Examples of faith: Elijah. Daniel. David. NT: Centurion. Woman who grabs Jesus robe.
THE MAN BORN BLIND. John 9. Bold stand for Jesus. Journey of faith. Man, who inspired the hymn AMAZING GRACE (John Newton). Was blind but now I see.
PRAY.
Intro
· Believers – Be unashamed. Be bold. Stand for Jesus. Wise serpents, harmless doves. Not to seek conflict because of Jesus; but not to shy away.
· Pose questions. Who is Jesus? Do you know Him? Maybe heard all sorts of things about Him, preconceived ideas. Just ask for open mind and look at Jesus revealed in the Bible.
READ PASSAGE.
John 9.
1. As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6 After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “Wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So, the man went and washed and came home seeing.
8 His neighbours and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some claimed that he was.
Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”
But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”
10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.
11 He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So, I went and washed, and then I could see.”
12 “Where is this man?” they asked him.
“I don’t know,” he said.
13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was A SABBATH. 15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.”
16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”
But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So, they were divided.
17 Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”
The man replied, “He is a prophet.”
18 They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. 19 “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”
20 “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” They said. “We know this man is a sinner.”
25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”
26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
27 He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”
28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”
30 The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
34 To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
39 Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”
41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.
1 GOD LOVES AN HONEST SEEKER
· Who is Jesus? Question all these people are asking. Parties guessing or coming to all sorts of wrong conclusions. But blind man sticks to the facts.
· HIS FAITH JOURNEY. Sticks with the facts (what I know; what I don’t know) and lets them take him on a journey. HEALER. PROPHET. MAN OF GOD. MESSIAH. CS LEWIS. Lunatic, liar or Lord. Hasn’t given option of good teacher.
· SHOWS HIS FAITH IN THE FIRST MEETING WITH JESUS. Could have argued with Jesus. This is ridiculous. What can that do? Miracle came as he stepped out in obedience to words of Jesus. FAITH OBEYS BEFORE MIRACLE.
· If HONESTLY seeking… find God as you listen to words of Jesus.
· GOD INVITES QUESTIONS. “We know”. Repeated more times in John’s gospel than in any other gospels. Christianity a rational faith. Don’t need to turn brain off.
· WARNING HERE. Closed mindedness. Great error of the Pharisees. Already made up their mind. Tradition and closed mindedness can get in way of finding Jesus - or of God wanting to do a work in your life.
QUESTION THIS PASSAGE ASKS PEOPLE: DO YOU REALLY KNOW JESUS?
· My own conversion at age 20. Before that, thought I knew Jesus. KNEW OF HIM. DID NOT KNOW HIM. Religious, but no disciple of Jesus. At University. Remember mocking Christians. Three years later came to Christ.
HOW DID THE CHANGE HAPPEN? UNASHAMED witness of a co-worker. Saw genuine peace, joy and kindness I as atheist did not have. Meaning and purpose. Dignity and worth. BUT IT WAS A SINGLE CONVERSATION I OVERHEARD WHERE BOLDLY STOOD FOR JESUS.
2. GOD LOVES AN UNASHAMED WITNESS
· He will use a bold witness.
· Set up on Jesus part? Puts this man in a position where he has a chance to speak for Jesus. Excuses maybe – I didn’t ask for this. Want comfortable life. Pressure comes on him immediately after his encounter with Jesus. Faithful under fire.
· Why does Jesus do this? Clue in Matthew 5:13-16. MSG “Let me tell you why you are here … God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine!...
· HIS BOLD WITNESS. ONE THING I KNOW… WAS BLIND BUT NOW I SEE. MAYBE YOU WANT TO BE HIS DISCIPLES ALSO?
· HOW TO CULTIVATE KIND OF ATTITUDE OF BLIND MAN?
· NOT SEEKING A FIGHT BECAUSE OF JESUS, BUT NOT SHYING AWAY EITHER. RECOGNISE – WILL COME A TIMES WHEN FOLLOWING JESUS THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO SAY NO TO THINKS OTHERS APPROVE OF; AND SAY YES TO THINGS THEY DISAPPROVE OF.
· Put the praise of Jesus above praise of men. Love this passage in MSG. Matthew 5:11-12 MSG.
10 “You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.11-12 “Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort, and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even! —for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.
· GREAT ENCOURAGEMENT THIS PASSAGE: JESUS WENT SEARCHING FOR THE BLIND MAN AFTER HE’D BEEN TOSSED OUT OF THE SYNAGOGUE. BLIND MAN STOOD WITH JESUS AND JESUS STOOD WITH HIM. Will stand with us too.
· WARNING: FEAR OF MAN
· PROVERBS 29:25. Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever TRUSTS IN THE LORD is kept safe. Fear of man a tool of Satan to render you ineffective. Wants to stop work of God by keeping you silent. CHURCH GOES FORWARD AS HIS PEOPLE STEP OUT IN FAITH AND SPEAK WITH COURAGE. Choose: By God’s grace, will lay it down.
· TIPS FERGUS McINTYRE. Blue collar. Own it early. Harder to stand longer you don’t put it out there.
· PRAY FOR BOLDNESS (Acts 4:29), PRAY FOR OPPORTUNITIES… AND THEN SPEAK.
· PAUL struggled with fear of man. Asked believers to continue to pray to give him boldness (Ephesians 6:19-20). Peter struggled with it. But with Jesus they overcame. Some refs: Galatians 1:10; Acts 5:29.
· Rev 12:11. NKJV. They overcame him by the blood of the lamb and the WORD OF THEIR TESTIMONY (SPEECH), and they did not love not their lives to the death.
· Three testings: SOCIAL ISOLATION (family and friends – why church is important); FEAR/INTIMIDATION; COMPROMISE ON TRUTH (INTEGRITY). Jesus faced same tests when went to the cross. Deserted by disciples; intimidation; pressure to compromise (Pilate: “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”) JESUS PASSED TEST FOR US. POWER FOR US TO WITNESS.
· Young person. University. World will try to pressure you follow the crowd and turn from Christ. Decide to follow Jesus. Equipped: Campus Crusade for Christ. Worldview Australia – teaching kids to engage with aggressive worldviews.
PRAYER
· Do you KNOW Jesus. Not just about Him. But do you know Him? Questions about Jesus? We’d love to chat with you. GOSPEL MESSAGE IS THIS – SIN SEPARATES US FROM GOD. ALL OF US SINNERS. GOD PROVIDED A REMEDY – JESUS. ASKS FOR A FAITH RESPONSE. SIMPLE AS PRAYING: I KNOW I AM A SINNER. TODAY I TURN FROM MY SIN. I TURN TO YOU JESUS AND
WILL FOLLOW YOU ALL DAYS OF MY LIFE. If sincere, have peace with God and eternal life. Love to talk with you about how grow in your faith.
· PRAY FOR BELIEVERS. Believers – feeling pressure to hide. School, work, friendship circles. Dare to be bold. Brave. Unashamed. Take a stand for Jesus. Shine a light. Pray for boldness.
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