A Changed Life (Part 2)

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0:00We started last week a two-week sermon series on John 9. So if you missed it last week, don't worry. There's half the sermon series to go today. But it's a two-parter on John 9. I wanted to do a little story to start the new year about life change. This is a great story. You know, a lot of times when Jesus interacts with people, we only get a little tiny glimpse, maybe one conversation. But in John 9, it's a whole chapter dedicated to kind of the immediate aftermath, what happens to a guy that Jesus heals.

0:43So I really like this chapter. This little sermon series is called A Changed Life. It's about a guy who encounters Jesus and comes away completely different. Now, when people are trying to change, when you're trying to change, when I'm trying to change, there is always a reason for it. Last week, I talked about gym membership and how gym memberships spike in January. If you were to go into the why, I wouldn't advise this. They might throw you out.

1:14But if you went walking around to the people working out and you asked them, why are you doing this? I would be shocked if anyone looked up and said, well, you know, I don't really know. Why am I doing this? Nobody is there at the why working out with no reason for it. They're going after a change for a reason. They would say things like, well, I want to feel better. I want to fit into my old clothes again. I want to live longer. I want to be able to play with my grandkids.

1:44I want to be able to beat my neighbor at pickleball. That was for you guys. You're already doing that though, right? People seek change for a reason, is my point. People seek change for a purpose. Now, if people have a purpose in mind when they strive for change, don't you think that God has a purpose in mind when he changes us? Of course, right? Of course he has a purpose in mind. He has a new trajectory to put us on, a new life to lead us into.

2:20That's what we're talking about today. In the first part of John 9, I'll just give a little recap here. Jesus put mud on a blind man's face. We don't even have any record that he asked Jesus to do this. Jesus just did it. He sent the blind man to wash it off at a pool. A little ways away. He came back seeing, but he didn't see Jesus. Jesus was nowhere to be found. Instead, he finds neighbors who don't believe it's him. He finds the Pharisees, the religious leaders, who were really frustrated that Jesus has healed on the Sabbath again.

3:00He finds himself at the center of controversy. Right away. The change has already begun for this man. But today we finish the story, we see the new purposes God has for him. The new life that God is pointing him and leading him into. The new direction that his life takes. So, friends, neighbors, brothers, sisters, let's go to John 9 now. Let's go to God's Word. His holy, His infallible Word. Let's let him do the work that he's promised to do as his Word goes forth with power to change us, to shine the light in our hearts, in our minds, so that we see ourselves and see Jesus more clearly today.

3:46So let's come to the Word of God. I'm going to start in verse 18. Hear now God's Word. The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, Is this your son who you say was born blind? How then does he now see? His parents answered, We know that this is our son and he was born blind, but how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes.

4:29Ask him. He is of age. He will speak for himself. His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, because the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be the Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. Therefore, his parents said, He is of age. Ask him. So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner. He answered, Whether he is a sinner, I do not know.

5:06One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see. They said to him, What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? He answered them, I have told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples? And they reviled him saying, You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from. The man answered, Why, this is an amazing thing.

5:44You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. They answered him, You were born in utter sin, and you would teach us. And they cast him out. And Jesus heard that they had cast him out.

6:20And having found him, he said, Do you believe in the Son of Man? He answered, And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him? Jesus said to him, You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you. He said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. Jesus said, For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind. Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things and said to him, Are we also blind?

7:01Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would have no guilt. But now that you say we see, your guilt remains. Pray with me. Lord God, we come to you because you are the only one who gives us truth. Truth that saves. Truth that heals. Truth in a person, Jesus, whom we worship. And Lord, we want to be changed by your word. We want to be changed by the power of your spirit as we come to you in faith and submit ourselves to you again and ask you to continue doing in us what you have began.

7:50And Lord, for those here who the work has not began yet, I pray that today would be the day that they put their faith in you, that they walk into the light. In Jesus' name we pray.

8:06A Changed Life Part 2 The light of Christ shows us a different way to live. So last week's passage, Jesus said, I am the light of the world. We saw how the light of Christ changes how we see ourselves. That was last week. The light shines on us. We see ourselves differently. But today we see how we're supposed to live in light of Christ. The change has a purpose. And what is that purpose? There's three things today. Give testimony, maintain allegiance, and take refuge.

8:43Give testimony, maintain allegiance, and take refuge. This is what this man's account teaches us about how we're supposed to live in the light of Christ. So let's look at this first one. When we pick up the story, the interrogation is heating up. The religious leaders have summoned the man's parents to answer questions about their son. For some reason, this makes me think of how my mom would get so irritated when teachers and the principal would call her and want her to come in and talk about me because it's something I'd done.

9:21I swear it wasn't anything all that bad. At least that's what I told her. But she got so fed up with... I remember one year before school started, she's like, Joel, can this be the year that I don't get called? Please. This dude's parents have been summoned before the religious leaders. Tell us about your son. But these parents... My mom was just irritated. These two are afraid. And John tells us why. The Pharisees have been expelling people from the synagogue if they endorse Jesus at all.

9:58And that's a big deal. The synagogue was a place of worship. It was a community center. It was a place where people saw each other, worshipped together. It was a connection point. Being kicked out makes you a pariah in the town. People would avoid you across the street if they see you coming. It's a big deal. So the parents don't say much. They say, yep, that's our son. Yep, he was born blind. But how he sees now, we do not know. Nor do we know who opened his eyes.

10:31Ask him. He is of age. He will speak for himself. In other words, leave us out of this. He has his voter registration card. He can buy cigarettes now. Ask him.

10:49My older daughter Cadence just got her voter card even though she's not 18 yet. Because of a special election, she's going to be turning 18 at the next general election until she got her voter card early. So did you know that? Don't worry, Cadence. I'm not going to tell the religious authorities. She will speak for herself.

11:12So for a second time, so for a second time, the Pharisees, the religious leaders call back the man. And they're losing patience and quick. Give glory to God, they say. This is not a call for him to praise and worship, for him to raise up his hands. Yes, praise you, Lord. Give glory to God as an expression. It means tell the truth. This is a court now. Tell the truth. But do they want the truth? No, they don't want the truth. No, they don't want the truth.

11:47They're saying, tell us what we want to hear. We know this man is a sinner. They've already made up their minds. Now, imagine yourself, this guy, okay? We don't know how old he is. Maybe he's in his late teens. Maybe he's in his early 20s. Maybe he's in a... No. But he has been probably begging his whole life at the margins of society. He has no social capital. He has no resources.

12:21Suddenly he can see, but nothing else about his life, his circumstances of his life have changed. Now he's in front of all of these important men who have power. In this pressure-packed moment, surrounded by powerful men, this poor, ordinary, formerly blind man, somehow, gives one of the most famous testimonies in the whole Bible. Whether he is a sinner, I don't know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.

13:02Now, people have all kinds of theological and spiritual questions that they want to talk about, that they will bring up to you. How can the Bible be reliable, they say? How old is the earth? How can the Bible and science be reconciled? What's the deal with the dinosaurs? Did the flood really happen? How can God really be three persons in one? If God knows what you want before you ask, then why pray? And question, and question, and question, right?

13:36Many of these questions and others are legitimate questions. They're good questions. But I want to tell you, I want to point to this man and I want to remind you, Christian, you do not have to know all the answers to be used by God. You don't have to know the answers to those questions. You just have to know Jesus and know what He's done for you. And then you have to say it. You have to let it come out of your mouth. Share about the change God has done in you through Jesus.

14:14Share about it. The man doesn't even pretend to know the answer to the question. But he doesn't crumble either, right? He doesn't crumble. I don't know if he's a sinner or not. Well, maybe he is. I don't know. You know what? Ask somebody else.

14:33He doesn't know the answer. He admits it, but he doesn't crumble. He keeps right on going. He might not know much, but he knows what Jesus has done for him. And that is enough. That's enough for me and that's enough for you to be used by God to tell people about the power, the reality, the living Jesus, the Savior.

14:59Every Christian has a testimony to give. Every one of us. There are no bad testimonies. There are no worthless stories. Everyone who has been changed by the power of God, who has been united to Christ by faith, who has come under the work of the Holy Spirit, has a story and is called to talk about it. Like this man, each one of us should say, look, I don't know everything about Jesus. I don't know everything about theology, about the Bible, but do you see what he's done for me?

15:39I wasn't always like this. I met Jesus and he changed me. He healed me. His power did this to me. He's alive and I'm living proof. That is the voice that we can all have in our mouths.

16:05Don't put down your story and say it's not worth sharing. Don't do it. If you have been changed by God, if you belong to Him by faith, you have been changed, you have been healed, there is something to say.

16:24Now at this point, this man, that was all he had to say. That was enough for him to stand on. That was enough for him to face the fierce, powerful interrogation of the men in front of him. And that should be enough for us too. It's a starting place. There's answers. Some of you might have looked up people who do apologetics. They have YouTube channels. That's great. You don't have to be them to be used in the Kingdom of God. Peter says we should always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks for a reason for the hope that is in you.

17:02The most direct defense for your hope is this. He's alive. I've met him. And he's changed me. That's it. There are so many different roles for different people in the Kingdom of God. But everyone has a testimony and everyone is called to share it. There's really good answers to those questions that I named earlier. There are. I'm not saying that you should tell someone there are no answers to those questions. Tell them, look, I know there's a good answer to that.

17:38I just don't have it. Let me tell you about what Jesus has done for me. The most important thing for you to know is the Gospel. The good news of the perfect Son of God dying in the place of sinners to bring them to salvation. Number two, the call to respond with repentance and faith to the Gospel in order to receive the salvation. And number three, the work that Jesus has done in your life. If you know those three things, there is no end to the amount of usefulness God will have for you in the Kingdom of God.

18:14The Gospel, the call to respond to it, and the work that He's done in your life. And so here's my question. Here's my question for you before I go on to the second point. Do you know your testimony? Can you say it out loud? If someone were to ask you about it, what would you say? What would you say? Though I was angry, now I am calm. Though I was angry, now I put others through. Though I was greedy, now I'm content. Though I was hopeless, now I have hope and a future.

18:55And for all of us, going down deeper from all the personal details of all of our stories, everyone in Christ should be able to say clearly, though I was God's enemy, now I am forgiven and accepted in His friend.

19:20This is an application for each one of you. If you can't think of the ways that He's changed you, if somebody asked you, what has He done for you? What would you say? Start with the fact that though you were God's enemy, now you are reconciled to Him, but then keep going. What else has He done for you? What other changes have you worked in your life? Healing has He worked on your heart? Changes in your character? Sin that you've left behind and holiness that you've embraced?

19:51Ways that you treat people differently? Ways that you go after Him in ways of taking up your own cross and denying yourself? What is your story? What is your testimony? Be ready to share it. If you don't know it, you won't be ready for this moment. Take the time to remind yourself. Pray about it. And be reminded. Let the Lord remind you what it is that He's done for you. Now here's the second thing.

20:21We're supposed to give testimony and we're supposed to maintain allegiance. The Pharisees are getting really frustrated. They're running out of ideas. They ask the man, how did He open your eyes? And now the man who sees sees through them. They aren't being sincere at all. This is all a pretense. He says, I have told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples? You know, usually I don't like sarcasm.

20:59Sarcasm is oftentimes more of the old self than the new self, just if I'm being perfectly honest. but here it's actually quite admirable. I like this guy's sarcasm. I like his sassiness. He's standing up to them. He's mocking them. He's exposing them for their foolishness, their obvious resistance to what is so clear and so true. And now the Pharisees get really defensive. They know what He's doing. They know when they've been insulted. You are His disciple, they say.

21:41Has He actually said that? No, He hasn't said that. You are His disciple. We are disciples of Moses. Aha! Their allegiance is clear. They are committed to their heritage. What they have known, what they have believed, what they've been taught, what they've been raised in.

21:59The very thing that got them to the position of power that they have. They're so committed, they're not willing to consider that it might be wrong. We know that God spoke to Moses, they say, and they're right. God did speak to Moses. But they changed it. In the law of Moses, God said no work on the Sabbath. But in the Pharisees' tradition, they taught that healing was a type of work. That's why they think Jesus is a sinner. Because He healed, in their view, worked on the Sabbath.

22:41But they were wrong. They were wrong. They didn't understand that the Sabbath was meant to be a blessing to people, not a curse to people. And that of course healing and health was allowed on the Sabbath. Of course. This blind man can see it. The Pharisees were blind. They couldn't admit that their understanding of the law was wrong. It would be too destabilizing for them. So they rejected Jesus. We are disciples of Moses. We're not about to throw away what we know, what's comfortable for us, what gives us power and prestige.

23:19This is a rich heritage. We're not about to throw it away for some renegade, some upstart. In contrast, this man who used to be blind is willing to give up everything to follow Jesus, to be aligned with Jesus. everything. He says, this is an amazing thing. You know, where he comes from and yet he opened my eyes. He's saying, sure, you know the rules, you know the law, you know the history, down to the letter. But here I am standing before you, a man who was blind and now sees.

24:01That should be enough to get you to change your minds. That should be enough to get you to reconsider your allegiance to what you think you know. Suppose that my family and I were driving out east. We were going to go to Busch Gardens for the day. And I put in the address to the GPS and we're on our merry way and we're driving and we get a little bit closer and the signs start appearing for Busch Gardens and I'm not slowing down.

24:34And my family says, Dad, I can't say, it's just two miles. I can't wait to get off the exit. And I say, well, my GPS says 15 miles because I've put in the wrong address. And they start saying, we're going to miss it. Slow down. This is the exit. And I'm like, no, look at the GPS. It tells me it's in 15 more miles. I'm going. And they're like, Dad, but the sign is there. There's the sign. And I just trusted my GPS and I kept on going. Who is foolish?

25:08I'm foolish in that situation. I am, right? The sign is right there. But I'm trusting the GPS. I'm trusting myself instead of the sign. That's what's happening here. The healing is the sign. It's Jesus saying, I am the way to God. Forget everything that you thought that you knew. Forget how you understood the law of working. Forget how you thought approval before God was going to happen. Forget all of that. You've got to pay attention to me.

25:46You've got to come to God through me. But the Pharisees couldn't do it. They couldn't question their current way of thinking. They couldn't possibly consider another direction to go.

26:05Here's the point I'm making. As you follow Christ, expect conflict. Expect conflict. between you and the people who were going a different direction. Between you and a culture that's preaching a different message. And sometimes it's between you and yourself.

26:31You and your old self. Who wants to go keep doing down your the ways that made you comfortable. The ways that made you happy. The ways that gave you that temporary relief there will be conflict. The Pharisees saw the conflict and they made the wrong choice. The man felt that conflict and he aligned himself with Jesus. All the voices that you hear out there inside yourself they say the same thing. Don't deny yourself. Jesus isn't enough for you. You can't possibly believe that the Bible is God's word.

27:21You can't trust him to care for you. In every point of conflict friends align yourself with Jesus. In every point of conflict align yourself with Jesus. Be humble. Let go of prior beliefs prior ways of thinking if they conflict with the word of God. If they conflict with what Jesus is telling you. Be courageous to speak up against falsehood deception and worldly powers. Be bold to say look I'm going to trust God over you.

27:57I'm going to be bold to say I'm going to trust God over my old self. I'm going to go his way. It's uncomfortable to take sides but in this world we have no choice. Take your stand with the one who saved you.

28:19The world offers you nothing. Your old self offers you nothing but death. Take your stand with the one who gives you life. Brothers and sisters this man says if this man were not from God he could do nothing. The miracle proves that he's from God. So he does actually answer the question is this man a sinner? And he says no. He's not. This is the mic drop moment. Case closed. This uneducated man has courageously spoken up aligned himself with Jesus and won the argument.

29:05He knocked down the Pharisees house of cards. He wasn't trying to take on the system. He wasn't trying to get views and subscribers on his YouTube channel. He didn't wake up that day thinking any of this was going to happen.

29:23Neither will you wake up tomorrow and expect a conflict to happen between Jesus' way and some other way. It comes at you when you don't expect it. But after Jesus changed this man he wasn't going to give in anymore. And what about you? Are you ready to not give in? To maintain your allegiance to Christ? Following Jesus means facing pressure. Here's the last one. Take refuge. You know you've won an argument or you're winning an argument when your opponent starts name calling.

30:09That's a signal. It's a signal that you're winning. And that's what happens here. The Pharisees have been outmatched, outwitted by a guy who just hours ago was blind, who's never studied, so they start flinging mud at him. You then he gets the punishment that his parents feared. They cast him out. His parents didn't defend him. The religious leaders turned on him. Now he's excluded from his place of worship.

30:53When your allegiance is with Christ, there will be a cost. It might be friends. It might be family. It might be respect. It might be your own desires.

31:09When you say, I will build my life on him. You stand to lose a lot. Just like this man. It's good to consider now. What are you willing to lose? What's on the table?

31:36This man has lost virtually everything. And then right at this moment, Jesus comes back into the story. He heard about what happened. The man was cast out, but the passage says that Jesus found him.

31:58Brothers and sisters, don't be afraid to share your testimony to maintain your allegiance to him because though the world rejects you, your Savior goes looking for you. He goes to find you. Right when the cost is bearing down on you, there he is.

32:21He knows what happened. And there he is for you. We heard this earlier from Psalm 27 David knew it too. David wrote this Psalm David says for my father and my mother have forsaken me but the Lord will take me in. Doesn't that sound exactly like John 9 but notice that Jesus comes to the man and he comes to him with a question with a challenge do you believe in the son of man you just suffered for my sake for aligning yourself with me after all you've been through do you want more of me do you want more knowledge of me do you want more relationship with me Jesus came to this man with comfort but also with a call to go further further in to relationship with him further in to to but he needs help he doesn't know how and who is he sir you can hear his voice quavering who is he sir that I may believe in him he heard about the son of man in the synagogue when the prophet Daniel was read but he doesn't know who he is but he wants to he's ready he this is a child like faith just tell me Jesus and I'll do it tell me Jesus who should I believe in what should I do tell me and I'll do it Lord I'm listening I'm listening thank you for coming back thank you for meeting me I'm ready tell me and Jesus doesn't keep him waiting you have seen him and it is I it is he who is speaking to you and that's all it takes the man erupts in faith and worship first he called him the man named Jesus then he said he's a prophet later he said this man is from God and now what does he say Lord I believe he's lost

35:25many relationships today but the most important one the lesson for us is clear when you take refuge in Jesus cost becomes gain when you take refuge in Jesus cost becomes gain when you suffer for his sake hide yourself in him when you taken that risky move to speak up and give your testimony when you taken the risk to align yourself with Jesus and maintain allegiance to him and it's cost you turn to the one who is waiting there for you hide yourself in him cry out to him seek him for comfort and peace even when your circumstances don't change your faith will grow he will nourish you he will shore up your hope with his promises he will give you grace to endure now Jesus gets the last word in John 9 appropriately so he revealed himself as the light healing graciously as a sign of who he is and he says people are judged based on this is the paradox of revelation how do you respond to Jesus how do you respond to the light shining if you're holding on to your old ways keeping your old allegiances I hope you'll hear me when I say those allegiances and those ways will not pan out the way that you think they do not lead to life as much as they tell you that they do I'm calling you I'm urging you to respond if you haven't yet before respond to Jesus like this man believe though it costs you align yourself with him even though it feels so hard to give up the things that you want the things that your flesh tells you to go after worship him and receive healing in life and if you have responded

38:31to the light of Christ with faith then my encouragement is just to live like it walk in the light he has changed you for a purpose