Blind to the Beauty

Intro:

Good morning! my name is Byan Biggerstaff and it is an absolute privilege to be with you today. Here are some things i would love for you to know about me. Firstly, is that I love Jesus… he has radically changed my life and transformed my family. Secondly, i love the Bible; it is absolutely true and completely authoritative for Christian living. What God’s word says is true even if i don’t like it. Thirdly, I love God’s people… his church and I love the church where I currently serve First Baptist Church Spartanburg but Restoration Church- that also means that I love you and I pray through our time in God’s word today that we all will grow closer to him together. Let’s pray before we study his word together.

Prayer…

One thing that has stuck me this week is the beauty of Alaska. I believe i can speak for the rest of our team in that we have simply marveled at the creativity of God as we have driven around anchorage and the surrounding areas. And the thought struck me as i was beholding Denali… I could have easily missed all of this.

I was born at 24 weeks. weighed 1lb 4oz… was 11 inches long at birth… the doctors honestly did not believe i was going to make it. but one of their greatest concerns were my eyes. The eyes are one of the last parts of the body to develop but i am sure most of us in this room would quickly argue that they are one of the most important. I was almost blind and for those who are in this room who have been threaten with physical blindness you know how big of a deal sight is… This is true spiritually as well as today we are going to be talking about Spiritual blindness and specifically asking ourselves this question- How do I spiritually SEE? My prayer for you as we approach our text today is that you might behold the beauty of the Gospel.

Let’s turn to our text today in John 9… we will be looking at verses 35-41. And Jesus has healed this man who has been blind from birth… Pastor Josh preached on the opening text of this narrative last week. Jesus puts mud on the man’s eyes and tells him to wash and once this man obeys Jesus, his eyesight is restored! However, the religious leaders will not accept this… they deny this miracle and the testimony of this man and they cast him out of the temple and out of fellowship with his fellow Jews…

So this is where we pick up our story… the man can now see but he is just as lost as before as a blind man… he is disowned and alone… let’s read together:

English Standard Version Chapter 9

35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

So how do we see Spiritually?

Know the true identity of Jesus.

This is something the pharisees will never accept and therefore, never be able to see.

2. understand the need to believe and worship Jesus

I use the word need purposefully here as i believe it is one of the most overused words in the english language.

3. realize that pride will keep you blind and always prevent praise.

4. Behold the beauty of the Gospel