Jesus Wants to Work in Our Lives - Part 2
The Gospel of John
John 9:3-38
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - February 15, 2017
(Revised October 2, 2019)
BACKGROUND:
*John 9 centers around one of the Lord's wonderful miracles. Jesus healed a man who had been blind ever since the day he was born. Verses 1-7 say:
1. Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.
2. And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?''
3. Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.
4. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.
5. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.''
6. When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.
7. And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam'' (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
*Jesus miraculously healed that man and sometimes He gives miraculous healings today. But Jesus also gave that man the greatest miracle of all: the spiritual healing of salvation. All physical healing is temporary, but the healing of salvation lasts forever!
*Thank God, Jesus was sent from Heaven to be our healer. The Lord boldly declared this truth in Luke 4:18-19 when He said:
18. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. HE HAS SENT ME TO HEAL the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.''
*Jesus surely healed this blind man, but this miracle quickly got the man into trouble with the religious rulers who hated Jesus. The happiest day of his life also became one of the hardest days in his life, but Jesus works in the hard times too. And this part of the story shows us more about how the Lord wants to work in our lives. Let's begin by reading vs. 8-17.
MESSAGE:
*God is at work in our world, and there are countless testimonies of this truth. Here's an example that shows how far God goes to bring people to Him. This happened in the spring of 1998, and I heard it from Herb Hubbard.
*Herb was one of our deacons in West Monroe, and he heard it from a man at work named Jimmy. Jimmy's son, Jay, had been witnessing to one of his friends for a long time. And Jay couldn't tell if he was making any progress.
*But these two friends were big duck hunters, and as they drove out one day, it was obvious that Jay's friend had been thinking about everything. But he felt like he needed a sign, and he said, "You know, -- I 've never shot a banded duck before. If I shoot a banded duck today, that might be a sign from God."
*You may not know this, but shooting a banded duck is a very big deal to duck hunters. Well, that young man shot 3 ducks that day, and the third duck did have a band. When the friend cut the band off, he was amazed to find that it said: "Jesus loves you."
*I would call that a miraculous meeting with a duck, and yes he did put his trust in the Lord. But the greatest miracle wasn't that young man shooting the right duck. The greatest miracle was when that young man trusted in our crucified and risen Savior Jesus Christ.
*God goes to amazing lengths to get people saved. God the Son, Jesus Christ, even humbled Himself to become a man and die on the cross for our sins! And right now, God is at work in countless ways. And this story of the blind man helps us see how Jesus wants to work in our lives.
1. FIRST TONIGHT, JESUS WANTS US TO SPEAK UP ABOUT OUR SAVIOR.
*The Lord gives us great things to say about our God, great things from His Word and great things from His work in our lives. God gives testimonies to His people, and He wants us to speak up about Him. The Lord can even turn our troubles into testimonies. That's what Jesus did for this blind man. And thank God, he had the courage to speak up about our Savior.
*We see the healed man's first testimony in vs. 8-12:
8. Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?''
9. Some said, "This is he.'' Others said, "He is like him.'' He said, "I am he.''
10. Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?''
11. He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed, and I received sight.''
12. Then they said to him, "Where is He?'' He said, "I do not know.''
*There were a lot of things that healed man did not know about Jesus. I don't think he was even saved at that point. But he gave a testimony for Jesus Christ, and that's what God wants us to do.
*Notice that the blind man didn't have a great speaking voice, or fancy clothes. He was a beggar! He didn't have a great education. He couldn't read. As a matter of fact, he had never seen a word in his whole life. But he did have a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, and Christians, so have we!
*This healed man passed his testimony on to many other people, and now through the Bible, he passed his testimony on to us. (Aren't you glad he did?) You never know how much good you will do when you speak up about our Savior!
*About 25 years ago, Jill Briscoe went to an international conference for Christian women. Many women came from countries where they were persecuted for their faith. And one young woman told how she became a Christian, in spite of growing up under Communist persecution.
*When no one else was around, this girl's grandmother used to whisper three little words in her ear, "God loves you." Nothing else, just "God loves you."
*Eventually the grandmother passed away, and the little girl grew up. But after the fall of Communism in eastern Europe, missionaries and evangelists began preaching freely in this young woman's country. One day, she went up to a street preacher and asked, "Can you tell me about the God who loves me? Do you know who He is and where I can find him?" (1)
*The preacher told this young woman about Jesus Christ, and she trusted in the Lord! But it was her grandmother who planted the seed. It was her grandmother who told her that God loved her. You never know how much good you will do when you speak up about our Savior! And that's what the Lord wants us to do.
2. JESUS ALSO WANTS TO GIVE US THE STRENGTH WE NEED TO TAKE A STAND FOR HIM.
*We must not think that Christian life will be without pain or suffering or sacrifice. There will be hard times, but the Lord will give us the strength we need to take a stand for Him. And the healed man had this kind of spiritual strength.
*We first see his strength when he was hauled before the Pharisees in vs. 13. Remember that these religious fanatics had man-made rules for everything under the sun. They were especially strict about the Sabbath Day. It was even against their law to heal someone on the Sabbath, but Jesus ignored their cruel man-made laws.
*That's one of the reasons why most of the religious rulers hated the Lord, and were trying to kill Him. The Apostle John first reported this back in chapter 5. There Jesus miraculously healed a man from a crippling disease that had plagued him for 38 years. Jesus also healed that man on the Sabbath Day.
*John 5:16-24 tells us:
16. For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.
17. But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.''
18. Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.
19. Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.
20. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.
21. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.
22. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,
23. that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
24. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life."
*That is the background for the confrontation we see hare starting in vs. 13:
13. They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees.
14. Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.
15. Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.''
16. Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.'' Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such miracles?'' And there was a division among them.
17. They said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?'' He said, "He is a prophet.''
18. But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight.
19. And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?''
20. His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind;
21. but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself.''
22. His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.
23. Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him.''
*This healed man was on the thinnest ice with those hate-driven Pharisees. And he faced great danger by taking a stand for the Lord, because in vs. 22, "the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that (Jesus) was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue."
*It's hard for us to relate to the kind of danger the healed man faced that day. But Christians all over the world face the same kind of persecution and worse in places like Communist China.
*Two weeks ago, Breitbart News reported that "the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has forced Christian churches across Henan province to replace the Ten Commandments with quotes from President Xi Jinping, the ruler of their atheistic government.
*One pastor from a state-run Protestant church said that the CCP's latest move is part of a systematic plan to erode Christian doctrine in the country. . . 'The government's first step is to prohibit religious couplets' said the pastor, who spoke under the condition of anonymity. 'Then it dismantles crosses and starts to implement the "four requirements" by ordering the national flag and "core socialist values" to be placed in churches.
*Surveillance cameras to monitor believers and religious activities are then installed. The last step is to replace the Ten Commandments with Xi Jinping's speeches. The Communist Party's ultimate goal is to "become God." This is what the devil has always done.'" Breitbart added that the Communists are also replacing images of Jesus Christ with photos of Chairman Xi.
*But with all that, it's much worse in other countries. The watchdog group "Open Doors" now ranks China only 27th on their list of countries where Christians face the most severe persecution. (2)
*That's the kind of danger this healed man faced from the Pharisees. They had great control over people's lives. John Gill explained that being put out of the synagogue at the extreme meant "he might neither hire, nor be hired. The other people did not trade with him. And they did not employ him in any business, unless very little, just to keep him alive. Being put out also meant that his possessions could be confiscated." (3)
*That's the kind of danger the healed man faced here, but God gave him the strength to stand up for Jesus. Please look starting in vs. 24:
24. So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.''
25. He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.''
26. Then they said to him again, "What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?''
27. He answered them, "I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?''
28. Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples.
29. We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from.''
30. The man answered and said to them, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He has opened my eyes!
31. Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.
32. Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.
33. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.''
34. They answered and said to him, "You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?'' And they cast him out.
35. Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?''
*The Pharisees cast him out. He was rejected and cut-off from family and friends. He was rejected by society. It was a harsh punishment, and it was ironic. This was the happiest day in the healed man's life! For the first time ever, he could see! It was the happiest day of his life. But it was also one of the hardest days of his life.
*He had been cast out of the temple, but that's when Jesus came, and the great comfort of vs. 35 is that Jesus found him! Jesus found the healed man and gave him all the strength he needed to carry on. Now the Lord will give us the strength we need in life. That's why in Philippians 4:13, Paul could boldly say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"
3. JESUS WANTS TO GIVE US THE STRENGTH WE NEED TO TAKE A STAND FOR HIM. AND BEST OF ALL, HE WANTS TO SAVE US.
*There is no doubt that this healed man was saved by the Lord. Verses 35-38 make his salvation clear to us:
35. Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?''
36. He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?''
37. And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.''
38. Then he said, "Lord, I believe!'' And he worshiped Him.
*The healed man believed in Jesus Christ as a prophet, and the Son of God who became a man. He also believed in Jesus as the Lord of his life. Then in vs. 38, he bowed down and worshiped Jesus, and that's what God wants us to do..
CONCLUSION:
*Jesus Christ is worthy of our worship because He is the only begotten Son of God! Jesus is also worthy because He came into the world to save us from our sins.
*It was easy for Jesus to heal that blind man, but it cost the Lord His life to save that man's soul! The perfect, sinless, Son of God took all of our suffering and punishment when He died on the cross for our sins.
*And if you will call on the Risen Savior, if you will believe in Jesus, if you will receive Him as your Lord and Savior, then He will save you too! Call on the Lord to save you right now. Then trust Him to give you the strength you surely need in life.
(1) Jill Briscoe - HEARTSTRINGS - Wheaton, IL - Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1997, p.214 - Source: email from Sermons.com 01/26/2003
(2) Breitbart News: "China Forces Churches to Replace Ten Commandments with Xi Jinping Quotes" by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D. - 18 Sep 2019 https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2019/09/18/china-forces-churches-to-replace-ten-commandments-with-xi-jinping-quotes/
(3) JOHN GILL'S EXPOSITION OF THE BIBLE by Dr. John Gill, D.D. - 1697-1771 - Published in 1746-1766, 1816 - John 9:22
