04.480 That sounds funny to say when you have a you know almost five-week newborn in the house, but we really have considered this to be a season of rest, not sleep, but the kind of rest that comes when you have nothing to do but to hold a baby that really needs nothing else than to just be held. 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:08.159 And so I'm incredibly thankful for you, church. 00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:13.040 Now I have to admit, I don't know how much you guys missed me over these last four weeks. 00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:18.719 You wouldn't know this, but we had two of the highest attended Sundays that we've had in the history of our church. 00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:22.799 Two of the highest giving Sundays. 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:27.280 I met with the small group leaders, the small groups launched, they're going amazing. 00:01:27.519 --> 00:01:30.079 The Blue Jays made it to the World Series. 00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:34.159 All that to say I'm starting to question my worth around here. 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:36.480 And I spoke with the elders this past week. 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:45.840 They said if the Leafs make it to the playoffs, I'll be forced on another sabbatical because there's obviously some sort of connection here between me being away. 00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:52.239 But truly, this has been one of the most restful seasons of our family's life, and so I just want to thank you, church, for that. 00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:55.599 I want to thank the elders and the staff for the weight that they pulled. 00:01:55.680 --> 00:02:00.319 I especially want to just thank Mark, so thankful for you, brother, so thankful for you carrying so much of the weight, preaching twice. 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:02.000 Four amazing sermons this last week. 00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:03.439 Can we just praise the Lord? 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:06.640 Praise the Lord for all that he has done. 00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:08.719 It is good to be back. 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:10.000 I'm excited to be back. 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:12.639 I'm excited to get back into the Gospel of John with you. 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:14.000 And so you can turn there now. 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:15.759 We're gonna be in John chapter 9. 00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:18.479 You're gonna want a copy of God's word in front of you this morning. 00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:20.479 And so our ushers are coming down to the front. 00:02:20.639 --> 00:02:21.680 You can flag one of them down. 00:02:21.759 --> 00:02:26.800 If you don't have a copy, they'll get one into your hands, which you can keep as our gift to you. 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:28.719 I'm sure that you've noticed it. 00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:35.759 This time of year in Ontario is the time of year where we start to wonder if the sun has forgotten its job. 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:38.639 You wake up in the morning, it's dark. 00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:42.800 You go home after work, it's dark. 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:45.759 Nothing but darkness. 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:49.280 And I don't know about you, but the darkness does something to me. 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:50.879 It messes with my rhythm. 00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:58.080 I mean my circadian rhythm, but uh, of course, just my rhythm in life, my energy, practically walking around that house in the morning. 00:02:58.159 --> 00:02:59.280 I'm stepping on toys. 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:00.960 I didn't know that were there. 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:04.240 We need light. 00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:08.800 At a season like this, I can't wait until we start to get to the lighter days again. 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:13.840 I know we're just heading into more darkness, but I'm reminded that we thrive on light. 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:24.080 And it makes me think of Jesus' words in the festival of booths in John 8, where he stood in that crowd and he declared, I am the light of the world. 00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:39.280 Now those words were profound, and we're gonna see that this morning, but they're also provocative because Jesus didn't just stand up and say, Hey, listen, I am a light, and if you follow me, I'll give you some guidance among many different lights. 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:50.000 Jesus made this powerful claim in our life that he is the light, meaning apart from him, you cannot see anything as it truly is. 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:56.319 Now that's a profound claim, that's a provocative claim, and it's the claim that Jesus made in John 8. 00:03:56.479 --> 00:04:02.240 It's a claim that in John 9, John the gospel writer, fleshes out for us. 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:15.599 John shows us what that light actually does in our life, and in John 9, Jesus walks into a scene and being the light of the world, shines his light on all the people there. 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:22.399 And what we find is that this light is colliding with blindness. 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:26.160 There's one person who can see, it's Jesus. 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:33.040 And there is one person who walks away, seeing, and it's the man he healed. 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:35.519 No one walks away the same. 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:39.439 This morning, the same light is shining on you and me. 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:45.519 Jesus, the light of the world, through his word and the power and presence of his Holy Spirit, is shining on you and I. 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:51.360 And I want you to understand that Jesus is the light that shines with inescapable power. 00:04:52.079 --> 00:04:58.879 He shines on us this morning, and he shines with this inescapable power that no matter what, you cannot walk away change. 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:00.319 Now that's uncomfortable. 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:04.160 You're here now, and unless you know you do the kind of the awkward thing, you just get up and leave. 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:10.800 I want you to understand that if you hear Jesus' word, it will change you for better or for worse. 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:14.240 And so the question this morning is not, you know, whether or not we'll be changed. 00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:15.439 The question is how. 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:17.920 I want you to see that in the text this morning. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:19.920 So would you stand with me as we read God's word? 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:22.399 I'm gonna read all of John chapter 9. 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:24.480 It is a thrilling story. 00:05:24.639 --> 00:05:28.240 It is a long story, so maybe just massage out your legs for a moment. 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:30.480 We're gonna do this together. 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:37.920 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:41.199 And his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned? 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:43.199 This man or his parents? 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:45.439 That he was born blind. 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:51.839 Jesus answered, it was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:56.000 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. 00:05:56.319 --> 00:05:58.959 Night is coming when no one can work. 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:02.480 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:07.199 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:14.240 Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, Go wash in the pool of Siloam, which means scent. 00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:17.199 So he went and washed and came back seeing. 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:23.680 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, Is this not the man who used to sit and beg? 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:25.360 Some said, It is he. 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:27.439 Others said, No, but he is like him. 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:29.600 He kept saying, I'm the man. 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:34.160 So they said to them, said to him, Then how are your eyes opened? 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:43.279 He answered, The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, Go to Siloam and wash. 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:47.439 So I went and washed and received my sight. 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:49.120 They said to him, Where is he? 00:06:49.279 --> 00:06:50.879 He said, I don't know. 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:55.920 They brought to the they brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 00:06:56.079 --> 00:06:59.279 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:06.879 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight, and he said to them, He put mud on my eyes, and I washed and I see. 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:13.439 Some of the Pharisees said, This man is not from God, for how does he not for he does not keep the Sabbath. 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:17.199 But others said, How can a man who is a sinner do such signs? 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:18.959 And there is division among them. 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:23.759 So they said again to the blind man, What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes? 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:25.839 He said, He is a prophet. 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:36.879 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight, and asked them, Is this your son, who you say was born blind? 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:38.639 How then does he now see? 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:46.720 His parents answered, We know know that this is our son, and that he was born blind, but how he now sees, we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. 00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:47.519 Ask him. 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:49.839 He is of age, he will speak for himself. 00:07:50.079 --> 00:07:52.639 His parents said these things because they feared the Jews. 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:58.240 For the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:00.480 Therefore his parents said, He is of age. 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:01.519 Ask him. 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:07.759 So for the second time they called the man who had been born blind, and said to him, Give glory to God. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:10.000 We know that this man is a sinner. 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:12.560 He answered, Whether he is a sinner, I do not know. 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:16.319 One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see. 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:19.759 They said to him, What did he do to you? 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:21.439 How did he open your eyes? 00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:24.319 He answered them, I have told you already, and you would not listen. 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:25.600 Why do you want to hear it again? 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:28.319 Do you also want to become his disciples? 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:33.360 And they reviled him, saying, You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:38.399 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from. 00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:41.759 And the man answered, Why, this is an amazing thing. 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:44.879 You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:50.960 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 00:08:51.279 --> 00:08:55.840 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:58.720 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:03.200 They answered him, You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us? 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:04.879 And they cast him out. 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:08.240 Jesus heard that they had cast him out. 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:11.919 And having found him, he said, Do you believe in the Son of Man? 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:15.519 He answered, And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him? 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:20.879 Jesus said to him, You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you. 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:24.080 He said, Lord, I believe. 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:25.679 And he worshipped him. 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:33.440 Jesus said, For judgment I come into this world, for those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind. 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:38.799 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things and said to him, Are we also blind? 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:46.000 Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would have no guilt, but now that you say we see, your guilt remains. 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:47.840 This is the word of the Lord. 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:49.679 You can take a seat. 00:09:52.320 --> 00:09:59.759 Loved ones, the light of Jesus this morning is shining with inescapable power. 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:11.519 And before we rush ahead to understand what is in this text, I want us just to stop right now and settle this truth deep in our hearts that we need this light. 00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:14.879 What the world needs is this light. 00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:15.759 Amen? 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:30.159 Anxiety, fear, hidden sin, self-reliance, every moment that's made you feel like you can't take make it another day. 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:34.720 All of these things fester and grow in darkness. 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:48.639 And this morning, the opportunity that Jesus is holding in front of us is to allow the light of the world that brings healing in it to enter into every part of our life. 00:10:49.279 --> 00:10:57.440 And so we can praise God this morning that this light is shining, and yet we'll see something important here, and that's that this light is not safe. 00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:00.080 It is a good life, but it is not tame. 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:10.480 And you know that in the story that as this light shines, there's only one person in the midst of many blind people who is healed. 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:16.000 The rest walk away more hardened, and I want you to know the same reality is true for us this morning. 00:11:16.080 --> 00:11:21.120 That as the light of Jesus shines through his word, it never leaves anyone the same. 00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:25.440 It always changes us, it always calls for a response. 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:28.559 So let's settle it in our hearts right now. 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:29.600 We need this light. 00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:32.559 Maybe you're making this prayer right now in your own heart of hearts. 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:39.519 God, God, shine, shine in every room of my heart, even those that I have the door closed to, even where I've been living in darkness. 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:44.960 Spirit, give me courage, give me confidence to allow the light of Jesus to shine. 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:53.360 Jesus is offering a seeing that only comes to the blind this morning. 00:11:54.000 --> 00:12:02.720 And so we embrace our blindness as we read of this tragedy that while grace is revealing life, pride can conceal it. 00:12:02.879 --> 00:12:04.320 I want you to see this this morning. 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:08.240 The first thing I want you to see is that the light shines to give sight. 00:12:08.799 --> 00:12:10.559 The light shines to give sight. 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:12.159 Notice how the story begins. 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:13.679 John sets the scene. 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:18.399 As Jesus passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:20.879 Now, did you notice something throughout John 9? 00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:23.759 Whenever John refers to this man, he doesn't give him a name. 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:28.879 He keeps calling him, according to his crippling problem, the man blind from birth. 00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:31.360 I don't know about you, I'd be kind of offended by that. 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:40.240 If you called me the pastor with an ugly face, and you would not call me by name, I would think something is up. 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:41.200 And something is up. 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:50.960 We don't know this man's name, we don't know his family, we don't know his story, because the real story here, John is signaling to us, is his blindness. 00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:55.759 His physical blindness is actually meant to point us to something deeper in the story. 00:12:55.919 --> 00:12:57.360 And we see that right from the beginning. 00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:00.799 Notice that the disciples in verse 2 want to analyze it. 00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:03.200 Rabbi, they say, do you see this in the text? 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:04.320 Who sinned? 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:08.000 This man or his parents, they want an explanation. 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:10.159 Jesus wants something deeper. 00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:22.720 Jesus wants this blind man, not for not his blindness to be explained, but for the Son of God to be revealed in the midst of his blindness. 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:34.159 And John and Jesus ultimately are pressing you and I this morning to the reality beneath this man's blindness, that his blindness is a picture of our own blindness. 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:38.799 Now, our blindness isn't, it's not in the eyes, it is in the heart. 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:50.799 And this is what Jesus is talking about at the end of the chapter in verse 39, when he says, For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, that those who see may become blind. 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:56.159 There is a type of physical seeing you can have while being spiritually blind. 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:01.279 And so notice right from the get-go that everybody in the story is blind. 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:07.039 Yes, some are physically blind, but all, all are spiritually blind. 00:14:08.080 --> 00:14:11.440 Now, here is the theological reality of your life. 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:16.480 Here is us taking pages of scripture, applying them to the reality of our life. 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:20.240 The consequences of sin are not just guilt. 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:24.960 The consequences of sin are blindness. 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:41.519 We are born unable to see God, unable to understand spiritual truth, unable to recognize the light of the world even when it is standing right in front of us. 00:14:42.559 --> 00:14:52.720 Now, the tragedy of John 9 is that the religious elite, the people who supposedly know the most about God, are actually the blindest. 00:14:53.039 --> 00:15:02.639 I mean, they could quote Isaiah 42, what Mark read earlier this morning, that the servant of the Lord will open the eyes of the blind and bring prisoners out of darkness. 00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:15.600 They knew that verse, they taught that verse, but when the servant of the Lord came and opened up blind eyes and brought prisoners out of darkness, who was it who missed it entirely? 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:19.039 It was the Pharisees. 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:22.320 They were plagued by a blindness. 00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:29.360 And Loveland, I want you to understand that that blindness was not just their problem, that blindness is in all of us. 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:30.559 Now understand this. 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:33.360 This is where the Christian worldview begins. 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:42.320 Not with an optimism about human potential, but with a realism about human blindness. 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:52.080 Every part of the gospel of grace is an answer to this condition that we do not seek God. 00:15:52.960 --> 00:16:00.480 It begins in Genesis 3, where we're told that Adam and Eve's eyes were opened, but the only thing their eyes are open to is their shame. 00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:01.679 It's their guilt. 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:08.080 In Isaiah, God condemns Israel's blindness and promises a servant who will open their eyes. 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:14.480 Paul in 2 Corinthians 4 says the God of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers. 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:29.120 In Romans 1, Paul makes this fascinating argument that because sinners have handed themselves over to sin, God has handed them over to their sin so that they have become futile in their thinking, so that their minds have become darkened. 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:34.960 This is the reality of our spiritual blindness. 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:36.240 Do you recognize this? 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:41.679 That sin does not just mean you are a bad person who does bad things. 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:48.639 The reality of our sin is that we are blind people who cannot see. 00:16:54.480 --> 00:17:01.519 If you can't see, it doesn't make a difference if you're in a janitor's closet or on the edge of a grand canyon. 00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:04.160 A blind person cannot see. 00:17:05.200 --> 00:17:11.039 And you need to know this morning, the truth that we are being confronted with this morning is that neither can you. 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:22.319 But I want you to understand that it's when when we embrace this blindness that the Christian life not only begins, but continues. 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:27.519 This is where salvation starts, when we reach out in faith for the hand that can guide us to life. 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:35.839 This is where sanctification happens, when we daily reach out to the hand, to the scriptures, in obedience to the hand that guides us to life. 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:40.640 In fact, I was reading Genesis this week and reminded of the kind of faith that was in Abraham. 00:17:40.799 --> 00:17:46.960 When Abraham was promised a son, you know what the problem was initially? 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:52.960 The problem was not that Abraham couldn't see, the problem really was that Abraham could see too much, wasn't it? 00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:58.960 When God had promised Abraham a son, Abraham, you know, would have responded to God, God, listen, have you seen my wife? 00:17:59.200 --> 00:18:00.240 She's 90. 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:02.079 Now, husbands, take notes. 00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:03.200 Don't ever say that, okay? 00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:04.720 Don't ever say anything like that. 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:06.640 Horrible idea. 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:10.720 And yet, once Abraham started responding in faith, you know what happened? 00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:12.960 He stopped walking by sight. 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:16.400 He started walking by faith. 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:25.680 And scripture turns spiritual sight upside down, saying that it has nothing to do with what we see and understand physically. 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:29.279 It has everything to do with what we see spiritually and believe. 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:31.920 Now, this brings it back to us. 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:38.240 We might nod along, we might say, yes, the world is blind, but but do you know how that blindness lives in you? 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:47.359 Now, as we seek to get very practical here, let me give you seven ways really quickly that as we pause and ask, how do we know that we are blind? 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:54.079 First, let me tell you this: that the scriptures tell us that we know we're blind. 00:18:55.920 --> 00:18:59.279 No you're blind when you minimize sin instead of mourning it. 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:08.640 Jesus told us, blessed are those who mourn, but we often shrug off sin as though it's not a big deal. 00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:13.119 And the reality is that we're blind to how serious it really is. 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:19.839 Secondly, I want you to see that you're blind when you fear being known more than being wrong. 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:28.559 The scripture calls us that through Jesus Christ we can walk in the light as he is in the light, but so often don't we keep our cards close. 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:30.799 We hide, we sin in private. 00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:34.000 We think as long as no one finds out, we'll be okay. 00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:36.480 That's blindness. 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:42.000 Third, I want you to see that you you know you're blind when you know a lot about God, but you rarely talk to him. 00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:46.799 I mean, this is the blindness of the Pharisees that's really laughable throughout the gospels. 00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:53.119 These are the people of whom Jesus said, these people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 00:19:56.240 --> 00:20:02.400 Fourthly, you know you're blind when you see others' faults clearly, but you ignore your own. 00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:10.160 This is the silliness Jesus speaks about of noticing a speck in your brother's eye when there is a log in your own. 00:20:10.319 --> 00:20:11.920 This is a blindness. 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:20.000 Fifth, I want you to see, you know you're blind when you can explain the gospel, but you don't rest in it. 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:21.599 You know of Jesus. 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:28.960 You don't heed his words to come to him when you are weary, even though he said, I will give you rest. 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:35.599 Sixth, you know you're blind when you confuse activity serving for intimacy. 00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:45.200 Like Martha, you're anxious and busy with many things, but you rarely find time to sit at the feet of Jesus. 00:20:46.319 --> 00:20:53.359 Seventhly and lastly, I want you to know that you are you know you're blind when you won't surrender until you understand everything. 00:20:53.920 --> 00:20:56.400 You're unwilling to trust the Lord with all your heart. 00:20:56.559 --> 00:21:05.119 You are all too willing to lean on your own understanding and loved when I give you this list to show you that this is blindness. 00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:08.000 And my hope is that you see yourself here. 00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:14.079 My hope this morning is that you're like, man, I if I don't have all seven of those, I at least have five. 00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:32.240 Because look what happens in this story when Jesus sees blindness, Jesus is moved with compassion and he rolls up his sleeves and gets to work. 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:45.039 Notice that when the disciples see a problem in this blind man demanding answers, what Jesus sees is a stage that is set for his power to be displayed. 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:48.960 So, I mean, loved one, we don't need to be discouraged by our blindness. 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:54.160 If that list is you this morning, don't be discouraged because look at verse 3. 00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:55.039 Are you ready for this? 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:56.640 Look at the text with me. 00:21:56.880 --> 00:22:04.240 It was not that this man sinned or his parents, but That the works of God might be displayed in him. 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:12.079 You know, Jesus wants to heal your blindness. 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:14.880 Jesus wants to change you. 00:22:15.119 --> 00:22:20.000 And in verses four to five, he explains that this is why he came to be the light of the world. 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:23.680 He came to shine in the darkness so that blind eyes might be opened. 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:27.519 He is the answer to the prophecy we just read in Isaiah 42. 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:30.240 By him blind eyes are opened. 00:22:30.400 --> 00:22:32.880 This is the work he came to the world to do. 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:38.240 And in verse 6 to 7, John shows us him doing exactly that. 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:40.640 I mean, I think we've read this story before. 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:45.519 So, you know, there was no audible gasp when we read that Jesus spits on the ground. 00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:48.240 And he makes a mud out of spit. 00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:51.279 You know, there is no audible, like, oh, this is disgusting. 00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:57.759 He spreads it on the man's eyes and he sends him to the pool of Siloam. 00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:00.640 And this man is healed. 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:07.119 You know, everything about this scene cries out the authority of Jesus Christ. 00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:08.960 First, he uses his saliva. 00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:13.599 I mean, this was a thing that according to the Levitical law was unclean and unlawful. 00:23:13.680 --> 00:23:18.240 And Jesus, by spitting on the ground and touching it, shows that he is above the law. 00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:20.079 Then did you notice something interesting? 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:23.279 In order to make the man see, he creates mud. 00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:34.720 Now, listen, you don't need to know much science to know that if you put mud on your eyes, you're gonna see worse than you did before you had the sight problem. 00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:41.920 You go to your optometrist and they behave like this, and you will think that you are being scammed, right? 00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:49.200 Mud doesn't help you see, mud blinds you, and yet Jesus, listen, Jesus is the king over physical matter. 00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:56.240 I mean, he will use mud to make you see because he is the king of all things. 00:23:57.039 --> 00:24:01.920 Notice that he sends this man to the pool of Siloam, which means sent. 00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:14.079 Every detail John is pointing us to the same truth that this man is the light of the world who is breaking into our lives, who is breaking into your life, who is breaking into my life to do what? 00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:15.920 To give us sight. 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:20.880 So let me ask you, do you have hope this morning? 00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:33.839 I mean, if you see your blindness, if you know how it's affecting your life, and right now you know you see the light of the world that is Jesus Christ, I want you to know you have hope. 00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:38.960 We are blind, but praise God, the light of the world shines to give sight. 00:24:39.119 --> 00:24:40.400 Now the story doesn't end here. 00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:42.960 If it ended here, it would be a real fairy tale story. 00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:43.519 That'd be nice. 00:24:43.599 --> 00:24:46.400 Jesus makes the mud, he heals the blind man, and yet it doesn't. 00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:50.480 It goes on and it only gets nastier, which brings us to our second point. 00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:56.480 Second thing I want you to see this morning is that the light shines to expose hearts. 00:24:57.279 --> 00:25:00.079 The light shines to expose hearts. 00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:08.319 What begins to happen and unfold in verses 8 to 34 is really one of the most sobering realities in John's gospel. 00:25:09.359 --> 00:25:17.920 The same light that opens one man's eyes then goes on to blind everyone else's. 00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:30.880 And in fact, as the story unfolds, the more the light shines, what we find is that the more that one that this one man worships, all the while, the more the others resist. 00:25:31.839 --> 00:25:41.759 In other words, soft hearts get softer and more aware of who Jesus is, and hard hearts get harder and more hardened to the work of Jesus Christ. 00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:45.440 This is what the light of Jesus always does. 00:25:45.759 --> 00:25:47.519 It exposes hearts. 00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:49.440 This is what the light of the world does. 00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:50.400 It is like the sun. 00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:56.000 The sun can melt wax, and yet it can harden clay. 00:25:56.319 --> 00:25:58.559 And so the question is not about the light. 00:25:58.720 --> 00:26:02.400 The question is, what kind of heart do you and I have this morning? 00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:06.319 Do we have a heart that embraces our blindness? 00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:13.119 And if we do, there is much hope for us and excitement because Jesus is here to shine light and give sight. 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:22.880 Or do we have a heart that, like the Pharisees, is hardened and resistant and therefore will be hardened all the more? 00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:25.680 That's what makes this passage so serious. 00:26:25.839 --> 00:26:32.559 It exposes you and I and asks us: do we have a heart that will ultimately be softened in worship and loved one? 00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:34.319 I want you to know that's the question this morning. 00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:41.119 Like when we sing this last song, is your heart having stood before the blazing glory of Jesus Christ for 40 minutes? 00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:43.119 No, like 45, we can be honest. 00:26:43.279 --> 00:26:44.160 50, maybe. 00:26:44.400 --> 00:26:53.279 50 minutes standing before the blazing glory of Jesus Christ with his word open before you will your heart be melted in worship. 00:26:53.680 --> 00:26:58.400 You know what the sad reality is that should make some of us weep is that it will not. 00:26:58.640 --> 00:27:00.319 You will stand indifferent. 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:03.440 You will not care about the grace that we sing about. 00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:07.599 It hardens or it softens. 00:27:08.799 --> 00:27:12.559 We see that unfolding, how this light is exposing the human heart. 00:27:12.640 --> 00:27:17.200 And I want you to notice in this passage three things the light exposes in the human heart. 00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:22.079 What we love most, what we fear most, and what we trust most. 00:27:22.400 --> 00:27:24.799 Notice how it exposes first what we love most. 00:27:24.880 --> 00:27:27.039 We see this in verses eight to seventeen. 00:27:27.359 --> 00:27:30.640 The neighbors cannot make sense of what happened. 00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:39.519 They've seen this man every day, the same street corner, the same bowl in his lap, and now he is standing before them with open eyes. 00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:41.839 Now look here at verse eight. 00:27:44.160 --> 00:27:50.480 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, Is this not the man who used to sit and beg? 00:27:51.119 --> 00:27:52.720 I mean, is this the doppelganger? 00:27:52.799 --> 00:27:54.319 Is this the what is going on here? 00:27:54.400 --> 00:27:55.680 The neighbors are trying to make sense. 00:27:55.839 --> 00:27:57.440 Some say yes, others say no. 00:27:57.599 --> 00:28:03.359 Finally, the man speaks up in the chaos, and in verse 9, he keeps saying, I am the man. 00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:10.559 It's unbelievable what the light of the world can do in a life that it's submitted to it. 00:28:10.960 --> 00:28:13.839 And it is such a simple testimony that the man has. 00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:16.319 There's no debate, there's no theology degree. 00:28:16.559 --> 00:28:18.160 Just, hey, listen, Jesus did this. 00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:21.119 I mean, that's no instructive for us, okay, as we evangelize. 00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:23.119 Jesus has done this. 00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:29.279 But instead of celebrating, notice that the people around this man, look at verse 13. 00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:32.640 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 00:28:32.799 --> 00:28:34.720 I mean, consider this for a moment. 00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:38.559 Such a miracle of restoring sight has happened. 00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:44.720 And instead of celebrating and cheering in the streets and praising God, they bring him in like he's a convict. 00:28:45.279 --> 00:28:48.160 That's how resistant to grace they are. 00:28:51.039 --> 00:28:54.799 Now, verse 14 for the Pharisees gets really intense. 00:28:54.960 --> 00:28:58.799 If this was the Pharisee convention, there would be an audible gasp here because look at verse 14. 00:28:58.880 --> 00:29:01.359 Now it was the Sabbath day. 00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:05.039 The Sabbath day. 00:29:05.759 --> 00:29:08.799 When Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 00:29:09.039 --> 00:29:15.440 And what John is doing here is like is trying to open our eyes to the how ridiculous it is. 00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:30.720 And here's a man who has been restored, his sight. 00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:38.160 And the Pharisees are so caught up in man-made religion, so blind to what's going on that they completely miss it. 00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:44.319 And that audible gap that we point towards the Pharisees, really, we should point inward now because you and I have the same blindness. 00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:46.319 We live with the same blindness. 00:29:47.119 --> 00:29:52.559 See, the Pharisees, they are less amazed by the miracle and more offended by the method. 00:29:52.720 --> 00:30:00.079 So that in verse 16, some of the Pharisees said, This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath. 00:30:00.880 --> 00:30:02.079 Others pushed back. 00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:04.480 How can a man who is a sinner do such signs? 00:30:04.640 --> 00:30:07.440 And John tells us there was division among them. 00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:09.039 This is what the light does. 00:30:09.279 --> 00:30:12.319 The light divides and it exposes. 00:30:13.920 --> 00:30:16.559 The neighbors of this man, they just love normalcy. 00:30:16.640 --> 00:30:18.960 And so, you know, I mean, we love this in our neighborhoods, right? 00:30:19.039 --> 00:30:22.079 We want to drive out every morning and things are the same. 00:30:24.240 --> 00:30:25.599 Neighbors love normalcy. 00:30:25.680 --> 00:30:30.400 The Pharisees love rules, but but what is shocking here is nobody loves grace. 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:33.759 Nobody loves healing. 00:30:34.240 --> 00:30:36.319 Certainly not enough to rejoice in it. 00:30:36.640 --> 00:30:39.440 And love, and I wonder where you are in the story this morning. 00:30:39.759 --> 00:30:42.640 When the light shines on you, what love is exposed? 00:30:43.359 --> 00:30:46.880 Do you celebrate the grace of forgiveness in Jesus Christ? 00:30:49.039 --> 00:30:53.519 And following Jesus is not for the faint of heart. 00:30:54.319 --> 00:31:04.559 There are people who have told me that they couldn't become doctors because they don't like to see blood and they don't like to see bile and the messy, uncomfortable insides of the human body. 00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:05.680 And I think that's interesting. 00:31:05.759 --> 00:31:07.920 I didn't become a doctor for different reasons. 00:31:08.160 --> 00:31:12.880 The one reason is just like math and science had probably killed a lot more people than I helped. 00:31:13.359 --> 00:31:14.720 But that is the reality, isn't it? 00:31:14.799 --> 00:31:17.920 That if you're gonna be a doctor, you need to be okay with the messy insides. 00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:21.440 Then there's other people who like watching pimple popping videos on YouTube. 00:31:22.319 --> 00:31:24.799 And the people who are laughing right now are the people who are watching it. 00:31:24.880 --> 00:31:30.000 So if there's someone beside you who laughed at the pimple popping, that they're a pimple popping video watcher, okay? 00:31:30.240 --> 00:31:30.799 A little Dr. 00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:32.160 Seuss there. 00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:34.000 That here's the reality. 00:31:34.079 --> 00:31:38.480 I mean, if you want to be a doctor, you need to get used to seeing the messy insides. 00:31:38.720 --> 00:31:41.839 And the same is true for the follower of Christ. 00:31:42.079 --> 00:31:46.319 When the light of Christ shines, it exposes what is inside. 00:31:46.480 --> 00:31:52.480 And listen, this isn't like the message that the world gives you that, like, oh, you just got to look inside yourself. 00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:59.759 You know, I guess I mean I saw a message in there, I'm sure it's great for whatever four-year-olds are in that room in that daycare. 00:31:59.839 --> 00:32:01.359 It said, you are you. 00:32:02.000 --> 00:32:04.799 And I said, I don't know what that means. 00:32:05.440 --> 00:32:08.720 But underneath it, it said, you are beautiful. 00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:12.160 And I mean, I'm listening I'm a parent here, but we can be honest. 00:32:12.240 --> 00:32:14.079 Some, anyways, let's move on, okay? 00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:17.599