John chapter 9, I almost feel like I'm beginning a new book, turning to chapter 9. For a couple of reasons, 1 chapter 8 presented to us a number of things that took us some time to work through, but there's also a shift in ministry for Christ and a shift in his reception by those whom he is ministering to, and it's such a change as to present to us sort of a whole new day in our study. And so chapter 9 brings to us an altering or a changing of the tone of the Scripture as we have been studying it. Let's look together at chapter 9. I'd like to read here the first seven verses and then focusing on the theme of chapter 9 together. Listen for it as God who speaks to us. As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, it was not this man that, or rather, it was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. And having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva, then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, go, wash in the pool of salam, which means sent. So he went and washed and came back seeing. May the Lord bless the reading of his word. As we take a look at chapter 9, I'm taken by the transition from chapter 8 and the way that Jesus begins the passage. As he passed by, as he passed by, he is passing out of the temple. We have a time period here between the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of Dedication. The Feast of Dedication is in December. And so there's about three months of time here between. Most likely, this is following very quickly after the Feast of Tabernacles. And let me remind you of how that ended. Jesus, after he had taught there in the Tabernacle, had those who rejected his ministry and rejected his self-presentation. And they picked up stones to stone him and Jesus left their midst because his time had not yet come. Now whether this is in just the few moments after or whether this would be a day or two after, we can't be sure, but I'm convinced by the language and also by the theme of the chapter continuing the theme of Jesus being presented as the light of the world that there is a connection with the events that have just passed. There's no record of a passage of time. There is no reference point given to us that would cause us to think that there has been any significant passage of time. So as we begin chapter 9, it might very well be that shortly after Jesus had an attempt upon his life by stoning, he now is passing through the temple gates and sees a man there and seeing him begging at the gates just like we have recorded in Acts where there is a crippled man and Peter sees him there at the beautiful gate. It's called, so Jesus would see him there. It was common that they would be at the temple. It's common that they would expect people to give alms there at the temple. It was where beggars typically gathered. So this man most likely was a fixture here. And as Jesus is passing by, the disciples would have passed right on by as well. But Jesus took note of him. He saw a man that was blind from birth. If you skip down to verse 3, and the last part of that verse, an explanation is given by Jesus that I link with the very first verse. But that the works of God might be displayed in him. Jesus is saying to the disciples to a very simple question, it's not this man's sin or his parents sin, but the reason he's blind is that the works of God will be displayed in him for the glory of God. And then if you go back and you revisit chapter, or verse 1, as he passed by, we see here becoming together of events in the providence of God that should make us marvel. Because what seems to be just a random exiting of the temple and a passing by a man has been planned by God in all eternity, has been planned by God that this man was blind from birth so that at this very moment, Jesus would encounter him and restore his sight. It was for that purpose that he was born. And so it was for that purpose that Jesus saw him that day. But like we encounter in all of our lives, we are just walking to and fro and we're passing by this or we're casually mentioning that or we're noticing this other. And we see them all as so many random acts in our life, so many random events without any purpose, without any reason. But in God's providential design, for all of his creation, in which not one atom is out of control or else he would not be a sovereign God, taking all events to their ordained ends, God had ordained that this man be blind from birth. Did he know why he was blind from birth? No. He was blind and begging that he realized that today was the day of his healing. It doesn't appear so. He was a blind man that Jesus noticed as he was passing by. Let's continue down. There's two observations I'm going to make. I'm going to save the first observation actually for last and take care of the second one first because I believe that for our reasoning and our understanding, they flow that way well. The second observation which will list first is actually in verse 4. Where Jesus says, we must work the works of him who sent me while it is day, night is coming when no one can work. The disciples first instinct with this blind man was to inquire about the blindness. They see him and they say, how is it that this man became blind? They want to collect some data. They make observations. They're wondering about what their eyes behold. Jesus gives them a very brief answer, doesn't he? He just simply says, it wasn't this man's sin. It wasn't his parent's sin, but it was for the glory of God. And then Jesus tells them, we have a work to do. I have come to do that work and I'll continue to do the work while it is day because when night comes no one will work anymore. Spurgeon, a great Baptist minister, said the Savior has a greater respect for work than for speculation. When we say work, let us not become confused and somehow think that we're talking work leading to salvation. We're talking about the vocation of being a Christian. What is it that Christians are supposed to do? We're supposed to do the work of God that has been given to us. That's our commission. That's our purpose. That's how we glorify Him. We don't glorify Him by simply sitting in isolation and thinking thoughts about God. That's Christian meditation, that's Christian prayer. And all of that is, of course, a biblical mandate. We are to meditate upon God. We are to consider God. We are to pray to the Lord. But we are also to do the work of God as Christ did the work of God. And it would have been an act of disobedience if he were not to do the work of God. He came to do the work of God and he said, I have a work to do and I must be about it because God sent me here to do that work. And that work included the healing of this man to demonstrate what spiritual sight truly was as these teachings begin to accumulate and the picture becomes more and more clear. Do Spurgeon's comment, the great Presbyterian minister from Philadelphia, James Montgomery Boyz adds this, questions are good. There are answers to such questions. And Jesus gives them. But there is an eternity to ask and answer questions. What counts now is to work for the time as limited and the workers are few. And Jesus here is not simply saying we are to be about work, but he is adding to that the time for work is short. The time for being about the work and the business of God is short because a night is coming and when the night comes the work will end. And there will be no more opportunity for work. Inquiry about the ways of God and inquiry about the person of God will continue into eternity as we continue to never exhaust the vastness of the person of God. As we continue to learn and explore as the scriptures show us the angels themselves do. They tell us in the scriptures that the angels observe the working of God with man with wonder. And they are learning and observing as God continues to manifest and show himself in his creation. It could be said that that is the purpose of creation is to show forth God. The mandate of our work is that we must work. Jesus' work was in obedience to God's will. Jesus' work was in response to the need of man. God had sent him to do a work. And so Jesus was very deliberate and determined to do the work, but the work was not random. He also observed the need of man and it was there that he applied himself in the work. He did the work of God in application, the application of that work was two men. And here he heals a man. Wherever he looked, wherever he raised his eye, he eyed, he saw sheep lacking a shepherd. And he was moved to compassion today. We are told to lift up our eyes, the fields are white and the harvest. We are told to lift up our eyes and take pity because even today we see sheep. We see sheep without a shepherd. Wondering the fields exposed to the dangers and without guidance from God. We are told to look at them and to pity them, men and women who are perishing without Christ, who are perishing without the knowledge of the Savior. What Jesus did in person, we are commissioned to do in the power of the Holy Spirit. We are told to go out and we are to bring spiritual sight to the blind. We don't have the power to give spiritual vision and cause the blind's eyes to open. The Holy Spirit does that with the work of the Word. And so we carry the scriptures, which is the Word of Christ, who was made incarnate. And we carry that scripture out and we preach and we teach. And with the power of the Holy Spirit being conjoined with that ministry of the Word, the blind are made to see. Perhaps not physically, perhaps at times they are made to see physically, where it suits the purposes and will of God. But more importantly, their heart is open and their spiritual eyes are made to see the truth of God's Word. As long as it is day, Jesus said. Here he is conveying a sense of urgency that we should hear. He's not simply exhorting them, you know you really should be busy doing the will of God. He follows it by saying as long as it is day. What if I were to give you a task? And what if it was an important work to be done? And I was to give you this task and you said, you know I think I can handle that. And I think I can get that done. And then I looked at you and I said, you have as long as it is day today. Because when night comes, the deadline has been reached and there will be no more opportunity for you to accomplish the mission. You would begin to think more urgently instead of thinking to yourself, oh I have a week or two weeks or a month to get this done, you would realize I have only as much time as there is daylight. And today of course you would thank God for daylight savings time because that extends your day a little bit. But beyond that you would realize that you have a compressed period of time that is very finite in length to get the work accomplished. The church is supposed to carry with it this sense of urgency that the work of God needs to be accomplished while it is day because night is coming. God is eternal, these eternal. But time is a created event. And it will pass just as surely as creation itself will pass. And when night comes, the time that is the opportunity will have passed as well. Richard Baxter, a great pastor and a mentor through his writing for so many other pastors, said, I preach as though I might never preach again and as a dying man to dying men. Is that our orientation? Is that our disposition? I fear that we do far too much trivial work. We do far too much busy work. We busy ourselves every day with non-essential issues and items, things that bring us pleasure. We approach our Christianity sometimes as if it is a hobby, something that we do because we just enjoy the culture of the church. But Jesus has said there is a work that must be done in the day is short. And you must be about the work because when night comes, that is the end of the work. The second observation which actually precedes this in the text is that as we transition from chapter 8 into chapter 9, and then as we look towards the end of chapter 9, and we see a report by the Pharisees that they accuse Jesus of calling them blind even though they could physically see, we might phrase it this way, that in chapter 8, you remember the woman caught in the adultery, and they brought the woman there to stone her. And Jesus, as he wrote in the dirt and then as he spoke with them, they fled because of the conviction of their own sin. And here we have a man who is shown the light of the world which is Jesus Christ, he does not flee. He responds and he glorifies God and he worships. And then at the end of the chapter again we have Pharisees who are not able to understand the teaching of Christ. So you might condense this down and say when the light is shown to men, some run, some see, and some are actually blinded by that light. Some run away, they reject it outright, some are made to see, some are blinded by the light that is shown them. And John, chapter 1, we're told that the light has come into the world and the light has made known salvation unto men, and that theme of the light continues in this chapter. chapters 9 through 12 deal with those who will receive Christ, those who accept Christ, those who respond to Christ. So if chapter 8 was showing the work of the light to convict sin, then chapters 9 through 12 show the power of the light of Christ to save from sin. So it's thematically again, chapter 9, we'll link with the Feast of Tabernacles moving towards the Feast of Dedication and staying with the theme of Jesus' light. The first observation, God's Providence and Rule which I've mentioned early on is by way of introduction in all of life. The man there by the gate, as I've already mentioned, was there as Jesus was passing by and so we see the connection of God's work with His people and this man. And the disciples ask a question, was it this man's sin or his parents' sin that caused him to be blind? Their question is born out of ancient Jewish understanding or misunderstanding of the Scripture and of the way God works with His people. They did not believe in the transmigration of a soul or reincarnation. They didn't believe that this man might have sinned in a previous life and therefore he was still under the conviction of that sin and made to suffer physically for it. That would not be what they would hold. However, there was a sense that they believed that one might sin in the womb. Remember Jacob I loved and he saw I hated Paul's teachers in Romans chapter 8 and he saw a said to have grabbed hold of Jacob's heel while he was in the womb. And so there's this activity in the womb where the Jewish belief was that even in the womb we were still under the curse of sin and man could sin in the womb. John the Baptist said to have let for joy in the womb at the presence of Christ when Mary appeared there to Elizabeth. And so we do sense that there might be some work of the Spirit within the womb prior to birth. We aren't sure of that we can't go any further but from that they would understand that before birth a man might sin in the womb and so be cursed by God on account of that. And Job we also read the same sense of misunderstanding of sin. Job's three friends they take a lot of they take a lot of grief but as I was reviewing I found these three friends were very well intentioned. They did have a genuine compassion and care for Job in Job chapter 2 or yeah Job chapter 2 the friends come when they find out that Job has lost his home, his family. He's lost all of his wealth. He's lost all of his life stuck basically he went from being a very rich man with a very large family with lots of property and influence and a big estate to having absolutely nothing. Nothing at all in such a short period of time his three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him and they came each one from his own place. Elf as the Timonite, Bill Dad the shoe the shoe height and so far the nameite and they made an appointment together to come to show and sympathy and comfort him. This is a wonderful act that they're doing. They've heard that a brother has been struck with tragedy and they talk together and they decide let's go together and let's comfort and show him sympathy. And when they saw him from a distance they did not recognize him they raised their voices and wept. This is a wonderful show of compassion that they have for Job they haven't rejected him now that he's a nobody they are weeping for him because of this great care they have. They tore their robes they sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven and they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights and no one spoke a word to him for they saw that his suffering was very great. Now these are three men who are very genuine in their concern they went to Job and they stay with him sitting on the ground with him seven days without speaking a word. Just being there with him being there for him because they see that his discomfort and his misery is so great and then in chapter four seven through nine we get their perspective. Remember who that was innocent who that was innocent ever perished or where were the upright cut off as I have seen those who plow in equity and so trouble reap the same by the breath of God they perish and by the blast of his anger they are consumed. Here we hear and we see this over and over again they are trying to discern why did this happen to Job. And they look around and the only thing that they can figure is because God is just and would never act unjustly Job must have sinned and he's being punished for his sin there was no other logical explanation. They could not understand why this would happen. That continued in Jewish thought and it is a logical position isn't it? How else would we explain it? We struggle with evil. We struggle with tragedy don't we? When a child is born with a deformity or a defect don't we wonder why would God do this to a child when there is a stillborn or where there is a miscarriage don't we also call out to God and ask why would this happen? Why does this tragedy strike when there is a death of a young person prematurely in our view and a car accident or even when someone loses their job but they've been a very faithful and hard working person. When a young person in the list in the military goes overseas and is killed perhaps even a two day or two before he returns home don't we call out to God and say why? Why the tragedy? Why the evil? Why does this befall us? Why does this happen to us and our mind begins to search for the cause and the effect for our tragedy? That's the same scene that is happening here. Jesus walks by and ordinarily they wouldn't have even taken notice of this tragic figure because they were so common there were lepers there were not in Jerusalem they would have to be at a distance but there were lepers and there were cripples and there were people with deformities they didn't have the technology that they have now to correct these even before birth there were no prenatal vitamins there were none of these things to help ensure healthy birth and so those who survived the birthing process sometimes were deformed sometimes were born ill or sick or blind and they would have to beg for a living to make their living. And so this was not uncommon at the temple to see beggars who were hoping to find at the time people were going into worship God hearts willing to give but Jesus on this day stops and he looks and he notices I don't know the gesture I don't know how he stopped but it somehow or another he stopped and took notice of this man we're not told that he said anything but the disciples watching every move Jesus is making. Perhaps because of the near stoning incident their senses are particularly heightened and they're paying attention they turn and they want to speak and address the situation Jesus is looking at what happened to this guy he has center or did his parents sin and so God has cursed him on account of the parents is this the parents punishment to have a crippled or a blind man for a son. And Jesus says to them it's neither one you see there's nowhere for them to pin that point that they're trying to put on we have a blind man and they want to draw a line from that back to some calls. That can be dealt with that can be logically assessed and reasoned with that we might not commit the same infraction and mistake and Jesus is here telling them in their ears they're hearing this is some random event. Now that's not what it was but that in their ears is what they have first registered it wasn't any sin committed by this man or the other that made him blind. It was for the purposes of God and this does not make God unjust because God has a purpose in all suffering. It doesn't Jesus notes his blindness was for the purpose of God's glory but that doesn't mean that suffering is not without a cause. It doesn't mean suffering is not without a cause and it doesn't mean that sin is not the root of the cause of suffering. Sin is the fount of all suffering isn't it but we trace it back to the fall. It was at the fall that man's condition was made such that there was suffering. We carry corruption in our body and we carry corruption in our spirit until it is made new by Christ. But even in the suffering God has a purpose and the scriptures reassures of this over and over again. Romans 8.28 all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. In Romans 5.3 more than that Paul says we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character. So here we have two things one and assurance that everything that happens in the course of life is under the providence and control of God and is for the good of those who love Him. The second point is that God uses those sufferings to produce endurance and to produce character in other words like a piece of granite that is being chiseled away to create a fine sculptor. God is working through our sufferings to produce endurance and character to shape us and to craft us into the image of his son. To give unto us Christ likeness we have difficult times. Hebrews 12.10 gives us yet another purpose in suffering. He disciplines us for our good that we may share his holiness and the writer of Hebrews goes on to inform us and assure us that if we just simply reflect back to our own father, what father says he is there that loves his child that will not correct them and discipline them but allow them to continue on to their own destruction. It is through correction it is through discipline that we learn righteousness and in that righteousness we are able to become Christ like our characters being shaped by discipline and correction because these are the expressions of love that seem painful for the moment but in them they have their good harvest and fruitfulness of producing righteousness and peace. Suffering then can show forth the glory of God, tragedy can show forth the glory of God. All of God's creation serves this very purpose, doesn't it? Doesn't all of God's creation exist to show forth God, to show God and all that we do and when we gather here and when we gather for worship, that is why we are so particular because in this place particularly we are very deliberate to show forth God and everything that we do so that those who do not yet know God might see him through the ministries of our church. All creation, all events, all of his creatures to include man exist to show forth God and his glory, to testify of God, his righteousness, his peace and his grace or his wrath and his judgment. That is why we exist, not for ourselves, we do not exist for our own selves or our own pleasure, we exist to show forth our creator, our God. Job was used by God as Satan continued his work with Job, both Satan and the angels in heaven, learned that Job's love was not because of the rewards he received in this life. Job's love of God and his commitment to God was not because of all the good that God had blessed him with but because God himself is worthy of praise. Because God himself and his own person is worthy of Job's affection and if you were to turn to the end of the book of Job, you would find there Job making his final case as he tried to connect the dots and bring resolution in his own mind as to why this tragedy befell him and he lost his wife, his children, all of his livestock and his livelihood, his home, all tragically and suddenly. And God simply answers him by saying, let me show you myself and let me show you my power in my creation and let me show you yourself in comparison. And Job simply says, let me cover my mouth, I'll never say another word because God alone is worthy. So Satan and the angels learned that man's response and love of God through Job they learned is not because God blesses us and shows us and gives us and treats us but because God himself is worthy of our commitment, love and praise. When Lazarus died and was raised it was not because God simply thought that it would be humorous to those around him for Lazarus to go through a sickness and then die and for all those around him to mourn. It served the purpose of manifesting the power of Christ over life and death that God would be known in Jesus. When tragedy happens to us, the difficult times come. We have to decide how to react. We have to decide how we will feel about it. When suffering comes, when he asks ourselves, is this God's work with us as correction and character shaping in our life? Are we being disciplined by God in love because we are earning and we are straying and we are traveling in a direction that takes us away from God and doesn't show forth God to the world. And we are not being shaped like Christ and God's single-minded purpose for us is that we who are saved in Christ Jesus would become like Christ and all things. That we would have the mind of Christ and become imitators of God. And so whenever we are walking away from that purpose, He corrects and He disciplines. So we need to ask ourselves in hard times, is God working to discipline and correct me and shape me to Christ's likeness for His glory? Or is it like Job or like this blind man where we do not know why this happened. We can't connect the dots because of something we did in previous years or yesterday. We can't say that because of some sin tragedy has befallen me with the exception of original sin which keeps the corruption of death alive in my body and in my spirit. And we can't say that I know why this happened. It's because there's a cause and an effect that I can point to. What happens when tragedy seems to strike randomly? Here is where a sure knowledge of the Scriptures aids the believer in his journey because we know that God is providentially in control of all events and that we are shaped by the events in our lives. But perhaps it's not even for us. Perhaps it is for those who would witness our response and God's working in us in tragedy. Perhaps it is so that they would know God better. Perhaps it is for the angels themselves in heaven as it was with Job and we will not have the answers in this life and we'll have to wait until we step into eternity to know why these tragic events occurred. Whatever the cause and whatever the purpose we need to know this that in all things our purpose is to glorify God and to bring praise to His name whether in good times or in sufferings whether in tragedy or whether we know that we are paying a penalty because of our disobedience and waywardness and our heathen actions that we take in this life. We can move to correct those, we can move to try to be in conformity to God's word. But when it comes and there is no apparent reason when like this blind man we someone would say why have you had such a hard life? Did you sin or are you just living that way and we might look and say perhaps it was just simply because of our interaction today that God would be glorified. Perhaps like Esther we would say it was for this very moment that I was born and no other to show forth the glory of God and when do we do that while it is still day for night is coming and with the night comes the close of the age and the end of time as we understand it and the judgment. And when that comes the work is complete and we should be moved with pity for those sheep without a shepherd we should be moved to lift up our eyes and see the fields that are wide under harvest and we should show forth the glory of God by our obedience in working while it is day for while it is day the light of Christ is made to shine.