The Light of the World: Part II (John 8:12-9:41)

You see, that kind of attitude that says I know it all, God can’t help. But when you empty yourself of man’s knowledge and this world’s knowledge and you come to God and say, “Lord, I don’t understand and I don’t know, but I’m ready for you to teach me.” Then, revelation comes. Hallelujah!
So watch him as he moves step by step. On that first level, he only knows that he’s been healed and that it was a man called Jesus. On the second level, he believes that Jesus is a prophet. On the third level he says he’s a man of God and finally on the fourth level, he is bowing before Him and saying, “Lord.”
Now this is climbing in revelation and understanding and getting closer to God and having your whole life opened up! Oh, he’s seeing physical life but he’s seeing something worth more that physical sight. He’s seeing divine insight – divine revelation that comes from God on high. I say, “Oh Lord if we have to go into heaven blind, let us still go in able to see the truth in our hearts.”

I was a blind man’s pastor for six years. I preached about him a lot of times. His name is Dalton Short. He’s a man you would have been blessed to have known. Some of you may have known him. You would have been blessed to know this man. He taught me so much. He taught me how to be around a blind person and feel comfortable and help that blind person to feel comfortable. He taught me how to lead a blind person and help him through a door and not just go up to a door and try to push him through but put his hand on the door knob and let him turn it.
Did you realize that a blind man, when he goes up to an automobile and you are standing there with a door opened, he doesn’t know if the car is headed this way or that way. But if he opens the door, he knows and he knows how to get in. Simple things that I never knew and he taught me.
I’ve seen him when God would bless him in the Holy Spirit and he would be seeing far beyond this world. He would take his handkerchief and he would reach up and wipe those old sightless sockets. But then he’d sing, “I’m Holding To The Unseen Hand.” I used to play the piano, believe it or not. I used to play the piano while he would sing and he’d sing that song that says, “Face to Face With My Redeemer.” It would stir my heart and bless my soul.
At 17 or 18 years of age he was in a mining accident in those deep – veined coal mines in Southern Illinois. Apiece of steel penetrated one eye and into the other and he was blind. He spent many years in ministry blind. But oh, he could see with the eyes of his soul and by the fingers of faith he could touch God and he could reach up to heaven and he could see into eternity. Hallelujah! God help us to have eyes of faith that seek God and His reality whether we ever see the beauty of a flower or the beauty of a sunset with our physical sight.

So he arises that day. They put him on trial. First of all it was his neighbors. That’s the way it is when you start out for God. The first folks that hit are the folks at home and your neighbors right around you. If you can stand the test there, you can stand the test almost anywhere.
They said, “You know, that looks like the one who used to be blind.” The others said, “Well that is him.” And they said, “Well it looks like him.” They were confused. You see, it really lets you know how much attention they really paid the man before.
They said, “Tell us about it, tell us about it. Explain it to us.” He said, “I don’t know, it was just a man called Jesus. He anointed my eyes with clay and told me to go wash and I went and washed and I came back seeing.” They didn’t know what to do with it; the neighbors didn’t, so they decided well, since it happened on the Sabbath day they’d better get the priest in on it. They better bring him before the great church board and let them examine him and put him through the third degree.

So here they brought him and the Jews started in on him. They began trying to discredit his experience and trying to discredit Jesus Christ. They went on to talk about, “Well, we don’t know if this man is of God or What.” And he says, “Well it seems to me that he must be a prophet of God.” You see, he’s rising in enlightenment and understanding because the religious leaders are against Jesus and that’s a good recommendation for Jesus if that bunch is against him.
I want to tell you, some people are recommended to me if I know that some folks are against them. But if some folks are for you, it’s a bad reputation you’ve got. Oh, come on, don’t act so shocked. I’ve had people to tell me when I was a pastor, “Oh, you ought to get so and so for an evangelist,” and because they recommended it, I knew I didn’t need it.
The pressure gets turned on because the religious leaders soon turn to the parents. The parents are these sophisticated modern kind of people who want to remain in the good graces of the upper crust in society and they want to maintain their membership in the temple. So they are afraid to stick their neck out.
What it amounts to is, they push the whole burden of the young man’s experience upon his own shoulders and push him out in the cold and say, “He’s of age, ask him.” Strange thing, they’ve been looking out for him a long time. They’ve led him everyday to a place where he can beg. They’ve looked after him all this time. Now suddenly he’s grown up, he’s of age, ask him.
But you know, there are a lot of parents these days who don’t want to accept any responsibility for the spiritual development of their children. It’s a sad thing when young people have to step out on their own and fight the faith all alone and stand the test and go through the fire all by themselves. But listen, if that is your case tonight, you have a friend here who fought the battle and stood alone even with his parents standing on the side and not helping him.

Yet in that hour even while he was saying I don’t know, God was giving him knowledge. Even in that hour when he didn’t understand, God was giving him revelation. Even in that hour when he was weak and abouto fail, oh hallelujah, he was rising on wings of faith and revelation and finding God. Hallelujah! That’s the way God works.
In other words, when you get in a fight, that’s when you get the faith. When you get in a struggle, that’s when you get strength. That’s the way God works. Oh, hallelujah!
They sent for him and brought him again to the religious leaders. This time they’re saying to him, “Why don’t you come on and confess up and give God the glory? Because this man must be a sinner for him to do this on the Sabbath day. He must not be right because he does not go by our style and our program and our way.”
Listen to this man’s argument. I don’t know where he learned this, but he said, “It seems to me that this man must be a man of God because I want to tell you that since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one born blind. If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.” Here he is, he has come out of blindness, spiritual blindness as well, and now then suddenly he is a man that can see with both eyes and he is a theologian par excellence. He’s saying, “This man must be of God. If he weren’t he couldn’t do what he’s doing.”
And oh, I’m telling you, all of a sudden they’re just seething with anger and they’re ready to pounce on him. In fact, they do pounce on him and kick him clear out of the Synagogue. But in the process, he got in a word or two. He said, “Why don’t you be his disciples too?” And they said, “Oh, you lame brain ignoramus. You are altogether born in your sins. Do you dare to teach us? We are the great professors in the school of religion and you young up start–do you dare to teach us?”
You know there is something beautiful and wonderful about the boldness of a man who has just been touched by the Lord. Oh it’s positively amazing at the boldness of this man when suddenly he’s receiving divine revelation and he’s been touched with God on high. He doesn’t know a lot of things and he doesn’t know the answer to the question that the discip le started out with, but one thing he knows. He was blind and now he sees. Hallelujah!
He doesn’t know about the man who did it but he’s got the testimony to tell that it’s real. Oh, hallelujah! You may not can explain it; and don’t worry about ever explaining Pentecost. You can’t explain it. Just enjoy the experience, hallelujah, and leavethe explaining to somebody else and worship God and glorify God and let him bless your heart.

Look at this last step. Jesus heard they kicked him out. He came to him then and found him. All that time he was going through the fire standing by himself. Jesus was close around but didn’t reveal himself to him. He was just letting the fire build him in faith and understanding.
Listen friend, when you’re going through the fire, the Lord is close but he is just going to let you have it by yourself sometimes because He wants to make something out of you. But then when he got kicked out, that’s when Jesus came to him. Oh that’s when the Lord is so precious – when others have turned their backs on you.
That’s the reason in the Gospel of John, that beautiful account of the good shepherd follows this story. Because you see, organized religion can kick a man out but Jesus the Good Shepherd will come and take him in!
Jesus talked to him. He revealed himself to the man and said, “Do you believe?” “And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped him” (verse 38) Now I want to tell you that you’re operating on top level faith when you get to the place that you’ve gone through the fire and you don’t question Jesus and you don’t get upset when He comes to you and you’re able to bow before Him and look to Him and call Him “Lord” and really mean it.
You see, you’re operating on top- level faith when Jesus Christ becomes your Lord and Master and you worship Him. That’s top-level faith and enlightenment. To believe on Jesus, to have Him as your Lord, no longer just a man, no longer just a prophet, no longer just a man of God – but now He is Lord. He is the Lord to be worshiped.