When The Blind See

Well, there's a good teachable moment here, I think, having been in the congregation for many years, a very simple teachable moment. I'm sitting there and thinking of this here. By the way, all that Brother David mentioned about the Old Covenant and everything that they did there was pointing to one person, and that person is Jesus Christ.

And so when the Lord came and shortly thereafter the whole Old Covenant system was destroyed and it was no longer possible even to do those things in the Old Covenant. And as was shared here today, this was to be what everything pointed to. One person.

And I've experienced over the years, we've had some error try to come through at different times in the last 27 or 28 years. And a number of years ago there was an error that tried to come through the congregation here. We call it the Messianic groups.

And the Messianic groups, it's a very deceptive error, but what they do is they say, Jesus Christ, amen. And that causes people to be attracted. But then they want you to come back here and add some tassels to your clothes or be circumcised.

And they have all these Jewish Old Testament things they want to throw in around there. And I don't know if you notice this, but just take a look at this for a minute. If you're to look at Jesus Christ and then you're asked to look at Jesus Christ and some of these extras, that distracts you or detracts you some from where you're supposed to be looking.

Now I know many false teachers, they'll come in and say, forget this, we're going to put Muhammad in there. We see that very clearly, don't we? But these kind of errors are very subtle. What's wrong with these things? What's wrong with adding a few things? You know, Paul said in Galatians, he said they want to come in and add just circumcision to salvation.

He says, cut them off. That's serious. But I want to go a little step farther here and I know I probably get myself in trouble.

What's that? Not with you, right? The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus said, I am the truth. He is actually, another name for Him is the Word of God.

So let's take Jesus Christ as the physical flesh Word of God. All that God has for us and our focus is to be on that Word. And then as the Bible says, people come along and they begin to add tradition.

They begin to add commandments of men. They begin to add the worship of angels. Angels are good.

And you begin to put all these little things on the outside of it. You know what they're doing? Colossians says, they're simply trying to distract you from this to this. To add something.

It's very subtle, but to add some things in. You say, but it's Jesus Christ. You're right.

But it's Him with a little bit on the outside. And you know, in 10 or 15 years, it'll be a little bit more. And a little bit more.

And in a generation or two, your focus is going to be on all this stuff. And He's going to be in the background. And so just to encourage us to make sure that all God does, He points to His Son.

And His Son is the Word made flesh. And that's why the Bible warns we're not to add to it. Nor are we to take away from it.

It is all that we need. Well, we're going to look at it this morning here in John chapter number 9. And I know we're a little late, but I'd like to try the best I can to just share with you. I shared some of these things just briefly last week during our revival time.

But I think these things are very important. I'd like to finish this story today. This chapter in John chapter 9. Eli mentioned here this morning.

He was, I think sometimes you all just figure out what I'm preaching on and prepare the way. So that was good. I don't have to say a bunch of things.

I'll eliminate some things here today. Maybe what we could do to give you time to stretch is just stand up. And we'll read a few verses.

You can stretch a bit. I want to read John chapter 9. I left off last time way back in verse 23. But we're going to take verse 24 all the way down.

Some of these verses we've touched on. But I want to focus our efforts specifically here in verse 39, 40, and 41. Then go back and look at the Pharisees and this blind man and how they lived this out.

In this chapter. But let's read John chapter 9 here. Verse 39, 40, and 41.

Let me read. You all can listen. This is the end of the story, the lesson.

Some of you have not been here for the first two lessons on the blind man. But in verse 39, and Jesus said for judgment, I am come into this world. Judgment here is to separate between one and the other.

The word of God is like a sword that cuts apart. I am for judgment. I am come to this world that they which see not might see.

And they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If you were blind, you should have no sin. But now you say we see, therefore your sin remaineth.

Okay, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we again desire to know the truth, to hunger and thirst after righteousness. Lord, that that truth would not simply be in our head but also in our heart.

And I pray that each one of our hearts here today would align itself with the word of God for our benefit. Not only in the life to come but also in this present life. And so we thank you, Lord, for giving us your word and revealing to us the scriptures.

Bless our teaching now as we consider it in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, you can be seated here.

One of the basic things that I think all of us need to come to grips with is when we look at things from God's perspective, it's much different than our perspective. God's perspective as He looks upon the world, He has only two groups of people in the world. I know we see so many different groups, so many different names, so many different labels, but as God looks upon the world, all He sees in the world are two groups.

And I could give you many, many names of these two. You probably have many in your memory. There are the saved and the lost.

There is not a third party. There are believers and unbelievers. There is no third group.

There are sheep and goats. It's not sheep, goats, cats, dogs, mice. It's sheep and goats.

There are children of God and there are children of the devil. There's always, from God's perspective, only two groups of people. And here in our passage, in verse 39, there are those who see not and there are those who see.

Those who see not and there are those who see. Now, I'd like to look here at verse 39. Jesus says, for judgment I am come to this world that they which see not might see.

I don't know about you, but I want to be in the see not group because I want to see. They which see not might see and they which see might be made blind. What is he saying here? Those that see not are they which acknowledge, as Brother Eli said here this morning, I have needs.

I have needs. I need someone to help me. Blind people need someone to lead them about.

Blind people have needs. They're looking for help. I am a needy man.

I am a sinful man. Even as the publican said, woe unto me, I am a sinful man. As soon as that publican acknowledged his blindness, his need, his weakness, all of a sudden his eyes were open and he could see spiritual truth and he could understand spiritual truth.

Jesus said it this way, they that behold need not a physician, but they that are sick. You will never get help from a physician until you first realize I'm sick. You need to see your sickness in order for you to come and seek out a physician.

And so in order to find help for sickness, one must acknowledge that one has a sickness. Proverbs 26.20, and I'm going to move down through these rather quickly. Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit, there is more hope of a fool than of him.

A man who is wise in his own conceit, his own pride. I don't have any needs. I'm good to go.

There's more hope for a fool, the Bible says, than that man. In his heart, he is someone who doesn't have the attitude, I don't see, I have needs. And God is willing to help people who come to Him and say, I see not, Lord.

And God will touch them then and give them sight. Jesus oftentimes called these Pharisees fools and blind. But I want you to know here this morning that God is looking for a heart that's called a broken heart.

It's called a contrite heart. God is looking for each one of us to have a heart where we have and understand our need. Our need.

And it's true that if I stand here with Caleb and Brother Cleat, and I want to make a comparison, maybe I would say something like this. Well, comparatively speaking, and I speak as a fool, I don't have that many needs. However, as we were told last week, if you stand beside Jesus Christ, and every one of us would stand in His presence, we would say, I have lots of needs.

And so this idea of comparing ourselves among ourselves, the Bible says is not a wise thing. And as you compare yourself with the Lord, you'll find yourself in a place of need. Certainly everyone should come to the place in their life when they say, I need a Savior.

That's a good place to come at the very beginning. I need a Savior. How about this one? I need a brotherhood.

That's why the church is here, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is. I have needs of my brother. I have needs of accountability.

I have needs of elders. I have need of counsel. How about this one? I have need of parents.

Amen. I have need for someone to help me and someone to guide me. I have need of the Word of God.

Now you take an individual who says, I have need of a Savior. I have need of a brotherhood. I have need of accountability.

I have need of elders. I have need of counsel. I have need of parents.

I have need of these people. I have need of the Lord Jesus. There's a person you're going to see who's going to see some things.

They acknowledge their need. They acknowledge their blindness. And therefore, God is able to help them and to touch them.

They which see not, might see. They which have the attitude, Lord, I need healing. Lord, I need help.

They are the ones who I shared this morning come boldly in time of need. Do you think the Lord wrote that to come to my throne in time of need and thinking that you and I probably will never have any need? No, He's thinking, if you recognize who you really are, you'll be coming on a mission on a regular basis, right? And so come that you might find help in time of need. Now, I didn't do a lot of studying.

I don't know a lot about eyes. But I do know this, that our eyes are made up of many, many thousands of light receptacles. Those things that receive light and good eyes have those receptacles open and they are receiving.

They're wanting. And they're drawing light. When your eyes go bad, those light receptacles start to close down and they no longer receive light from an outside source.

And that's when you go into what is called blindness. And so the Lord is encouraging us to be those who come to Him with our needs and to be a needy people. Well, there's an opposite.

Verse 39, it says, For judgment I am come to this world that they which see not might see. That's where I want to be. And they which see might be made blind.

They which see might be made blind. Who are those? Those who walk around like, I don't have any need. I'm self-sufficient.

Nobody can tell me anything. There's a person who's blind spiritually. They cannot see.

They're going to head down a road that's going to lead them to destruction. These are those who have this attitude, I am self-sufficient. I am okay.

I have no issues. I have no need. I don't need a Savior.

I'm good. That's where many people feel. I'm alright.

I'm not that bad. I don't need a Savior. I don't need a brotherhood.

I don't need accountability. I don't need counsel. I don't need my parents.

I don't need anything. I'm good to go. I hear that a lot on college campuses.

Kids go by and they say, I'm good. I'm good. What they're saying is, I don't need anybody.

I don't need your God. I don't need any counsel. I'm good to go.

I'm an island unto myself. I have all I need within me. And I'll tell you what, there's no better picture of a deceived and blind person than that right there.

That one who says, I can see. And the Lord says, those who feel that way, He'll give them over to blindness. And that was the condition of many in the early church in the time of Jesus.

And so all of us here today, God could open up our hearts and we would all find ourselves in one of these two categories. I know there's different stages there, but as God looks at your heart, you're either one of those who sit here and you're needy. You're needy.

And your heart is crying out to God, Lord, I have needs. I have need of this and I have need of that. And Lord, I need grace.

I need mercy. I need all these things. Lord, I'm hungering and thirsting after righteousness.

And some of you may sit here in your life, you're self-sufficient. I don't need anybody. As a matter of fact, I don't even need God.

As a matter of fact, it's been six months and I haven't prayed to Him. I don't need Him. Life can go on.

I'll be just fine. Those are attitudes that people have. I'd like you to hold your finger here and turn to Matthew 5. This is very interesting to me in studying and considering these things.

But Jesus, His first words. This is His first actual sermon. And then we're going to look at His first words He said in the synagogue when He read the Scriptures.

It wasn't actually a sermon, I don't think. He just read in the book of Luke. But here in Matthew 5, the first sermon ever recorded by the Lord Jesus starts here in chapter 5, verse 2. It says, "...He opened His mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit." Here is where it all starts.

Right here. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who spiritually are beggars.

Blessed are those who see their poverty. I've been in many foreign countries, many third world countries. I remember Guatemala.

Probably the most graphic. People sitting along the sides of the roads and squatting in dirty clothes and just vile raiment and begging. Begging for things and their little children sitting off to the side of them.

Beggars. Blessed are those who are not physically out there begging like we see people on the corner of the streets. But blessed are those who are poor in spirit.

Blessed are those who see their need. Their poverty. Let's keep reading here.

Verse number 4. Blessed are they that mourn. Again, I see my poverty. I am mourning over my poverty.

I have needs. These needs are causing me to groan within me. Look at verse 6. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness.

If you're hungry, what does that mean? That means you have need. If you're thirsty, what does that mean? That means you have need. I mean, if you had all the foods you wanted and you were full and you had all the liquids you needed, you wouldn't have any need.

You wouldn't hunger and thirst. But blessed is that one who is hungry. If you're hungry, you're needy.

Blessed is that one who is thirsty. If you're thirsty, you are needed or needy. And I shared this with you last week when Dale was here.

Remember the church at Laodicea? We are rich and increased with goods and what? Have need of nothing. We're good to go. What did the Lord say to them? You're blind and you're poor.

Spiritually speaking. Well, I like this verse 7. This all continues here. Blessed are the merciful.

You know when you're needy with a beggar and you're a spiritual beggar and you're sitting down there and you're crying out to God and you want more and more of Him, the guy next to you, He's a beggar too. You don't criticize Him. You're merciful to Him.

You're merciful one to another. Blessed are the merciful. And so we ought to have need.

We have need certainly of salvation. We're not a self-righteous people I trust. We have need of grace.

Grace like we heard today. We don't say, God, I can do it on my own strength. We have need of mercy.

We don't say to God, I don't sin anymore. I have no sin. I don't need mercy anymore, God.

Yes, we need mercy. Come bold into the throne of grace that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Well, here's a beautiful picture and some of you young people understand this.

Bible says in Psalm 34, 18, The Lord is nigh unto them of a broken heart. That means the one who is poor in spirit. If you're here today and your heart is poor in spirit and you're hungering and you have need and you know it and you're seeking God and you're wanting Him to fill that need, the Lord is nigh unto them.

The Lord is nigh unto them of a broken heart. And I think of how the Lord here in this chapter in John 9, He says, I am the light of the world. Now you think about this for a minute.

If God is near unto them that have a broken heart and He is the light, then that must mean the light is very close to you, isn't it? And so you're walking through the woods and you have one person who has a light, it's dark out, and that person is walking right beside you. Guess what? You can see things, can't you? The Lord who is the light is near unto he that has a broken and contrite heart. And that means that those who have a broken and contrite heart, they can see.

Because the Lord is right next to them and He is light. And as they walk together, He's... I can see. Psalm 138.16 says, but He knows the proud afar off.

Uh-oh. The proud, He stays afar off. Now you walk through the woods and you've got one person with a light and that person is way off, a hundred yards away.

You're not going to be able to see anything around you. You're going to stumble. You're going to fall.

You're going to be in darkness. And so those who have this attitude, I don't have any need, I can make it on my own. They are walking in darkness.

And they're going to stumble. And they're going to fall. Well, it's interesting that the first words that Jesus read in the synagogue, we look here at the first sermon He preached, but the first words He read in the synagogue, they handed Him the Bible.

And you know, He opened it up in Nazareth when He had come back there. Here's what He read. First words in the synagogue.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to who? The poor! The first words out of His mouth. Blessed are the poor in spirit. And the first words, when they gave Him the book, He put it and He turned it to this.

He said, I am come to preach the Gospel to the poor, to those who know they have needs. God has sent Me to preach the Gospel and heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captive and the recovering of sight to who? Blind. And so I have a message for poor people.

I have a message for brokenhearted. I have a message for blind. I have a message for these people.

They're the ones I've come for. And so if you're here today and you're in that condition, you're in a good place. And I tell you what, oftentimes we don't get light and we don't have understanding and we don't have revelation from God.

And the reason is because we are not broken in our heart. We are not humble in heart. We are not poor in spirit.

And the light is afar off. And oftentimes we cannot see. Well, let's go back here to John.

And look at John 9 again. The Lord goes on here and He tells us something else. This is the lesson of the story.

In verse 40, and some of the Pharisees which were with Him. By the way, we talk a lot about the Pharisees because the Lord talks a lot about them. But some of the Pharisees were with Him and heard these words and said unto Him, are we blind also? It's kind of like, are you talking about us? And Jesus said unto them, if you were blind, and notice this, if you were blind, if you were one of these people that had need and you knew of your need, you should have no sin.

But now you say, here's your heart, we see, I don't have any problem. Therefore, your sin remaineth. You know, this attitude of having need and I know that I have needs, Lord, opens up the door for forgiveness and cleansing.

And we all understand that. It's a necessity. It's why the Lord Jesus, who came to forgive men, the first thing He said is, oh, blessed are you poor.

Blessed are you who know your condition. Blessed are you who are humble, who see with a broken and contrite heart that you have need. Blessed are you because I've come to forgive you.

And so the publican who said, God, be merciful to me a sinner, went down to his house justified. In other words, he went down cleansed from his sin. And the one who looked down upon the publican and thought like he had everything in order, he was not justified.

He was not cleansed. You know, as I go through the book of John, the Gospel, I see a lot of this teaching on faith and humility and some major themes in the Scriptures. And I think God repeats them over and over again because we struggle with this stuff as human beings.

And so if we confess our sins, in other words, if I say I'm a needy person, Lord, when's the last time you got in your prayer closet and just started to cry and weep and to pour out your heart before God? And acknowledge and go down to the depths of your heart and see the corruptness that is in you and the need for mercy and forgiveness. James says, let your laughter be turned into mourning, your joy into heaviness. Well, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us.

There's that cleanses from all unrighteousness. And that cleansing will never happen apart from having poverty of spirit. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.

And the truth is not in us. You know, oftentimes we don't understand our condition because we don't understand what sin is. But sin is not just the transgression of the laws.

The Bible says sin is also this, whatsoever is not of faith is sin. It also says to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to him. It is sin.

You know that you should be doing something and you're not doing it. It's sin. When we look at sin as something like that, something that's big, we realize, my, I have need in my own heart.

Well, here in John 9, verse 41, this idea of we see is an attitude that keeps us from being cleansed. A self-righteous attitude leaves us in our sins. I'm good.

I'm okay. Everything's fine. Bible says there is none good.

Oh, the Lord doesn't know me. I say that foolishly. There is none good.

No, not one. Here's something amazing I think I shared with you previously, but the blind man found Jesus and those who could see never found Him. And in our story, we're going to see here in just a minute that the blind man found Him.

But those who were able to see physically never found Him. Now, I just want to go back here and just briefly look at a couple of attitudes that the Pharisees had and the blind men had that help us to understand what a broken spirit or poverty, a poor spirit is and what a proud spirit is. And you can see it in the life of the Pharisees here and in the life of this poor blind man.

By the way, this blind man was a beggar. He sat and begged. He was a needy individual.

But let's look at some of the ways these attitudes manifested themselves in the Pharisees and in this blind man. I want to look first of all at this condescending attitude. This condescending attitude or looking down.

The Pharisees looked down upon the blind man. Like you look here in verse 24. Let's read some here.

Then again, called they the man that was blind. This is the Pharisees and said unto him, Give God the praise. We know that this man is a sinner.

Speaking of Jesus. Can you imagine how blind that is? He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not. One thing I know that whereas I was blind, now I see.

Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? How opened he thine eyes? He answered them, I have told you already, and you did not hear. Wherefore would you hear it again? Will you also be his disciples? Then they reviled him and said, Thou art his disciple, but we are Moses' disciple. We know that God spake unto Moses.

As for this fellow, we know not from whence he is. Who are you? You are his disciple. We are Moses' disciple.

They reviled him. Look down to verse 34. It says, after the blind man talks to them a little bit, in verse 34, they answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.

You can just picture that one. Who are you, you blind beggar, to teach us? Get out of here. Just this condescending attitude.

If I in my heart believe that I can see, and others are blind, I will certainly want to look down upon them. And as was mentioned here this morning, that Pharisee said, I thank God that I am not as other men are, right? Looking down. So you have this example here again.

And I thought about the two spirits that are at work in the world today, pushing us, all of us, in one of two directions. The Antichrist spirit is pushing us up, up, up, up, up. Remember the devil? He wanted to exalt himself to be like God.

And there's a pressure. There's a spirit pushing you up. Elevate yourself.

Elevate yourself. Lift yourself up. There's another spirit pushing you down.

And that's called the spirit of the Lord Jesus. The Bible says he humbled himself. He went down, down, down, down, down.

And that's the spirit that is encouraging us to be humbled and to have a poverty of spirit. I'm going to read some familiar verses here. 1 Peter 5. You don't have to turn there.

I want to read here in 1 Peter 5, verse 5. Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another and be clothed with humility. For God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.

Now notice verse 6. Humble yourselves. You know, it's not something that God, He wants to do it in you, but He says humble yourselves. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time.

Our responsibility is to humble ourselves and His responsibility is to do what? Exalt. I need to say, Lord, I need to have a poverty of spirit. I need to humble myself and have a broken and a contrite heart.

And that's the example of our Lord who humbled himself and who lifted him up. Well, he was lifted up to the right hand of God. He was given a place of exaltation.

There's another place here in the book of James that says very similar words. James 4, verse 6 says this, But He giveth more grace, wherefore He saith, God resists the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God.

Resist the devil. He will flee from you. Draw nigh to God.

That's the light. And He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter return to mourning and your joy into heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.

That's poverty of spirit. I just picture this blind man as a real humble man. You know, I don't know.

I don't know much about the guy. All I know is that I used to be blind and now I see. And this humble man is going to get some revelation here in just a minute from the Lord.

Well, the Lord desires to lift us up, but we're encouraged to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord. Well, the Bible says in John 9 that they cast him out. He was cast out.

But I love this. In the next verse it says, then the Lord found him. When he was cast out in his lowly condition, the Lord came and found him.

John 9, verse 34, it says, They entered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and when He had found him, He said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? I like this quote. The Pharisees cast him out of the temple, and the Lord of the temple found him.

A couple of verses from the book of Proverbs. Proverbs 16, 19, Better it is to be with a humble spirit, with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud. Proverbs 11, 2, When pride cometh, then cometh shame, but with the lowly is wisdom.

I like that. Who is the personification of wisdom? The Lord Jesus. With the lowly is wisdom.

And so a condescending attitude. Looking down was the attitude the Pharisees had. It's amazing they even found fault with the Lord.

There's another thing I think we ought to learn from this story here, and that's the Pharisees were not teachable. Look at chapter 9, verse 13 here. A couple of verses.

I'd like you to notice this word again. Again. How many times did this man have to say and give his testimony? In chapter 9, verse 13, They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind, and it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.

Then again, there's the first one. The Pharisees asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see.

Verse 17, They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him that he had opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet. Verse 24, Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise. We know that this man is a sinner.

He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not. One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see. Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? How opened he thine eyes? And I like verse 27.

He answered them, I have told you already like I've been telling you, and you did not hear. You're not listening to me. You're not teachable.

Wherefore or why would you hear it again? Will you also be as disciples? And of course, then they were upset with him. Finally, they said, You can't teach us. But I'd like you to notice the teachable spirit of the blind man.

What a beautiful spirit this is. And I think it'd be good for all of us to have this kind of a spirit. Look down to verse 35.

It's a totally different spirit here. Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, I like this. Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? Like, I want to believe, Lord.

Just tell me, teach me. All I just need to know. Who is he? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.

He doesn't need to hear this again and again and again. Look what he says. And he said, Lord, I believe.

And he worshipped him. Now you talk about a teachable spirit. Right there's one.

Brother Eli, there's a childlike faith right there. The faith of a child. Teach me.

Lord, teach me. And a heart that's open. A heart that is easily entreated, wanting to be taught, wanting counsel.

Well, there's a lot of these verses in the book of Proverbs. I'd just like to read a couple of them to you. Some of you young people need to listen to these verses.

They're very important for your life. A teachable spirit. Proverbs 12, 15 says, The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.

You see, most of us, we have a higher view of our mental abilities. We have a higher view of ourselves than what we should. And we think, well, really all I need is me and my ideas.

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes. All I need is me and my ideas and my wisdom. But, he that hearkens unto counsel is wise.

You know when someone who hearkens unto counsel says, Reuben, can you help me? Share with me. What do you think about this? You know? Ben, what's your thoughts? In trying to receive counsel, what that says is this, that you are hungering. You are open to receive.

I want light. I want light. Give me light.

Give me light. Give me counsel. Give me light.

You're like those eyes that have receptacles that want to receive light. I want light. Good place to start.

It's right here, amen? Proverbs 11, 14 says this, Where no counsel is, the people fall. But in the multitude of counselors, there is safety. Seeking out counsel.

Proverbs 19, 20, Hear counsel and receive instruction, that thou mightest be wise in your latter end. Be a receiver of counsel. I don't think you and I will ever get to the place in our life where we don't need any more counsel.

As a matter of fact, if you get to that place, you're probably going to be at a place where you're blind. Like these Pharisees were. They didn't want to ask any counsel.

As a matter of fact, here's a blind man trying to give them counsel. Who are you to teach us? Get out of here. We're the teachers.

I read this verse before, but Proverbs 26, 12, Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit, there is more hope of a fool than of him. And so young people, you know, for your own good and for your future, please be open to seeking out counsel. Once you take this view that I can handle it, I can deal with this thing, I don't even need to go to the Bible to check out anything.

I mean, even God cannot give me any counsel. I know what to do. By the way, don't go to the world for counsel.

Find counsel from the Lord. Find counsel from people who know the Lord. Well, there's a number of verses we could look at here this morning.

I'm not going to do that, but be open. A beggar is asking, can you help me? Someone who's rich, walks down, doesn't need any help. That's a picture of someone who thinks they know everything, don't need any help.

But someone who is poor in spirit is someone who is looking for counsel and direction. Willing and desirous of examining themselves. Lord, I need help.

Search me and try me. Is that where you're at today? In your heart? Your heart is poor of spirit. You don't trust in yourself.

I hope you don't trust in your own righteousness. I'll let you know ahead of time it's not going to work. You don't trust in yourself.

You don't trust in your own mind and your own intellect. You look outside of yourself to the Lord. And if you don't understand His Word, then you come to a brother Mike or a brother John here and you seek out godly counsel and you're asking questions.

I love the posture of the Lord Jesus at age 12 sitting and listening to the elders and asking questions. It's a good posture. And they listen.

And they ask. Being willing to be teachable. I'm going to give you one simple illustration here.

I read recently. And then we'll close here this morning. Alexander White, a notable preacher of a century ago, was in his study one day when a friend came in to tell him about an evangelist who had come to Edinburgh and was criticizing the local ministers.

The friend said to Dr. White that the evangelist had said that Hood Wilson, a local minister, was not a Christian. When Mr. White heard that, he leaped out of his chair and said, that rascal! Hood Wilson, not a converted man! Then the friend said, and that's not all. He also said, you're not converted either.

At that, Dr. White stopped short, sat back down in his chair and put his face in his hand. After a long silence, he said, leave my friend. Leave me.

I must examine my own heart. Now, there's a man who is poor in spirit. I should examine my heart.

Some brother says, I'm not converted. Whoa! I should listen and examine. There's poverty of spirit.

Poor in spirit. And so as you go through life, go through life like this blind man who's looking for help and looking and being poor in spirit, crying out, I need counsel, Lord. I need help.

I'm going to come on a regular basis boldly to the throne of grace for mercy and grace to help in time of need. Don't be condescending. Don't be unteachable.

It's going to lead you down a road that's not going to be a good end. The latter end is not a good end. And so let's learn here this morning from this blind man.

God did a miracle. There were different responses we learned a few weeks ago. But let's have a broken and contrite heart.

Lowliness of heart. Poverty of heart. Can we say amen to that? The poor in spirit.

Blessed are those who are poor in spirit. All right, let's close then this morning.