Page 765 in your pew Bibles, Isaiah 42, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel. It's amazing, this is about 725 years before the birth of Christ. You can't help but see the Lord Jesus here as the great servant who, among other things, opens the eyes of the blind. Page 765, Isaiah 42. Behold my servant, this is of course the Lord Jesus seen prophetically through Isaiah. Behold my servant whom I uphold, my chosen in whom my soul delights. I put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice or make it heard in the street. A bruised reed he will not break and a faintly burning wick he will not quench. He will faithfully bring forth justice He will not grow faint or be discouraged until he has established justice in the earth and the coastlands wait for his law. Thus says God the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it, I am the Lord. I have called you in righteousness. I will take you by the hand and keep you. I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind. to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am the Lord, that is my name, my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare. Before they spring forth, I tell you of them." Gospel according to John now, please, page 1139. Page 1139. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. If there was ever a literal fulfillment of our Lord opening the eyes of the blind, it's surely here. As He, that is Jesus, 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? And Jesus answered, 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'm in the world, I am the light of the world. Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. And then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, go wash in the pool of Siloam, which means scent. So he went and washed and came back seeing. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, is this not the man who used to sit and beg? And some said, is he? Others said, no, but he's like him. He kept saying, I'm the man. So they said to him, well then, how were your eyes opened? He answered, the man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed and received my sight. And they said to him, where is he? He said, I don't know. They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. And now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees again asked him how he'd received his sight. And he said to them, He put mud on my eyes and I washed and I see. Some of the Pharisees said, this man isn't from God. He doesn't keep the Sabbath. But others said, how can a man who's a sinner do such signs? And there was a division among them. So they said again to the blind man, what do you say about him since he's opened your eyes? He said, he's a prophet. The Jews didn't believe that he'd been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who received his sight and they asked him, 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 how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he's of age, he'll speak for himself. His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. And therefore his parents said, he's of age, ask him. So for the second time they called the man who'd been blind and said to him, give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner. He answered, whether he's a sinner, I don't know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see. They said to him, what did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? He answered them, I've told you already and you wouldn't listen. You want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples? And they reviled him, saying, You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we don't know where he comes from. The man answered, Why, this is an amazing thing. You do not know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God doesn't listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshipper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. But 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 him out. Jesus heard that they cast him out. And having 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. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped 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 things and said to him, are we also blind? Jesus said to them, if you were blind, you'd have no guilt. But now that you say we see, your guilt remains. Thus far, the reading of the infallible, inerrant, and finally authoritative word of the living God. Let's pray. Our Lord work in us that we will have the same testimony and faith and boldness of this man who could say, this I know once I was blind, but now I see through Jesus Christ. Amen. I am, as I've mentioned in the past, I'm really quite intrigued with this whole dynamic of our being in really what is a very expressive culture. I mean, I mean, not just to mention New York, But we really are a very expressive culture. Now you've got not only email, but you've got YouTube, and you can put your little clips on, or you've got Facebook, and that kind of thing, and all this stuff. And so increasingly, we're a very, very expressive culture. And yet, here's what's intriguing. We're not very expressive about our Christian faith. Really. I mean, how many Facebook accounts, and I'm sure there are some, but how many Facebook things really bear witness to Christ? Not many. We bear witness about ourselves, and let's face it, particularly, I'm sorry to say this, but particularly in our circles, we really are somewhat backwards and shy about our faith. I'm intrigued with that. And let me suggest a couple reasons why that's the case. Number one is, we're generally really, really not struck with the amazing power of this Jesus Christ. Basically, we're not. For most of us, it's kind of a head trip. And therefore, we really don't grasp what he's done to us and changing us. That's the first reason I would suggest. We're not gripped with that. Because when you're gripped with the power of someone like a doctor to bring healing to you if you have terminal cancer, you'll tell people about it. And we're basically not like that. The second thing is this. We live in a very still, a pretty easy culture in which to be a Christian. Most of us really get very little opposition to our faith. You know why? Go back to the first reason. We really are not expressive about it, therefore we don't experience the opposition that is one of God's means to make us more expressive. And that's a lesson you learn in the history of the Christian Church in all ages. When God's people speak of their Savior, captivated by what he's done for them, there'll be opposition. And that normally serves the purpose of making his people more bold. And that's pretty much the dynamic that you see in this bridge chapter, chapter 9, this interlude in the Gospel of John. And it is that Jesus has been speaking, and this is chapters 7 and 8, Jesus has been at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. It's the water-shedding ceremony. It's the light ceremony and all of that. And this is where Jesus has said he's light of the world. And this bridge chapter, chapter 9, is an illustration of what that means in an extended case. And whenever the Holy Spirit gives a whole chapter like this, we better pay attention to it in the story. The other reason it's a bridge, we don't think about this as much, is this is the Good Shepherd going after his sheep. And that's what he'll develop in chapter 10. But for now, we're looking at chapter 9, this bridge chapter. And I want to do a number of things. There's an outline in this, but I don't want you to lose the story. But here's the basic flow of it. There's this absolutely pitiable condition. This is a man born blind. This is not like our former governor who could sort of see shadowy things. This is a man who has never seen anything. His life from birth has been pitch black. And there's this remarkable miracle. There's no other like it in the gospel. So you have that. And then in the middle section, this large section, beginning at verse 8, you have increased opposition and increased boldness. And the way this is developed, you've got opposition that comes in essentially four different categories and ratchets up to the point that eventually this man is excommunicated from the synagogue. And then it's at that point you get a beautiful window on the ministry of Christ. It just almost brings tears to your eyes. But Jesus ends in a very, very sobering note in this chapter. It's a rich chapter, we don't have as much time, but we'll go through this and hopefully we'll get something of the flow of this remarkable story. So, as we begin in chapter 9, Jesus is in the crowds in Jerusalem, and he sees a man blind from birth, and his disciples, who were captive to the thought-forms of the day as we are today, immediately default as, Lord, who sinned? This man or his parents? Because, sort of like Job's counselors, they thought immediately, if you have something that is this severe as a handicap, there had to be sin involved, right? And so they ask Jesus the question in an innocuous way. Who's responsible for this? Is it this man who committed some kind of sin, which he would have had to have done in his mother's womb since he was born blind from birth, or his parents? And Jesus undercuts the whole thing in a text that is so comforting for parents who give birth to special children, blind from birth, deaf from birth, those with spina bifida, those with various maladies, down syndrome, and so on. Jesus says, not that this man sinned, obviously he had sinned, he was a sinner, but he's saying that's not the reason he's this way. It's not because of his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. From before the foundation of the world, this man had been ordained by God, who paints his picture on the black canvas of a fallen world, and he says, this one, from the time of conception, will not have the mechanism to see so that I might display my works in him. And I want to suggest that as we look at people in this world, every one of them, blind, deaf, Down syndrome, whatever, Ask yourself, how can the works of God be displayed in this person? And I want to remind you, this boy was probably about 13 years old. That's what it was to be of age. You love this kid in here, just amazing. Right away, you want to just take him up. He's born from birth blind, and Jesus says, The issue is in him or his parents, but that the works of God might be manifest in him. And Jesus now shows those works, and he tells his disciples, these are things that must be done, he's to be crucified, obviously he's in the world now by his spirit, but in his personal ministry here, Jesus sheds light in a particular way, dramatically, even as he will in glory. And so having said these things, now this is amazing, it shows that Our Lord doesn't need means, uses means, and here Jesus spits on the ground, and I'll give you the reason for this analogy in a moment. He needs the mud, for you children, that's K-N-E-A-D-S. He needs the mud into a salve and puts it on the eyes of the boy, which could be a medicinal thing. Some people try to say that's what it is. We really don't know why. Some have said it alludes to the fact that The man was of dust and whatever it would be, but he does this. He doesn't need to, but he does it. Our Lord does his work by various means and he puts the mud in his eyes and says, now you go wash in the pool of Siloam, which means scent. And there's a double entendre here. Jesus says, I am the scent one. I want you to go to the pool that represents me. It's a pool that when you wash in it, will, under my power, do what exactly I do. It's a little bit like the Lord's Supper. This is my body, this is my blood. No, it's not Jesus' body and blood. But the Lord nourishes us on it when we partake in faith, and so he does. He goes as he is told, and he washes. And the text is almost a matter of fact. He comes back seeing. Now, all commentators Unless they're so highfalutin and just dealing with the words, they miss the sense. All serious Christian commentators have said, this is a beautiful picture of redemption. See, when Paul writes to the Ephesians, he'll say to them, your understanding was darkened. You were in darkness. He says, you were darkness, but now you're light in the Lord. That's what it is not to be changed by grace. And I want you to think about this with me for a minute. What's it like for a person to be blind from birth? That person has no frame of reference at all for anything. Talk about a sunrise, a sunset, it's meaningless. Talk about 12 inches. What's 12 and what's an inch? Talk about human beauty. It's meaningless. The person has literally no frame of reference, listen, except his or her own imagination. And he or she will construct a world he or she cannot see that will be fully logical and credible to that blind person, but makes no sense to those who can really see. I really want you to think about this because the Bible says by nature we're just like that blind man. When things before us are shown, things of God's world that declare the glory of God, because by nature we are blind, we don't construe them properly, we come up with some very strange kinds of descriptions that make no sense to people who can really see. Now this man sees. And folks, that's what unbelief is. Some time back, not too long ago, one of our congregation members who took some 300 photos of snowflakes against backdrops sent me one that was just magnificent. I'd never seen such a beautiful, enlarged close-up of one snowflake in my life. And I looked at this Perfectly for this is one snowflake out of all these Six starred six-pointed thing. I mean, you know interior decorators couldn't do anything that beautiful. I Looked at it with new eyes and I said behold our wonderful God in wisdom. You've made them all To those spiritually blind this isn't amazing what chance can do It's the same thing with Christ As a believer, you don't have to understand everything in the scriptures, none of us does, but these things of this one who is God becoming man and being obedient and suffering and dying and being raised from the dead and reigns in heaven, all that makes sense to you when God opens your eyes. To an unbeliever, it's a series of myths and legends that can look at the same facts and take them all out of what they really are meant to be. So think about it. He's blind from birth, but now he sees. Now that's the miracle in this pitiable state. Now watch the increasing opposition. We're going to go through this quickly, but watch the increased opposition. And in his increased boldness, first of all, in verses 8 through 12, he comes to the neighbors and the neighbors say, is this the guy that was blind from birth? He used to beg. Now he's not begging and he can see totally different. They can't believe it's the same one. And they basically want to know. They do say, how were your eyes open? But that's not the victim. Who did this? Because the boy says, well, his name is Jesus, and he just simply says what happened. He made mud, anointed my eyes, and said to me, go to Siloam and wash. See, nobody tells what happened. He said, I went and washed and received my sight. And of course, they say, where is he? Because they want to see this guy too. And he says, I don't know. And that's the first part. That's not really opposition here. But I mean, these people wonder, who is this guy doing? That's the first question. Who is this? Now the second question is essentially, not who is this, but what is this? Because the people then bring these to the Pharisees, the religious leaders. This would be the Sanhedrin, the religious council of the day, and the reason Pharisees is mentioned is these are the ones who've added all kinds of things to the law. They've added things to the Word of God and put them on par with the Word of God. And don't think that we don't do that, incidentally. I'm very intrigued recently with the way different people respond to different worship experiences. There are people who sometimes worship with us. And they'll see you taking notes and being very quiet and very attentive. And they think, this can't be real spiritual. Because you're not animated. You don't amen. You're all riveted. What's going on? Well, of course, we know, hopefully, we're paying attention to these things. We say, well, what's the matter? They've got a very superficial kind of Christianity. Guess what? In their worship experiences, they're much more expressive. They may raise their hands. They may amen. They may hallelujah. They may say, I don't know what it is. And you say to yourself, what's wrong with them? It's a very superficial experience. Well, the Bible talks about worshiping God with raised hands and saying the Amen. But you see, folks, we've all had the Pharisee in us, okay? And so John uses this word under the inspiration of God. You'll see why it's used here in a minute. But they bring the man to him, and it's the Sabbath. Here again, they're going to latch on this. Our Lord Jesus heals on the Sabbath because it's a day of mercy. And it's a day in which, on the Sabbath, you have a foretaste of eternity. Not the way they look at it. When they found out it was a Sabbath and that Jesus made mud and opened his eyes, the Pharisees asked him. See, he said to them, he put mud on my eyes and I washed and I see. And the Pharisees say, this man isn't from God. He doesn't keep the Sabbath. What did they mean? You're not to knead dough on the Sabbath. You're not to take flour and mix it with water and make cakes of unleavened bread, right? Well, it's the same thing. If you take dirt and you mix saliva in it and you knead it, number two, yes, rabbis could put anointment on people's eyes. That was permitted. But never on the Sabbath unless your life was in danger. This guy's life wasn't in danger. I mean, come on, he was only blind for birth, right? This man doesn't keep the Sabbath. See how self-righteous legalism blinds you to the gospel, right? They missed the point. They want to say, so they're saying, what is this man? He doesn't keep the Sabbath. He can't be from God. But there were some others. Maybe Nicodemus was here with them. And they just ask a question. But how could he do such signs? And there was division among them because, listen, the gospel always brings division. Always, always, always, always, always. There must be divisions among you that those who are approved might be made known among all people. It's for another day, but there are purposes in that. Not that we shouldn't work to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace, but there will always be divisions, and you see that here among the people. And they say again to the blind man, now notice the increased boldness. Now this young man's probably getting a little bit impatient here. They say, what do you say about him, since he opened your eyes? And so he says, he's a prophet! Now he opens a door for the religious leaders here, because prophets did signs, but there could be false prophets, right? But the boy is increasingly bold, and he says he's a prophet. Why? Prophets do signs. And even though he couldn't see, he had heard of Moses, who was a prophet, who did wonders, and God would raise up a prophet like unto Moses. And he puts this together, and so believe it or not, he's even seeing spiritually a little bit better here. So the question is from the people, who is he? from the Pharisees, it's, what is he? Now they change course, and they say, did he really do this? Because now in verse 18, the Jews, they already, they didn't believe that he'd been blind. They really did, you'll find out later. But they didn't believe he'd been blind, so they're going to try another course. They didn't believe he'd received his sight, so they called the parents of the man who'd received sight. And they said, this is big stuff here. They said, is this your son who you say was born blind? Then Does he now see? So they're hoping the parents will say, oh, that's not our son. And they could say it's a fraud. Parents don't say that. They said, we know this is our son. He was born blind, but we're not going to take the bait. We don't know how it happened, and we don't know who opened his eyes, but they get off the hook. They say, ask him. He's of age. He'll speak for himself. He's of age means he's 13 years of age at least. That's why I love this for young people. This is really a wonderful story for the young people in particular in here, but this is the tyranny of unbelief. We talk about liberals in religion. who are open to everything. I'll tell you something they're not open to. They're not open to orthodox Christianity. Because that says there's one mediator between man and God, the man Christ Jesus. And here's the tyranny of unbelief. See it? His parents said these things because they feared the Jews. Thank God for this young person who didn't fall into the sins of his elders, including his parents. They feared the Jews. They feared the tyranny of the Jews. For the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. That is the tyranny of unbelief. You don't go along with the conclusion we've already made. You're out. That's how the Orthodox Presbyterian Church was formed in 1936. The Presbyterian Church USA said in so many words, you can believe what you want, but if you don't equate the boards of this church with the authority of Christ himself, you're out. And that's important, not just for us, it's the history of an entire Christian church in which the greatest opposition has come from within. The tyranny of unbelief and the camp, supposedly, of the faith. So his parents said, this is consummate cowardice. They probably gulped. He's of age, ask him. And so they do. Now they cannot get over the argument, what happened? Did it really happen? And so now, essentially, what you've got in here is the recourse of the leader saying, even if it did happen, you don't want to follow this guy. That's essentially what comes. So the second time, they call this man, who probably is really getting aggravated, we're reminded again, he'd been blind, and said to him, give glory to God, which could mean one of two things. Either A, come on, testify in the presence of God, come on, be honest right now, give praise to God, or it could be this. Don't give praise to this man. You're only supposed to give praise to God. And they kind of get him in a trap here. If he's lying, either way they've got him. Be honest before God, or give God glory for what happened. So they're conceding it may have happened, but they've already made their conclusion. This is self-righteous presuppositionalism. We know that this man is a sinner. Our minds are made up. Don't confuse us with the facts. All hardened unbelief is exactly like this. We know the Bible is not the Word of God. Now you be honest. What are you going to say to that? This is, again, self-righteous presuppositionalism. Don't you love this kid? He answered, whether he's a sinner, I don't know. One thing I do know, though I was blind, now I see. I remember when I was in college and I was beginning to get a hold of the Reformed faith, so I thought. And you come to grips with, as we ought, the glory God's work and redemption the gospel is it is telling people what God has done in History that is true. You don't draw people to your conversion you draw people to Christ And I remember once hearing a professor say I still think it's an overstatement, but I reacted too much the most important apologetic for the Christian faith is your own conversion experience and my skin crawled and Because I was brought up with kids who could say, you want to know what proves LSD is a gift? Your experience. And I recoiled at that. I don't recoil at it so much. At the end of the day, when you talk with people, hopefully you can say more. You ought to say, you know, I can't answer all your questions, but I know this. I lived in the world as a blind person. The whole world was made according to my own self-imposed imagination, imaginary constructions. But now I see. I can see the whole world from the perspective of God's own Word. That's what he said. Beautiful, beautiful. Not to the religious leaders. So they said to him, what did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? This guy's got some holy chutzpah. He said, I already told you. You wouldn't listen. That's the point. It's not that they hadn't heard it. They didn't listen to it. Why do you want to hear it again? You also want to become his disciple? Because faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. He grasped that somewhat. And so what do they do? They don't listen. They revile him, saying, you're his disciple. We're disciples of Moses. Hello. The law of God can't do this kind of work, folks. The law of God can't change human hearts. Christ does. And even as disciples of Moses, Moses said, a greater one than come. See, they're avoiding reality here. May I put it this way? They're blind before one who sees. You're His disciple, but we're disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we don't know where he comes from. Liars. Read John chapter 8. Why do we spend so much time in it? Over and over and over and over again, Jesus says, I know where I come from. I come from above. You come from below. I'm from my father. You're from your father, the devil. See folks, it's not what people don't know. There's a difference between not knowing and not believing. They didn't believe things, therefore they didn't know them. You say, I don't understand that. Oh, really? Go on a highway where you read the speed limit is 55 miles an hour and there's a long stretch of highway and there's no car there and you plug into your head 55 miles an hour and you gun it to 70. And then you see a light in back of you and someone calling you to pull over and you do. The state trooper has you roll down your window and he says, what speed were you going? Seventy. You know what the speed limit is here? No, I didn't know that. You did too. You just didn't believe it. And that's it. They didn't really believe what Jesus... Why do we have two chapters in which Jesus says, this is where I came from? So don't use this argument, folks. Our gray matter can't receive the truth of this material. It's patently false. No, you just don't believe what's true. And from your own presuppositions, you'll look at everything differently. Excuse me, like a blind person? See the reversal in this chapter. Now, this is just great. This is how the Lord takes the weak things of the world to confound the mighty. Again, you just want to take this kid home and hug him and feed him. It's just great. The man answered, this is an amazing thing. You don't know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. He says, I'll tell you one thing even more amazing than why I was blind and now I see. What's even more amazing is, I'm blind, I was blind, and you don't acknowledge that I see. What's even more amazing is you don't even believe these things. We know that God doesn't listen to sinners, and that was common parlance. The Lord doesn't hear the prayer of the wicked. I mean, obviously He does in one sense, but He's taking the language that they use. If anyone's a worshiper of God and does His will, God listens to him. That's what the Pharisees taught, to be sure. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind, and that's true even in the Old Testament. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. He takes their same argument and turns it right on its head. Right? Because they said before, you know, if this man's a sinner, he can't do it. He says, well, he must not be a sinner because he sure did it. That's pretty bright for this kid. And this was a boy that was blind from youth. He hadn't had the benefit of the fancy schooling of that day. But like his master Jesus, he could at the same age, Be with the religious leaders in a synagogue and best them. I have more understanding than all of my teachers, says the psalmist, for your testimonies are my meditation." And so here is the tyranny of the experts, folks. They answered him, you were born in utter sin. Guess what? They're saying, we know that you were blind from birth. That's exactly what they say. You were born in utter sin. They use that same argument. You were blind from birth. And would you teach us? And they cast him out. The response of faith is force. I suggest to you, that's why if you believe in the doctrine of creation, you won't get a position teaching in the science department of any state school in the United States. Not because the evidence is against you. The evidence is against them. It's because they've already resolved you're going to be cast out. This happened in 1936, when Dr. Machen and others were kicked out. Not because they were wrong, but because the authorities said, we've already made a determination. You don't have a right to be right. Beautiful picture of the church. Now, here's this quote. He's kicked out. He's excommunicated. And what a window on Jesus. I love this. Jesus heard that they cast him out. And he seeks him, the shepherd seeks out his sheep. He says, do you believe in the Son of Man, that picture of Daniel, the one who would be given all authority in heaven and on earth? And he said, who is he, sir? That I may believe in him. Over against the religious leaders who've been told two chapters of it, they have been baptized by immersion in who Jesus is, and they reject it. This young boy says, just tell me about him so I might believe. Jesus says, you've seen him. Isn't that beautiful? When he's made to see, one of the first things he sees is the Lord Jesus. As when you are converted, one of the first things you see is the glory of Christ in all of the scriptures. You've seen him, and it's he who's speaking to you. And he said, Lord, I believe, which none of the religious leaders had said. And he did the only proper thing that one who really knows Jesus ought to do. He worshiped. If you don't give your absolute devotion to this God-man, you don't know him. He falls on his face and he worships him. And Jesus gives this very sobering warning that ends this chapter. For judgment, I came into the world. And I did say I didn't come to condemn the world, but to save it. What he's talking about is not his intention, but what happens in fact. Since I've come in the world, my presence, my word, is going to be a double-edged sword. It is in this room right here, and with anyone who hears this message. That those who don't see might see, that's salvation. And that those who see, that is, that those who think they see, might become blind. See, there's one thing worse than blindness. It's thinking that you see when you don't. That forms a self-righteousness in you that will cauterize you to the gospel, even as the Pharisees will cauterize to it. It's the same as Jesus saying, I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Now, the Pharisees are irked. They know he's pointing the finger at them. And they heard these things and they said, are we all so blind? And Jesus, in his very sobering conclusion to this chapter, says if you were blind, you'd have no guilt. Now obviously, they would still have guilt, but what he's saying here is you are a people who know the things of grace. It has surrounded you. If you were blind, you'd have no guilt. Not in the ultimate sense, but relative to your knowledge. But now that you say we see, your guilt remains. One writer said, it is not sin as such, and I would add among covenant people, among those like this who hear the things of grace, it's not sin as such, but repudiation of grace that makes a person a lost being. If you definitively now, or progressively over time, for whatever reason, Reject this Christ and his Lordship over you. It's better that you were born in a state of complete blindness. Because you say you see in your faith. But if you reject this Christ, no matter what kind of self-righteous construction you've made, not only does your guilt remain, but it's ever worse. Margaret and I watched, finally, watched the movie Inception. I'm cheap. I'll watch a movie when I can get it on a DVD. It's a worn-over version of The Matrix. But I was struck with the fact that in this world of levels of dreams, as the two main characters, the husband and the wife, go deeper and deeper into their dream world, There's an enjoyment that comes for many years. But it brings, when they come back to reality, a horrible sense of frustration and guilt that eventually brings the death of one who was in it. Whatever else I was struck with in that interesting movie, that's what Jesus says here. You put yourself In a dream world of unreality, it may make you happy for a time. It'll never deal with your guilt. And at the end, you're dead. What is a Christian? A Christian says without being proud, because this is only of grace, you say, one thing I know. Once I was blind. This glorious world that declares the glory of God. I didn't look at it like that, but I do now. I was blind, but now I see. This Jesus, whose knowledge is impregnated in 66 books of the Bible, that knowledge has gestated and come to fruition in me. I see that Christ and trust Him. I worship Him because no other response is fitting. And that's life, no matter what the world says. In other words, this chapter is about a hymn that we're going to sing in just a few minutes. The hymn of the blind man who now sees. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I was once lost, but now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see. What a great Jesus. Let's get hold of that, folks. What Jesus does. Let us rivet us. You can't help but speak of him. And then go out like this boy. Be honest, be transparent, be gracious. Oh yeah, there'll be opposition. But the Lord will come to you in special ways. And your worship will increase even more. Let's pray together. Our Lord, now as we come to the supper of the Lord, give us a hunger for the Lord Jesus and show us how that hunger is satisfied in Jesus. Amen. In number 420, stanzas 1 and 2, we use the word victim. In stanza 3, appropriate to the context, it's victor. 420. Let's stand together and sing. Glory to God in the highest. If it's sacred, not for mine, If it's a body for a feast, Christ the victim, Christ the priest. If to where the last of the blood is poured, That's our angel Jesus' score, The way that comes from above, Way behind His blood-washed head, That's the way, Lord, that's the way, In sincerity and love, He made man up from above. Lightly there the clouds now shine Powers of hell beneath me lie Death is conquered in the light Please be seated. Now what we're doing on our Lord's Day mornings when we have the Lord's Supper is I'm going through the larger catechism on the Ten Commandments and really two reasons. The first one is this. Why do you come to the Lord's Supper? Because you're hungry. You're hungry for feeding that only the Lord Jesus in his blood and his righteousness can give, right? What really makes those gastric juices of the soil work and make your stomach rumble, as it is, is the law of God. It convicts us of our sin. What's the second commandment? The second commandment, you shall not make unto yourself any graven image or any likeness of anything in heaven above or in the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to yourself to them nor serve them. By the Lord your God, I'm a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of those that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments." Now what's going to get our gastric juices of hunger and thirst going? What are the duties required in the second commandment? The duties required in the Second Commandment are the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire all such religious worship and ordinances as God has instituted in His Word, particularly prayer and thanksgiving in the name of Christ, the reading, preaching, and hearing of the Word, the administration and receiving of the sacraments, church government and discipline, the ministry and maintenance thereof. Religious fasting, swearing by the name of God, and vowing unto Him is also the disapproving, detesting, opposing all false worship, and according to each one's place and calling, removing it, and all monuments of idolatry. What are the sins forbidden in the second commandment? The sins forbidden in the second commandment are all devising, counseling, commanding, using, and anywise approving any religious worship not instituted by God Himself. the making of any representation of God, of all or of any of the three persons, either inwardly in our mind or outwardly in any kind of image or likeness of any creature whatsoever, all worshipping of it, or God in it, or by it, the making of any representation of feigned or of imagined deities, in all worship of them or service belonging to them, all superstitious devices, all corrupting the worship of God, all adding to it or taking from it, whether invented and taken up of ourselves or received by tradition from others, though under the title of antiquity, custom, devotion, good intent, or any other pretense whatsoever, simony, sacrilege, all neglect, contempt, hindering and opposing the worship and ordinances which God has appointed. What are the reasons annexed to the second commandment, the more to enforce it? The reasons annexed to the second commandment, the more to enforce it, are contained in these words. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of those that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments, are besides God's sovereignty over us and propriety in us, his fervent zeal for his worship and his revengeful indignation against all false worship as being a spiritual whoredom. Accounting the breakers of this commandment such as hate him and threatening to punish them unto diverse generations and Esteeming the observers of it such as love him and keep his commandments and promising mercy to them unto many generations you say By the works of the law There's not one of us in here that can be justified I and you hunger and you thirst for a righteousness you can't give yourself, behold the Lord Jesus, who so perfectly obeyed the second commandment and all the others that he could wrap it up in saying, zeal for your house has eaten me up. And because zeal for the Lord's house ate him up, you can be fed on him. You see, the same thing that convicts us of our sin Convicts us of our desires We say Oh Lord. I want to be one who honors that commandment in all the others But I can't find the strength in myself. That's right That's why we eat and that's why we drink The body of Jesus broken for you the blood of Christ shed for you. This is a sacrament for the church it's for those who profess faith in the Lord Jesus and are members of his church and As we come to the Lord's Supper Remember that we're to examine ourselves. This should make you hungry. Say, Lord Jesus, strengthen me. And as you eat the bread and drink the wine in faith, you're being strengthened on nothing less, no one less than Jesus. Our Father in heaven, we praise you that our Lord fulfilled in every thought, in every word, in every deed throughout all of his life, from his conception, through his own ascension into heaven, and even now, He fulfilled and he fulfills perfectly the second commandment and all others. And our Lord, we're hungry because of our failings in these areas. But oh, we love you, Lord Jesus, that we have righteousness here and infinitely more. And so we turn from ourselves, we examine ourselves and we pray that you would now take these elements, bread and fruit of the vine, set them apart so that as we eat bread, we're nourished on the body of Christ. As we drink wine, we're nourished on the blood of Christ in that great mystery we don't understand. But Lord, quench our hunger and our thirst in Jesus. Amen. On the night in which he was betrayed, Jesus took bread and he broke it and gave it to his disciples as I do. And he said, this is my body broken for you. Do this in remembrance for me. For those hungry because of their breaking the law of God, Jesus says, I have come. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. They will be filled. The body of Christ broken for you. Even being given a perfect righteousness, we still struggle with guilt. Jesus said on that night of Passover and First Lord's Supper, this cup is the new covenant in my blood shed for many for the forgiveness of your sins. Thank God for this remembrance of it week to week. Sometimes the old gospel hymns can be a little bit trite. But not infrequently, they get it absolutely right, and it's memorable too. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This cup is the new covenant, and the blood of Christ drink from it. Our Lord, our voices and our hearts unite with the spirits of just men and women and boys and girls made perfect in glory, who even now ascribe to Jesus all blessing and honor and glory and majesty and dominion and might. For, our Lord, you are the one who has brought perfect satisfaction for our hunger and thirst of soul and your own obedience and death, and you and your ongoing reign continue to nourish us for our failings, even as you continue to invigorate us, your law written in us, your law written in our hearts. The very things that show us forgiveness for the breaking of your law are the very things that make us long to be like the psalmist saying, oh, how I love your law. It is my meditation all the day, for I love the gospel, which is also my meditation. God, please grant us a far, far greater and deeper grasp of all that you are to us in Christ that you have taken us as blind and made us to see. And may we, our Lord, from a profound sense of what that means, be like that young boy who simply tells what happens to him. And, our Lord, may we know that in the opposition that inevitably comes, You strengthen us to be better witnesses and worshipers of Jesus Christ in whom we pray. Amen. Then we'll wait upon you now for the giving of the Lord for your deacons offering for the many, many manifold ministry of mercy from the church. 60 amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Let's stand together and sing the six stanzas. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. My hope was lost, for now I'm found. The time of doubt The grace that brought my heart to fear, and grace I'm here to believe. In our eyes I must believe Through many dangers, toils, and snares Though I have already come This race has brought me safe The Lord hath promised good to me, His Word my hope secure, He will my shield and portion be, That's all that I can do. the life of joy and peace. When we've been left a thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we know that day