In this sermon, the preacher discusses the story of a man born blind and how Jesus healed him. The preacher emphasizes the importance of recognizing our sinful nature and the need for Jesus' light in our lives. He also mentions the feeding of the 5,000 as the only recorded miracle where many people benefited. The preacher encourages the audience to focus on Jesus and make Him the center of their lives.

In the Gospel of John, and I think last time, you were here, I know some of you, the locals, were here last time. But we finished in chapter 8. And I expect you know chapter 8. I expect you to be all with your Bibles open, following everything. In chapter 8 we finished. Next brings us to chapter 9. But I expect you all discovered, so far, that the chapter divisions were not inspired of God. Neither was the versification. It is said that the versification and chapterization of Scripture was performed by a Frenchman. And the joke was that his pen came down on the paper far too often, because he was doing it on horseback or something. Well, that's quite right. John Wesley spent most of his years on horseback, when he wasn't preaching. We can't imagine that, can we? But there it is. So we're going to make the connection between chapter 8 and chapter 9. You will remember, I hope, or shall I say you're familiar enough, I hope, with these great teachings of Jesus Christ, and especially with John's glorious Gospel. And the connection is this, that in chapter 8, if you just glance back, you will find, and of course, I'll show you what I mean, go back into chapter 7. And into chapter 7, verse 53, you will see that every man went unto his own house. And you will say, Amen, that's our reading for this morning, you see. But you shouldn't. Jesus, having no house to go to, of course, went to the Mount of Olives. He slept out in the open. See what you will have missed, if you stick strictly to the chapters, and that's our portion for today. Never do that. They all went to their own homes, but not Jesus. Very wonderful. And you know what happened. He dealt with the woman. And not only with the woman that was taken in adultery, but he dealt with everybody who heard him. And out came the famous statement that is often quoted, not only from pulpit, but from law court, and in conversation. I also understand this being said on films and on the TV. He made the famous statement when he was dealing with this woman, He that is without sin among you, first cast the stone. Let's all see who it is. No stones were cast, as you know. But that's the connection that you lose, and therefore you need to go back into the 7th chapter and find out what happened. In the 7th chapter book, I'm not going back over ground, with which we have dealt before, and is recorded, if you want to know. So in this chapter 8, he'd been dealing at last with those who were his enemies. They had constituted themselves his enemy. And so they went on. 56 of chapter 8. Your father, he's talking to the Pharisees chiefly, Abraham, rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, not yet, fifty years old. Can you imagine the sneer in their voice? And hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, verily. Notice I'm choosing, if you follow it in your reading, you'll notice I'm ignoring the stops. Putting them where I believe God would have them. But here we go. Jesus said unto them, verily. Verily I say unto you, before Abraham was, I then took they up stones to cast at him. But Jesus hid himself. Went out of the temple, going through the midst of them. And so passed by. And as Jesus passed by, if you like forgetting or ignoring his own peril, being stoned to death. He saw a man which was blind from his birth. Now that's what you would have missed. If you like, he was escaping for his life. Not that he wanted just to escape death, but not that kind of death. Wasn't God's time for Jesus to die. And not the method by which God wanted his son to die. He had planned the cross for his son. When you were born, what would you have thought of your father if he had planned the cross for you? You'd say, well this is out of this world. It's in another world. But that's exactly. And it's to this world, this spiritual world, that God wants to introduce us to. So that we should come to spiritual understanding. That's the art of being a student. It isn't just getting your lectures right, per se, or particularly. It's coming into God's world, spiritually. Not just this ball on which we live. To pass into understanding God. In the way, the limited way of course, in which human beings can understand him. Having said that, now let's go on. As Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind, who burned. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin? This man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Now I want you to see that this is the only instance in the Bible, brought out by Jesus Christ, of course, where it is suggested that a man had a pre-existence before he came into this world. That he'd lived a life before he was born, naturally, and he'd sinned in that life. Got that? It might also go to the Eastern myths, that you have a pre-existence. But I'm not going to enter into those now. I don't know whether you've even been interested enough to look into those things. You won't lose marks in heaven if you don't look into those things. You haven't enough time to read your Bible and get to understand that properly before you go. But that's the suggestion. Did this man sin before he was born? It's all so ridiculous. But these were the kind of thoughts that were going through their mind, Jewish as they were, but not true people of God, which God had intended. Fancy asking questions like this, and he enlightens them. Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sins, nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me. While it is day, the night cometh, when no man can work. You will notice how I've removed some of the stops to get the continuity of thought, because it builds up all kinds of things in your mind, which are quite heathen, and quite foreign to true Christianity. You don't think any of you do, that it's somehow due to your mother and father that certain things are in you. You might do it physically, of course, but not spiritually. We know that certain diseases seem to run in some families, or certain conditions do, and we can't understand it. Only we know that it's not anybody's particular thought or sin, it's just the adherency in flesh, that comes down because man has been so long away from God. Not your particular mother or father, or your grandmother, or anything like that, or grandfather. It's just the result of original sin. Terrible thing. But don't start blaming yourself, or letting anybody push into your ideas that you are suffering because some remote ancestor did this, or that, or the other. The only remote ancestor with whom you should be absolutely familiar is a man named Adam, that sinned, and walked out of the light because of his wife, who first fell into sin, and then gave to Adam. And Adam sinned following the woman. Watch it, all you men. Watch it, all you ladies. Here then is the tremendous truth. This man was born blind, and now I must work the works of him that sent me. While it is day, the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, verse 5, He said, I am the light of the world. He was seeking to let light into the hearts, and minds, and imaginations of the people in these four verses that we just read. They needed light on this sin because of somewhere, some way back, you had a pre-existence. Now the only one that had a pre-existence, the only one born into this world, indeed, was Jesus. And he came in to be the light of this world. As long as I am in the world, now note this, you will need to know it. He said, as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. You will know, of course, having been Bible readers, I trust, which I was when I was young as the youngest one here. I thank God for that. He met me early in life. Don't waste your time, any of you. You will know that in Matthew, chapter 5, you needn't turn it up, but you can make a note of it if you wish to. Jesus said to his disciples, you are the light of the world. He showed, you see, now if you read that, you can run away with little knowledge of what the full intention of God. Here he's saying, I am the light of the world as long as I am in the world. Now you have, this is the implication, you have to be the light of the world when I've gone. Oh. Would you like me to question you this? Just question it yourself. Are you disseminating light in this world? You want to be servants of the Lord, perhaps in some measure. You have started to serve the Lord. Is your presence light? Are your habits light? Is your speech light? I mean, L-I-G-H-T, meaning light in the sense, not just a, well it's got no weight, it's just light, I don't mean it in that sense, I'm not talking about avant-de-poire. Are you light? Or in your situation, do you more often than not leave darkness? He didn't say, if you quote scripture, you will disseminate light. He said, you are. There was a time when God sent scripture. You will know that if you're familiar with the scripture. In Hebrews chapter 1, he spoke to us by the prophets. Then came Jesus, who was himself the light. And we, being born of God, who can only give birth to light, as he did in the beginning, he said, let there be light. That's the way it started. This is a tremendous thing, beloved, for you to get hold of. Let it consume your bosom and your whole being. You've got to let things fill your head, of course, as well, while you're here. But, I don't mean just in this class, but I mean whilst you're here. But, my interest in you, it's understood. Wherever I go, I say this by lecture, here or there, or anywhere else. I say, my first interest in you is pastoral. That's it. I'm not concerned whether you become top in the exams, or bottom in the exams. I told my daughter this when she was going to university. I said, I don't care if you become a lavatory attendant in a public place, or whether you become a great scholar. I'm not interested in that. I don't want you to be a dunce, particularly. Those things don't count. Well, only in this world, and money, and all that kind of things. I hope I'm not turning your concepts upside down. But, on the other hand, rather naughtily, I am glad to do it, if you're on the wrong track. Here is the great truth of it, beloved. As long as I am in the world, I'm the light of the world. He had thrown light on pre-existence, for instance, straight away. These are the things that engage modern scholars. Aren't they? They talk in these terms. And they get foreign gurus, or somebody, Buddhists, or somebody like that, to try and teach you all kinds of things, preferring their own ideas to what this book says. The whole world is condemned. Not that Jesus came into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him should be saved, what, from hell? Oh, well, ultimately. But from their own condition in this world, to be saved from it. The insidious infiltration of the teachings from hell, put out through the mouths of teachers, lecturers, philosophers, professors. I'll tell you this, I think it will be already on the set, that I preached before, if you like, taught before, today. That I knew a young lady, I still know her, thank God she's out on the mission field now. And she went to a certain university, and took the lectures. And the lecturer in this university stood up, and he said, Do any of you people believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God? And she wasn't then born again. So she didn't answer, he said, before you leave this college, you won't be. He set out to destroy faith in God, and in the book. So much for our universities, I don't say it's so in every university. Thank God, I say, she's been born again since, and what a wonderful birth she had, it was absolutely radical. She's serving God. But let me, let us go on here. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. But now, forget the last part of that quote. He's back again, on I am. That's what he said, before Abraham was. I am. What a wonderful thing this is. He's on it again. Now he's applying that. God, himself. For he was God manifest in the flesh. He didn't say, now I am going on to prove that. This is why this man is here, this is why I stopped here, when I was already in peril of my life. Naturally, being stoned to death. He stopped in front of the blind man. He'd been blind from birth. When he said this thing, I am the light of the world, he spat on the ground. Imagine if you were the blind man. Couldn't see, but you heard the sound of someone spitting. Jesus had not as yet introduced himself to the blind man. Jesus spat on the ground, made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. Now by all medical knowledge, that even we who aren't medics, though you may have hope so on that line, we know that you sling mud into the eyes of the blind man. Or in a man. That's right. What was Jesus doing? Why should he behave like this? You might say, more like an animal than a man. But in so far as you may agree with me, that humanity is the highest form of animal existence. All right. He was acting like that. Always God comes on to basics. You must understand this. He's never superficial in what he does. And he has a purpose in mind. He spat on the ground, made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with clay. And you're sure everybody said, what on earth does he think he's doing? And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which is by interpretation scent. He went his way, therefore the way a blind man would go, Go and wash and get sea. What was Jesus doing? He was substantiating his claim, before men and women, that he was God. That's what he was doing. That's what he was doing. Already I pointed out, he said in chapter 7, Please never stop at the end of a chapter again, any more in your life, unless you really miss the truth. He said, before Abraham was, greater than our fathers, I am. He shook them to their roots, because that's the very name that God gave to Moses in the beginning, when Moses was at the burning bush. And he turned aside to see the bush burning, and was never burned up. There was a fire in the bush, but it wasn't made of wood. It wasn't consumed. God never feeds off any human being. We have to feed off him. He's delighted by some, disgusted by others. If you've got love for him, he'll feed off that. If you really believe, as this Bible instructs you to believe, not any old how, have some fanciful, I call evangelical, whatever you want to call it, belief on him. And that's why you go to church or something. Oh, they heard him say, I am. The Bible had gone straight back to Moses at the burning bush. Moses was their patron saint, in their imagination. All right. Again, in here, I am in the world. Wonderful. He did this. Just go there. That man went and did what Jesus said. How he got to the pool of Siloam, I don't know. Whether he could feel his way there, I don't know. Did he have a dog? No. Dogs were an abomination in Israel. They did not have dogs. An unclean animal. And I think that dogs are the most unclean animals you'll possibly get. They're not even as clean as cats. But they're worshipping them, aren't they? Did you know, probably if you don't live in England, let me explain. They have an annual dog show in London. It's called Crufts. And they come and they all compete together producing the most wonderful dog that's ever eaten meat or something. Anyway. And they forget that God said a dog is an unclean thing. It's not to be around your camp, so you're always walking in dog mess. You remember that I am going to walk through your camp. He told them that. Where does it say that? You read your Bible, you'll find that. Just find it. You're not to have dogs, he taught Israel. And Paul said, without the dogs. Here is the great thing, beloved. I find so many Christians are gathering so many cats and dogs around them, you'd think they were fanciers. Here's the truth. I'm nothing against dogs for the blind. I'm not talking against that. You understand. That's finding out they have some good uses on the human level. But, he went there, and he came, I like this, came seeing. It must have been absolutely wonderful. Mustn't it? He came to see. What was he doing? Why did Christ do it like this? Why send him to Siloam? There was a nearer pool in the sheep market. You can read about that in chapter 5. In Jerusalem. Why did he send him to Siloam? Test of obedience. It's obedience. Do you know that sin entered into this world through one woman's disobedience? Adam took the blame for death came in as well. God, I've said this on earlier tapes, you'll find it. God could quite easily have given him another wife and just slain Eve because of disobedience. So he chose a woman instead of God. That's fatal. It brought all the sin and misery, wickedness, death, and all that into this world. One woman's disobedience. Yet Adam had to bear the blame. So don't you women fight for Don't you fight for it. Think of what Adam has to bear eternally. Because his wife insisted on taking the lead. Just bear it in mind. Most of this world's things that they fight for are entirely on the wrong basis. Entirely. Come down through the race. But let me go on. I'm not really here to preach to you, am I? And that's why I said I sometimes stray over time. You ever hear, read that, or sing that great hymn of John Wesley's? My heart is full of Christ and longs its glorious matter to declare. You're going to be like that. If you're going to be a servant of God. He did it this way. With this man. Because that's what he'd done in the beginning. To show that he was the creator. He'd made man and woman out of the dirt. The dust. The lowest thing there was. Or is. Dust. Went back to basics. Or he didn't go back to it. He took a handful of dust. He spat on it with his own spittle. It's God, you understand. Didn't mix it with water. And he did this what he did. And everybody who had eyes to see it had a brain to think and a heart to ponder. It should have been a declaration that before Abraham was. I am. Abraham had never seen this world. Never been born until centuries later. So he goes right back. I don't know how many people may have detached themselves from this gang of accusers in the temple and heard it and witnessed it. But I know this. They still didn't believe what their eyes saw. They still refused. What a generation. But in his usual way God turned human catastrophe into blessing. And our salvation rises out of these things. What a marvelous thing it is. Go watch in the pool of Siloam which is by interpretation the word means scent. And I guess that for the rest of his life when sight gushed him upon him and he could see and he saw the light for the first time he must have said this pool Siloam was scent for me. And I am scent to it by Jesus. And Jesus has done the wonderful thing. Everything depended upon Jesus. But Jesus said now it depends upon you. You do as I tell you and everything will come right. Alas, the time is going to beat me. It always does. But let's press on. I had visions of doing a chapter, a lecture but I can't. I don't want to give you bare bones that is structured by I am interested in you, your soul. Your mind is included in that. But that's not the thing. He just did it. That's Jesus. And I love him. I love him. I want to spend the rest of my days talking about him. How about you? Is that your real ambition? How marvelous it is. You know I am only just 84. I have got a lot of years in front of me. But you probably can think of your having years on this earth when I am buried if the Lord doesn't come. If this class doesn't serve unto a continuation of the declaration of Jesus Christ whatever you call it in the lecture, in the sermon or something you've read. It's useless. Entirely useless. But here's the thing. Let's gallop along now, shall we? I've examined the miracle because you will know that John unlike the other three writers did not tell miracle after miracle after miracle after miracle. The only time you discover that there were multitudes as there were recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke he takes a miracle. He sets it up on the pages of Scripture. Now let's really look. My purpose is to show you that Jesus Christ is God. That's his purpose. Not a great miracle author. Well of course he was a miracle worker. The fact that you are sitting there breathing is through God's miracle. That's that. That's the air. If it isn't polluted as badly here as it is all over the world. There are miracles that we don't look at all the day long. Got used to them. But the only time that John records where miracles took place in great numbers benefited from them was the feeding of the 5,000. Marvellous. Let's go on, shall we? Look at verse 8. Will you come with me if I gavel a bit this time? It's because I've only allowed myself another 10 minutes before we close. But see if my watch says something different from that. No, unfortunately they're the same. Here's the big thing. The neighbours therefore, this man was born blind, they that before had seen him that he was blind said, is not this he that sat and begged? Some said, this is he. Others said, he's like him. But he said, I am. You will notice that he is italicised. If you've got a good Bible it should show you that. Where you see the italicised words it isn't for emphasis, which we make them quite contrary to what it was. They're to show you they were not there. They were put in to facilitate easier reading as they think. Go back again into where we started. Verse 58 of chapter 7 Before Abraham was, I am. That's it. But you will find if you go back into chapter 8 I mustn't presume on you too much because you weren't in the former lectures. It says, verse 24 I say unto you, says Jesus speaking that you shall die in your sins. Do you know, I've I thought that's probably the last thing I would ever want to hear Jesus say to me. Terrible, curtains finished. You shall die in your sin. For if you believe not that I am now they put he in to facilitate English reading but he was declaring the same thing there. Sometimes the ancient translators seeking always to interpret went beyond their franchise. They should not have put he in there. So, learn not to be a lazy reader of the Bible. Read it with your eyes wide open. Showing to God that your heart is wide open. And that you'll miss truths that just lie on the surface. You haven't got to be a great student. You can tell whether a word is italicized or not. It's so wonderful. Let's go into our chosen chapter. I am, he said. I am the one you've been talking about. Therefore said they unto him, verse 10, chapter 9 How were thine eyes open? He answered and said, a man that is called Jesus made clay, anointed my eyes and said unto me, go to the pool of Siloam and wash. And I went and washed and I received sight. That's it. Listen. He created sight. There. On the spot. Jesus, the great creator. Not only the great savior which praised God He was the creator who became our savior. He got it right. Hallelujah. And I suppose nobody ever becomes a true born again Christian unless they get it right. Oh my God. What it's all about. And when God says you must be born again which you know is in John's gospel if he's recorded this you get that right too. You can trust him to give you a clear wonderful, new sighted newly generated, glorious, eternal life. That's what he would do. He won't leave a lot of sin behind in your heart. He'll clean you up. Whoever you are or whatever you've done. He doesn't have to clean you up. Actually, he gets rid of it. The whole bang shoot of it. All the lot of it. It's a new creation. He doesn't create something new in the midst of something filthy. He cleans you up. He gives you a new life. He forgives the past. All the terms you want to use. But you're a new creation. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Alright. Let's go on. I receive sight. I mean they can graft you ears on to these clever surgeons. They can do that. But they cannot give you sight. They can help you in your blindness a little. They can do all kinds of things. Pills, potions, ointments. And I don't know what operations. And thank God they can do it. I'm not belittling them. Jesus is wonderful. That's the truth. That's the wonder. And do you know that's why they crucified him? That's why they crucified him. If you want to boil it down it would be He says he was God manifest in the flesh. That's it. Okay. But he was too big. Too great. Too wonderful. Too unexplained. How can man be God? How can he? That's the miracle you have to learn when you want to be a true child of God. We know all the story about Christmas and angels and wise men. I don't know what. It's genuine. Absolutely true. Though it's made into a fairy tale now I think. In England. It's true. But such people don't know him. Not in vain did he say that this is life eternal. That you know me. That's life eternal. Knowing is the knowledge not acquired in a class or from books or from lectures. It's intimate knowledge in your heart. Are you intimate with God? Or leave out the modern human filthy word intimate. Are you? Well are you? Or just a spouter or preacher or teacher? I know I've come up through the soil mill. You've got to be intimate with God. You say is that possible? Intimate? That's what it is. That's why he died. Why he rose again. He became intimate with you and your sin. He bore the sin. He bore the blame. He bore you. So do you have Paul saying I was crucified with Christ. You know where to find that I'm sure. Just in case you may not know. After all I've been at it a long time. It's in Galatians. He wrote it. When he was writing his gospel. He used to say my gospel. Paul's gospel is contained in the letters that he wrote. Read them. Mark them. Learn them. Only don't stand up and say I want to read you from the fifth gospel tomorrow will you. But that's what they're about. How wonderful. He didn't know where Jesus was. Verse 12. Oh dear. She's been commanded to boss me. Here it is. Let's go. It was a Sabbath day. So Jesus smashed another one of their idols. Oh it was a Sabbath day. You don't do anything much beyond breathe on the Sabbath day according to these Jews. Oh dear. What a rotten world we're living in. They even played about with God and the preaching of God. The damned. Unless they come to Christ for salvation. They have no hope. As well as being interested in love. You've got to be interested in truth. Absolutely.