Today's scripture is John 9, 18, through 41. The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, and so they called the parents of the man who received his sight and asked them, is this your son who you say was born blind? How then does he now see? His parents answered, we know that this is our son and that he was born blind, but now he sees, we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is of age, he will speak for himself. His parents said these things because they fear the Jews. For the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he has to be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, he is of age, ask him. So for the second time, they called the man who had been born blind and said to him, give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner. He answered, whether he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know that though I was born blind, now I see. They said to him, what did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? He answered them, I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples? And then we bowed him saying, you are his disciples, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as far as this man, we do not know where he comes from. The man answered, why this is an amazing thing? You do not know where he comes from. And yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does as well, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. They answered him, you were born in utter sin, and would you teach us, and they cast them out. Jesus heard that they had cast them out, and haven't found him, he said, do you believe in the Son of Man? He answered, and who is he, sir, that I may believe in him? Jesus said to him, you have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you. He said, Lord, I believe, and he worshiped him. Jesus said, for judgment, I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind. Some of the Pharisees near him heard these scenes, and they said to him, are we also blind? Jesus said to them, if you were blind, you would have no guilt. But now that you say we see, your guilt remains. May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and the hearing of his word. Many of you are probably familiar with the musical, the sound of music, particularly those of us who are of a certain age.
The sound of music is one of my favorites, and it contains so many wonderful songs. These are just a few of my favorite things.
Did you get out on Brother Vino?
If you are familiar with the screen version of the sound of music with Julie Andrews, she's playing Maria, and she falls in love with Captain Von Trapen. Her and the Captain eventually express their love for one another. And they do it, of course, because they're musical. They do it through song, right?
And the song that they sing together and one another goes like this, here you are standing here loving me whether or not you should. So somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good. Because nothing ever comes from nothing, nothing ever could. So somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good.
The understanding is that such love and such blessing has to be earned to receive something so good. The only explanation that I have is that I must have done something good. Now remarkably, beloved, remarkably, many people, and there I say this morning, most of us view religion and even the grace of God in this way. If we are good, we get God's grace.
And if we are not, then we won't.
Whether you admit it or not, those who have good things in this life,
what relationships, family, job, whatever, those who have good things in this life is a result of them doing and being good. Consequently, those with difficulty is a result of them not being or doing so good.
We think this way, but we weren't the first. This is how Jesus is a Cyprus thought.
When they encountered the man born blind and John chapter 9, you recall, Pastor Phil reminded us the last time we were there, right? When they encountered this man that was blind from birth, they immediately thought, right? And chapter 9 verse 2, that someone must have done something wrong.
Sin, they said to Jesus, this man or his parents, that he was born blind. In other words, somewhere in his youth or childhood, somebody did something that wasn't good and yet beloved is the point of the whole gospel of John. Here is in chapter 9, this encounter with the blind man is a summation of the whole gospel of John in the revelation of the purpose and person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, don't miss it. Jesus Christ is the revelation of God that demonstrates just the opposite of what you and I think the grace of God is.
God's grace is the very opposite of the sentiment of the captain and Maria.
When Jesus encountered the man born blind, he was intent on teaching his disciples who is the point. He is going to teach them who he is and what he really came to do. The Lord Jesus, full of grace come to bring the grace of God to suffering sinners.
Beloved, listen, if there is something good in our lives, it is not because you did something good. Did you hear what I said? If there is something good in your life, you don't need to search your youth or your childhood. If there is something good in your life, it is because God is gracious and grace is something good. I'm going to be labored as point. We're going to get to the text in a minute, but I'm going to be labored as point because I really, really, really want us to know this. I want this to fashion and form the community that we are. I want this to be the fabric of East Point Church.
Christians are people of grace. Christians are people of grace. We are saved by grace, Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8. We are saved by grace. Now we say it by grace. We are called by grace. We are saved by grace. First Corinthians chapter 15 verses 9 and 10. We are called by grace. We are saved not because we did something good, but we are saved by grace. We are called not because we are worthy of any calling, but because of grace. And now we live by grace, Titus chapter 2 verse 11 and 12. We live because every day grace instructs our lives, teaches us how to walk, teaches us how to live. We are saved by grace. We are called by grace. We live by grace. And therefore beloved we speak with grace. Colossians chapter 4 and verse 6. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive.
There's nothing, nothing, there's nothing that just gets under my skin, the mean Christian. We don't speak this to one another. We are just mean to one another. Nothing bothers me more than when I see this in my own life. It's not being kind, not being gracious, not speaking in ways that when people leave me that they are encouraged and believing Jesus. What is the most important thing in your life? Beloved, I want to suggest to you this morning that the most important thing in your life is the grace of God. God's grace is everything. It is everything. God's grace is everywhere in our lives, whether we're up or whether we're down, whether we're in or whether we're out, whether we're right, or whether we're wrong, everything we have. And everything you are beloved is because of God's grace. It is not just the foundation of your forgiveness, but grace forms and fashions the very fabric of our lives. And unfortunately, we take it for granted, but God's grace is everything, beloved. It's everything. And I want to inform you this morning that it takes time to understand that. I get it. It takes time to understand that 53 years. Feel grasping over that. My wife and my children these days, they like to say that I'm getting soft as I get older. Look at her shaking her head. They like to say that I'm getting soft when I get older. And maybe I am, I don't know,
but I like to think that I am just becoming more and more aware of my old sinfulness.
And therefore more and more thankful for God's grace, which therefore hopefully moves me to be more gracious to others, which others interpret as being soft. And that right be day. He called me soft yesterday. This beloved is the glory of God in saving sinners. This beloved is the glory of God and demonstrating his grace. The greatness of God's glory is seen in the greatness of his grace. This is the height. This is the mountain top of the glory of God. It is the grace of God toward sinners. That is the greatest display of his glory and his graciousness toward sinners. And that is why chapter nine is so important because it is the peak of Jesus demonstrating
the glory of God and being gracious towards sinners. This is why he came. This is why he came. And our text points us to that truth this morning. This is the encounter with this blind man in John 9. And isn't it amazing? I don't know if you've thought about it, but isn't it amazing that it is such an extended encounter? Most of the time when Jesus heals somebody, he heals them and is done with, they may talk about it a little bit, but it's done with. Here is a long, extended encounter because here beloved, this is why Jesus came to reveal the glory of God through the grace of God and saving lost and blind sinners. Now the last time we were in John 9, Pastor Field introduced us, right, to this man who had been blind from birth. And he reminded us how Jesus had unexpectedly, he did that unexpectedly and unapologetically healed his blindness on the Sabbath. And this was done not just to the amazement of the blind man, but to the amazement and then consequently the consternation of the crowds and the Jewish authorities.
Not only did the Pharisees not believe that Jesus could do this, they couldn't accept what it would mean for Jesus as Messiah. They couldn't accept that Jesus could do this because such a healing was absolutely unheard of. I mean blind people receiving their sight was a rare thing, very rare beloved, but someone finding sight who was born sightless had never been seen. You give eyes to those who have never had them, how you restore life to that which has never lived.
This is the power, this is the glory of the grace of God. The grace of God this morning is unbelievable. The grace of God this morning is unexplainable. The grace of God this morning is undeniable because the grace of God this morning is undefeated. It's unbelievable. It's unexplainable. It's undeniable because it's undefeated. That's what our text is going to teach us this morning. See that in John chapter 9 and verse 18. The grace of God is unbelievable. The Bible says that the Jewish leaders refused to believe, refused to believe. The man had been blind and couldn't now see, so they called his parents. The crowds, the crowds beloved, the crowds found it hard to believe. The Jewish leaders refused to believe it and even when they called his parents, his parents found it a difficult thing to comprehend. Such beloved is the grace of God when it is rightly seen and understood. Who deserves such goodness, who has earned such a blessing, who could possibly be so good as to receive such goodness in return, possible, impossible. You cannot be that good that you would now get your sight impossible. No way. That's unbelievable. His neighbors even said, no, that's not right. That's not even a person. That's not the same guy. No way. They couldn't recognize them. What have a beggar ever done to be so blessed?
Beloved such is the nature of God's grace this morning. What had he done to earn this? The answer? Nothing. What had his parents done to earn this for him? The answer is nothing. How do we know that? It's because he didn't even ask for it. Let's listen beloved. Grace is not God waiting for you to come to him. Grace is Jesus Christ coming to you before you even ask. Unbeatable. Unbeatable. And here we find the glory of God. Here we find the gospel of God. Romans chapter 5 and verse 6, right? You see. You see. This is the blind man. Love it. This is the blind man. You see at just the right time when we were still powerless. Christ died for the ungodly. Now, now, now, very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person. Don't for a good person, someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his love for us in this while we are still sinners. Christ died. Christ died. Christ died. Before, beloved, before you ever thought to call upon Jesus, God sent Jesus to come calling on you. It's what He says. And not because you asked. But because He saw your need for the grace that brings him glory. Beloved, the grace of God is believing the unbelievable. That's what it is. It's believed in the unbelievable. And I've seen some unbelievable things in my lifetime. Just recently, I saw Jeff Basel's and his friends take off from earth and shoot into outer space and come down and land softly upon the earth. Unbelievable. In 2001, I saw on my television a plane that flew into the world trade finish. And I watched that in disbelief, unbelievable. In 2008, the people of these United States elected a black man as president, levable, later elected Donald Trump, levable. There are millions of people who sit in front of a computer pass the field and watch other people play video games. They watch somebody else play Minecraft, livable. But you know what is the most unbelievable thing that I have witnessed in my lifetime is that the Lord Jesus Christ saved me. Beloved, this is what makes grace so amazing. What makes grace so amazing, Beloved, is not that other people get saved. That's amazing enough. But what makes grace so amazing is that God saved a rich, like me. That is unbelievable. In the love of date, we got a restaurant. We got a restaurant. Time is winding up. And we said halfway done. We only owe 0.1, Phil. And we got three more to go. Okay. I know you were thinking that. Okay. And I'm going to lose my voice before it's all over. They tell us if a thing sounds too good to be true. Come on, sister. They tell me that if a thing sounds good to do good to be true, and it probably is. I don't believe it, but let me tell you something that's important. Grace sounds too good to be true, but I'm telling you there is nothing, nothing more true than the grace of God toward sinners. Somebody say true that we ain't go finish. That's just being unbelievable. And because it's unbelievable, then we see that if it's unbelievable, then it's unexplainable. And so the Bible says in verse 24, that for the second time, they called the man who had been born blind and said to him, now you give glory to God. We know this man is a sinner. Any answer, whether he is a sinner or I do not know. But one thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see the fact that grace is unbelievable, lends to the fact that therefore it is unexplainable. The Bible says for second time, the Jewish authorities ask the formerly blind man for an explanation. They wanted an explanation. Explain to us again. Explain to us again, but this time, give the glory to God. Explain again, but this time give the glory to God. Why? Because you remember the first time in 9, 11, what did he say? He said, this man Jesus. And they said, no, we don't want to hear about this man Jesus. Okay. Explain for us again, but this time without Jesus, without Jesus. Why? Because you see, beloved, Jesus didn't fit into their box. Jesus didn't fit into their category. Jesus wasn't one of them. He didn't abide by their interpretations of the law and the theft. He hadn't attended their schools. Jesus couldn't be the reason for his blessing and therefore they wanted to hear an explanation this time without this man called Jesus. And so the formerly blind man said, okay, you wanted explanation without Jesus. Well, all I can say then is, once I was blind, but now I see the words. He said, well, you know, I don't have a satisfactory theological answer. He didn't know the languages or the fancy terminology. He hadn't been the seminary. He wasn't licensed or he wasn't ordained. All he knew is that he had tasted and seen that the Lord was good. And then all the Lord invites us to do this morning. It's all the Lord invites us to do this morning. What it says in Psalm 34 verse 8, oh, come, come and taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in the Him. Beloved, listen, listen to me very carefully. And we're going to wrap up. Listen to me very carefully. Beloved, sometimes, sometimes the only explanation that you have is the one that you feel.
I want that to seek in a bit. Sometimes the only explanation that you have is the one that you feel. Now I get it. I know I know us reform folk. We don't like feelings too much. I get it. I get it. We're not giving over the shouting. You know, we don't raise our hands. We don't dance. At least not in church. At least not in church. I've been to your weddings. I know better. And I know we don't dance. And we rarely say, hey, man, but listen, beloved. I know what that is. I have to feel. I know what that is. That's because we want a faith that is theologically rigorous. I understand that, brother Simpson. We want a faith that is intellectually defensible. I get that because we read in 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 15 that we should always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for the reason for the hope that is within you. I get that because of what the Bible says in St. Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 5 that we want to be able to destroy arguments. And every lofty opinion that raises its head against the knowledge of God and therefore be able with our intellect to take every thought captive. I understand that. I've been in the classrooms. I've read the books, but beloved everything about God doesn't have an answer. Don't be able to explain everything that God does or does not do. Sometimes, sometimes you just have to be left sane. There are some things. I may not know. And there are some places where I can't go. Blimey speaking now of this one thing. My God is real. For I can feel him deep within. Yes, yes God is real. He's real in my soul. Yes, God is real. For he has washed and made me whole. His love for me is like pure gold. Yes, God is real. For I can feel him deep in my soul. There is not always an explanation outside of the one you feel. God is real. I can't give you all your theologically satisfactory answers. All I know is that I once was blind. And now I see all I know is that God is real. And he's real in my soul. It's unexplainable. This is the grace of God, beloved. It is unexplainable. And because it is so unexplainable, they came to realize it is absolutely undeniable. I don't know what you're going to do with it, but it's staring you right in the face this morning. It's staring you right in the face this morning. See what the blind man said to them in verse 30. He said, this is an amazing thing.
This is an amazing thing. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You all teach us that God doesn't listen to sinners. And yet this man Jesus was used by God to open my eyes. What? This is an amazing thing. You guys teach us that open blind eyes wasn't possible. And you hear I stand, eyes wide open. This is an amazing thing. I got news for you guys. You're taking an hour this morning. You're going to take an hour this morning. You understand? This is undeniable. What more proof do you need? What else do you need to see? The testimony of God's grace is standing right in front of you. It is all around you this morning, beloved. Listen, listen to me. Listen to me. The grace of God is here this morning, not just in the songs we sing and they are wonderful songs. And not just in the prayers we pray and they are wonderful prayers. And not just in the words that we reach and I hope some of those are wonderful too. But the grace of God is next to you. Look, look at the person next to you. It is all around you. That person is a manifestation of the grace of God this morning. It's undeniable. They're here. They're here. That's undeniable. That is undeniable. You know what? I try to remind my children. They don't always listen. In fact, they rarely do. I try to remind my children that you don't need any more testimony to the grace and goodness of God than just to be looking around you. You look, you look what the prophet says in Isaiah chapter 42 and verse look you blind. Look, that you might see. Look at how we live. Look at what we have. Look at your parents who have been together for 28 years. Look, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing but the grace of God this morning. Nothing, nothing. Honour, it takes time. It takes time to see that path to feel. But I pray with two young people. Look, everything that your parents have, everything that your parents have done, everything that they have given you is but by the grace of God. It, it, and it's undeniable. You are not coming in my house and giving credit to anything but the grace of God. You can stop at the door. There is no other answer. There is no other reason that the grace and the goodness of God. That's a feel we got to go. Oh, man, people talk today. We go get off on another ten. People talk today about deconstructing their faith, of tearing down their beliefs and convictions of their Christianity. Beloved and to deconstruct is to deny. Here's the question that the blind men would ask them. How do you deny those who were once blind? But now they see. You deconstruct that. How do you deconstruct those who were dead? But now they have been made alive. You deconstruct that. How do I suppose to deconstruct John Newton? For whom the grace, the amazing grace of God was absolutely undeniable. How do you deconstruct the life of Augustine? For whom the grace of God was amazing and undeniable. But I got one even better than John Newton in Augustine. How are you going to deconstruct the Apostle Paul? I mean, here he is. Paul hated Jesus. Paul sanctioned the punishment of Christians. Paul relished the persecution of the church. What do you think the people thought when they heard that Paul got saved? Paul felt that. Galatians chapter 1, verse 13, he says, I know, I know for you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism. How I intensely persecuted the church of God. How I tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was jealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when God, it's always a but God, beloved, but when God who sent me apart from my mother's womb and what did he do? Called me by his grace and was pleased to reveal his son to me. Do you know what Paul said? He did. He began preaching the faith. He once persecuted. You explain that. That is absolutely undeniable, beloved. That's why I say to you this morning, don't be fooled. If you are tempted this morning, listen to me young people. If you are tempted at all to stop believing in Jesus, all I say to you is look around. Open your eyes. Open your eyes and look again, you blind. Look it, look again, you blind. Open your ears so that you can hear you deaf when open your eyes. The grace of God will be staring you straight in the face. Look and see. Look and see. The grace of God is all around you this morning. That's what he was saying to them. I can see. Why can't you see? I was blind. Why can't you see?
They couldn't see, beloved. That's okay because regardless, the grace of God is undefeated. It doesn't matter. They don't see it. It doesn't matter. The grace of God is still undefeated. He was saying in verse 35, actually, verse 34 tells us that they kicked him out the temple. They cast him out. We heard enough of this because they couldn't deny it anymore. They do what people usually do when they can't deny it anymore. They result in violence. So they kicked him out the temple. He knows what it says in verse 35 that Jesus heard that they cast him out and when he heard him, what did Jesus do? He found him. He found him. He witch and found him. They had no more answers. They had no more answers. When they could no longer refute the testimony of his men, they did what most people do, right? They result to name calling and they result in violence. They talked about his mama. They said, you're born and center all along. You come from center because you get out of here and then they kicked him out. Listen, beloved. What the world throws out, the grace of the Lord brings in.
What the world throws out. This is what the grace of the Lord brings in. And then what the Bible reminds us in Psalm 118, verse 22 and 23, the stone which the builders reject becomes the cornerstone. And this is what the Lord does. It says, this is what the Lord does. They rejected the truth. They rejected him. And yet he won. He won because the grace of God is undefeated in Jesus found him. Jesus found him. Do you see that he was blind and Jesus gave him sight. He was lost and Jesus found him. This is Jesus Christ in the nutshell. This is the ministry. This is the person. This is the purpose of Jesus Christ from the very beginning. To give sight to the blind. To find his lost sheep. He was blind. Jesus gave him sight. He was lost and Jesus found him. And I've never been to the statue of liberty. I'm sure many of you have. But I've seen her. I've seen her as I've flown into New York on occasion, but I've never been there. But they tell me that at the foot of the statue you find these words, give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your team, in short. Send them the homeless, tempest tossed to me. The beloved America has not always lived up to those words, but Jesus does. The grace of God does, for the grace of God does come. Matthew 11 and 28 come come to me. All you who labor and are heavy latent, bring them to me, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly and hard, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light, come, come, what the world throws out. The grace of God brings in. When the world says, go, Jesus says, come, come, come, come. This is why I love it. The grace of God is undefeated. No one ever loses who believes in Jesus. No one ever loses who believes in Jesus. He believes in Jesus. Jesus says to him, hey, hey, man, do you believe in the Son of Man? And the messes tell me who he is. And Jesus says, I'm going to get the wind. You get the wind this morning. Do you see now why he was born blind? He was born blind so that he might see Jesus. But even more than that, beloved, he was born blind so that you and I might see Jesus,
so that we might see who Jesus is, so that we might see why Jesus came so that we might know the glory of God in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is always ago. This is always been the goal. This is where this whole thing was heading so that he might see, believe, and worship Jesus.
That's why you came in this morning. Whatever you thought was your reason for coming. The reason that the Lord brought you here this morning is so that you might see, believe, and worship Jesus. Why? Because this is the goal of the glory of God. What then is now beloved?
It's grace. The Lord has been gracious to you this morning. This grace found you this morning. This is grace brought you here this morning. Therefore, it's grace has given you another chance
to see his glory this morning. Contrary to the sound of music, grace is something good this morning. Not because you did something good, but Jesus did. Not because you did something morning, but because Jesus died and rose again, grace is something good because the cross is something good.
And you don't need to look in your youth, but childhood, you just need to look to Jesus. Look to Jesus. Look to Jesus. Let's pray.