(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Are they going to last? I hope so. Is that center? Okay. I don't know. Okay. Thanks. It's right at the bottom of that. Yeah, it'll operate. That's true. You read the weapon? Sure. Anyone else? Yeah. Anybody want to read the note? You want to read John 9? All right. We can switch it out. Okay. The Bible will be up here. Where is John? I have it already marked. Don't worry. I'm going to pull this guy. I'm going to pull this guy. Get this ready for you. And then you want to put it back here. You want it small. All right. All right. There we go. Okay. And... Yeah. Thank you, sir. Okay. And just to let everyone know, I'm probably not going to be singing really, really loud. So probably about at this level. So you guys don't need to sing out. But don't be discouraged if you don't hear me. I'm still up here. I know what the time signature is and stuff. How do you lip sync in? Yeah, just lip sync in. My throat is still kind of messed up. If I sing super duper loud, it's going to disappear. I'd like to try to hold on to that thing for as long as possible. Just to let you know. Just before morning. And with that, why don't we have some church? Welcome, everybody, to Sure Foundation Baptist Church, Seattle. Let's go ahead and turn our hymnals to number 30. And we'll sing our first hymn, Nothing But the Blood. Number 30 on the first. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow That makes me white as snow. No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. For my pardon, this I see. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. For my cleansing, this my clean. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow That makes me white as snow. No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Nothing can force an atonement. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Not of good that I have done. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow That makes me white as snow. No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow That makes me white as snow. No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Amen. Wonderful singing. Brother Alexis, will you please open us in a word of prayer? Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing me to be in your house today. Thank you for so many. Thank you for allowing Pastor to come down here. Lord, we ask that you please bless the service and be with us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Let's go ahead and turn to page 23, please. In your hymnals, number 23. There is power in the blood, number 23. That's okay. Check this out. One, two, three, four. Would you be free from your burden of sin? Would you be free from your burden of sin? Would you be free from your burden of sin? Would you be free from your burden of sin? Would you be free from your burden of sin? There is power in the blood, power in the blood. Would you, O evil, love victory with him? There is wonderful power in the blood. There is power, power, wonderful in power. There is the blood of the Lamb. There is power, power, wonderful in power. In the precious blood of the Lamb. Would you be free from your passion and pride? There is power in the blood, power in the blood. Come for a cleansing to Calvary's tide. There is wonderful power in the blood. There is power, power, wonderful in power. In the blood of the Lamb. There is power, power, wonderful in power. In the precious blood of the Lamb. Would you be whiter, much whiter than so? There is power in the blood, power in the blood. Sin stains are lost in its mind, can it glow? There is wonderful power in the blood. There is power, power, wonderful in power. In the blood of the Lamb. There is power, power, wonderful in power. In the precious blood of the Lamb. Would you do service for Jesus your King? There is power in the blood, power in the blood. Would you in daily give praise as you sing? There is wonderful power in the blood. There is power, power, wonderful in power. In the blood of the Lamb. There is power, power, wonderful in power. In the precious blood of the Lamb. I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. Nothing can be put to it or anything taken from it, and God doeth it that men should fear before him. That's Ecclesiastes 3.14. And on the back of our bulletins, we have our church service schedule. On Sunday mornings, we have a 9 a.m. morning service. Okay, cool, we found a couple extra suites. On Sunday mornings, we have a 9 a.m. morning service, and Sunday evenings, we have a 5.30 p.m. evening service. On Wednesdays, we have a 6.30 p.m. service, which you all wonderfully are attending. Soul winning times are also listed here. On Sunday afternoons, we have soul winning at 2 p.m. On Wednesdays, we have soul winning at 5 p.m. And on Saturdays, we have soul winning at 11 a.m. And speaking of soul winning, did we have any salvation out today? We had one! Oh, praise God! Man, picking the maps. Sweet deal. So we are sitting at 20 for the year, so praise God for that. Wonderful work, gentlemen. Thanks for going out and preaching the gospel. All right, on the left hand side here, we can see our recent attendance and times and offerings for March. Now we can go over here to the upcoming events. This evening, we are doing the Lord's Supper, and Pastor Thompson is going to preach a full sermon, after which he'll dismiss us for about 10 minutes to have a quick restroom refresh or stretch break, after which he will actually go through the Lord's Supper and distribute the elements, and he'll read scripture and talk about how we're supposed to partake, and then we're going to sing a hymn and leave, so it's going to be kind of a somber, serious time after that, and we're going to try to keep the fellowship short because after the Lord sang a hymn and stuff, he went to be crucified. They didn't go and party and stuff like that, so just something to think about there. But on March 31st will be our Easter Sunday, and there will be a potluck after the evening service, and I did kind of put a text out on WhatsApp about maybe getting a list going. It's probably not the most organized thing, but it is out there, so if you'd like to come and you'd like to bring something, please let us know. Hey, I'm going to bring some rolls. You going to bring a ham or something like that? Yeah, I'll provide a hand if somebody wants to go there. So there we go. Anybody? Let's go see that ham. Anybody else? Praise God. Anyone else? How many hams are you bringing up? Well, I'll just send it to you. I'll just send it to your house or whatever. Cool. There we go. So there's at least ham on the menu, so you think things around ham? I'll provide the ham. Do you think one ham is enough for your thing? If I get a spiral shot, one for my passport or something? Okay. I get two. I think one would be enough. Well, I'm only a viewer, but two. We hear one. We have two. Can we have two? Two? Two? Two? Okay. It's not an auction. Oh, boy. All right. Let me simmer down here. All right. So anyway, maybe we can bring this discussion to the WhatsApp group, and we can finally iron out those details there. Primary. Now we're moving up. We're upgrading to primary. All right. WhatsApp. WhatsApp. Okay. April 8th through the 9th is the Next Level Youth Conference over at Verity Baptist Church down in Sacramento, put on by Pastor Jimenez in Verity Baptist Church. Sign up on their website if you plan to attend. The ages for attendees is 13 through 19. On Sunday, April 28th is our one-year anniversary with Pastor Bruce Mejia being our guest pastor, preaching for both services. So if you ever want to hear him preach live, it'd be a great time to do it. Invite some friends. I'm sure it's going to be a wonderful day of preaching, fellowship, and soul winning. June 20th through 23rd is the Red Hot Preaching Conference for this year at Verity Baptist Church. And I don't know the schedule yet, but I'm pretty sure that they will have information as that comes. I think that takes care of the bulletin. Just about the building. For the bathrooms, please leave the lights off and the doors open as a courtesy for those folks going in. We do have a makeshift mother-baby room. If the groups upstairs aren't using it and you'd like, we have a very easy to operate baby gate that you can throw in there to keep your young ones from escaping. Please no running in the building. We have a large trash can in the back. We can throw away anything we don't want to carry out to keep our area clean. No reason for us to go upstairs or on the stairs for any reason because other groups use that area. Please silence your cell phones and remember that children and infants are always welcome in the room during the service and if they're screaming during the singing like that, let's do it. It counts as singing, so it's wonderful. And speaking of which, we're going to have one more song and then we're going to have Brother Josh come and read the descriptions. So let's please turn to number 12 and we'll sing our next song, please. Number 12, Blessed Redeemer. Number 12 on the first. Up Calvary's mountain, one dreadful morn. Long Christ my Savior, weary and worn. Facing for sinners, death on the cross. That He might save them from endless loss. Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer. Seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree. Wounded and bleeding, forced in us pleading. Life in a heating, dying for me. Father, forgive them, thus did He pray. Meanwhile His lifeblood flowed fast away. Praying for sinners, wild and such woe. No one but Jesus ever loved so. Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer. Seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree. Wounded and bleeding, forced in us pleading. Life in a heating, dying for me on the last. Oh, how I love Him, Savior and Friend. How can my praises ever find it? Through years of growing number, on heaven's shore. My tongue shall praise Him forevermore. Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer. Seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree. Wounded and bleeding, forced in us pleading. Life in a heating, dying for me. Alright, at this time we'll have Brother Josh come up and read the scriptures for us. Please turn in your Bibles to John chapter 9. So John chapter 9, please. So John chapter 9, starting in verse 1. And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man which was blind from his birth. And His disciples asked Him, Say, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither has this man sinned 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. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go wash in the pool of Siloam, which is by interpretation, sent. He went his way, therefore, and washed, and came seeing. The neighbors, therefore, and they which 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 is like him, but he said, I am he. Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened? He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash. And I went and washed, and I received sight. Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not. 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 the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed and do see. Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them. They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet. But the Jews did not believe concerning him that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight. And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? How then doth he now see? His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind. But by what means he now seeth, we know not, or who hath opened his eyes, we know not. He is of age, ask him, he shall speak for himself. These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. Therefore said his parents, He is of age, ask him. 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? He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear. Wherefore would ye hear it again? Will ye also be his disciples? Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple, but we are Moses' disciples. We know that God spake unto Moses, As for this fellow, we know not from whence he is. The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth not sinners, but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. Since the world began, was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind? If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. They answered 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? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that thou might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe, and he worshipped him. And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see, and that 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 ye were blind, ye should have no sin, but now ye say, We see, therefore your sin remaineth. Brother Stephen, would you pray for us? Dear Lord God, thank you so much for the opportunity to come here and worship in your house, Lord. I pray that you would fill us out of your houses, and we would know if you could pull us to preach, Lord. And please pray for our service and the endurance of your works and for our good works, Lord. Jesus, we pray. Amen. Amen. We should be here tonight. Let's see you all. Well, the last time I was here, of course, we were in John, Chapter 8. We're in John, Chapter 9. I'm going to cover the whole chapter tonight. And the title of the sermon is Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind. I mean, this whole chapter has just taken up with this just one story. There's kind of a change in how the gospel has flown here because usually there's multiple things being talked about. But this is just one specific subject, and it's a very important subject. But my first point in the sermon is Jesus debunks the myth that when people have birth defects, it's because of sin committed. So he's going to debunk this right off the bat. Look at verse number 1. The Bible says, And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth, and his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? So that question that they asked, I mean, it just shows that they believe that. I mean, that's his disciples asking. So there's probably a common misconception among people that somebody sinned in order for this great travesty to happen to somebody being born blind. And a lot of times, atheists will look at stuff like this and they'll say, Well, what kind of God would make somebody be born blind? Let's read on here. It says in verse 3, Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. So in reality, God has allowed him to be born blind for a certain purpose. And this chapter is that purpose. And people would say, Well, that's just cruel. Why would somebody do that? Why would somebody make somebody be born blind and have to go through that hardship? His parents have to go through that hardship. Why would they do that? Well, you know, it says it right there. It says that the works of God should be made manifest in him. God picked this specific man to be born blind for a specific reason so that we would be in 2024 reading this chapter and preaching about the things that happen in this chapter because it's not just the things that Jesus says. Everything combined in this chapter, there's a lot of meaning in this chapter, a lot of things that you can glean out of it. One thing is that you know just how wicked the Pharisees really are. They're spiritual abusers is what they are. And everybody's afraid of them, so they're afraid to say what they really think because they're going to get thrown out. I mean, I kind of understand how that works, being a new IFB guy. When I first started listening to new IFB-style preaching, you kind of had to be careful in the old IFB churches that you're at because if you say the wrong thing, oh, that's that Stephen Anderson or whatever, you know what I'm saying? So anybody can believe anything else in that church. They can believe in bigfoots and UFOs and all kinds of weird stuff, but if you believe in the reprobate doctrine or easy believe-ism or any of those things that we believe, it's just like, oh, you're out. So I can kind of see why the parents are afraid. They don't want to say anything because these Pharisees rule with an iron fist, and they have the power to kick people out, and they do, and they exercise it. But then the other thing that you see is that Jesus picked this guy for a reason because he says some pretty gangster things throughout this chapter. He's not just this run-of-the-mill guy that really does. He seems pretty street smart. For a guy that was born blind and then he gets healed, he answers well whenever he's asked a question. His parents are answering safely, but he answers wisely, and he says some things that are pretty matter-of-fact in this chapter. I think it's great. Anyway, the thing is that anybody being born blind or anybody having disease or anybody being born with any kind of problems, it's sin. Sin abounds in this world, and even God's creation groans waiting for the expected promise of Jesus Christ to come back and fix it because this world isn't going to stay like it is. Things are going to stop dying someday. People are going to stop dying someday, and we're going to have bodies that can't get hurt, bodies that don't get tired, bodies that don't have to sleep, bodies that are always going to be daylight. I mean, things are going to change in such a drastic way that this will be like the pain that we live in this life and the things that we go through in this life and the things that we see in this life are going to be so different, and it's going to be way better. In Genesis 131 it says, And God saw everything that he made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. So when God finished making everything, everything was very good. So it's because of what Adam and Eve did. When they sinned, everything stopped being very good. And what mankind did really did damage to the whole world. It wasn't just to mankind. So when people say the sins that we commit, it's not just unto you, it's true because their sins affected every generation. Every single family in this room is affected because of one thing that they did. And all the animals, why did they kill each other? Well, they didn't used to kill each other like that. They kill each other now. Why? And we kill them too because we're members of PETA, people eating tasty animals. But why is that though? There's going to come a day when animals don't get killed or they're not going to kill each other anymore. I mean, imagine being the prey. There's a lot of animals born out there and their job, all they do is hide all day. They hide and they run and they're looking, waiting for a predator to come and attack them. And that's the world we live in and that's the world we know. We don't know anything different. And someday soon, that will change for us. And so Adam's sin is what made things not good. In Romans 5.12 it says, Wherefore art by one man's sin entered into the world and death by sin. And so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. So death passed upon all men, but also the animals were affected. The earth is affected. Even God cursed the earth because of what man did. And the reason why childbirth is so rough, you can thank great, great, gazillion great Grandma Eve or Mother Eve for what she did, because childbirth is still painful today because of what she did. So it's like every time you scream, just thank Eve. Thanks, Eve. Thanks, Mom. Thanks, great Grandma. But we can't always blame sin or the devil specifically for every bad thing that happens in our lives or in our world because God actually allowed this man to be born blind. So we can't take those things too far. We can't go too far with saying that, you know, because sometimes God allows things to happen for a purpose. And that seems to some people like that would be cruel. But think about this. Sometimes God wants to show his power in the creation that he has and he has the right to do that. He can show his power through a man that was born blind and his resistance to the powers that be and, you know, show his great strength and the ability to cure somebody that's blind. Nobody's ever done that before, according to the scriptures. And, you know, think about this. Those that think it may be wrong for God to cause them to be born blind, maybe he would have never gotten saved if he had been born with sight. There's a lot of people that are born with sight and they want nothing to do with God. And, you know, this guy, maybe he would have just been a rotten person. Maybe he wouldn't have been standing there when Jesus and his disciples passed by. I mean, God knows all those calculations. You know, he knows all that, all the time and space and mathematics and all that stuff. We don't know that stuff, but I'm sure he knows it. And, you know, maybe that's why he was, you know, one of the reasons why he was born blind. Maybe he would have been so prideful that he never would have got saved, you know. I was preaching to a guy one time and I don't think he was born blind, but I think that he became blind and he was angry with God because he was blind. And I pleaded with that man to be saved because I was just like, sir, if you get saved, you will have your sight back. You'll get your sight back and you'll be able to see for all eternity. And he just, like, his heart was hardened, you know. And so, he wasn't born blind but became blind and became hardened against God. And so, that guy's going to die and go to hell unless he got saved later on. But he's going to die and go to hell and he's going to be blind forevermore. You know, it's sad. But, you know, maybe others reading or being preached this story would not have gotten saved had they not heard this story about the blind man. You know, maybe there are blind people that have heard this story and thought, man, I need to get saved. You know, this chapter's in here for a reason and it's a whole chapter for a reason. For a reason about this blind man. You know, giving someone in physical darkness hope to someday receive their sight when all things are made very good again, just like in Genesis 131, that's a great hope to give somebody. It's a good thing to say, you know, if somebody's disabled and you're able to preach them the gospel, that is something to give them hope. I mean, obviously, it's not the only reason to get saved but it's a good one. So maybe people witnessing the miracle the way that the Pharisees handled it got saved later on. Or, you know, maybe they were just on the Pharisee's side and then they saw how things played out and maybe they gave Jesus a chance. Maybe they got saved because of that or set on the right path, you know, because of how the situation was handled. Because there's a lot of layers into this story, it's not just a blind man being healed. Number two this evening, light is how we see spiritually and physically. Light is how we see spiritually and physically. You know, if it's dark, you can't see, you need light. We have lights in here, we got special lights set up in here so you can actually see a little bit better in here and I like that. So you can see better and light is how we see. It goes into our eyes and I'm not exactly sure how that works I'm sure there's some scientific way or reason why that works but God made the eye so that we see and light is how we are able to see that thing. And obviously even in the dark sometimes your eyes adjust to the point not like predator eyes like they can actually see in the dark but our eyes can adjust and we have the moon to help us a little bit you know on those nights where it's a little bit more bright outside but we can't adjust to certain things but generally light and when it's light outside is when we do the things that we do. So let's look back at our text in verse number four. The Bible says, 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, I am the light of the world. I'm not going to take time to cover I talked about all the I am statements the last time I preached but I am going to go into a lot of the verses about him being light and specifically just dial in on this specific subject here but there's a lot of heavy scriptures and great scriptures that use light to help us understand spiritual truths. So spiritually we see through the word of God and the word of God is our lamp to see in this world and to guide us on the path like a flashlight would. If you've ever been in a really dark wooded area and all you have is just like a little flashlight it's nice to have, isn't it? Because you will stumble in the dark and you will fall unless you have something that's bright enough to let you see and it's nice to have that because it can get kind of scary when you're out in the dark and you can't see, right? So look at Genesis chapter 1. We'll try to fly through some of these verses here. But Jesus did say, I am the light of the world. So that is one of the seven I am statements. I said seven, there was actually more than that. But that is one of the I am statements in the Bible, in the book of John. And Genesis 1 and 3, I think I covered this last week when I went into these, but it says, And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was, what does it say there? Good. And God divided the light from the darkness, and God called the light day, and the darkness he called night, and the evening and the morning were the first day. So God chose to divide the light from the darkness. He made light, and when God saw the light, that it was good, he divided the light from the darkness. And you know, Jesus in John chapter 9, he says, I worked the works of him that sent me while it is day. God is saying that we need to work while the day is here. And obviously he means while we have days on this earth, but more specifically, when he's talking about the night coming, where no man can work, he's talking about when time is no more, basically when we can't work the works of God anymore. And you know, when our end comes in this life, that's it for us. We can't do any more works for God here on earth. Obviously we'll have work to do there, but it won't be the same type of work. So God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And there's a picture, and we were kind of talking about this a little bit on the way up, but when you think about Jesus transfiguring himself on the Mount of Transfiguration, he was so bright that they couldn't look at him. When John saw him in the vision in Revelation, he fell down at his feet. He couldn't look directly at him. And when you see the apostle Paul sees Jesus, a man born out of due time, an apostle born out of due time, what happened to him? He fell off his horse, and he was blind for three days because of the brightness. When you look at the sun directly, what happens to you? If you look at it too long, you'll go blind. It'll ruin your eyes permanently, but when that sun comes up, that pictures the Son of God, obviously. So we're not supposed to worship that because the light came before the sun, remember that. True light is the Lord Jesus Christ, but that does picture that day star being the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to 2 Peter 119. It says, we have also a more, and he's talking about, I'll just give you a little context here, he's talking about specifically when they saw the transfiguration. And he's talking about how the Word of God is more, you know, he saw with his own eyes and evidenced this himself, but he's about to explain to us how the Word of God is more powerful than his eyewitness. It says in 2 Peter 119, we have also a more sure word of prophecy, where unto you do well that you take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in your heart. So what is that day star? Well, that's the sun when it comes up. So it's comparing that light shining in a dark place and the day dawning and the day star arising in our hearts. So he's saying that we have a more sure word of prophecy. What's he talking about? He's talking about the Bible being that light source, the Word of God being that light source that shines in our hearts and arises within us and helps us to understand the truth. Because as unsaved people, we can't understand it. And so when Jesus shined in the darkness, you know, even that picture in Genesis 1 is that picture of him shining, you know, him being that light for mankind and for the whole world when that light appeared. So now let's look at John chapter 1. John chapter 1, verse number 1, John chapter 1, verse 1. The Bible says in John 1, 1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Of course, we all know that verse. But I'm making the point here that the Word is God. Who is the Word? Jesus Christ is the Word. Look at verse 4. It says, In him was life, and the life was the light of men. So he's the light of men. He's also that light that it was talking about in Genesis chapter 1. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. So he's talking about when he came to this earth, he came to this earth, he shined in the darkness, they didn't understand. Look down at verse 7. It says, The same came for a witness to bear, talking about John the Baptist, came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light, that was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. So the true light, so people would say in this world, if you just ask them, what is the light that lights up our world every day? And they would say what? They'd say the sun. But what's the Bible say? The Bible says that Jesus is that true light, right? That was the true light, and that's the true light from Genesis chapter 1. I mean, hopefully that makes sense to you. And it says that he which lighteth every man that cometh into the world, Calvinist, every man, he died for everybody, he wants everybody to be saved, not just the elect, but he wants everyone to be saved. He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. These bozos, they just want to be cheeky with all these words and try to make us confused with, they'll take Bible words like predestination and things like that and then twist them to mean something else. Predestination just means that God already knew who was going to get saved. It doesn't mean he picked, oh, I don't like Jameson. He's going to hell for no reason whatsoever. And Steve, for whatever reason, no merit of his own self, no great. I just want him to be saved. I don't know why, but I just do. That's just weird, folks. We choose, he chooses us. It's that simple. When we say yes, he chooses us. We choose to be saved. We believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and we get saved. So look at Psalm 119, though. So Jesus is the true light. Jesus is the word. We have a more sure word of prophecy. He's that light, that day star that arises in our hearts that helps us to understand, you know, salvation helps us. And once we're saved, helps us to understand how to live our life. And look at Psalm 119 and 105. It says, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. It's thy word. So the word of God is what guides our feet and it lights up the path that we should go on. And so once you start getting off in the darkness and you don't have that light, then you're going off in a direction that God doesn't want you to. So the devil wants to take us out of the way. The world wants to take us out of the way. And the way is the way that God wants us to go. If you just like do a study on the word that way or the way, there's a way that God wants us to go. There's a way that man wants to go, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Look at Matthew chapter 5 verse 14. So now Christ is no longer in the world. He's left and left us the Holy Spirit. And He said that we are now the light of the world. And He can get a lot more done with a whole bunch of people that are saved that have the Holy Spirit. That's why He said it's expedient that I leave because the Holy Spirit won't come until He leaves. So when Jesus was resurrected, He came back, He went to His apostles, and He breathed on them and said, Receive you the Spirit of God, right? So He said receive the Spirit of God. They were filled with the Spirit, but the power came on the day of Pentecost, which was, what, 10 days later. And then the power of God resides upon us, and we can get filled with the Spirit. Any believer has the Spirit of God, but we can be filled with the Spirit and do great works for God and do more things than He could do by Himself on this earth. So look at verse 14. It says, Ye are the light of the world. So He's talking to His disciples. Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. You can try to hide yourself all you want, but people are going to find out you're a Christian. Isn't that funny how you, you know, I don't know if anybody's ever pretended like, they want to tell people they're a Christian, and then like people somehow still find out. It's almost like God just makes them ask you questions. You're like, no, you know, it's like you turn into Peter. All of a sudden you're like, I know I'm not the man. Obviously you should never get to that point, but sometimes you just, you know, you get into situations where you feel uncomfortable. But we should never deny the Lord, let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Sometimes it's hard, you know, especially if you're working in a specific place where it's kind of ungodly and people are going to make fun of you. But, you know, they made fun of Jesus all the way up until they crucified Him on the cross. But it says a city set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel. You know, you light a candle and you want it to be seen, so you can light it up, right, for the light, right? And it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. So, you know, He is the light of the world, but He reflects that light in His children. And we're supposed to not hide that light. We're supposed to shine that light to other people. And so that's how, like, when you think about the stars being a picture of what the children of God are, you know, some shine brighter than others, but they all shine, don't they? They all shine. And His, you know, His, you know, we're supposed to shine forth the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and not hide that from people. Look at Acts 26, Acts 26, verse number 17, verse number 17. The Apostle Paul was specifically sent, see, because Jesus said we're supposed to be a light. Have you ever heard that song, This Little Light of Mine? Yeah. I'm going to let it shine, you know? So we're supposed to shine as lights in this world. Verse 17, Acts 26 says, Delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith that is in me. So he's using these terms and these things about opening people's eyes, letting people see, turning them from darkness to light. And he likens that from turning them from the power of Satan unto the power of God. Satan is the darkness, God is the light, all right? And so that's our job is to try to help these people because sometimes, you know, we go to these doors sometimes and sometimes, you know, we can get a little upset with people because of the way they act. And rightly so, sometimes people are just so atrocious, it's hard to love them. But there are, you know, sometimes we do just need to set aside, you know, the fact that we're righteous and we're trying to do what's right and just try to love people, you know? Sometimes people just need to be loved and they have that rough exterior and that gruff attitude about them, but they can't, you know, maybe just try to leave them on a good note that even though they treated you like garbage, even though they cussed you out, even though they mistreated you, I mean, what is the Christian way? How are we supposed to respond to that? We're supposed to turn the other cheek, you know, we're supposed to, if they take your coat, give them your cloak also. You know, we're supposed to be different because if we're not different, that's not going to help them. So to change them from the power of darkness under the power of light and God, we do have to kind of, you know, give a little of ourself and not be so, oh, they're just so evil or whatever. Obviously, if they're sodomite or, you know, there's limits, okay? I'm not saying, you know, to get too crazy with it, but I'm just saying that sometimes people just need to know that you love them. You know, they need to feel that you actually care because if you just robotically go through the gospel every time and they don't see that you care, they're not going to want to listen. You know, sometimes they're just like, yeah, I don't really see the genuineness in this. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 4, 2 Corinthians chapter 4. And the thing is that, you know, Jesus has left us here to be the light of the world, to turn them from darkness unto the light. And we can't hide the message that we have because the messages that we have is too important for that. It says in verse 2 Corinthians 4, 3, it says, but if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. See, those that can't see, you know, if we don't show it to them, it's hidden to them. They're blinded. They don't have that light that we have. And it says, in whom the God of this world hath blinded their minds, excuse me, the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. See, God, you see how much God just like talks about it being light and talks about people being blind. And, you know, it's hid to them because, why is it hid to them? Because Satan has blinded their minds with whatever fantasy world that they believe, whatever stupid religion they believe, whatever thing that has their mind busy with other things, but God's power, the power of the gospel can break through all that stuff and just wake people up. It says, for we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of the darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So, just like He commanded the light to shine in the darkness, He shined it in our hearts to give that light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And we are the ones that are supposed to reflect that light to other people. So, of course, Jesus is the light of the world, but then He said, I'm not saying it, but He said it, that we are the light of the world and we do have a really important job, and that job is to spread the gospel, spread the light. So, I would just say this, if you're here at this church and you're not involved in someone, you should get involved. Get involved, get out there and preach the gospel, because it's not going to do me any good if you do it. It's not going to do anybody else here really any good that does it. It's going to do that person good that does it. They need to hear it. I just read you a litany of verses here showing just how important it really is. Why do our church get attacked so bad? Because we're literally snatching people out of the depths of Satan and waking them up and showing them the light of Christ. I didn't know what was going on. We're waking them up. We're freeing them as the captives. Satan has them captive and blinded and we wake them up. No wonder why he's so pissed off. He's going to get mad and he's going to huff and puff and try to blow our house down, right? So, turn to 1 John chapter 1. We're going to get back to John here in a minute. I want to cover some of these verses. It talks about God being light and just how much it talks about this in the Bible. Obviously, I'm just scratching the surface here. 1 John 1.5 says, This then is the message which we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. So, when Jesus said, I am the light of the world, what's he saying? He's saying he's God, isn't he? When God said that he saw the light and it was very good, what does that mean? That he is God. The word of God is Jesus and Jesus is the word of God and he is God. Now, there's coming a time. I kind of mentioned this earlier, but let's go to Revelation chapter 21 and then we'll head back to John here in a minute. Revelation chapter 21. I kind of mentioned this, how there's going to come a time when there is going to be no more darkness at all. It's going to be completely gone. Because darkness is a picture of how the world is too. Light is separated from darkness to show us that there's good and there's wickedness. That's what it's a picture of. We rest, we sleep at night, we stay away from the things of the darkness of this world because the darkness of this world operates during those hours. When do the drug dealers come out? When do the prostitutes come out? When do all the screechers and whatever, these fentanyl zombies come out? They come out at night, don't they? There's a lot of weird stuff that happens at night. It's probably a good idea for you to stay off the streets at night because you just don't know what's going to happen. Under the cover of darkness, people try to do dark things. Revelation 21 verse 22 says, And I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon. It doesn't say that the moon and sun don't exist. It's just saying that there's no need for it to shine in it. For the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. So God is the light, the Lamb is the light, and it says, And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it. And the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor unto it, and the gates of it shall not be shut all by day, for there shall be no night there. So there's coming a day when there's not going to be any night. There's just going to be light. And the Bible talks about how we're going to shine as the stars forever. And those stars do symbolize how Christians shine differently from another. And obviously if you do great works for God, you're probably going to shine brighter than other people. That doesn't mean you can't shine. I'm not going to shine as bright as Paul. I'm 99.9% sure of that. No matter how hard I try, I don't think I'm ever going to shine as bright as Paul. But it's not a competition either. I'm going to do my best and hopefully shine as bright as I can. But we do want to shine a little bit, don't we? So nothing wrong with that, but the Bible says we will. So they're going to be the light of it, but we're going to shine too. I don't know what that's going to look like. It's probably going to look pretty cool. But maybe we'll be looking at that for new eyes that we can see differently. That's another subject for another time. Let's go back to John 9 here. Jesus is about to heal this guy. He does something pretty interesting here and something that would gross me out. Most people are just like, hey, what are you doing? Bro, what? You're going to spit? You just spit there? It says in verse 6, When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle. He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. I'm guessing the lids, right? So then he said unto him, Go wash in the pool of Siloam, which is by interpretation scent. He went his way there for and washed and came seeing. So when he washed, he came seeing. The neighbors therefore, which 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 is like him. But he said, I am he. So they're like, he's kind of like him. He's like, I'm he. What are you talking about? But when people are blind, their eyes look different. Sometimes if you're seeing that their eyes have issues, his eyes are probably back to normal. He answered and said, A man is... Okay, sorry, I'm skipping something here. Let's see, verse 10. Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened? He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam and wash. I went and washed and I received sight. Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not. They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind. So of course they bring him to the bad guys, right? And it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. So of course, they're going to be mad about that because you don't mess with the Sabbath day according to them. Then again, the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon my eyes and I washed, and I do see. Therefore, some of the Pharisees said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God. Of course, that's the thing that they automatically just default to. This man is not of God. You know, even though he healed a guy that was born blind. And because he keepeth not the Sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them. But where in the Bible does it say you can't heal people on the Sabbath day? Like I just don't really remember. I've read the Bible quite a few times. I don't remember it saying, Don't ever heal anybody on the Sabbath day or else you're dead. You know, because if you can pull an ass out of a ditch or somebody's cat, you can help somebody. It says, you know, that you will help them. You're supposed to help them. And they can circumcise babies on the eighth day if it falls on the Sabbath day. That's doing works. But, you know, of course, if you heal somebody, oh, man, you're in big trouble. So verse 17, they say unto the blind man, What sayest thou of him that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet. But the Jews did not believe concerning him that he had been blind and received his sight until they called his parents of him that had received his sight. And they asked them, saying, Is this your son who you say was born blind? How then doth he now see? His parents answered them and said, We know not that this is our son. And that he was born blind. But by what means he now seeth, we know not. Or who hath opened his eyes, we know not. He is of age. Ask him. He shall speak for himself. So obviously this guy is probably still living with his parents. He's of age. He's probably a young man, maybe 20, in his early 20s or somewhere around there. But when he says he's of age, the Bible does have like an age, not an age of accountability necessarily, that's, you know, an age of salvation specifically. But when you're supposed to be able to be in armies and wars and that you're supposed to start paying like the temple tax if the people are numbered. And that age is 20 years old and under. And I'll just read the verse. You can write it down if you want. I don't want to turn there, but it's in Exodus. There's several verses, but you can go to Exodus 30 verse 14 or just write it down. Everyone that passeth among them that are numbered from 20 years old and above shall give an offering unto the Lord. And so, you know, basically there's a sanctuary, shekels that they're supposed to give. A half shekel is the offering that everybody is supposed to give if the people are numbered for war or anything like that. And so that age is 20. So I just want to kind of, you know, like when it says he's of age, ask him. That's essentially what they're saying here, that he's of age. So now John 9 22 says, These words spake his parents because they feared the Jews. So the reason why they're answering them that way is because they're afraid. For the Jews had agreed already that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. Therefore, said his parents, he is of age, ask him. You know, and in my opinion, this is spiritual abuse. This is the kind of stuff that happens in churches today that people are like, I never want to go back to church again because of this, this and this. And this is one of those things. Like, we're going to throw you out over something that's not biblical. And that's what, you know, I've seen this happen multiple times. You know, they'll throw people out for things that aren't biblical, but they won't throw them out for the things that are biblical. Like First Corinthians chapter five. They won't throw them out for that stuff, but they'll throw them out for stuff. And look, I've seen people get thrown out for stuff in First Corinthians five, but very rarely, you know, it's a very rare thing. Do you think that they're kicking people out for that stuff in non-denominational churches? You think again, it's not happening. Independent Baptist churches, they're teaching that it's OK to get divorced and remarried. So, and then they're performing the weddings themselves. I mean, do you think God's not angry for those things? He's very angry about those kind of things. So, but I mean, this is just textbook spiritual abuse. They're questioning them because they want them to say something so they can kick them out. And they're just being smart about it. They're like, hey, we ain't kicking us out. You know, he can answer for himself. He can get kicked out if he wants. So, but then, you know, so verse 24 says, then again called they the man that was blind. This was their mistake. And said unto him, give God the praise. We know that this man is a sinner. I mean, what a weird thing to say to somebody. It's like, I know you just have been blind all your life. Give God the praise. This is the kind of thing that people say to us if we say, oh, you know, we had a great sowing time. We got all these people saved and they're like, you didn't get anybody saved. Only Jesus. You know, it's like, dude, we know that. But the Bible uses those terms, you know? So Paul talks about how he saves, you know, that he wants to save some. And, you know, we help the Lord in the fact that we preach the gospel and they get saved. Right? So if we say I got someone saved, it's not we're not trying to take the glory for ourselves. It's just it is a biblical way of saying it. It's not wrong. But they're like, give God the praise, you know, trying to act all holy. And look, holier than thou people are usually the ones that end up turning bad. Like every time I've seen holier than thou type people, they always are the ones that end up being these weirdos that stalk us online and stuff like that. The Bible talks about people that are holier than thou being smoke in his nose. You know, nobody likes, you know, a campfire where the smoke is just always following you and it's always up your nose or you just smell burning all day long. They hate it. You know what? That's what God likens people are. They're holier than thou. They're always the most holy people. And all these other people are just wicked sinners. And they're the greatest thing since sliced bread. They're the greatest Christians ever. They always end up being like this. They always end up being just exactly like this Pharisee right here. Give God the praise. It's like he is about to because Jesus is God. He's the one that healed him. So duh. So, but I mean, the Pharisees have the same attitude that we see today when we get people saved. And, you know, Job's friends were like that too. They're just like, we know you did something wrong. We know, you know, like they know that Job was wrong and he was a sinner for whatever reason. And they're just trying to like this for chapters upon chapters or just trying to get him to admit what he's done wrong. He's just like, I didn't know anything. And he was right. So, you know, this is just a railing accusation against Jesus saying that he's a sinner. Is Jesus a sinner? He's not a sinner. He's never sinned. He never did sin his whole life. So, you know, he's there just that this is a railing accusation. So they're the ones that actually should get thrown out on their keisters and not the blind man and not his parents. So this is that exact. Now, Jesus just hates this attitude. Like he just is ripping on the Pharisees all the time for a reason. These are the types of religious people that God does not like. And yet the world is filled with them. Christianity is filled with them. And they just I get so irritated with them. I just can't handle it. And, you know, the people that are just like they're telling us how loving we should be when they're not being loving towards us. You know what I mean? Like, oh, you know, you should just die and fall off a cliff. But, you know, Jesus would be more loving than you would be. What are you talking about? People just have the weirdest. They judge us and say all kinds of evil mannered things against us. But then they hate us and they tell us they wish that we would die. And they are just so bizarre. So my third and final point here is that is is just I once was blind, but now I see. And I know that that that Amazing Grace song comes from this passage of scripture. You know, when he he says, I don't know, you know, once I was blind, but now I see. Yes, that's where it comes from. Verse twenty five, it says 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. So, you know, he's he's giving it right back to him. But he's it's true. You know, he just like he just matter of factly and earnestly just saying what he has on his mind. Then said they to him, what did he to thee? How opened he thine eyes? He answered them, I've told you already. And he did not hear. Wherefore would you hear it again? We also be his disciples. Like now he's just like now he's just kind of sticking the screws in, you know. It's like you didn't listen the first time. You want to hear it again? Should I say it one more time? So will you be his disciples and like, you know, this really just upset them. Then they reviled him. That means they hated him, right? They reviled him and said, thou art his disciple, but we are Moses disciples, which that's not true either, because Moses is actually Jesus's disciple also. Yeah, right. And he says, We know that God spake unto Moses. As for this fellow, we know not from whence he is. The man answered and said unto them, Why, hearing is a marvelous thing that you know not from whence he is. And yet he hath opened my eyes. I love this. He's just giving it to them. It's like it's so interesting. You know, it's a marvelous thing. You know, you don't even know where he's from. And yet he opened my eyes. And like they're calling him a sinner. It's like, what are they doing? Nothing. Now we know that God heareth not sinners, but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. Now, people will get kind of confused about this. And I just want to explain this really quickly. So, does God hear the prayers of the unsaved? Well, did he hear you when you called upon the name of the Lord and asked him to save you? Were you unsaved when you were calling on him? No, but you got saved when you called upon him, right? So, you know, I believe that he does hear the prayers. It's not like he's just like intent, like he can't hear or something. Like that's just ridiculous to think that God can't hear someone's prayers. But I would just say this. He doesn't answer the prayers of wicked people that aren't saved. He doesn't answer them. If someone's not saved, he's just like not answering their prayers. Now, if someone's earnestly seeking him, that's different. If they're just like, I'm confused, I want to know how to get saved, God's going to send someone to that person's door. He's going to put somebody in that person's life so that they'll get saved. And it's so funny. We'll go to people's doors, and this happens all the time. They're like, you know, it's so funny. I was just talking to my wife this morning about trying to go to this new church. It's like, we're here. You know, like, here's your sign. You know, it's just like, what do you think this is? This is God sending someone to your door to send you to a great church. And then you're just like, okay, well, I don't really have time to talk. And it's just like, you just totally missed the boat. You missed it. And Pete, you know, but people, God will, if God, you know, people will seek God and God will hear them. And they, you know, I feel like God, I prayed to God when I was younger. And I know I wasn't saved, but there was one time, I don't know if I've told this story here or not before, but I was running from the police one time. Have I told this story before? I have told it? Okay. Well, when I prayed that prayer, please, God, I'll serve you, and this cop's about to find me, and he trips and falls on his face right before he gets to me. Do you think that that was, like, just an accident? I mean, he probably would have killed me. Or maybe, I don't know. But for whatever reason, God allowed that guy to fall on his face in the mud, and then he got up and he was, like, checking his gun and stuff. He had his gun in his hand? I mean, I wasn't saved, and I'm just saying that maybe my saying, because I did end up serving him. Just not right then. I totally lied, you know. But why do I remember that? Because I prayed that prayer earnestly to God. I went forward at, like, some non-denominational, you know, some guy just said, if you're not 100% sure you're saved or whatever, come talk to me afterwards, and me and my brother kind of sat there, and I didn't understand anything he was saying, but I still went forward. Maybe he just didn't explain it good or I just wasn't ready, but I just feel like, you know, if God, you know, if you speak to God, he is going to hear you when you're earnestly being, you know, that's why they always say, like, there's no atheists in foxholes. Yeah. Because when bombs are blasting all around you and you're about ready to die, you know, you're thinking about eternity at that point. You're thinking about what's going to happen next. But can God hear your prayers? I believe he can. I believe he does. And I don't really have a bunch of verses to go into for it, but just the fact that he hears us call upon his name just proves that he does hear us. What about Cornelius? What are you going to do with Cornelius? I mean, he wasn't saved, obviously. He sent Peter there to get him saved. He was doing things that, you know, would appear that he's trying, but yet he's just not safe. So, I mean, God, I think God works in people. What about the Ethiopian eunuch? Was he saved? And God just sent Philip and said run over there and catch him and talk to him. Because he's reading the Bible, he's trying to get it, but he just can't. So I think for sure that God can speak to the unsaved. So this is just wrong. You know, God, saying God doesn't hear sinners, of course he hears sinners. He loves to hear sinners turn and change and believe on Christ, right? So it says, since the world began, verse 32, was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind? Fact. I mean, this is that guy that Jesus healed. He's got some good stuff here. He's just like, he's ripping this guy a new one, these Pharisees a new one. He's like, this is just a fact. So that's why I say that Jesus really chose a great vessel to heal, because not only did he heal him, but now when they're questioning him, he's just kind of giving it back to him. And he's just like, you know, he's kind of already just kind of preaching. And in verse 33 it says, if this man were not of God, he could do nothing. Also fact. They answered and said unto him, thou was salt together born in sins, lest thou teach us. And they cast him out. So that was just one comment too many. They threw him out. So really, what did they do? Well, they falsely accused. They're self-righteous. They're, you know, they're Jesus. You know, Jesus already debunked the fact that, because he said you were altogether born in sin. So they're saying the same things that the disciples asked the very first question at the beginning of the chapter, right? And there are know-it-alls that are unable to be taught. So they kicked him out of the congregation of the Lord without a just cause. Like, what's the reason why they kicked him out? What's the reason? He didn't say I'm a follower of him. He didn't say anything like that. They asked him questions. He told him the answers. They didn't like the answers, so they kicked him out. And that's what I'm talking about. Spiritual abuse 101. You know, we get accused of stuff like that, but we don't do that. You know, we actually sometimes have to wait until, you know, until way longer than I feel like we should sometimes of what we do. But now this is coming now to the most important question. I think one of the most important questions in the whole Bible. But there's some important questions that people ask in their lifetimes. And one of those questions is, you know, why am I here? And people ask these questions. They're some of the most important questions of all time. Where did I come from? Where am I going when I die? These are questions that most people ask themselves at some point in their lives. Look at verse 35. 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? That's a really important question. That is the most important question. Because that question is the difference between someone having everlasting life and someone going to everlasting destruction. Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And, you know, this is another great way to respond. He doesn't say anything smart-mouthed. He just says, Who is he that I might believe on him? I need to know who it is. And Jesus said to him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. People say, Well, when did Jesus ever claim to be the Son of God? How about right here? You know, and if he's saying he's the Son of God, then he's making himself equal with God, unless the Jews picked up stones to stone him for this. So he's trying to get this guy saved right now. The guy isn't even saved right now, and he's already smarter than the Pharisees. But here Jesus admits very clearly that he is the Son of God, making himself equal with God. And what's this guy say? And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped him. And he didn't see Jesus say, Oh, no, no, don't worship me because I'm just a man. He didn't say that, did he? You know, in the Bible a lot of times when people bow down and worship people, they say, Oh, no, no, I'm just a man. I'm a fellow man just like you are, Paul and Silas. There's lots of different instances of that happening. But whenever someone does it with Jesus, he never does that. When Thomas worships him, he doesn't say, No, Thomas, only worship the Father. I mean, he's God, folks. That's why he doesn't say that. I mean, this guy's bowing down and worshiping him, and he calls him Lord. Lord, I believe. And this guy just gets saved right here. That's what happens. And so the question, Does thou believe on the Son of God? Great question. Very important that you have the right answer. This guy had the right response. He had the correct response. Also, once he knows the information of actually responding to it, he gets saved, and Jesus accepts his worship. Now look at verse 39. And Jesus said, For judgment I am common to this world, that they which see not might see. So who is the one that gets to see now? He not only was born blind, but he gave him his physical sight and that he couldn't see spiritually, but now he does see spiritually. He saved this guy's eyes physically, and he also saved his soul spiritually because Jesus Christ is the light of the world. And so it kind of just wraps up this chapter real nicely. There's a happy ending to this story. So the people would say, He made this guy blind. Well, yeah, but he also made him be able to see. And he got him saved. So this is awesome. So he says that which see not might see, and that they which see might be made blind. Who are the ones that he made blind? The Pharisees. What does that mean? Well, later on you're going to see where he blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts that they could not believe. So he's talking about these guys are reprobates. That's what he's saying. He's saying that the people that might see would be blind. So again, that sums the chapter up nicely, doesn't it? Kind of wraps it all in a nice little big bow. And look at verse 40. It says, And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words and said unto him, Are we blind also? Also a good question, but a dumb one because they know they are. Jesus said unto them, If you were blind, you would have no sin, but now you say, We see, therefore your sin remaineth. And that is what makes them reprobates. They do see. They do know. But they're putting this family through all this crap knowing that he really is who he's saying he is. But they don't want to admit it. And they're trying to steer people away from it. They're trying to murder him when he does great things. And they heard him get this guy saved. And then they say, Are we blind also? They heard what he said, and that's what they ask him. It's like, No, no, no, no. If you were blind. So they weren't blind because he says that they which see might be made blind. They do see, but now they're going to be made blind. Now they're going to not be able to see. They're not going to be able to believe. They're not going to be able to understand anymore. And that's really the essence of what happens to someone that gets given over to a reprobate mind, is that they see, they understand. They just don't want it. Or they get offered something that they like better. And they would rather do that. And they'd rather be kings in this world or stars in this world or whatever in this world. But they don't think about how long eternity is that they're going to be burning in hell for. And the devil does have his own little minions that he fools into thinking that he actually loves them. But he doesn't love them either. He wants to kill them too. So in other words, they know exactly what they're doing. And they just admitted it right there. So that's the end of the chapter. Let's go ahead and have a word of prayer. And then I'm going to let you guys go ahead and take a quick bathroom break. And then we're going to get into the Lord's Supper. So let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for this great chapter in the Bible, Lord. I pray you to help us to have a heart for people that are blind spiritually and help us to care about them seeing spiritually, Lord. And Lord, even those people that have physical ailments, Lord, I pray that you just help us to have mercy on them and to love them and reach down and care for them also and to let people know that someday if they're saved that they can actually be whole again someday. And Lord, I pray that you would just help us, Lord, to see spiritually. And when we're wandering from the path, that we would always keep our eyes on your word and that we would wander from your full, Lord. And I pray that you just bless this church. I pray that you bless the things that we're about to do here in your name, Lord. Amen. So do we need to put this on?