Your Life On Display (John 9:1-7 Jeff Kliewer)

I was doing it.

Yeah, then he had to do an interview.

Oh, gotcha.

All right.

So go ahead, John.

Are we ready now?

Yeah, let's do this.

All right, so for the announcements today, there is an election meeting on March 13. That's the time when we all come together and those who are members can vote for the new elder and two new deacons.

Or one will be new and two that are getting re-upped. So the election meeting is, and it's also when we approve the budget. So March 13, a few weeks out from now, congregational meeting. Number two, if you're interested in how the church spends money because we want this to be an open book, the first two Sundays of March, after second service, there will be somebody, the treasurer, who's right here.

He'll have our budget available for you to go ask any questions and you can look at that. And that's what will be approved on March 13. So on March 5 and on March 12, you're free to visit Ray after second service and look at the money of the church.

Number three, starting point is going on right now. If you're a part of that starting point class, you might want to quietly slip out. John Laskin's teaching that. Marriage matters is full now, I understand.

So you'll have to wait for the next time around on that. There is a movie. Any of you all familiar with Calvary Chapel? Great denomination. They teach the Bible verse by verse. Well, they were born out of some kind of a revival movement that happened like in the 1970s.

And there's a movie in the theater. We're all going to go see it. Whoever wants to get your own ticket. The Regal Theater in Moorestown on Wednesday night. This Wednesday, the 22nd. It's at 7 o 'clock.

And the movie is entitled Jesus Revolution. Number six, the women's tea. That's coming quickly. Ladies, mark your calendar. Think about who you can invite. Also, guys, if you want to help serve, pouring tea and setting up tables, doing what you can to help, see Ron Cameron.

He is arranging or talk to myself if you'd like to volunteer to help out with that. So that is March 4th. And then we want to say thank you to those who showed up yesterday for a work day. A lot of spackling and painting and cleaning and cleaning out the shed.

I understand the shed's like almost empty now because we got rid of so much junk. So thank you. Anybody who helped out with that, we really appreciate you taking the time to do that. All right, let's open in a word of prayer.

Worship, Prayer, and the Call to Open Blind Eyes

Gracious Heavenly Father, it is a joy to come into this place. We know that we're only here because you have opened our blind eyes and given us sight. You've shown us the glory of the Son of God. We were blinded by the evil one, dead in our trespasses and sins, but you opened our eyes to see the Messiah, the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

And so we come in the name of Jesus, desiring to worship and praise you for you are worthy. You are worthy of our lives, of our suffering, of everything that we could ever possibly give you. You are more than worthy.

And so this morning, as we gather in your name, we ask that your spirit would fall on this place. Help us to understand your ways, to walk in your ways, to do your will. And we pray, Lord, that as we sing this morning, it would be as men and women, boys and girls, who have been redeemed.

So give us the joy of the Lord. Help us to give you the praise that is due your holy name. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen.

Let's stand together. It says in Psalm 145, I will exalt you, O God, O King, and I will bless your name forever and ever.

Each day that I look to the setting sun Your greatness I'll proclaim Your glory far exceeds all human With each breath I'll bless your name, O God Your name will be re More strong and

At 12, four and five, read with me. Give praise to the Lord. Proclaim his name. Make known among the nations what he has done. And proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing to the Lord for he has done glorious things.

Let this be known to all the world.

Let's sing together what he's done for all of us. On the hill of Easter, praise God

From your birth, your life, to your death on the cross, for your risen self, and the way that you sit on the throne in your own sovereignty, guiding every moment, even in our difficult times and in our weaknesses, we can rest assured that you have not forgotten us.

You are sovereign over us. And you have a perfect plan for every moment of our lives. I pray, Lord, for the revival in our hearts, in our town, in our nation, in our world. Allow this joy of yourself.

Be a shining light to our world.

Within the sorrow of our tears

Let's pray. Our sovereign King, ruler of the universe, we look to you this morning in your word, submitting ourselves entirely to every word that you have spoken. Lord, we're asking for a miracle this morning that you would open blind eyes.

The miracle of conversion that any who have not yet seen that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, that you would open their eyes to see him, to believe in him. We pray also for those of us who have believed that you would do a great work by your spirit to turn our eyes full to the face of Jesus, to teach us to trust more, that you would give us eyes to see the hand of your providence, to trust in your ways.

Give us a higher view of God and perhaps a lower view of ourselves. Open our eyes, Lord, to see wonderful things from your word. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Does anybody here have a bucket list? A bucket list, things that you want to accomplish before you die.

One of the things now on my bucket list is I would like to climb Mount Washington in New Hampshire. So I'm hoping to do that this summer if it be God's will. I don't know whether or not it will be his will, but that's my plan.

That question, do you have a bucket list, is a wonderful starter question when you're seeking to evangelize. My friend, Philip the Evangelist from church here, that's Phil DeMoss, he uses that question to open conversations when we're at Princeton.

And after asking, do you have a bucket list, you can talk about things they hope to accomplish in this life and then quickly turn to the conversation to what happens after this life. And you begin to discuss eternal things from that point forward.

We lead them through the law to determine whether they're a good person. And the law, of course, finding all of us guilty of sin, leaves people guilty. And so the result of that guilt would be eternal condemnation.

We ask, does that concern you? Are you worried about the state of your soul after you die? And very often, imagine this, young people will say, no, it doesn't bother me. If I'm guilty and I go to hell, then so be it, whatever will be, will be.

And it's very sad. But you know, when somebody says that, most recently about two weeks ago, Phil and I were at Princeton and this young man said that. He had no concern, even though he thought, yeah, I'd probably be found guilty if there is a God.

Well, Phil, Philip the Evangelist, used a wonderful line of reasoning that I want each of you to learn, okay? Here's what you should ask if somebody just shows no concern for their own soul. He said, hey, would you sell me an eyeball for a million dollars?

And the person said, well, no, my eyesight's too valuable. Well, would you sell your eyes, both of them, for a hundred million dollars? And the person thought about it, hmm, two eyeballs for a hundred million dollars.

No, they're more valuable than that to me. So Phil said, well, if that's how valuable you consider just two members of your body, how much more valuable is your whole body and your soul for all eternity?

And he got them thinking. And when that is used, often people begin to think, wow, yeah, my body and my soul and my eternity is more valuable than I realized. Think about your eyeballs for a moment. Anybody here ever seen God?

According to John 1 18, no man has seen God, but God, the one and only who is at the Father's side has come and tabernacled among us and made him known. So Jesus in the flesh, while during his earthly ministry was God in flesh invisible, but none of us have seen God with physical eyes.

And yet just the idea that you have eyeballs points to God. Think of what has to happen in order for you to see me right now, right here. In the womb, the eyeball that's in your head had to form in such a way with a cornea and a lens.

And then millions of optic nerves going out the back of that eyeball had to connect with the brainstem in a certain way. And your brain had to develop in such a way to take that light information and create an image in your mind.

It's fascinating to think. Michael Behe wrote a book called Darwin's Black Box, in which he shows that the elements of an eyeball and of sight are irreducibly complex. And that the evolution of eyesight is absolutely impossible.

It's impossible for eyesight to evolve because there are irreducibly complex elements that would all have to come into being at the same time, from lens to cornea, to millions of optic nerves, to the ability to interpret those nerves.

It's an utter scientific impossibility. Your eyeballs are very valuable. They point to the fact that there is a God who makes eyes. Now imagine if you were born without eyesight. As some people perhaps hearing this sermon, that is the case for them.

Imagine though that this was 2000 years ago and you didn't have seeing eye dogs and you didn't have software that could read to you and your opportunities were very limited. What would it be like to be in Jerusalem and born blind?

As a little boy,.

You would hear the sound of other children playing in the street, but you would be led by the hand and unable. And at times your heart would sink and wonder why God can't I see like my little friend. And as you grow into manhood and that strength of your body comes about in the sense of purpose and desire to be significant, desire to work.

But this is an agrarian society where work involves going to the field and you can't plow because you can't see the rocks. What were the prospects for a blind man in Jerusalem? Most of them became beggars.

They would sit near the gate of Jerusalem to ask for alms to support themselves. Now that makes sense that they would be near the temple because that's where most people were. A large population, better chance, but it's also where people might be more likely to be generous because they're going to worship.

They might feel guilty. They might be in some way wanting to help. And also there's enough of a crowd to protect you from robbers because a blind man, even if he collects a hundred shekel in a day, can't guard his loot.

He can't protect himself from a robber who could easily sneak up, slug him and take off with whatever he gathered that day. So near the temple, there's more protection from other Israelites that were genuine and good people to watch out for him.

Your prospects, if that were the case, would be rather bleak. And you would wonder, why God, do I suffer like this? Am I suffering because of man's decisions? Did I do something wrong, perhaps in the womb?

Or was it my parents or my grandparents? Who sinned, Lord? And why do I suffer like this? You would be asking questions like that. As we turn to John 9, we have just this scenario, a man born blind. And I want to tell you that there is a teaching in evangelicalism today that sweeps across the nation.

In fact, it's the largest church in America, Joel Osteen in Houston, who teaches according to his book, Your Best Life Now. It is a very man-centered way of thinking that does not understand the sufferings of this world and promises your best life now, if only you will check certain boxes, whether it be tithing and the prosperity that would be returned to you or other aspects of obedience that would trigger blessing from God.

And you would be given your best life now. The purpose of life is not centered around us. We do not live in a man-centered universe. We live in a universe in which we are but specks on a tiny planet.

What is man that God would even consider us? And yet he does. And yet the world and the universe revolves around God. A good title for a book is not your best life now, but your life on display. Your life on display, because you and I exist in this world to display the glory of God.

And the display of God's glory includes suffering at times. And there are purposes in suffering. God has purposes in the universe that you and I do not understand. I mean, you think of the suffering of a blind boy, and it's difficult to even imagine what he goes through emotionally and relative to other people.

How much more the suffering of an eternal soul made in the image of God who will dwell for all eternity in a place called hell. Imagine a thousand years, a million years, a billion years, or a trillion years from now, and that soul still exists apart from God and under the wrath of God.

You cannot convince me that if that's the case, which the Bible describes that it is, that this world revolves around your best life now. You see, in hell, there is a display of the wrath of God, which is demonstrating an attribute of God, namely that he is holy and he is just.

And his holiness is forever on display in a place called hell. And with regard to my salvation and your salvation, if you believe in Christ, this salvation was not ultimately about you. It was about the glory of God as well.

Because in salvation, he displays his glorious grace, Ephesians 1 .5. This world, this universe exists for a display of his glory and his manifold attributes. And in all of these things, God glorifies himself.

And so it is with the boy born blind. We're going to read John chapter nine, verses one to 12. My introduction being done, I like to do a little sub introduction, which is just where I bring us back up to speed on the flow of the text, because context is everything in interpreting scripture.

Here we are in the section of opposition from John chapter five to John chapter 12. He has made claims in chapters one to four, which present Jesus as the son of God, the Messiah. Chapters five to 12 are all about opposition to that claim.

So in Jerusalem in chapter five, he heals at Bethesda and then he is resisted because he did it on the Sabbath and all of this opposition mounts and he overcomes that opposition by appealing to the evidence of the father and the miracles that he does and ultimately prominently the scripture.

Moses himself testifies and points to Jesus. You search the scriptures because in them you think you have eternal life, but these are they that testify of me. John chapter five, he overcomes their opposition.

Chapter six, he moves up north to Galilee and there he feeds the 5 ,000. And you would think that this should really rally the Galileans behind the Messiah. However, by the end of chapter six, the opposition has gotten so fierce and they've so resisted his teaching on the free will of God that there's none left with Jesus, but the 12 and one of them is a devil.

His brothers resist him at the outset of John seven. A festival is afoot in Jerusalem. Jesus does not go with his brothers to the feast of tabernacles. Instead, he goes up privately after his brothers oppose him.

In Jerusalem, chapter seven, eight, and nine, we are at the festival of tabernacles, the feast of booths, which of course itself is a picture of Christ because of John 1 14, he tabernacled among us. The word became flesh and took on body, took on a tabernacle to dwell among us.

At the feast of booths, he is opposed at every turn. He claims to be that living water as the priest would pour out the water on the altar during the festival of booths, water drawn from the pool of Siloam.

He says in the middle of this, if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink and I will give him living water. And he's opposed for this teaching. Chapter eight, again, the lamps of the festival, four grand lights that would light up all of Jerusalem at the end of the festival, they're no longer lighting these.

And here comes Jesus and he says, what? I am the light of the world. And they're very angry at that claim. And so you have the major conflict in chapter eight, we're back and forth. He asserts, I am, I am, I am.

And then culminates at John 8, 58, before Abraham was born, I am. He claims to be God and they pick up stones to stone him. But he dismisses them and moves along. He's the one in charge of the day and hour.

So what I'm saying is this is a section of opposition to him where he overcomes that opposition and proves his claim to be true. The point here as we go into John nine, he will do a miracle here that proclaims his messiahship, that shows that he is the son of God.

And once again, the rest of the chapter will be this opposition, which he'll overcome. So we'll only take seven verses today. And that is the miracle itself. And next week, we'll look at the opposition.

Let's read it. John nine, one to seven. As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned? This man or his parents that he was born blind? Jesus answered. It was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

We must work the works of him who sent me. While it is day, night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva.

Then he anointed the man's eyes with mud and said to him, go wash in the pool of Siloam, which means sent. So he went and washed and came back seeing. So first off, as we look at this passage, notice that it's not different than the previous chapter.

In the previous chapter, 8 -12, he says, I am the light of the world. Here again at 9 -5, he says, I am the light of the world. So do you think there could be something about this miracle that goes beyond the physical healing itself?

What is it that blind people cannot do? See, this is a metaphor for seeing Christ. It is in fact a true and literal healing, but it's chosen by John from amongst the millions of things that Jesus did.

All the world could not contain the books that would be written and the number of things that Jesus did. But of the Gospels, the four Gospels, there are five instances of blind people being healed. There are three resurrections.

There's a couple groups of lepers healed and there are other healing of the deaf. But blindness healed is the primary and the most preeminent among the healings. Why do you think that is? Because it's a metaphor for seeing the light, a metaphor for conversion.

It shows that Jesus is the light of the world. But here's the problem. You're blind. You don't have the ability to see it. You need a miracle. You need God himself who sees you, whereas you cannot see him to step in and heal.

So look at verse one. As he passed by, he saw, that's significant. He saw a man blind from birth. The man cannot see him, but he sees the man. Now, the first big idea here in the first three verses is that God displays his glory in providence over every detail of a person's life.

The mistaken thinking of the time was that people's suffering is determined by man, man's choices. And that was really the summation of why it would be that somebody would be born blind. Either he sinned or his parents sinned.

And that's all they really have as far as options go. They ask him, was it, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind. But herein is a complete misunderstanding of providence. Because God in his secret will over all things, in his decree, in his plan, has purposes that they don't understand.

There are secret things that belong to the Lord our God, which they don't have access to. Jesus will answer the question, which indicates he knows the secret will of God. The only one who could answer this question is God himself.

Why does a person come into the world blind? Why does someone get diagnosed with cancer? Or why does that child in Kensington that we love so much get run over by a car? Why? I cannot answer that question because I don't have access to the secret will of God.

But Jesus does. And he says here, it was not that this man sinned or his parents. But this is the most important point this morning, that the works of God might be displayed in him. Suffering is a part of God's plan.

Under his providence, God includes suffering for his own glory. First Peter 3 .17 says, it is better to suffer for doing good. Listen, if that should be God's will, then for doing evil. How could it be the will of God for you or I to suffer?

In a man-centered universe, this would make no sense whatsoever. But in a God-centered universe, where the display of his glory is the reason why we exist, suffering can display his glory. Did you know that the church exists for a display?

The church exists for a display of God's glory in his manifold wisdom. So who's watching? According to Ephesians 3 verse 10, some kind of sentient beings in heavenly places. Ephesians 3 .10 tells us that the angels are watching what God is doing on earth.

And specifically in the church. The church exists to display the glory of God. In eternal heaven and eternal hell, there is a display of God's grace and of his justice, his holiness. Suffering is involved in that.

What determines the life that you live? Are there human factors? I would say the most important human factor in determining the life that you live is you yourself. The choices that you make. From a human level, the second most important thing is the parents that raise you.

The reason that many people were born blind in the first century and still today had to do with parental choices. John MacArthur said up to 90 of blindness was caused by venereal diseases passed on in the birth chamber and in the giving of birth as a child was born into the world.

Typically gonorrhea causing blindness. So you can't tell me that the choices of parents don't affect children, right? Now, some parents are better than others, which results in a fundamental inequality.

In the world.

But who determines your parents? Did you choose your own parents for yourself or was that the sovereign choice of God? You see, the people here understanding and noticing the blindness of a boy, they can understand some causes from a human perspective.

Sometimes God punishes sin. Sometimes there's discipline even upon his own children and natural results of human choices. So from a human level, we can trace that out to some degree, but who can trace out the mind of God?

I want to introduce you to a teaching this morning that I pray will fundamentally change how you think. It'll be an entire paradigm shift regarding the word providence and what that means. God, before the creation of the world, predestined what would occur.

He has a decree, a plan, a boule in the Greek. And I want you to turn with me to three scriptures quickly to prove this point. And then we'll qualify, not really qualify, but add some compatible truths to help us understand it a bit.

We'll spend some time at this point just because it's the most important thing I could say today. In John 9, verse 3, the display of the works of God, the glory of God in us, even in suffering, this comes by God's will.

Who made this boy blind? Had nothing to do with the sin of his parents or his own sin. God chose for him to be born blind. This was part of his plan. Look at Ephesians 1, 11. It's probably the most clearly stated description of God's decree.

We understand it in the context of Ephesians 1, which is about salvation. The first part is about the father's role in predestining the elect. Then at verse 7, we see redemption through the son's work, the shedding of his blood.

When you get to verses 13 and 14 of Ephesians 1, you have the spirit's work in applying redemption. So it's a Trinitarian description of how salvation takes place. The work of the father and of the son and of the spirit.

It's a sovereign work of God to save sinners. And look at verse 11, right at the center of this passage, you have the broadest category that you need to understand. In him, referring to Christ, we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined.

Pause right there. This inheritance is referring to election. It's referring to the salvation of people who receive the inheritance of eternal life. And what we're told here in verse 11 is that it's predestined.

Now that's a subcategory of something bigger because keep reading. According to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will. Not only is it that we are predestined to be saved, but that's a subcategory of a larger teaching on predestination that God works how many things?

All things.

You mean to tell me that when the sparrow falling from the sky falls to the earth and dies, that God has determined that ahead of time? It's absolutely what Jesus said. And he said, even the hairs on your very head are numbered.

When the hair falls from your head, let alone the sparrow from the sky, even this is a part of God's plan because what it says in Ephesians 1 .11, he is predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things.

Now, is anybody here, don't raise your hand because I'll embarrass you if you do. Is anybody here reading from the NIV? The NIV against the King James and against the ESV and the NASB translates this works out all things.

Now the problem with translating this works out all things is first of all linguistic and that is the word kata is according to or as the King James says, after he's working the plan after the plan is made and according to that plan, he's bringing it to pass.

That's the teaching. Now, listen, the NIV would say works out all things. The supplying of the word out into the text at that particular point does great damage to how you understand it because if a little boy comes to his mom and says, such and such terrible thing happened to me today and the mom's comforts the boy and says, we'll work it out.

What is she saying? She's saying, this is the cards that you've been dealt and we're going to take what was dealt to you like playing cards and you're going to make the best.

Of what you were given.

Does it make sense? You're going to work it out based on that or if you're a chess player and they make a certain move, you're going to work it out so that you can still make good come of it. That's one concept of responding to things that are beyond your control.

In some way, you're subject to the card dealer. Okay, you follow what I'm saying? But what the text actually says objectively and without any interpretive bias, it objectively says in verse 11, God works all things according to the purpose of him.

He who works all things according to keep following along verse 11, what's ultimately at base here, the counsel of his will. And so I say that word counsel,.

Boule in the Greek,.

Here translated counsel. It is a decree. It is a secret plan, a plan, a counsel. God has said it and what determined it? His will.

Will.

This is the free will of God, Thelema. He desired things to be a certain way. And so they work according to what he desired. Does that make sense? And I'm telling you, that is a difficult teaching. I'll support it with two other scriptures quickly.

Don't turn there. Proverbs 16, 33. The casting of the lot is into the lap, but it's every decision is from the Lord. The most seemingly random thing that you can do, which is to cast lots. Even that is from the Lord.

Very important. Or again in Hebrews 6, 17. So that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie in order to show the unchangeableness of his purpose. His purpose is unchangeable.

And so God confirms with an oath. In other words, God says something and it will be. That's how predictive prophecy is possible. He confirms some things with an oath so that you don't miss it. That his purpose is unchangeable.

And we could talk about dozens of other verses that teach the plan of God, his decree. From Psalm 115, 3 to Daniel 4, 35 with Nebuchadnezzar's response when he learns this doctrine.

And again and again,.

Psalm 33.

Over and over.

In Isaiah 10. Over and over we're taught the plan of God, okay? So here's why I think this is so important. Let's go back now to John chapter 9. Because this question will plague you and it will determine how you think about life.

Why was this boy born blind? And Jesus's answer is not a man-centered one. It focuses on God having predestined it before the world began that the works of God are going to be displayed in him. And we're going to see how beautiful that turns out to be.

How good his plan finally shows itself to be. It's a glorious plan. It's a good plan. Now this I'll term compatible truths. Because if you believe in a sovereign decree, there are some stumbling blocks that'll trip you up.

So let's talk about those compatible truths just really quickly. You can take notes on this or look later on the video.

If you need to think.

More deeply about it. Some compatible truths.

Number one.

God is not the author of sin. James clearly teaches that. God is not the author of sin. In other words, the teaching is that God can decree whatsoever comes to pass in the words of Boue or ordain as the Westminster Confession and the London Baptist Confession say, he can do that while holding secondary causes responsible for their own real choices.

Now I know we're getting really deep and theological here. I'm saying that first of all, God is not the author of sin. He holds the sinner responsible for his own choices. So this is a second point. The creature has a real will, creaturely will.

In other words, a human in God's world in which he reigns sovereign over it, the creature is not a puppet. He's not a robot. He is making real choices. God is not saying,.

Go sin,.

Go sleep with that girl because I want to glorify myself in judging you. No, this person is making a creaturely choice, a real choice from his own will. And that's compatible with God having a sovereign will in the same thing.

In other words, Genesis 50, 20, God means something for good. The person means it for evil and it's the same event that takes place. These things are compatible. A real creaturely choice of a human will is compatible with God having a decree.

Number three, the teaching is not that God is looking down the corridor of history and by foreknowledge, learning what man's choices will be and fashioning a world from that. He's not looking down the corridor of history and learning.

Number four, secondary causes are real. So if God is the primary, he's the one who made the universe and the plan for how everything will unfold, that doesn't mean that there aren't secondary causes. Namely, as John Piper likes to talk about when he hated this doctrine, he would take a pencil and drop it in his professor's face and say, I did that.

And the professor who believed this doctrine fully acknowledged that you did that. That was a secondary cause, a real will that you asserted to drop that pencil just when you did. It's a real secondary cause that doesn't eliminate God's sovereign plan.

And then lastly,.

God ordains,.

Means as well as ends. Now I'm noticing some people straining like physically, your face is straining to understand all of this. And that's good. That's how we are to wrestle with the word of God. God ordains, this is the last one, I promise.

God ordains the means as well as the ends. So you say, well, then why even pray? Because God in his sovereign decree knew when you would or would not pray. It doesn't change that. But from your perspective, when I call out to God and pray, God heal, or as our church has prayed for Ivan for months and months, and just last week we get this news that he's cancer free.