God’s Works Made Manifest

God's Works Made Manifest

(No. 2309)

INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, MAY 21, 1893.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, MAY
12, 1880.

"Jesus answered, Neither has this man sinned, nor his parents" (that he
was born blind): "but that the works of God should be made manifest in
him." John 9:3.

NEVER attribute any special sorrow endured by men to some special sin.
There is a tendency to consider that those on whom the tower in Siloam
fell must have been sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem. And
if any have met with a very sudden death, we are apt to suppose that
they must have been exceedingly guilty–but it is not so. Very godly
men have been burned to death in a train. I remember one who came to
that terrible end. Many holy men have been drowned on board ship when
they have been going about their Master's errands. Some of the most
gracious men that I ever met have dropped dead without a moment's
warning. You cannot judge of a man's state before God by that which
happens to him in the order of Providence. And it is very unkind,
ungenerous and almost inhuman, to sit down, like the friends of Job,
and suppose that because Job is greatly afflicted, he must, therefore,
be greatly sinful. It is not so. All afflictions are not chastisements
for sin–there are some afflictions that have quite another end and
objective. They are sent to refine, sent as a holy discipline, sent as
sacred excavators to make more room in the heart for Christ and His
love. Indeed, you know that it is written, "As many as I tenderly love,
I rebuke and chasten." "Whom the Lord loves, He chastens, and scourges
every son whom He receives."

It was, therefore, in the last degree, absurd to suppose that if a man
was born blind, it was a punishment for the sin of his parents, or a
punishment sent beforehand for some sin which he might commit,
by-and-by. Our Savior bids us look quite another way and regard
infirmities and physical evils as sent to be a space wherein God may
display His power and His Grace. It was very specially so in this
particular instance and I am going to push the fact, further, and say
that even sin, itself, existing as it does everywhere, existing
especially in some, may afford what we call, "elbow room," for the
Grace of God and may, indeed, become a platform upon which the
wonderful power, patience and sovereignty of Divine Grace may be
displayed.

That will be the subject that we shall talk about, tonight, how God
takes opportunity from the sorrows and the sins of men to make manifest
His own works to His own Glory. As this man was born blind, in order
that, through his blindness, the power of God might be seen in giving
him sight, so I think there are many in whom the power of God may very
readily be seen and the works of God be very clearly made manifest.

I. So, first, let us enquire what works these are. WHAT WORKS OF GOD
ARE SEEN IN THE SALVATION OF MEN?

There is a man over yonder who is all out of order. There is nothing
right about him. He is a man upside down. His heart loves that which
will ruin it and does not love that which would bless it. His
understanding is darkened. He puts bitter for sweet and sweet for
bitter. His will has become very domineering and has usurped power
which it never ought to possess. If you will study him well, you will
not make much of him. He is all out of gear, like a piece of machinery
in which the wheels do not operate correctly. To describe him briefly
by one word, I should say that he is in a state of chaos, everything is
in confusion and disorder, tossed up and down. "Well," says one, "that
is my case. I am like that tonight."

Now, the first work of God that we read of in the Bible is the work of
creation–"In the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth." When
the fullness of time was come for the fitting up of the world, which
event we generally call, creation, although it was really the
arrangement of that which had been created, then the Lord came forth
and the Spirit

of God, with outspread wings, brooded over chaos and brought order out
of confusion. Oh, that the Spirit of the Lord would, tonight, come and
brood over that man's confused and confounded mind where everything is
tossed about in wild disorder! He cannot tell why he was born, nor for
what objective he is living. He seems to have no purpose in life, he is
tossed to and fro like a log in the ocean. His passions fly from vanity
to vanity and you cannot put him in order. His mother tried it, but he
scorned to be tied to her apron strings. Many friends have tried it
since then, but he has now taken the bit into his mouth and has run
away–he refuses to obey the reins. O God, if You will come, tonight,
and make him a new creature in Christ Jesus, Your creating work will be
made manifest in him! If You will mold, and model, and form, and
fashion him until he shall be a vessel fit for Your use, then will the
work of God begin to be manifested in him. Oh, that it might be so!
There are some of us here who can bear witness that God is a great
Creator, for He has made all things new within us and transformed what
before was chaos into a world of beauty and delight wherein He delights
to dwell.

After the world was created, God's next work was that of making light.
The earth was created, but it was swathed in darkness. "Darkness was
upon the face of the deep." No sun, no moon, no stars had yet appeared.
No light had yet fallen upon the earth–perhaps by reason of dense
vapors which shut out the light. God did nothing but say, "Let there be
light; and there was light."

Well now, tonight there has come in here one who is not only without
form and void, and dreadfully tossed about, but one who is, himself,
dark and in the dark. He needs the Light of God, but he has none. He
does not know the way of life. He does not see a ray of hope that he
ever will find the way. He seems shut up in gloomy, thick, Egyptian
night and, perhaps, worst of all, he does not know his true
condition–he calls darkness light, and prides himself that he can see,
when really he can see nothing at all! Lord, speak the Word, and say,
"Let there be light," and the man will see the light, and see it at
once! I am quite sure that, whether I can speak with power, or not, God
can speak with power and, standing here, it is to my heart a sweet
solace that He can, at this moment, find out the most darkened sinner
in the building, sitting or standing anywhere about, and the Light of
God can penetrate into his soul in less time than it takes me to say
the words! And to his own surprise the darkness shall be light about
him and the Egyptian night shall be turned into the midday of infinite
love and mercy! Pray God that it may be so, Brothers and Sisters! Lift
up a silent prayer to Heaven, for this light-giving! This illumination
is a special work of God and there are many who are now in the dark, in
whom it is possible for this work of God to be manifested.

After these two works of God are done, after we have had creation and
light-bringing, still there is death and there is need of the Divine
work of resurrection. What is the use of a form beautifully fashioned
if it is dead? And what is the use of light shining with all its
brilliance upon a corpse? Yet in this House of Prayer there are,
tonight, some who are dead in trespasses and sins. They do not feel the
weight of sin, yet to a living man it is an intolerable burden. They
are not wounded by the two-edged sword of the Lord, though a living man
is soon cut and gashed by it. They do not even hear the joyous notes of
Free Grace and dying love though they ring out like a peal of silver
bells! These dead sinners do not appreciate their sweet music. It is
the work of God to make men live. There will come a day, and perhaps
sooner than we think, when all the myriads of bodies that lie in our
cemeteries and churchyards will rise up from the grave to live again!
That will be a manifestation of Divine Power, but it will not be a
greater manifestation of Divine Power than when a dead heart, a dead
conscience, a dead will is made to live with a Divine life! Oh, that
God would work that mighty miracle of mercy tonight! Pray that it may
be so, beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ. The dead will not pray
for this resur-rection–therefore let us pray for it for them! And if
there is a man who does pray for it, one who cries, "Lord, make me
live!" that is a proof that already there is a thrill of life shooting
through him, or he would not have that living desire!

Brethren, I might thus continue working upon the line of the story of
the creation and the arranging of the world in due order, but I will
not–you can do that for yourselves. I want, next, to speak to you
about the Divine work of cleansing. There is, tonight, in this place of
worship, a man who is black with filth. He has done everything that he
could do in order to rebel against God. Perhaps he is like Mr. John
Newton who describes himself somewhat thus–he says, "I was, in many
respects, like the Apostle Paul. I was a blasphemer, a persecutor and
injurious, but there was one point in which I went beyond the Apostle
Paul, for he did it ignorantly, but I sinned against light and
knowledge." Do I speak to any here who, in sinning, have transgressed
very grossly because they have done what they knew was wrong and have
perse-

vered in doing it against the checks of conscience and against the
warnings of a better longing, which they have never yet been able to
kill?

I am amazed, sometimes, when I have had to talk with those whose lives
have certainly gone almost to the very extremity of iniquity, but who,
nevertheless, all the time have had a certain inward check that would
never let them go just that little piece further which would have put
them beyond hope. There was always a something that they still revered,
even when they pretended to disbelieve everything and to blaspheme
everything! There was some influence for good still operating upon
them, as though God had a line and a hook in the jaws of leviathan–and
though he ran out so far into the great deep of sin that you could not
tell where he had gone, yet he had to come back, again, after all. God
still does wonders of mercy and Grace!

Now, suppose, tonight, that that black sinner, with all his years of
sin, should be forgiven outright? Suppose that, tonight, the whole of
those 50 or 60 years of sin should vanish once and for all? Suppose
that God should forgive, better still, that God should forget? Suppose
that, with one tremendous fling of His Omnipotent arm, He should take
the whole mass of that sinner's sin and cast it into the depths of the
sea? What a wonder of Grace that would be! That is what God will do for
everyone who trusts in Jesus! If you will come and cast yourself at His
dear feet, and look up to Jesus, Crucified, bleeding in your place, and
believe those words of the Prophet Isaiah, "The Lord has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all," or the words of the Apostle Peter, "Who, His
own Self, bore our sins in His own body on the tree." If you trust
Jesus, the great Sin-Bearer, He will make you whiter than snow! And in
your case the works of God shall be manifested, for none but the
Almighty God can make scarlet sinners white–and He can do it in a
moment. Lord, do it now!

Suppose that another thing should happen, that a man here, or a woman
who is desperately set on mischief, should, tonight, be turned in an
entirely opposite direction? That would be manifestly a Divine work of
changing the whole current of life! I have never seen Niagara Falls and
I do not suppose that I ever shall, but there are some here who have
seen it. Down comes the mighty flood with a tremendous crash, forever
leaping down from on high! Would you not believe Him to be God who
should, in a moment, make that waterfall leap upward instead of
downward and, as impetuously seek the heights as now it leaps into the
depths? Well, the Lord can do that with some big Niagara Fall of a
sinner here this very evening! You are determined, tonight, to go into
evil company and to commit a filthy sin. You are determined, tomorrow,
to grasp the drunkard's cup and not be satisfied until you have turned
yourself into something below a beast! You are determined to pursue
that evil business of yours, that getting money by gambling, or
something worse. Yes, but if my Lord comes forth, tonight, determined
to save you, He will make you sing to another tune!

"Oh, but I could never be a Methodist!" says one. I do not know what
you will yet be. "Oh!" says another, "you would never make a convert of
me." I did not say that I could–but the Lord can make you what you
think you never will be! There are some here, who, if they could have
seen themselves 10 years ago, sitting here, and enjoying the Word,
would have said, "No, no, Charlie, that is not you! I am sure, my boy."
And, "No, Mary, that is not you, my girl! You will never be there,
there is no fear of that." But you are here, you see, and what Free
Grace has done for some of us, it can do for others. Lord, do it
according to that mighty power which You did work in Christ when You
did raise Him from the dead! Work in the same fashion in the ungodly,
tonight, and turn them from the error of their ways to run as
impetuously after You as now they run from You!

I have only one more matter to mention under this head. I think that
God's works are sometimes manifested in men by giving them great joy.
There is a person here, tonight, convicted of sin. Mr. Conscience has
come up against him. You know Mr. Conscience–he keeps a
cat-o'-nine-tails. When he is allowed to get to work and he gets tight
hold of a sinner who has long kept him under hatches, he says, "Now it
is my turn!" And he lets you know it, believe me! Let a man once get
conscience, with a cat-o'-nine-tails, laying it on, and he will never
forget it! Every stroke seems to tear off a thongful of his quivering
flesh. Look how the nine plows make deep furrows every time they fall!

"You speak," says one, "like a man who knows it." Know it? I knew it
for years while but a child! And neither night nor day could I escape
from the falling of those terrible thongs! Oh, how conscience scourged
me and I could find no rest anywhere till, once upon a time, I heard
the Divine voice that said, "Look unto Me, and be you saved, all you
ends of the earth." And conscience put away his cat-o'-nine-tails and
my wounds were bathed in heavenly balsam! And they ceased to smart and
I was glad! Oh, how my heart cried, "Hallelujah!" as I saw Jesus on the
Cross! Then I understood that God had

executed the full vengeance due to my sin upon His Well-Beloved who had
kindly bared His shoulders to the lash and undertaken to bear the
punishment of my sin. Then did my heart leap with joy!

You notice that I am always preaching that Doctrine of Substitution. I
cannot help it, because it is the only Truth of God that brought me
comfort. I should never have gotten out of the Dungeon of Despair if it
had not been for that grand Truth of Substitution! I hope that no young
lady is going to ask me to write in her album this week. That request
is made to me, I do not know how many days in the week, and I always
write this verse in all the albums–

"Ever since by faith I saw the stream

Your flowing wounds supply,

Redeeming lo ve has been my theme,

And shall be till I dee."

If you once know the power of that blessed theme, then you will see
that it is a work of God to sweep away our ashes and to give us the oil
of joy–to take from us our robes of mourning and to clothe us with
garments of beauty–to put a new song into our months and to establish
our goings. May you all have this blessed work of God worked in you, to
the praise of the glory of His Grace!

II. Now, my second head is this, HOW ARE THESE WORKS MADE SPECIALLY
MANIFEST IN SOME MEN?

I will take this blind man and just run over his life. First, he was
totally blind. There was no sham about his blindness. He could not see
a ray of light–he was totally blind–he knew nothing about light. Is
there anybody here who is totally blind in a spiritual sense? You
cannot see anything, my poor Friend. You have not one good desire–you
have not had, even, a good thought! Ah, you do not know what kind of
people we have in this London, but we do meet with people who, for
years, seem never to have had a good thought ever cross their minds.
And if someone else were to speak to them about anything that is good,
or even decent, he would be talking double Dutch to them! They do not
understand it. We have multitudes of that kind in our slums, yes, and
in the West End they are just as bad.

Now, when the Lord, in His infinite mercy, comes to these people who
are totally blind and He makes them see, there is room for His mighty
power to work there, for everybody says, "What a wonderful thing that
such a person as that should be converted!" I remember well a man with
whom I have often prayed in very sweet fellowship. He was a strange
fish when I first knew him, though he was a very good man afterwards.
He was as eccentric a being as I ever met–and I am sufficiently
eccentric myself–but he was a dead worldling. His Sundays–well, he
did not know any difference between Sunday and Monday except that he
could not be in the beer shop for quite so long on Sundays. He said, "I
had been out one Sunday morning to buy a pair of ducks and I put one in
each pocket of my coat. As I went along, and saw the people going into
a place of worship, I thought that I would see what it was like, I had
heard that it was a decent looking place inside."

He went in. The Lord met with him–and that day those ducks did not get
cooked–they had to wait till Monday! But he was, himself, caught and
captured for Christ that day. A total change took place in him and he
became a fervent Christian at once, whereas before he had been totally
without any kind of religious thought, either of fear or of hope! Here
was a case in which the works of God were specially made manifest! That
man has gone to Heaven, now. Well do I remember him and how I praised
God for his conversion!

But the man mentioned in our text was born blind. Now, there are many
like that, indeed–all people are born blind. It is original sin, from
which we all suffer. Sin is a taint of the blood. We are born blind.
There are some who, in a very peculiar way, are bred and born in a
family utterly destitute of religion. They are brought up to despise
it, or else brought up in the midst of superstition and taught to say a
useless prayer to a crucifix of wood or stone. Can these people, who
are so brought up, find Christ? Yes, by His Grace, they do find Christ,
or rather, Christ finds them! And they hear the Gospel and it commends
itself to their minds straight away. I suppose that nobody was ever
more superstitious than Martin Luther was. I have seen that staircase
in Rome, up which Martin Luther went on his knees. It is said to be the
staircase which our Lord came down from the palace of Pilate. I have
seen the people go up and down on their knees. Just think of Luther
doing it–and there came to him, as he was going up the stairs on his
knees, those words, "The just shall live by faith," and he rose up at
once–and he did not go on his knees any farther! Oh, that God would
appear in that way to some of you!

Next, this blind man was cured by special means. That was another
manifestation of God's works. The Savior spat, stooped down and with
His finger worked that spittle into the dust until He had made clay.
Then taking it up, He began

to put it over the man's eyes. I believe that God is greatly glorified
by the salvation of people through the simple preaching of the Gospel,
the very simplest means that can be used. Often men say, when souls are
saved in this place, as they are continually, "Well, I cannot see
anything remarkable in the preacher." No, and if you were to look a
great deal longer, you would see less than you see now, for there is
not anything whatever in him–but there is a great deal in the Gospel!
O Brothers and Sisters, if some preachers would only preach the Gospel,
they would soon see how very superior it is to all their fine essays!
"But they prepare their sermons so well." Oh, yes, I know, but did you
ever hear of the man who used to prepare the potatoes before he planted
them in his garden? He always boiled them–they never grew, for he had
prepared all the life out of them! Now, many a boiled sermon is brought
out to the people, but it never grows. It is elaborated and prepared so
much that nothing will ever come out of it. The Lord loves to bless
living words spoken in simple language out of an earnest heart. The man
who speaks thus does not get the glory–the glory goes to God–and thus
there is room for the works of God to be manifested!

This blind man was also a specially fit sphere for God to manifest His
works in because he was known as a public beggar. They used to lead him
up in the morning, I suppose, to the gate of the Temple, and there he
took his place and sat down. He was a man with a ready tongue, I should
guess, so that he often used to exchange chaff with those that went by,
and they remembered what kind of a man he was. He was always very
sarcastic, I suspect, and when they spoke to him, and gave him nothing,
he knew how to give them something! That blind beggar was a well-known
character in Jerusalem, as well known as the blind beggar of Bethnal
Green–so the Savior selected him because he was so well known– and
opened his eyes.

So you have come here, tonight, my Friend, have you? You are well
known, but I will not point you out. I do not like doing that kind of
thing. There came in here, not long ago, a soldier who had been a
professor of religion, but he had been a dreadful apostate and had gone
back. But he wanted to hear the Gospel again. Just over yonder, where
there are two pillars, he wisely chose a place where I could not see
him. But it so happened on that Sunday night, and he is the witness of
it–I well remember saying, "Well, Will, you have to come back, you
know. You have got to come back. And the sooner, the better." And Will
did come back! And he sent word to me to say that Will had come back
with a broken heart to find his Lord. I did not know that his name was
Will, I am sure, and I did not know why he had hidden himself behind
the pillars, there, but God did, and He adapted the Word of God to the
person, and so he fetched Will back again!

If there is any Will, or Tom, or Jack, or Mary, or if there are any
others here who have wandered far from God, O Sovereign Grace, bring
them back, whether they are soldiers or civilians, that they may seek
and find the Savior even now! This Will was well known and his
restoration to Christ will, I trust, manifest the works of God in him
because he was so well known. Oh, that the Lord would hear that prayer
of my friend, this morning, and convert the Prince of Wales! We all
said, "Amen," to that petition! We want the Lord to bring into His
Church some of those who are best known, whether they are princes or
whether they are beggars, that the works of God may be manifest in
them!

When this man was converted, instead of being a public beggar, he
became a public confessor. I like that answer of his, "Whether He is a
sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind,
now I see." There is many a man who can say, "Well, I do not know much
about theology, but I know that I was a drunk and I know that I am not
a drunk, now. I know that I used to beat my wife and now, God bless
her, she knows how I love her! Then I could have gone into all manner
of sinful company, but now, thank God, His saints are my choice
companions! Once I could have gloried in my own righteousness, but now
I count it dross and dung, that I may win Christ and be found in Him.
There is a great change in me–nobody can deny that fact–and I praise
God's name for it."

The Lord send out a great company of men who are not ashamed of Jesus
Christ! We need many men and women who will come straight out from the
world and say, "Christ for me, for He has so touched my heart, that I
am for Him! And if no one else will confess Him, I must do so, for He
is my best Friend, my Lord, my Savior, my All!" In such cases, the
works of God are made manifest.

III. Now I have done when I have just said three or four things by way
of hints upon this last point, How MAY GOD'S WORKS BE MANIFEST IN US?

Some of you are very poor. Others are very lame or very sickly. You are
consumptive, asthmatic, full of aches, pains and complaints. Now, then,
perhaps all this suffering is permitted that the work of God may be
manifest in your afflic-

tions by your holy patience, your submission to the Divine will, your
persevering holiness amid all your poverty and trials. All this is sent
that God's Grace may be seen in you. Will you look at your afflictions
in that light and believe that they are not sent as a punishment, but
as a platform upon which God may stand and display His Free Grace in
you? Bear well all the Lord's will, for your trials are sent for this
purpose, that God's works may be manifest in you.

The same is true of your infirmities. We are, none of us, perfect, but
we may also have physical infirmities. Now believe, if you are sent to
preach the Gospel, or to teach children, or in any way to advance the
Kingdom of God, that you would not be any better fitted for your work
if you had all the eloquence of a Cicero and all the learning of a
Newton! You, as you are, can serve the Lord and can fill a certain
place, better, with all your drawbacks, than you could without those
drawbacks. A sensible Christian will make use of his infirmities for
God's Glory. There is a strange story that they tell of St. Bernard, a
tradition which is believed, by some people, but which I look at as an
allegory rather than as a matter of fact. He was going over the Alps
towards Rome upon some business. The devil knew that the saint was
about to do something that would greatly injure his kingdom, so he came
and broke one of the wheels of the saint's carriage. Whereat Bernard
called out to him, and said, "You think to stop me in this way, do you,
Satan? Now you shall suffer for it yourself!" So he took him and
twisted him round, and made a wheel of him–and fastened him to the
carriage–and then went driving on,

Now, the meaning of that allegory is that, when infirmities threaten to
injure your usefulness, you are to use those infirmities in God's
service. Turn the devil, himself, into a wheel and go ahead all the
better because of the hindrance that he tried to cause. Why, it might
be an advantage, sometimes, to be compelled by stammering to lay
emphasis on a word! And if ever I did feel myself, now and then, stuck
in a hole by that process, I would take care to be stuck somewhere near
the Cross. Many a man has had the power to attract people by the very
singularity which looked as if it must impair his usefulness. All our
infirmities, whatever they are, are just opportunities for God to
display His gracious work in us.

So it will be with all the oppositions that we meet with. If we serve
the Lord, we shall be sure to meet with difficulties and
oppositions–but they are only more opportunities for the works of God
to be seen in us.

By-and-by, we shall come to die and, in our deaths, God's work may be
manifest. I wonder by what death we shall glorify God? Was not that a
beautiful expression of John's, when the Savior spoke of Peter? He told
Peter how he would die, but John does not put it so. He says, "By what
death he should glorify God." Perhaps it will be by a long, pining
sickness. Some will be gradually dissolved by consumption. Well, you
will glorify God by it! Those pale cheeks and that thin hand, through
which the light will shine, will preach many a sermon on that sick bed.
Or perhaps you will glorify God in some other fashion. You may have to
die with bitter pangs of pain, but then, if the Lord cheers you and
makes you patient, you will glorify God by that kind of death. You will
look death calmly in the face, and not fret, and not be afraid. You
will have to die somehow, unless the Lord, Himself, shall come and,
blessed be His name, He will take you Home in a way that will somehow
or other bring glory to His name, however it may be! So let us begin to
rejoice in it even now.

May God bless these words of mine and may many, here, be eternal
monuments of the boundless, Sovereign Grace of God! And unto Him be
Glory forever and ever! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON. JOHN 9:1-38.

Verse 1. And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from his
birth. The man could not see Jesus, but sight came to the man from
Jesus. If there are any here who cannot look to Christ as yet, our
prayer is that He may look on them as He looked on this blind man.

2. And His disciples asked Him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man,
or his parents, that he was born blind? Beloved, if you had Christ with
you, you could occupy your time better than in asking such questions as
this! And I think that when we go to Holy Scripture, we can do better
than pry into things of small practical importance, or even into great
mysteries. However, in this case, since the disciples were liable to
fall into grave error, our Lord gave them instruction upon the matter
that perplexed them.

3. Jesus answered, Neither has this man sinned, nor his parents: but
that the works of God should be made manifest in him. In other words,
this man is not blind as the result of sin in himself, or in his
parents. He is blind in order that God may have a platform for the
display of His gracious power in healing him!

4, 5. I must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day: the
night comes, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am
the Light of the world. Our Savior felt that He was commissioned as a
Servant of His Father, sent here to do a certain work, and He must be
doing it. It is well for God's servants to feel a holy compulsion–it
does not take away from them the freedom of their action and their
delight in the service of God–but exercises a powerful influence over
a man when he feels, "Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel." Or when,
like the Lord Jesus, he says, "I must work the works of Him that sent
me." Did the Well-Beloved, the Prince of Heaven, come under compulsion?
Did He put Himself under that, "must," which is for the King? Then you
and I may well put ourselves under holy bondage for the Lord. There, do
not hinder me! Do not tell me that I am too feeble in health–"I must
work the works of Him that sent

me."

6, 7. 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. Our Lord often works miracles without means and, sometimes,
with means which appear to be quite inappropriate. It would seem to be
more easy to blind a man with clay than to open his eyes with it! And
there are some who assert that the Gospel plainly spoken would lead men
into sin, but it does not. It is "the power of God unto salvation to
everyone that believes." If you go to work in the name of God. If you
put the clay on the sinner's eyes and bid him go and wash, you will see
what will happen.

8-11. 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 he. But he said, I am he. Therefore said
they unto him, How were your 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: and I went and washed, and I
received sight. Does he not tell his story well? If he had not been a
blind man whose eyes had just been opened, he would have exaggerated
somewhere or other. I never heard a man tell a tale with absolute
correctness–it is not the way of people–they are sure to put in some
little item by way of garnishing, for there is a bump of romance in
most men's heads. But this shrewd, strictly honest man tells the story
briefly and leaves out no important particular.

12-15. 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 my eyes, and I washed, and do see. That was
short and sweet–and when you have to deal with Pharisees, do not give
them much–they are not worth it and they are sure to misuse it! When
he spoke to the common people, he enlarged and gave them details, but
now that he comes to talk to these pragmatic professors, he cuts it
down to as few words as possible.

16. Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This Man is not of God,
because He keeps not the Sabbath day. Others said, How can a Man that
is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them. Yes,
and there is always a division among the enemies of Christ–they cannot
agree among themselves. If they could always lay their heads together
and agree, they might have greater power, but the Edomites draw their
swords against the children of Ammon, and they are sure to slay one
another in the long run. There were also some among these Pharisees who
had a conscience, men like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea, and they
asked, "How can a Man that is a sinner do such miracles?"

17. They said unto the blind man again, What say you of Him, that He
has opened your eyes? He said, He is a Prophet. He must be a Prophet.
He could not have worked such a miracle as that if He had been a common
man–"He said, He is a

Prophet."

18. But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been
blind, and received his sight, until they called theparents of him that
had received his sight. You see, John gives to the Pharisees the name
which they arrogated to themselves–"we are Jews." But they were not
true Jews. They called themselves Jews and so John speaks of them as
"the Jews." It often happens that a certain clique or party will run
away with a name which does not belong to them any more than it does to
a great many who differ from them very widely. These Pharisees
pretended that they would not believe the miracle. It was manifest
before their eyes, but yet they would not believe it until they called
his parents.

19-21. And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who you say was
born blind? How then does 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 sees, we know not; or who has opened his eyes, we
know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself. This was
very shrewd on their part, but I think that I must add that it was very
cowardly to throw all the testimony on their son. There are some
parents who, if their children do right, if they follow Christ, seem to
leave them to take care of themselves.

22. These words spoke 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. Excommunicated–and they
could not bear to be cut off from the respectable society which they
had before enjoyed.

23, 24. 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. Does it not sound pretty
from their Pharisaic lips? Arch-hypocrites pretending to teach a man
who knew much better than themselves! "We know that this Man is a
sinner." You did not know it, but we know it and as we know it, and we
are doctors, you must believe it.

25. He answered and said, Whether He is a sinner or no, I know not: one
thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see. He could not be
beaten out of that! You cannot argue a man out of an experience of this
kind and, if the Lord Jesus Christ has ever opened your eyes, dear
Friend, nobody can make you doubt that blessed fact!

26, 27. Then said they to him again, What did He to you? How opened He
your eyes? He answered them, I have told you already, and you did not
hear: why would you hear it again? Will you also be His disciples? He
threw a little sarcasm into that last question. The man was a very
remarkable person–a simple-hearted, honest man–but quite able to hold
his own in any company.

28. Then they reviled him. It is a bad case, so abuse the plaintiff.
There is nothing to be said for our side, so let us abuse the man who
has had his eyes opened!

28-30. And said, You are His disciple; but we are Moses' disciples. We
know that God spoke unto Moses: as for this Fellow, we know not from
where He is. The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a
marvelous thing, that you know not from where He is, and yet He has
opened my eyes. Does not that manifestation of miraculous power show
where He must have come from? Could He have come from anywhere but from
God?

31-33. Now we know that God hears not sinners: but if any man is a
worshipper of God, and does His will, him He hears. 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. Well
argued! The case is proven, indeed.

34. They answered and said unto him, You were altogether born in sins,
and do you teach, us? Cannot you hear them say it? "A blind beggar, who
has just begun to see, 'Do you teach us?'–D.D.'s, men who are learned
in the Law–'Do you teach us?'" Well, Brethren, if a man has only one
eye, he may teach those who have not any, for the old proverb says, "In
the realm of the blind, the man with one eye is king." Yet there is
another proverb on this subject and that is, "In the realm of the
blind, the man with one eye gets hanged." That was likely to be the
case here–the blind Pharisees could not bear the man who could see! He
knew too much for them.

34-36. And they cast him out. Jesus heard that they had cast him out;
and when He had found him, He said unto him, Do you believe on the Son
of God? He answered and said, Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on
Him. He needed instruction. Christ may have done much for a man, but he
may not, as yet, fully know the Lord. There may be some here, tonight,
upon whom Christ has worked a great deal, and yet you do not know Him
as you will know Him–"Do you believe on the Son of God?"

37, 38. And Jesus said unto him, You have both seen Him, and it is He
that talks with you. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped
Him. That is the way with a genuine Believer–he worships Christ! Why?
Because he believes Him to be God! It would be idolatry to worship
Christ if He were only man! And Christ would have been an impostor if
He had allowed this man to worship Him if he had not been God! But he
was God and we, believing Him to be God, worship Christ as very God of
very God, to whom be praise forever and ever! Amen.