1 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:25,600 Good morning. My name is Danielle. 2 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:28,280 I'm going to lead pastors here at Resurrection Church. 3 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:30,480 Welcome. If it's your first time joining 4 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:33,240 us, welcome. We're excited you chose today to 5 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:36,240 come and join us. We're in John 9 today. 6 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:43,520 Have you, have you ever had kind of an epiphany, like like just a 7 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:48,360 moment where all of a sudden you, you saw something with 8 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:52,320 maybe some incredible clarity, like like maybe things that you 9 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:55,640 thought about before, but just for some reason in that moment, 10 00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:59,560 you, you kind of came to this shocking realization, almost 11 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:02,360 like like you came to this point of like, man, how come I've 12 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:09,280 never seen this this way before? Like, I don't know if you know 13 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:12,520 what I'm talking about. Like I, I've had a lot of those 14 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:15,040 moments in my life where all of a sudden I kind of saw something 15 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:16,840 went. How come I've never seen it this 16 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:21,360 this way before? About like a year ago. 17 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:23,440 And I, and I, I've forgotten to share this already a couple 18 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:26,040 times, but about a year ago, I came to this, this moment in my 19 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:29,720 life, like a moment of cold clarity where I realized that I 20 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:34,080 was an alcoholic. And, and I came to that 21 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:37,360 realization because I just, I, I realized that the definition of 22 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:40,600 alcoholism is one of the, the signs is that you don't have the 23 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:42,280 control over it that you think you have. 24 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:44,720 And I came to the realization of like, I don't think I control 25 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:49,800 this as much as it controls me at the end. 26 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:52,560 That moment. I, it's almost like I could see 27 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:58,080 the cost of holding on to that. I could see what it would cost 28 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:00,560 in ministry. I could see what it would cost 29 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:02,880 in my family. I could see what it would cost 30 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:05,920 in my personal health. Like I could actually, like, I 31 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:08,880 begin to realize that the freedom that I had in Christ to 32 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:11,080 enjoy drinks was actually hurting me. 33 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:13,800 Like all things are permissible, but not all things are 34 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:15,320 beneficial. Amen. 35 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:18,680 And so I could I begin to actually look at this and went, 36 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:23,000 you know, if I become casual about this struggle and I 37 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:25,360 dismiss it, there are going to be implications for this. 38 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:28,680 And so here's what I've learned in moments like that in my life. 39 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:31,880 And, and I think every one of us that is in Christ has moments 40 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:32,880 like this. And I don't want you to miss 41 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:37,840 this in moments like that. It's not me becoming smart. 42 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:43,240 It's not me suddenly having wisdom in moments like that. 43 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:47,800 That is the Holy Spirit breaking through distractions in my life 44 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:52,360 to grab hold of my attention. And my only job in that moment 45 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:58,320 is to respond in obedience. That's my job. 46 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:02,320 And so here's what I would tell you, Christians in the room. 47 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:08,800 If you're a Christian, we say that we want to hear from God, 48 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:16,280 but why would he talk to us when we make a consistent habit of 49 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:20,680 ignoring the things he says? Come on, I'm just, I'm just 50 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:22,560 asking like, I really want to hear from God. 51 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:26,600 He's speaking to you all the time and you made a practice of 52 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:28,400 ignoring it. I mean, the hard things, not the 53 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:30,880 easy things. Those I do all the time. 54 00:03:31,640 --> 00:03:36,080 The hard things, the, the, the ones that require me to change 55 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:38,280 or die to my preference or die to myself. 56 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:42,600 And, and, and because he speaks through his scripture and I'm 57 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:45,120 really good at ignoring that when it requires me to change, 58 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:46,960 why would he speak to me in some other way? 59 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:52,640 We say we want to hear from God, but then we hear from him and we 60 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:54,800 start playing this game. Maybe you don't, but I start 61 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:58,360 playing this game where I decide like, well, maybe, maybe I 62 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:01,160 should, I should reason with myself whether or not like, I 63 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:03,360 should obey God, you know, like, well, I don't know if that's a 64 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:04,680 good idea. I don't know if God has thought 65 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:10,200 that all the way through. I know you don't. 66 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:12,680 Maybe you could relate to me. Maybe you know somebody like 67 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:15,640 this. Not you, but somebody else. 68 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:21,480 Look where I decide. You know, I'm probably smart 69 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:28,520 enough and wise enough to weigh whether or not the God of the 70 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:36,600 universe is right. Seems reasonable and I've got a 71 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:39,480 lot of excuses personally about why I don't think that that's 72 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:44,120 such a good idea, Lord. And so here's our big idea in 73 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:45,680 this sermon. If you leave with nothing else 74 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:48,200 today to leave with one idea, I want you to remember this one 75 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:54,360 idea and it's this My role is to respond when God rings. 76 00:04:56,360 --> 00:05:00,600 My job. My role is to respond when God 77 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:01,920 rings. You're going to see that all 78 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:04,200 throughout our our scripture today. 79 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:06,840 We're going to be in John 9. And in fact, we're going to see 80 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:12,360 multiple examples in John 9 of both sides of this reaction. 81 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:18,320 So, so the positive side when, when God is supernaturally 82 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:22,160 communicating, prompting someone and they respond. 83 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:26,120 And then we're going to see the opposite where God is trying to 84 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:28,040 get someone's attention and they reject him. 85 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:30,720 And they're both in our story in John 9 today. 86 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:34,560 So we're continuing to steam. We we were in John 8 before 87 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:36,040 this. There's a whole theme about 88 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:38,840 light and dark in John 8. And we had this example in the 89 00:05:38,840 --> 00:05:41,680 temple of these torches. And so actually we have some of 90 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:44,920 the same concepts and illustrations, except instead of 91 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:47,480 a torch, which was a couple weeks ago, we're actually going 92 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:51,840 to have a blind man as our this is a live illustration in John 93 00:05:51,840 --> 00:05:57,400 nine of a blind man. Join with me to read God's word. 94 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:03,240 John Chapter 9 verse one says this talking about Jesus. 95 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:09,200 As he Jesus passed by he saw a blind a man blind from birth. 96 00:06:09,840 --> 00:06:14,400 And his disciples asked him Rabbi which means teacher who 97 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:20,400 sinned this man or his parents, that he was born blind. 98 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:23,920 And Jesus answered it was not that this man sinned or his 99 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:30,400 parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 100 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:33,480 We must work the works of him who sent me. 101 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:37,440 While it is day, night is coming when no one can work. 102 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:41,000 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 103 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:47,160 So continuing from John 8, Jesus is walking somewhere in 104 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:51,560 Jerusalem and he stops. And more than likely he's kind 105 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:54,640 of considering staring at this blind man who's just standing 106 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:56,960 there. And his disciples see this. 107 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,240 And so the conversation starts with their commentary where they 108 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:03,560 say, who's sinned? Now, the reason they ask this is 109 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:06,560 that the Jews in the 1st century and, and from before that time, 110 00:07:06,840 --> 00:07:10,000 they believed that disabilities were a result of sin, either the 111 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:11,800 sin of the person or generational sin. 112 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:15,000 And so they treated all disabled as such. 113 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:23,360 Very compassionate society. This man wasn't just blind in 114 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:25,320 that culture. He was an outcast. 115 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:26,920 He was invisible. He was kind of written off and 116 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:30,280 forgotten. And, and, and I mean, we're 117 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:35,240 being really honest, but we, we do a lot of this today, this 118 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:36,960 sort of like assignment of blame. 119 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:40,280 We see someone struggling with an addiction, with mental 120 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:42,280 health, with a difficult marriage, with financial 121 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:43,880 trouble. And our first thought is not, 122 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:45,840 how can I help? It's more of like, I wonder what 123 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:51,640 they did, but I do want you to see this because I do think it's 124 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:53,720 easy to miss this part. And that's this. 125 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:55,560 The man is not calling out to Jesus. 126 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:57,640 The the blind man is not searching for help. 127 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:01,200 He didn't, he didn't prompt the conversation at all. 128 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:03,000 He doesn't ask to be healed, doesn't do anything at all. 129 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:05,520 He's literally standing there. He's probably in need of money 130 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:08,680 or food. And then Jesus says this to his 131 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:10,360 disciples. He says, but it's not that the 132 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:12,880 man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be 133 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:14,440 displayed in him. And I read that. 134 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:16,360 I don't know if you read that the same way, but I read that I 135 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:25,440 went, wait, hold on. You're telling me that this man 136 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:28,640 was born blind, has lived decades in blindness as a social 137 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:34,320 outcast, as a pariah in this community, in loneliness, maybe 138 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:39,679 in poverty, certainly in shame, and all of that was allowed in 139 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:43,280 his life so that God in this one moment in John 9 could do a 140 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:44,440 miracle and everyone would see it? 141 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:51,120 Doesn't that make you a little uncomfortable? 142 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:56,800 Like, like, Dang, man, that's a little cruel, isn't it? 143 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:01,600 Like a little cold? Like, wait, the implication of 144 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:03,440 that is, are you telling me that, that, that medical 145 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:06,440 diagnosis that I got that, that, that cancer, that someone just 146 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:09,560 found out about the death of a loved one, the, the failed 147 00:09:09,560 --> 00:09:12,520 relationship that, that pain that you went through, the 148 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:15,120 suffering that was allowed to happen in your life was for, for 149 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:18,640 what? On a whim? 150 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:23,440 Like I, I've had some, some really difficult moments in my 151 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:26,040 life, some loss. I've had two like really 152 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:28,680 significant surgeries, one on my torn Achilles, one on a torn 153 00:09:28,680 --> 00:09:31,800 pectoral. Whereas like long gruelling 154 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:36,480 recoveries, like just stuck in a cast for 6-8 months and you get 155 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:38,600 into some really dark places where you start asking some 156 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:40,960 questions about like, why in the world did this happen to me? 157 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:47,320 And like there's a moment in this suffering, if you look at 158 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:50,560 it, where you you begin to go, maybe God is cruel. 159 00:09:50,560 --> 00:09:52,640 But what if, what if it's not cruel? 160 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:55,800 If, OK, if you're here, you're visiting, maybe maybe 161 00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:58,600 Christianity is something new to you or foreign to you and you're 162 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:02,560 just kind of checking it out. The story of the Bible is that 163 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:07,440 life wasn't always this way. Humanity was not always in the 164 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:09,600 midst of suffering. That actually the way God 165 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:12,800 designed it originally in the garden, humans weren't 166 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:15,400 suffering. There was no death and pain for 167 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:18,760 humanity. But we rebelled against God and 168 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:23,600 now we live in a world that is cursed by sin and death. 169 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:28,360 We were not designed for this so so so God did not bring this 170 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:34,760 evil or this suffering in. We did What? 171 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:39,480 What if though, as I try to understand suffering and and 172 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:43,760 pain in my own life, what if? What if God allowed those 173 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:47,440 moments in my life not to punish me, Not because I sinned, just 174 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:51,240 like in this story? What what if I was allowed to go 175 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:54,680 through those things so that I would be prepared to connect 176 00:10:54,680 --> 00:10:56,160 with others when they're hurting? 177 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:00,240 What if God allowed me to go through those things so that God 178 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:02,800 could prove his goodness in the midst of my suffering? 179 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:07,320 Here's one of the maybe the hardest things that that we 180 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:10,360 learn about about who God is and who we are here. 181 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:13,920 Here's the thing. The moment, the moment I stopped 182 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:16,760 making my life about me, I start to see God everywhere. 183 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:22,280 Let me make it simpler. It's not about me. 184 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:29,960 Say it with me. It's not about me. 185 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:35,640 Now, Church, that's either the most terrifying truth you're 186 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:40,240 going to hear today or the most liberating, because if it's not 187 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:42,480 about me, then I don't have to carry around the way to the 188 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:44,560 world. And I can stop assuming that 189 00:11:44,560 --> 00:11:47,280 every difficult circumstance, every pain, every suffering is 190 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:51,520 pointless unless you know, I agree with it or I can 191 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:54,120 understand it. In the moment that that starts 192 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:58,040 to sink in, you are on the path to learning humility. 193 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:07,320 Now God is about to, in this story, take this, this blindness 194 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:09,840 that this man has been born into and lived through, and he's 195 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:12,840 going to turn it into something more powerful and more beautiful 196 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:15,200 than you would actually imagine. Look at verse 6. 197 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:18,240 It says this. Having said these things, Jesus 198 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:24,120 spit on the ground, yes, that's weird and made mud with the 199 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:28,720 saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes 200 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:32,320 with the mud and said to him, go wash in the pool of Siloam, 201 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:36,000 which means scent. So he went and washed and came 202 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:40,680 back seeing. OK, just catch a couple things 203 00:12:40,680 --> 00:12:48,240 here. Again, the blind man is standing 204 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:49,440 there and has not asked for help. 205 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:51,720 And I just want you to put your yourself in the in the, in the 206 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:55,560 shoes of this guy, right? He's standing there, Jesus spits 207 00:12:55,560 --> 00:13:00,720 on the ground, makes some mud and sticks it in the guy's eyes. 208 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:03,560 We can all admit that's weird, right? 209 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:10,440 Please don't do that to me. Guy didn't ask for help. 210 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:14,120 Guy didn't ask for healing. Guy is not seeking Jesus. 211 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:18,000 And then second thing, Jesus doesn't say, OK, you're healed. 212 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:22,200 Then he's like, oh, you got mud in your eye, better go wash it 213 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:24,520 off. And tells him to go all the way 214 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:25,960 across town. It's about 1/2 mile. 215 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:29,240 He's blind and they don't have Uber. 216 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:35,800 Better go wash it off across town. 217 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:39,840 That's what he's telling him in the Bible. 218 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:41,920 If you, if you study like all the miracles that Jesus does, 219 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:44,720 all the times he heals someone, there's a bunch of times where 220 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:48,320 he literally looks at someone and goes you're healed and 221 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:50,960 they're healed or he touches someone and they're healed. 222 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:55,920 But he doesn't do that here. I mean, he doesn't need to make 223 00:13:55,920 --> 00:13:59,520 mud with his spit. He doesn't even need to touch 224 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:02,200 the man. He doesn't need to send the man 225 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:03,400 to a pool. Like none of those things are 226 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:04,800 necessary. He heals people all the time 227 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:07,600 with all those things. Why did he do all of that weird 228 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:11,240 stuff? OK, I want you to see a couple 229 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:14,520 things, OK? One, I do want you to realize 230 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:16,840 like, and I think it's really important implication to 231 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:21,360 understand that, that that the man is not not only not 232 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:23,600 searching for Jesus, he doesn't realize that Jesus is the 233 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:25,680 answer. And listen, there's a lot of 234 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:28,080 stories in the Bible where where the person comes to Jesus to be 235 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:29,240 healed. We see that over and over again. 236 00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:32,400 But what I want you to see here is Jesus seeks this man out to 237 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:39,160 heal him. There are some of you sitting in 238 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:45,080 the room today or, or watching this online and Jesus is seeking 239 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:49,680 you out right now to save you. And you don't know that he's the 240 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:54,160 answer and you're not seeking him and you don't care about 241 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:56,800 him. And, and maybe you actually like 242 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:00,040 think that all this faith stuff is ignorant or stupid. 243 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:03,840 And I'm telling you that even in your blindness, Jesus is seeking 244 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:11,880 to save you. And the second thing I want you 245 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:14,680 to understand is that Jesus always takes the initiative to 246 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:18,440 save us. Some of us think that in this 247 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:21,560 moment where we realize that the God is speaking to us, there was 248 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:23,400 something that we did. But I need you to understand 249 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:26,520 that God was always at power and at work before you ever realized 250 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:31,320 anything. My role is to respond when God 251 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:36,960 rings. Now, the whole mud thing is it's 252 00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:42,440 a little gross. I mean, you just imagine you're 253 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:48,280 standing there blind, destitute, probably hungry, and this guy 254 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:51,120 walks up and they're kind of the disciples are kind of like, oh, 255 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:52,840 look at this Sinner guy who sinned, right? 256 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:54,520 And Jesus is like, cool, I'll take care of it. 257 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:56,960 And then smashes his spit mud in your eyes. 258 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:03,920 Really, bro? And then he's like, now go 259 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:07,640 across town and wash it out. But but here, here's what I do 260 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:08,800 want you to see. And you're going to see in the 261 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:15,160 text here both those things, the making of mud pies and the 262 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:20,200 washing were considered work by Judaic law, and it was the 263 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:24,680 Sabbath. So Jesus not only breaks Judaic 264 00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:29,440 law, he makes the man break Judaic law so that he can set up 265 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:30,880 the next interaction. That's how we know how 266 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:32,920 intentional this was and you'll see it in just a minute. 267 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:36,680 The third thing, I want you to see this. 268 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:39,000 Jesus could have healed him. Even at the point he put mud on 269 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:40,000 his eyes, He could have healed him. 270 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:41,640 He could have taken the mud off. He could have seen. 271 00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:43,640 He didn't. He required the man to respond 272 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:49,680 in faith until that man walked all the way across town, 600 273 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:52,600 meters through Jerusalem, blind and washed off that mud. 274 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:55,760 He was still blind. And I want you to catch that 275 00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:59,800 because often times, often times man, God is doing something 276 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:03,800 powerful in your life, but he requires you to respond in 277 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:06,200 obedience before you're going to really see it fully. 278 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:09,240 In fact, often times you're not even going to you recognize that 279 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:13,280 God is at work in your life in power until you do that. 280 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:15,400 You're not going to receive the, the blessing or even understand 281 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:18,880 the move of God in your life until you respond in obedience. 282 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:22,560 Often there's an act of obedience that is necessary to 283 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:28,840 fully realize God's Providence. You couldn't start it. 284 00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:31,840 You didn't want it. You didn't know what was going 285 00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:33,440 on. Jesus was doing it. 286 00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:36,360 God was at work. But you are required to take a 287 00:17:36,360 --> 00:17:39,600 step forward in obedience in order to realize the power of 288 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:42,800 God working in your life with a blessing of God in your life. 289 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:46,400 And it's listen, as long as you stand there with mud on your 290 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:49,480 eyes doing nothing, debating over whether or not obedience to 291 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:51,440 God is worth it, you won't receive it. 292 00:17:53,120 --> 00:17:58,720 You won't experience it. And I want to encourage you. 293 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:02,320 Some of us, some of us in here, are going through a really, 294 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:04,200 really tough season in our life right now. 295 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:10,400 Amen. And yet God is at work trying to 296 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:14,240 convict you or encourage you or move you or prompt you or 297 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:17,400 motivate you. And man, some of us are standing 298 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:20,080 right now with our hands in our pocket and mud on our eyes, 299 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:21,640 wondering whether or not God's going to move. 300 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:30,000 In my life right now, God is at work and has been at work for 301 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:33,240 some time, convicting me and moving me towards some some 302 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:36,760 tough decisions in ministry, some some discernment stuff 303 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:38,560 about where He's leading our church and where He's leading 304 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:41,640 me, and some stuff that I frankly been trying to ignore 305 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:44,000 for a while. But I see His hand even in the 306 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:48,040 really hard stuff, and I'm trying to be obedient so that I 307 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:51,920 can see where He's leading me. And what you and I have to do in 308 00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:55,240 these moments is we have to take the hard step of obedience. 309 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:59,280 It was not easy for that blind man to stumble his way all the 310 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:02,240 way through Jerusalem to get to that pool, but he did it anyway. 311 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:06,360 And for some of you, there are some hard steps ahead in 312 00:19:06,360 --> 00:19:09,040 obedience to Christ. But if you want to receive what 313 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:12,360 God has for you, if you, if you want to see what he's doing in 314 00:19:12,360 --> 00:19:15,000 her life, if you want to put your arms around a move of God 315 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:17,520 in your life, you're going to need to respond. 316 00:19:20,360 --> 00:19:23,920 The result of this story in John 9 is supernatural science has no 317 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:27,320 recorded cases of someone being born blind and receiving their 318 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:31,760 sight 20-30 years later. And, and the result of this, if 319 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:34,080 you read the story, is noticed by the whole community. 320 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:37,520 And so people start to celebrate this until a couple days later, 321 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:40,400 the Pharisees who are like the religious rulers of the day, 322 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:44,160 they hear about this and they get all up in arms in verse 14, 323 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:48,320 because now it was a Sabbath day that Jesus made the mud and open 324 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:52,080 the eyes. Uh oh, you done messed up. 325 00:19:52,240 --> 00:20:00,920 A a Ron, you did a miracle on the Sabbath. 326 00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:03,160 How dare you? I can just see the head bobbing 327 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:07,240 right now, right? A miracle of supernatural 328 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:10,120 healing, and the Pharisees hear about it, and they're ticked off 329 00:20:10,120 --> 00:20:11,600 that a rule got broken on the Sabbath. 330 00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:16,080 Think about this, God does this miracle to get the attention of 331 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:19,440 the people, not only to to see that he's at work, but to see 332 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:22,840 that Jesus is offering salvation and they're stuck on religious 333 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:27,560 rules, missing God at work. God wants them to see Jesus and 334 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:30,920 all they can see is it couldn't be God because like these men 335 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:32,960 broke a rule, therefore they couldn't have earned this 336 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:34,200 miracle. That's what they're thinking, 337 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:39,520 but they couldn't have earned this miracle. 338 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:42,880 Listen like it's easy to look at them and look down our nose and 339 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:47,240 go so dumb. But but but you and I do that. 340 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:51,560 We look at a Co worker, a relative, a neighbor, another 341 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:54,160 church that gets blessed where God's doing something miraculous 342 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:56,400 and instead of giving glory to God and letting it build up our 343 00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:58,960 faith, we start to question we're like that person. 344 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:03,840 No, but they do they do they really deserve that? 345 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:08,800 Can it, can it be real for if it's them, if it's so and so 346 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:12,720 like the, the act, the very miracle that was intended to 347 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:17,040 help them see Jesus has led to them just judging others in self 348 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:20,920 righteousness. And, and So what happens in our 349 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:24,640 text is that the, the, the, the Pharisees, they interview him 350 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:26,720 and they don't like the answers. So they call his parents and 351 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:28,680 they don't like their answers. So they call him back for like a 352 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:32,160 second interrogation and they're just, they're pressing on him. 353 00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:33,800 And here's the crazy thing in the story. 354 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:37,080 He was blind when he left to go to the pool. 355 00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:41,040 So he's never even seen Jesus. He's never seen Jesus, but 356 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:43,200 they're asking him all these questions about Jesus and he 357 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:46,600 keeps going. He's like, you knew I was blind, 358 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:49,760 right? Like they're pressing him. 359 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:52,680 And so he's just kind of making up answers. 360 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:55,080 Like sometimes we do that too. People ask us hard theological 361 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:55,840 questions. We're like. 362 00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:58,440 And so he's like, what? I think he's a prophet. 363 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:00,920 And then in verse 25, he's kind of confused and they're still 364 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:02,600 asking him all these tough questions and he answers this. 365 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:05,240 This is one of the best answers in all of scripture. 366 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:07,960 In verse 25, they're they're on him and he goes, whether he's a 367 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:11,880 Sinner, I do not know. One thing I know though, I was 368 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:22,480 blind and now I see. One thing I do know, I was blind 369 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:29,160 and now I see you realize I was the inspiration for probably the 370 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:32,680 most well known hymn in the history of the world, right from 371 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:38,120 John 9. Amazing Grace. 372 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:49,760 How sweet the sound that saved a Wretch like me. 373 00:22:52,120 --> 00:22:59,280 I once was lost but now I'm found. 374 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:12,000 Was blind. But now I see that's my story, 375 00:23:14,120 --> 00:23:19,520 that's what happened to me. You don't have to know anything 376 00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:23,600 more to have a testimony worth sharing. 377 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:27,720 Listen, studying and preparing to share your faith is 378 00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:28,960 wonderful. You should do that. 379 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:32,280 But you should never miss an opportunity to tell people how 380 00:23:32,360 --> 00:23:36,360 Jesus changed you. This guy isn't qualified. 381 00:23:36,360 --> 00:23:41,080 He was an outcast of society, but when God moved, he responded 382 00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:43,040 in faith. And now not only does he have 383 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:46,920 his sight restored, God is beginning to save his soul. 384 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:53,480 In verses 30 through 33, he defends Jesus passionately, and 385 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:55,640 he's still never seen Jesus with his own eyes. 386 00:23:56,760 --> 00:23:59,560 And he finishes his defense with this line. 387 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:04,080 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. 388 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:14,600 Oh, boy's preaching so, so, so, so God has now filled this man. 389 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:16,480 He's, he's given him the words in the moment. 390 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:19,280 He's standing in front of the most powerful religious rulers 391 00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:23,400 of their time who hold in balance, casting him out of the 392 00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:26,680 the temple, meaning they decide whether he gets excluded from 393 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:29,600 all of this community or not. And he's standing there in that 394 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:33,400 moment in front of all of them, emboldened because the Holy 395 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:37,440 Spirit has given him these words and he is pressing back against 396 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:40,480 persecution of Christ. Christian, listen to me. 397 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:45,960 You have the spirit of the living God inside of you. 398 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:50,320 You are a minister of the gospel. 399 00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:53,960 You are a royal priesthood, A chosen nation. 400 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:57,720 You are an evangelist. You are a walking testimony of 401 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:03,960 the goodness and power of God. And he only left you here on 402 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:07,520 earth and didn't immediately take you to heaven when you were 403 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:11,240 saved so that you could spread the good news to a dark and 404 00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:15,360 fallen world. Somebody say Amen, you are 405 00:25:15,360 --> 00:25:21,480 called and, and, and think about who he picked in this story. 406 00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:26,360 He picks up a man who's been born in the blindness and lived 407 00:25:26,360 --> 00:25:30,400 as a social outcast his whole life, and then prepares him 408 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:33,400 through that suffering not only to receive the gospel, but to 409 00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:36,280 become the story of the power of God. 410 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:39,640 Because God equips those he calls. 411 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:44,800 If you know God, it's because he saved you, not that you and I 412 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:46,520 did anything. And the fact of the Bible is 413 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:51,320 that he often chooses those who have nothing to brag about. 414 00:25:51,360 --> 00:25:55,400 Amen. In first Corinthians one, the 415 00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:58,280 Bible says it this way. God chose what is weak in the 416 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:02,120 world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and 417 00:26:02,120 --> 00:26:10,240 despised in the world. Dirtbag like me, if for one 418 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:17,080 second you feel unworthy of the love that Jesus has given you, 419 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:19,600 of the calling that He has put on your life, just remember 420 00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:21,800 this. He chose you before the 421 00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:28,200 foundations of the world, and He loves choosing the worst of us 422 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:31,880 to display His power and His glory to the world through us. 423 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:37,680 So don't you hang your head, don't you shy away from the 424 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:40,840 call, or run from the mission, or miss the position that He has 425 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:44,320 put you in. You step into obedience to tell 426 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:48,760 them about your Jesus. And you don't have to know 427 00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:51,560 anything more than that. We sing this song all the time. 428 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:55,880 Sing this with me. He makes a way where there ain't 429 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:59,720 no way. Rises up from an empty grave. 430 00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:02,800 Ain't no Sinner that he can't save. 431 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:08,360 Let me tell you about my Jesus. His love is strong and His grace 432 00:27:08,360 --> 00:27:11,240 is free. And the good news is, I know 433 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:15,080 that He can do for you what he's done for me. 434 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:21,280 Let me tell you about my Jesus and let my Jesus change your 435 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:25,000 life. That's all you got to know. 436 00:27:27,360 --> 00:27:34,120 That's all you have to know. If you will pay attention to the 437 00:27:34,120 --> 00:27:37,840 Holy Spirit in your life, you're going to find opportunity after 438 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:40,040 opportunity to share Christ with others. 439 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:51,320 Don't miss these opportunities. God is at work and He will 440 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:57,120 prompt you when when you recognize God is at work, that 441 00:27:57,120 --> 00:28:00,080 is an invitation to join him in his work. 442 00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:05,800 My role is to respond when God rings. 443 00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:12,240 Verse 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out. 444 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:15,160 Now that doesn't mean that they were just they cast him out 445 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:16,480 meaning like, oh, we're done with you. 446 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:21,800 That means he got cast out of community for standing up for 447 00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:27,520 Christ and having found him. He said, do you believe in the 448 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:30,080 Son of man? That is the the title Jesus used 449 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:32,440 for himself a bunch in the in the New Testament. 450 00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:36,200 And the blind man answered, and who is he, Sir, that I'm able he 451 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:39,360 still hasn't seen Jesus that I might believe in him. 452 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:42,520 And Jesus said to him, you have seen him and it is he who is 453 00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:44,720 speaking to you. And he said, Lord, I believe, 454 00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:49,600 and he worshipped him. Don't, don't miss the, the, the 455 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:51,480 progression of faith. It's the first time the man has 456 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:52,720 even seen Jesus with his own eyes. 457 00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:55,360 He, he was not seeking Jesus when this story started. 458 00:28:55,960 --> 00:28:57,520 And then he's like, well, maybe he's a prophet. 459 00:28:57,640 --> 00:28:59,760 And then part way through the story, he goes, I don't know if 460 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:01,200 he's a Sinner or if he isn't a Sinner. 461 00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:03,760 And then he gets the conviction continues to build and he's 462 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:05,600 like, listen, he must be from God. 463 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:09,840 And we end the story with I believe and he is worshipping 464 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:12,560 Jesus. And that all happened not 465 00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:17,320 because he did anything to start it, but because he responded to 466 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:20,920 Christ and he could have missed it. 467 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:24,240 Like I'll just think about what he could have missed in that 468 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:29,600 moment with mud on his face, all the excuses he could have come 469 00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:32,760 up with. Like, I don't know who this dude 470 00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:37,320 is. In fact, if this guy is from 471 00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:40,480 God, that's the God that allowed me to be born in the blindness. 472 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:42,520 So he could have sat there in bitterness. 473 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:49,920 He could have thought about, man, do you know how hard it's 474 00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:51,800 going to get to go all the way across down to that pool? 475 00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:58,800 Why would I do that? There will always be excuses and 476 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:03,400 reasons not to respond to the call of Christ in your life. 477 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:08,680 And oftentimes, oftentimes the greatest of those is our own 478 00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:12,880 self-sufficiency, like our own desire to trust in our own 479 00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:16,000 wisdom, our own intellect, and it causes us to miss Jesus. 480 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:19,080 In fact, we actually have a need to be low. 481 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:25,480 Oftentimes, especially as you read these stories in the Bible. 482 00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:28,760 It is only those that are low that are even able to see Jesus 483 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:31,560 at work in their lives. Charles Spurgeon said it this 484 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:33,320 way. It is not our littleness that 485 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:36,880 hinders Christ, but our bigness. It is not our weakness that 486 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:38,360 hinders Christ, it is our strength. 487 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:41,000 It is not our darkness that hinders Christ, it is our 488 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:43,000 supposed light that holds back His hand. 489 00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:49,440 We think too much of ourselves and we miss Christ in the 490 00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:54,720 process. His story finishes up last three 491 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:57,680 verses, 39 through 41. And essentially here's what 492 00:30:57,680 --> 00:31:00,440 Jesus is going to say. He's going to tell people that 493 00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:03,400 he came into this world so that those who did not see would be 494 00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:05,200 able to see. And the Pharisees are going to 495 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:08,520 hear this and they're going to go, wait a minute, are you 496 00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:13,080 saying we're blind? And then Jesus in verse 41 is 497 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:14,760 going to respond to them. And I'm going to paraphrase it, 498 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:17,960 but he says this. He says essentially how you 499 00:31:17,960 --> 00:31:22,520 respond when Jesus shows up will become your judgement. 500 00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:25,800 That's what verse 41 really means. 501 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:29,560 And the Bible will reinforce this concept over and over again 502 00:31:29,560 --> 00:31:33,640 that that that it is going to be some point in your life where 503 00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:36,360 you're going to be confronted with the truth of Christ. 504 00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:40,720 And in that moment, your response will become your 505 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:43,880 judgement. Let me take it even further than 506 00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:45,320 just that. I would tell you this. 507 00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:47,520 If you're a Christian, that actually is going to happen over 508 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:49,320 and over and over again. If you've given your life to 509 00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:52,240 Christ, you're going to be confronted with Jesus calling 510 00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:57,760 you into acts of obedience. And in those moments where you 511 00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:00,320 have to decide whether or not to obey or to argue, whether or not 512 00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:02,400 to obey or to have an excuse, whether or not to obey or to 513 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:06,000 delay, there's going to be a moment when we stand before 514 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:07,040 Christ. And we're going to answer for 515 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:10,960 all of those interactions too. Because it's a daily thing, 516 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:12,880 Christian. Sometimes it's an hourly thing. 517 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:15,960 It's not one time in your life you responded to Jesus. 518 00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:21,160 Do you want to hear from God? Do you want to, do you want to 519 00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:22,840 see him move miraculously in your life? 520 00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:25,320 You want to experience love and satisfaction and contentment in 521 00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:27,120 your life? Do you want to be healed of an 522 00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:29,640 addiction or an overwhelming temptation? 523 00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:32,880 Do you want to experience real joy in your life? 524 00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:35,440 Then I would ask you this, what is God calling you to do right 525 00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:40,160 now? And go do it with no delay. 526 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:45,440 We get caught up in the middle of it all the time. 527 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:49,480 God's prompting us, calling us, convicting us, encouraging us, 528 00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:51,680 and we're like, let me pray about it. 529 00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:55,280 That is the Christian version of I don't want to think about that 530 00:32:55,280 --> 00:33:03,140 right now. Let me give 5, just 5 little 531 00:33:03,140 --> 00:33:05,920 practical things in that moment. I just want you to consider 532 00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:08,080 these things. These are like life application. 533 00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:10,680 OK? Here's #1 when we have known sin 534 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:13,040 in our life that we won't deal with, we stop growing. 535 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:18,800 See, some of us right now in the room or online know exactly what 536 00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:20,920 we're supposed to be doing. And we've been wrestling with it 537 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:22,920 for I don't even know how long. And let me just tell you this, 538 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:31,280 Repent, confess it to somebody and get accountability in your 539 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:33,640 life. You've been hiding for way too 540 00:33:33,640 --> 00:33:36,120 long and you've been wondering why God's silent. 541 00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:37,520 He's not. You're just good at ignoring 542 00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:42,480 him. Get accountability. 543 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:45,600 Get into a group, find a person, tell your spouse. 544 00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:47,080 Come up front during prayer time. 545 00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:55,000 Make it happen #2 the longer we refuse to repent, the harder it 546 00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:58,560 gets to hear the Holy Spirit. God's not silent. 547 00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:02,160 We have dull ears. Listen, it's super hard to hear 548 00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:10,280 from God when you're doing this. When God is calling you to 549 00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:13,760 something and you can make a habit out of refusing. 550 00:34:14,520 --> 00:34:16,600 I'm not sure how you think you're going to hear or be 551 00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:20,880 sensitive to the Holy Spirit. You're practicing being 552 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:27,120 insensitive to the Holy Spirit. I've gotten really good at being 553 00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:29,120 insensitive to the Holy Spirit and then being mad at God for 554 00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:36,000 not talking #3 If you know what to do and refuse to do it, the 555 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:39,000 Bible calls that sin. Let me say that again. 556 00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:43,920 If you know what to do and refuse to do it, the Bible calls 557 00:34:43,920 --> 00:34:47,239 that sin. Man, some of y'all in here, you 558 00:34:47,239 --> 00:34:49,760 know you have a call in your life like God has been working 559 00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:52,120 in your life and moving in your life and he's been calling you 560 00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:55,800 into something, into a ministry to serve, to give, to change 561 00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:58,080 something to take hold of something to. 562 00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:00,640 I mean, you know that and you've been wrestling over it. 563 00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:03,040 And I'm just telling you stop running. 564 00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:07,440 Find someone else to tell about it. 565 00:35:08,720 --> 00:35:10,600 Make a plan on how to actually do it. 566 00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:14,240 Listen, the whole point of gathering together to encourage 567 00:35:14,240 --> 00:35:16,600 one another is to stir one another up. 568 00:35:19,480 --> 00:35:22,760 So stop internalizing that and talk to somebody about it and 569 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:25,240 go, I need help to do the thing that's calling me to do. 570 00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:30,000 We love doing that. You'll find that the people in 571 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:34,440 the church love helping you do the thing that God's calling you 572 00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:38,960 to do #4 when God calls you to do something, stop making 573 00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:40,480 excuses. It's for your benefit. 574 00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:45,440 The greatest enemy to American Christianity is comfort. 575 00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:52,960 Y'all we way too comfortable. You can have courage or you can 576 00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:54,560 have comfort, but you can't have both. 577 00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:57,840 You got to choose. And I'm just going to tell you 578 00:35:57,840 --> 00:36:07,600 this, y'all jump in the water is fine #5 If you have no idea if 579 00:36:07,600 --> 00:36:11,520 God is calling you, create time and space for him to speak and 580 00:36:11,520 --> 00:36:15,240 then ask him. We live in the noisiest time in 581 00:36:15,240 --> 00:36:17,360 human history. We have the shortest attention 582 00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:21,120 spans in human history. Turn off your TV, turn off your 583 00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:24,120 phone, open your Bible and ask him. 584 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:28,960 It's a revolutionary concept. This song that came out a couple 585 00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:31,400 weeks ago from Josiah Queen. I, I love the chorus. 586 00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:35,000 It goes like this. We got dust on our bibles, brand 587 00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:38,200 new iPhones. No wonder why we feel this way. 588 00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:45,840 We walk with our eyes closed blind leading blind folks and 589 00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:48,800 I'm done with those idols and dusty bibles. 590 00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:55,800 There are two groups of people sitting in this room or or or 591 00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:58,360 watching today. The 1st is a group. 592 00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:04,200 First group of of you is those who do not know Christ as your 593 00:37:04,600 --> 00:37:07,040 Lord and personal Savior. You don't actually know him. 594 00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:10,080 You know of him, you know about him, your grandma knows him, but 595 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:15,240 you don't know him. You've never made a decision to 596 00:37:15,240 --> 00:37:17,560 respond to the call of God in your life. 597 00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:20,600 And I just want you to consider what the Bible is saying here in 598 00:37:20,600 --> 00:37:23,520 John nine, that that your judgement is actually based on 599 00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:28,920 how you respond. The Bible says at some point in 600 00:37:28,920 --> 00:37:30,920 your life you're going to hear the call from the God, you're 601 00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:32,840 going to, you're going to be confronted with the gospel. 602 00:37:33,240 --> 00:37:35,240 Guess what? Today is that day. 603 00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:45,600 How will you respond? The Bible says that we are all 604 00:37:45,600 --> 00:37:50,280 born in sin apart from relationship with God, and that 605 00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:53,160 nothing we can do on our own will repair that relationship. 606 00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:58,320 So God sent his only Son to live a perfect life that we could 607 00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:02,560 never live, to die the death that we deserved, to die, and to 608 00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:04,560 rise again three days later in victory. 609 00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:09,720 And it through him we could have a restored relationship to the 610 00:38:09,720 --> 00:38:12,040 Father. But you ought to lay down your 611 00:38:12,040 --> 00:38:23,120 life to call him Lord of it. And for some of you, you've 612 00:38:23,120 --> 00:38:26,600 known Jesus, but man, you have been wrestling with an act of 613 00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:29,400 obedience in your life and you've not wanted to give that 614 00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:32,800 over to the Lord. It is the same surrender now 615 00:38:32,920 --> 00:38:36,160 that started this whole salvation process. 616 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:41,000 You have to lay your life down. Yes, even that thing you're 617 00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:44,720 holding on to. So I want to give both of the 618 00:38:44,720 --> 00:38:47,320 groups in this room an opportunity to respond to this 619 00:38:47,320 --> 00:38:51,640 today. If you don't know Jesus, this is 620 00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:54,440 your opportunity. The Bible says that you must 621 00:38:54,440 --> 00:38:56,360 place your faith in him. In Romans 10/9 to 10. 622 00:38:56,360 --> 00:38:59,040 It says this because if you confess with your mouth that 623 00:38:59,040 --> 00:39:02,000 Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised 624 00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:03,320 him from the dead, you will be saved. 625 00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:06,280 Because with the heart 1 believes and is justified, and 626 00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:08,800 with the mouth 1 confesses and is saved. 627 00:39:11,600 --> 00:39:13,200 So I want to give you the opportunity to respond. 628 00:39:13,560 --> 00:39:15,640 Would you please all bow your heads and close your eyes for 629 00:39:15,640 --> 00:39:18,360 just a moment? We're wrapping up, but if you're 630 00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:22,360 willing to ask Him for forgiveness and salvation with 631 00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:25,400 every eye closed, with every head bowed, just quietly or or 632 00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:27,640 silently repeat this prayer after me. 633 00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:36,800 Jesus, I know I'm a Sinner and I can't save myself. 634 00:39:39,880 --> 00:39:47,760 I want you to save me, so I surrender everything to you and 635 00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:54,240 I receive your promise of forgiveness, of adoption, and of 636 00:39:54,240 --> 00:40:01,440 eternal life. Be my Lord, Please Jesus, if you 637 00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:03,960 prayed that prayer for the very first time right now, would you 638 00:40:03,960 --> 00:40:06,240 be brave and raise your hand for me to see? 639 00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:13,640 Thank you. You put your hands down in Jesus 640 00:40:13,640 --> 00:40:19,160 name, Amen real quick. Whether you raised your hand or 641 00:40:19,160 --> 00:40:23,560 not, if you just responded to the call of God in your life for 642 00:40:23,560 --> 00:40:26,600 the very first time, welcome to the family. 643 00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:35,320 In just a moment as we respond to this message, there are 644 00:40:35,320 --> 00:40:37,040 tables in the back and say I raised my hand. 645 00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:40,680 You just gave your life to Jesus. 646 00:40:40,680 --> 00:40:42,760 We want to, we want to meet you. I want you to go back there in a 647 00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:43,560 minute. We have a gift for you. 648 00:40:43,560 --> 00:40:44,760 We want to talk to you and pray with you. 649 00:40:48,200 --> 00:40:51,680 For those of you that already know the Lord and you've been 650 00:40:51,680 --> 00:40:54,680 wrestling with that thing that God is calling you into, I want 651 00:40:54,680 --> 00:40:58,040 to encourage you that you will never regret responding to 652 00:40:58,040 --> 00:41:03,080 Christ. Imagine that blind man missing 653 00:41:03,080 --> 00:41:06,360 out not only on sight, but on being saved because he failed to 654 00:41:06,360 --> 00:41:08,480 respond. For many of us, there's healing, 655 00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:11,080 there's contentment, there's satisfaction, there's 656 00:41:11,080 --> 00:41:14,960 transformation. Waiting for us today to respond 657 00:41:14,960 --> 00:41:16,960 to Christ's conviction and prompting in our lives. 658 00:41:16,960 --> 00:41:20,360 So don't put it off. Our job is to respond when God 659 00:41:20,360 --> 00:41:22,520 rings. A per team is going to be up 660 00:41:22,520 --> 00:41:24,280 here. We would love to pray with you 661 00:41:24,280 --> 00:41:27,240 about anything. We love praying for you. 662 00:41:28,120 --> 00:41:29,720 It's not weird to get prayed for. 663 00:41:30,040 --> 00:41:31,720 It's weird to go to church and not get prayed for. 664 00:41:33,280 --> 00:41:38,280 Just saying, will you stand? We're going to sing you move as 665 00:41:38,280 --> 00:41:39,600 the Lord leads you. We love you.