When something bad happens to you, do you find yourself thinking it's punishment for a specific sin? Today on Truth for Life weekend, Alastair Begg shows us that sometimes God uses trials in our lives to display His work and His glory. were continuing a series called A Light in the Darkness. Um Yeah.
Well, let's begin in John chapter 20. and verse 30 and 31. I point you here purposefully because this is where John tells us the purpose of his gospel. He explains here in verse 30, that not all the miraculous signs that Jesus did in the company of his disciples have been recorded in this gospel. But instead there's been a selection given.
And the selection that has been used has been used in order that the things that have been written may foster belief. That people may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and then that by believing, they may find life in his name.
Someone pointed this out to me some time ago, suggesting that this may actually be a key for working our way through John's Gospel. I think it's quite a good idea. In other words, what you have in the signs is evidence. The evidence then providing the basis for believing. And the believing giving way to life in the name of Jesus.
Evidence. Belief. and spiritual life. Notice first of all the man's condition. As he went along, as Jesus went along, he saw a man blind from birth.
This man had been born blind. And as was often the case at that time and Indeed, not only in that era. And the man's recourse was simply to sit out on the street and hope that people would be benevolent towards him. And in verse 8, we are discovering that his profession or his circumstance had been that of a blind beggar.
So we are in no doubt that his condition was pitiful. that it was in every instance hopeless, that he was actually quite helpless in relationship to the circumstance that he faced. He was not, as we will discover later in the story, devoid of personality. He was a colorful personality. He had a mind of his own.
He was quick-witted in his response to those who put pressure upon him. Indeed, I hope that you will read John chapter 9 as we go forward with it, and you will find out that what I'm telling you is true. But his condition is such That without a miracle, he was destined to live his life in darkness. It's very important that we understand that. I'll say it to you again.
His condition was such... that without intervention from outside of himself, he was destined to live his life. in darkness.
Now his condition gives rise to a question, the question that is posed in verse 2 by the disciples. Those who are following Jesus ask a question that many of us perhaps regard as almost inevitable. Rabbi, they said, who sinned, this man or his parents? that he was born blind.
Now the assumption Made by the disciples that the sin and suffering of this man are intimately connected. is of course generally true, isn't it? sin and suffering are connected. Indeed, the Bible makes it clear in Genesis chapter 3 that it was the entry of sin into the world that changed everything in terms of the goodness of the world that God had made. God made the world and everything in it and he pronounced that it was good.
And all of the thorns and the thistles and the bloodshed and the disagreement and the disharmony and the murder and the mayhem and the weeds and the and the tsunamis and All of the earthquakes and everything else is generally linked to the fact of the fall of man. Sin, suffering, disease, disorder, arriving hard on the heels of the rebellion and disobedience. of Adam and Eve.
So, the assumption on the part of the disciples is understandable, and as I say, it is generally true.
However, for them to attempt to join the dots. between sin and the sufferings of a particular individual is to put themselves on shaky ground. And that is exactly what they discover in the answer that Jesus gives. They've concluded that the man's blindness is the result either of his own sin, the Jews believed that you could sin in the womb. They had a concept of prenatal sinfulness.
or that it was directly related to what his parents had done. Jesus then answers their concern. Verse 3 brings us to the answer that Jesus gives. The condition gives rise to the question. The question gives rise to the answer.
Neither this man nor his parents sinned, said Jesus. In other words, you're asking the wrong question. You're looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause and effect here, says Jesus. He wasn't blind because of his own sin or because of his parents' sin.
No, this has happened, he says, so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. God knows exactly what's going on here, he says. The work of God might be displayed in his life. What is the work of God? It is to bring about belief in the lives of men and women.
And this has happened, this has taken place in this man's life so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. Displayed first of all in his physical healing, in the restoration of his physical sight, and displayed ultimately. And finally, in him being brought to spiritual sight. You see, the real story here, the focus of the story, doesn't actually come in the little section we're dealing with just now. That's the danger of dealing with a section in isolation.
But the focus of the story, you really need to wait until you get to verse 35. The man's been thrown out by the Pharisees. They don't like the way he's been cheeky to them. And when Jesus found him, he said, do you believe in the Son of Man? To which the man who now has his sight says, Who is he, sir?
The man asked. Tell me.
So that I may believe in him. Jesus said, you have now seen him. In fact, he is the one speaking with you. Then the man said, Lord, I believe, and he worshipped him. That's the close of the story.
That's the focus of the story. This is the work of God that men and women might believe in His one and only Son. Everyone who believes may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Jesus says, Instead of you fellows sitting around asking the wrong questions, let me say to you, it is time for us together to be involved in the work of God.
We, he says, need to be about the work of him who sent me. No. Can we pause and just acknowledge? That as mysterious as this is, we understand it. This has happened.
So that the work of God might be displayed in this man's life. In other words, his blindness was the key to his salvation. His blindness was the key to his salvation. Indeed, we would say that were it not for his blindness, then the encounter would never have happened, and therefore we would have no record of the fact that the man came to see spiritually. And what is true of this man?
Is often true when people tell you how they became Christians. I'm sure there are at least a few this morning in this room who would testify somewhere along these lines. I was going along perfectly well without God. I didn't really have much interest in him at all. I certainly didn't think that I lived in the darkness or had to come into the light.
And then there was some kind of collapse.
Something happened either physically or emotionally. Turmoil and pain entered into your life. And in that, all of your foundations were rocked and unsettled. And that which was a very unattractive encounter became the very means whereby You looked for an answer beyond yourself. You may actually be here this morning, and that's exactly where you are.
I don't know because I don't know all the congregation. It may be that you have wandered in here or you have purposefully come here because of something that has happened to you in recent days. And it is a happenstance over which you have no control. It is either ugly or unpalatable. It is certainly something that shows you that you have lost your bearings and you have no mechanism, no means of restoration.
God understands all of that. God is not taken by surprise. God moves in mysterious ways. his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the sea.
And he writes upon the storm.
Now Having answered in such a straightforward way, He takes action in a way that is equally straightforward. And having said that, he spat on the ground. Jesus spits. The Creator spits. The Creator Who took?
and fashioned a man out of his own. created dust. takes again his own dust and spits in it. You see, what we have in these signs is not the circus coming to town. What we have in these signs are signs to the identity of Christ.
Who is this Jesus of Nazareth? That's the question that you ought to be asking if you don't believe. Who is this man in this story? Who is this person who spits on the ground and rubs mud on someone's eyelids? None other than the Creator of the universe.
You see, we can't set him aside as a nice man doing kind things and speaking to children in a way that is endearing. As if somehow or another we can set him aside on that basis. No, because he won't allow us to. He stands before us doing these dramatic things and making these unbelievable assertions. You see, what John is doing in his gospel is simply working out his prologue.
Remember how he begins? In the beginning was the word. That's the logos. That is Jesus, the second person of the Trinity. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and He was with God in the beginning.
And through Him all things were made. Without Him, nothing was made that has been made.
So, for him in 2 of John, John 2, to give his first miraculous sign and bring water to wine. Hey. In him was Life and the life was the light of man. for him to heal the nobleman's son. For him to feed the 5,000, for him to walk on the water, for him to raise Lazarus in chapter 11, for him to deal with this man in chapter 9.
The Jewish mind understood this. The Jew understood this is an expression of divinity. That's why the Pharisees are so infuriated. Because now they've got to put these two pieces of the puzzle together. One, undeniably, this must be God, but we don't like him as a messiah.
Therefore, we can't get what we want without getting what we don't want. If we want Him to be God, then He has to be our Messiah, but we don't want Him. Exodus 5. Four? Moses, I want you to go to Pharaoh.
Moses to God, I don't think I'm the man for going to Pharaoh. I'm not a very eloquent person. Remember how God responds? Who made your mouth? And it's in that context that he says, Who is it that can make you speak or make you dumb?
Who is it that can make you blind or make you see? The answer is God. The psalmist says it all the time. God is the one who opens the blind eyes. God is the one who brings from darkness into light.
And the sign of the Messianic age, as you find in Isaiah all the time, and one of the great signs of the messianic age is that the Messiah will step onto the stage of history and the lame will walk and the deaf will hear and the blind will see. John says Here's my evidence. Here are my signs. They're here in order that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Evidence? Belief. Life.
Some of us have set aside Christianity without ever having considered the evidence. That is intellectually Not so good. At least examine the evidence. and see whether he is not the person. he claims to be.
That's why when he sat down after he'd read the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue in Nazareth in Luke chapter 4, all the eyes in the synagogue were fastened on him. They wanted to find out what he was going to say next because he had read such a dramatic piece from the Old Testament. The Spirit of the Lord is on me. He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. Sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
And he began by saying to them, Today, this scripture. is fulfilled. in your hearing. And they looked at one another and they said, Isn't this The boy. from the carpenter Uh family from uh Joseph.
Who does he think he is saying something like that?
Well, he's either crazy. Or he's a liar. Or he is who he said he is. Evidence? Believe?
Life.
Yeah. The final sentence in verse 7 is as matter of fact as anything you could ever read, isn't it? This is one of the things that makes me realize the gospels are just the gospels. You know, if someone was inventing this, I think it would have a lot more to it, w don't you think? Magic mods, you know, something like that.
Then he got the magic mud, which was kept in the old canister that they had found underneath the old temple over by the. Fountain of zipado life, and you know, and it's like, whoa, it says, No, he's not like, I suck. Yeah. The guy's like, okay, what now?
Well, go over to the pool of, how do I get there? I'll get somebody to get you there. Don't worry. Come on. Go to the pool of silo and wash.
So the man went and washed and came home seeing.
So the man went, washed and came home seeing. What?
So the man went and washed and came home saying, Yes, that's exactly right, and put the cat among the pigeons for the neighborhood. Because the people began to say to one another, Isn't this the man who used to sit and beg?
Some said, Yeah, that's who he is. Others said, No, he just looks like him, he's a very similar Luke. But the man says, I am the man. I want to be who I am. I am the man.
How then were your eyes opened?
Well, mud, spit, wash, saloon. I went and washed, and then I could see. Oh yeah?
Well, where is the man? I don't know where he is. Ah. Come on. Have you ever told somebody about how you became a Christian?
Somebody told me that Jesus' blood was shed for my sins, personal blood shed for your sins. What is that about?
Well, Jesus died and bore my sins and The pastor told me that if I would Yeah. Metaphorically, plunge myself into that fountain that Christ provided by his death, that I would be cleansed and I would be made to see.
So Come on. Come on. I mean, next thing you're going to be telling me that some guy spat on the ground, made mud, put it on somebody's eyes, and the guy was walking around going, Hey, hey, I can see everything.
So that's what I'm going to tell you. In fact, that's exactly what it says.
Well, we have to stop, don't we? But not without acknowledging that some of you are asking the right question. And the right question is this. What in the world does this have to do with anything? And certainly, what does it have to do with me?
What possible relevance does it have? as I get ready to go out of here and have my lunch. Really the question is so what, isn't it?
So what is the right question? Let me give it to you as straightforwardly as I can. And uh we'll pick it up from here next time. The man's physical condition. is a mirror image.
of the spiritual condition. Of you. And of me. It's not a very nice thing to say in polite Company? But it is what the Bible says.
namely that we are Blind beggars. that we are spiritually blind. and that we are entirely unable to rectify our predicament. We're blind as a result. Our partnership and solidarity with Adam and Eve in their sin.
And we're blind culpably. Because we neither understand the light Nor do we recognize him. Nor are we prepared to come into the light. Because we like darkness. rather than light.
This is the verdict, John 3:19. Light has come into the world, but men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. By nature, we're selfish, proud, envious, and we attempt to live with a cover-up. Choosing not to love the light, in fact we hate the light. It's perfectly understandable if we expose ourselves to the light, then all our dirty, dark secrets will be revealed.
No one likes that kind of process.
So, although we throw up the smokescreen of our intellectual arguments, and I'm not denying that people have genuine and significant intellectual questions, let's be honest about that. But let's also be equally honest that most of our unbelief is not an intellectual issue, it's a moral issue. It's a moral issue. We know ourselves to be stained and dirty. And therefore, if someone asks us to come out into the light and show ourselves up for what we are, that is a process that we do not, that does not appeal to us.
We would rather run again into the darkness. If you spill coffee on your trousers, gentlemen, after you've only just pulled out of the driveway of your car, You either have to turn around, go back in the house, get another pair of trousers, or you hope that where you're going is dark. Isn't that right? When you're going out to dinner, your wife says to you, oh, don't worry, I think the restroom is quite dark.
So that's good because I'm going to have to conceal this. You go into the restaurant, it's a blazing light. It's like, oh for goodness sake, that is that is embarrassing. If I'd known how late it was, I would not have come in here like this. That's our nature.
We love darkness rather than light because our deeds are evil. We are blind Beggars. We cannot make ourselves see. Jesus comes. to expose our blindness.
to touch our lives. and to make us new. When John Newton got it, he sat down and wrote it in a hymn, didn't he? Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found.
I was blind. But now I see. Peter says to the scattered believers of his day, he says, You were once not a people, but now you are a people.
Now you're a chosen generation, a holy nation, a people belonging to God who has brought you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Well, you know where you are today and so do I. I wonder, are you prepared to face up to your blindness? You could just cry out to Jesus like another man who was blind did, blind Bartimaeus. He just shouted out. He didn't care when anybody hurt.
He just called out in the streets, Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus says, what is it that you want me to do for you? And Bartimaeus said, Jesus, Yeah. I want to see. That's all you need to do.
He said to the man, Go and wash. He went and washed. Have you ever been? and washed in the cleansing pool provided. by the atoning death of Jesus.
If not, You remain in darkness. Go and wash. Yeah. We're listening to a message titled This Dark World's Light. on Truth for Life Weekend with Alastair Begg.
If today's message makes you want to know more about Jesus, let me tell you about a brand new 14-day devotional called Christ Our All. gaze at him. This is a short but refreshing book that will help you meditate on the truths of Scripture. and what they teach us about our Lord and Saviour. Each daily meditation encourages you to leave distractions behind and focus your eyes and your heart on the majesty of Christ.
you'll read about his radiance, his grace, his glory. and how deeply He cares for us as His children. Find out more about the book Christ Our All, gaze at him by visiting our website at truthforlife.org. I'm Bob Lepine. Thanks for studying the Bible with us.
And on behalf of all of us at Truth for Life, I want to wish our listeners in the United States a blessed weekend as we celebrate Independence Day with family and friends.
Next weekend we'll take a closer look at spiritual blindness. Unlike physical blindness, the spiritually blind don't realize they can't see. We'll find out why and learn what is needed to open their eyes. The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the Learning is for Living.
