Now I See

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Isaiah 42:1-9
Leader: “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;
Isaiah 42:1 NASB95
“Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.
My chosen one in whom My soul delights.
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the nations.
Be Thou My Vision Lyrics
Open My Eyes, Lord Lyrics

Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;

My chosen one in whom My soul delights.

I have put My Spirit upon Him;

He will bring forth justice to the nations.

What the Lord Has Done in Me Lyrics
Offertory Title Slide Duplicate
Doxology Slide
Title Slide Duplicate
Message Intro (Blindness/Darkness/Promise)
I had an appointment with the optometrist this week, and I want to share a spiritual insight that I had while I was there.
As background, a few months ago, I started visiting a new eye doctor and went through an array of tests because they found evidence of a genetic condition that has caused my optic nerve to grow slightly larger than normal.
Now, I figured that a larger optic nerve meant that I should see things more clearly than other people, but as it turns out, the condition can cause just the opposite problem.
So they put my head in a contraption and asked me to press a button when I saw a light flash in front of my eyes, and they did this for about five minutes for each eye.
At the end of the exam, they were able to tell me which portions of my field of vision were strongest and which were weakest. It turned out that I had an apparent weakness in the portion of my field of view that would be most affected by the extra pressure exerted by the larger optic nerve.
OK, I’m not very good at explaining all the science involved, so let me tell you in my own words what they found.
Sometimes — at least based on that first test — I cannot see what is right in front of my face.
Now, what I told the doctor when she explained this to me is that my wife says that about me all the time.
How many of you ladies have had the experience of having to show your husbands the milk carton or the cheese or whatever that is right in the front of the refrigerator?
My doctor, who is a woman and a wife, thought this was the funniest thing ever and equated it to her husband’s selective hearing.
The good news is that my re-test this week seemed to show some improvement, so the first test may have simply been an anomaly. The bad news is that I lost my excuse for not being able to find things I’ve been sent to find.
They sent me home with my eyes dilated, and I began to think about the spiritual lesson I had learned at the doctor’s office.
We have all been given eyes and ears, but many of us do not have eyes to see and ears to hear. Some of us have seen the revelation of Jesus Christ in Scripture, and we have heard the good news of this Savior sent to redeem us from the penalty of our sins, and yet we are still blind to the Truth and deaf to the gospel.
In fact, blindness is often used in Scripture as a way to describe spiritual darkness.
Samson was blinded by the Philistines, and his physical situation then became a picture of his spiritual situation. Both Isaac and Eli were portrayed in the OT as men whose sight had grown dim in old age.
This was not intended as an explanation of what happens when we grow old, though it often does. Instead, it was an indictment of the spiritual condition of two men who had allowed their households to become infected with paganism and disobedience to God.
In the book of Revelation, Jesus describes the lukewarm church at Laodicea as wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
And during His incarnation here on earth, the Son of God is recorded as having healed the blind more than any other miracle he performed.
This healing was the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies that told of the day when the Lord would come and open the eyes of the blind, and when these miracles took place, God’s chosen people were to recognize that He who had performed them had been sent by God as the promised Messiah, the anointed one who would bring salvation and forgiveness of sin.
But it has been said that there is none so blind as he who will not see.
This is part of the point that the Apostle John was making when he wrote in the prologue to his gospel that Jesus had come with life, the Light of men.
Way back at the beginning, there was darkness, and then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light, and the light brought life to the world.
Genesis 1:3 NASB95
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
First, there was darkness, and then there was light, and the light brought life to the world.
But mankind preferred the darkness, as Jesus told the pharisee Nicodemus:
John 3:19 NASB95
“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.
We have all been given eyes to see that Jesus is the Son of God, that He came to pay the price of our sins on a cross on Calvary, that He was raised from the dead on the third day, that He ascended back to heaven and that He will return again one day to take home those who have followed Him in faith.
We have all been given eyes to see that we stand condemned before God because of our sins and that it is only the blood of Jesus that can make us clean.
We have all been given eyes to see that we can only be saved by God’s grace, through faith in the sufficiency of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf.
But some of us fail to see what is right in front of us when we open the refrigerator door of Scripture. As John put it:
John 1:5 NASB95
The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
In this way, we are not much different from the people of Israel during the days of the prophets.
Writing to the people of Judah as their brothers in the Northern Kingdom of Israel were being conquered by the Assyrians, Isaiah warned of the dangers of spiritual blindness — of their enslavement to sin — but he also wrote of the hope of a God who would one day free them from that prison and open their blind eyes to his salvation.
Responsive Reading No. 1
Now, I will say without reservation that there is nobody on earth who looks at me with quite the kind of love as my dear wife. But there is also nobody who sees me more clearly, including myself.
And in nearly 20 years of marriage, I have greatly benefited from Annette’s undiluted and un-deluded vision of Res Spears.
You see, we all have blind spots in our lives, and our spouses can be a great resource when it comes to shining a light onto those things about us that we cannot see — or onto those things that we choose not to see.
John 1:5 NASB95
The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
:5
Blah, blah, blah
Blah, blah, blah
Leader: “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;
Blah, blah, blah
My chosen one in whom My soul delights.
My chosen one in whom My soul delights.
Responsive Reading No. 1
Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;
Isaiah 42:1 NASB95
“Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.
My chosen one in whom My soul delights.
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
Isaiah 42:2 NASB95
“He will not cry out or raise His voice, Nor make His voice heard in the street.
Isaiah 42:3 NASB95
“A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.
Isaiah 42:4 NASB95
“He will not be disheartened or crushed Until He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”
He will bring forth justice to the nations.
2
Isaiah 42:5 NASB95
Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it And spirit to those who walk in it,
Isaiah 42:6 NASB95
“I am the Lord, I have called You in righteousness, I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You, And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations,
Isa
Isaiah 42:7 NASB95
To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.
, .
Isaiah 42:8 NASB95
“I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.
Isaiah 42:9 NASB95
“Behold, the former things have come to pass, Now I declare new things; Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”
Song Break 1
Songs Title Page (Title/copyright for both songs)
Open the Eyes of My Heart Lyrics (first set)
Open the eyes of my heart;
I want to see you. I want to see you
Message Part 1 (John 9:1-7)
Blah, blah, blah
Blah, blah, blah
He will bring forth justice to the nations.
Blah, blah, blah
Turn with me, please, to the Gospel of John, chapter 9, and let’s take a look at one of the times that Jesus miraculously gave sight to a blind man.
Blah, blah, blah
This is a long chapter, and we will not have time to examine every verse, but I think it is significant that John spends so much time telling us about this miracle, and I want you to notice how he develops the characters of three people or sets of people as he recounts this incident in the life of Jesus.
Blah, blah, blah
First, we have the one who WANTS to see.
John 9:1 NASB95
As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth.
John 9:2 NASB95
And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?”
John 9:3 NASB95
Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
John 9:4 NASB95
“We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.
John 9:5 NASB95
“While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”
John 9:6 NASB95
When He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes,
John 9:7 NASB95
and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing.
Now, we don’t know anything about this man’s history, except that he had been born blind. We don’t know whether he was a devout Jew or whether he was waiting outside the temple in hopes of seeing the one who had been performing miracles in and around Jerusalem or whether he had heard Jesus teaching in the temple.
Blah, blah, blah
But what we can tell from this passage is that he wanted to see.
Blah, blah, blah
He was willing to do whatever it took to gain sight, even if it might have seemed silly.
A man spits in the dirt, makes clay of the spittle, applies the clay to his eyes and then tells him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam.
And the blind man says, “Yes sir! On my way!”
Clearly he had some level of faith in this stranger.
I suspect this blind man was familiar with the prophets. I suspect that when Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world,” and talked about doing the works of Him who had sent Him, this blind man recognized that he was in the presence of one sent by God Himself.
It’s clear at this point that he doesn’t realize that Jesus is the Son of God, and I think that we can take a lesson from this fact. We don’t have to understand everything about Jesus to put our faith in Him.
In fact, most, if not all, of us find that putting our faith in Jesus is simply the first step in a lifelong journey of learning more about the Christ who gave His life as atonement for our sins.
After taking that first step of faith, we are called to continue to grow in that faith through the study of God’s word, through prayer, through fellowship with other believers, and through doing the work He has given us to do while we are on this earth.
But the first step must be a step of faith. And that step cannot happen if we do not first recognize that we are blind, that we are lovers of the darkness.
That was the problem in Judah during the time of the prophet Isaiah, when he wrote about God’s chosen people — chosen to be the servants and messengers of His kingdom.
They had chosen instead to be blind and deaf to what God had done for them, and they had chosen to remain in the prison of their sinfulness.
Responsive Reading No. 2
Isaiah 42:18 NASB95
Hear, you deaf! And look, you blind, that you may see.
Isaiah 42:19 NASB95
Who is blind but My servant, Or so deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is so blind as he that is at peace with Me, Or so blind as the servant of the Lord?
Isa
Is
Isaiah 42:20 NASB95
You have seen many things, but you do not observe them; Your ears are open, but none hears.
21
Isaiah 42:21 NASB95
The Lord was pleased for His righteousness’ sake To make the law great and glorious.
Isaiah 42:22 NASB95
But this is a people plundered and despoiled; All of them are trapped in caves, Or are hidden away in prisons; They have become a prey with none to deliver them, And a spoil, with none to say, “Give them back!”
Song Break 2
Open the Eyes of My Heart Lyrics (Second Set)
Message, Part 2 ()
Through the prophet Isaiah, God had described a people who had been given plenty of evidence of who He is.
They had seen what He had done for them as He rescued them from slavery in Egypt, as He had brought them into the Promised Land and as He had gone before them to crush their enemies and give them peace.
They had heard of His holiness and His grace and mercy when the books of the Law had been read for them. Their fathers had even heard His voice on Mt. Sinai.
And yet, they had chosen to turn away from Him, because they loved the darkness more than they loved the light.
And so, God had brought upon them the curses of the covenant that had been promised in the Book of Deuteronomy if they chose the path of disobedience.
There were famines and plagues of locusts, and now they were surrounded by enemies who would eventually march into Jerusalem and burn everything to the ground.
God had described both blessings and curses through His servant Moses. The blessings would come through obedience, and the curses through disobedience.
But even the curses were designed to get God’s people to turn back to Him in faith that He would provide for them, to get them to put their faith in him and not in the world, in Him and not in themselves.
And so, when they persisted in their disobedience — when they persisted in putting their faith in military alliances and in evil kings and in idols made by their hands and in their own ability to provide — then God brought the curses to bear.
Some people just WILL not see what is right in front of them.
And that’s the group of people we find in the next section of this chapter in the gospel of John. Look at verse 13.
John 9:8 NASB95
Therefore the neighbors, and those who previously saw him as a beggar, were saying, “Is not this the one who used to sit and beg?”
John 9:9 NASB95
Others were saying, “This is he,” still others were saying, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the one.”
John 9:10 NASB95
So they were saying to him, “How then were your eyes opened?”
John 9:11 NASB95
He answered, “The man who is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash’; so I went away and washed, and I received sight.”
John 9:12 NASB95
They said to him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.”
John 9:13 NASB95
They brought to the Pharisees the man who was formerly blind.
John 9:14 NASB95
Now it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.
John 9:15 NASB95
Then the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He applied clay to my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”
John 9:16 NASB95
Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And there was a division among them.
The pharisees surely knew what the prophets had written about the One who would come and restore the sight of the blind.
They surely knew that God had told them through the prophet Isaiah that the Sabbath was not simply a day of fasting, but a day for doing good deeds, a day that He chose for them “to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free and break every yoke.”
God had given the Sabbath not as a day of SELF-righteousness, but as a day of righteousness in His namee.
When Jesus gave this blind man sight on the Sabbath, He was doing exactly what God had said was the reason for this day: “To divide your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into the house; when you see the naked, to cover him; and not to hide yourself from your own flesh.”
But the pharisees were more interested in the glory they thought they brought on themselves in their high-minded Sabbath-keeping than the glory that Jesus brought His Father in doing the Sabbath work He had been sent to do.
The pharisees would not see.
John 9:17 NASB95
So they said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” And he said, “He is a prophet.”
17
The blind man still had not recognized that he was healed by the Son of God, but He had certainly recognized that the man who healed him had been sent by God and spoke for God.
In this, he was light years ahead of the religious leaders of Jerusalem.
Throughout the Gospel of John, the Pharisees represent those who believe in their own righteousness, and they have no interest in the One who has come to tell them that they cannot be part of the Kingdom of God through their own righteousness.
They had kept the Sabbath. They had tithed mint and dill. They had kept the letter of the Law, and they believed that as descendants of Abraham, their law-keeping — the righteousness they had in themselves — had earned them a place in heaven.
And so, they refused to see that the Man who had healed this blind man MUST have been the Son of God. And, in fact, they blasphemed Him in their arrogance. Look at verse 24.
John 9:18 NASB95
The Jews then did not believe it of him, that he had been blind and had received sight, until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight,
John 9:19 NASB95
and questioned them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?”
John 9:20 NASB95
His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind;
John 9:21 NASB95
but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.”
John 9:22 NASB95
His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.
John 9:23 NASB95
For this reason his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
John 9:24 NASB95
So a 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.”
25
John 9:25 NASB95
He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound/that saved a wretch like me/I once was lost, but now am found/was blind, but now I see.
Blah, blah, blah
The man who wrote those lines worked on ships that transported slaves. He was, by all accounts, a horrible person, and his language made even his fellow sailors blush.
Blah, blah, blah
But one night, during a storm, he realized that he was utterly lost without Jesus Christ. One night when he had finally reached the bottom of his wretchedness, he called out for a Savior.
And in His grace and mercy, Jesus found him and opened His blind eyes.
Sadly, some of us never reach the point in our lives where we realize that we are not good enough, that we cannot rely on our own righteousness, that we are desperate for a Savior.
We refuse to see. We WILL NOT see.
That’s what the situation was with the pharisees of Jesus’ day.
And it was the situation in Judah during Isaiah’s day.
But God is gracious, and God is merciful, and God desires that none would perish, and so He promised through Isaiah that He would redeem those who would come to Him in faith.
Isa 43
Responsive Reading No. 3
Isaiah 43:1 NASB95
But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!
Isaiah 43:2 NASB95
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you.
Isaiah 43:3 NASB95
“For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place.
Isaiah 43:4 NASB95
“Since you are precious in My sight, Since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.
Isaiah 43:5 NASB95
“Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, And gather you from the west.
Isaiah 43:6 NASB95
“I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring My sons from afar And My daughters from the ends of the earth,
Isaiah 43:7 NASB95
Everyone who is called by My name, And whom I have created for My glory, Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”
Song Break 3
Medley lyrics
Isaiah 43:8 NASB95
Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes, And the deaf, even though they have ears.
Isaiah 43:9 NASB95
All the nations have gathered together So that the peoples may be assembled. Who among them can declare this And proclaim to us the former things? Let them present their witnesses that they may be justified, Or let them hear and say, “It is true.”
Isaiah 43:10 NASB95
“You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me.
Isaiah 43:11 NASB95
“I, even I, am the Lord, And there is no savior besides Me.
Isaiah 43:12 NASB95
“It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, And there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And I am God.
Isaiah 43:13 NASB95
“Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”
Isaiah 43:13 NASB95
“Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”
Song Break 3
Medley lyrics
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus Lyrics
Message, Part 3 ()
John 9:26 NASB95
So they said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?”
John 9:27 NASB95
He answered them, “I told you already and you did not listen; why do you want to hear it again? You do not want to become His disciples too, do you?”
John 9:28 NASB95
They reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.
John 9:29 NASB95
“We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He is from.”
John 9:30 NASB95
The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes.
John 9:31 NASB95
“We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him.
John 9:32 NASB95
“Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind.
John 9:33 NASB95
“If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.”
John 9:34 NASB95
They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?” So they put him out.
Blah, blah, blah
Blah, blah, blah
Blah, blah, blah
Responsive Reading No. 4
Isaiah 43:8 NASB95
Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes, And the deaf, even though they have ears.
8
Isaiah 43:9 NASB95
All the nations have gathered together So that the peoples may be assembled. Who among them can declare this And proclaim to us the former things? Let them present their witnesses that they may be justified, Or let them hear and say, “It is true.”
Isaiah 43:10 NASB95
“You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me.
Isaiah 43:11 NASB95
“I, even I, am the Lord, And there is no savior besides Me.
Isaiah 43:12 NASB95
“It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, And there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And I am God.
Isaiah 43:13 NASB95
“Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”
Message, Part 4 ()
Jesus had healed the man who was blind from birth, demonstrating in the process that He had come as the promised Redeemer, and the religious leaders who should have recognized what was going on instead put the man out of the temple.
You see, they thought they could control who could come into the presence of God, but Jesus was here to demonstrate that only He has the power to do that.
The blind man was he who wanted to see. The pharisees were they who would not see. And Jesus was He who would be seen.
Those who see Jesus for who He is — those who come to Him in faith that He is who He says He is and that He will do what He says He will do — they are the ones who will be able to come into the presence of the Father. That’s what we see Jesus talking about beginning in verse 35.
John 9:35 NASB95
Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
John 9:36 NASB95
He answered, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”
John 9:37 NASB95
Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.”
John 9:38 NASB95
And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him.
The pharisees put the man who had been blind out of the temple, and they blasphemed the One who had healed him, the One who had been sent to do the works of God, the One who is the light of the world and brings eternal life to those who put their faith in Him.
Those who are lost in their spiritual blindness, those who are prisoners of sin, can be healed and released from bondage by following Him.
And that describes every person here who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior.
One day, each one of us will stand before a perfect and holy God and be measured according to His perfect righteousness. And on that day, each of us will be judged according to our own righteousness or according to the righteousness of the Christ in whose righteousness we have been clothed by faith.
We are either people who know we are blind and need to be healed, like the man here in the Gospel of John. Or we are people who think we can see just fine, even though we love the darkness, like the pharisees.
John 9:39 NASB95
And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”
The pharisees
John 9:40 NASB95
Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?”
John 9:41 NASB95
Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.
The pharisees could not recognize their own spiritual blindness, and so they were lost in their sins. But the man who had been born blind knew that he was lost without a Savior, and when he was healed, he worshiped the Son of Man, who had given him sight.
Blah, blah, blah
Blah, blah, blah
Some people just will not see what is right in front of them. And sometimes our eyes grow dim because we have lost sight of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.
May God give us eyes to see and ears to hear the glorious message of a Savior who loved us so much that He died for us, a God with the power to raise Him from the dead, a High Priest who now sits at the Father’s right hand ,and a King who will return and reign forever.
Blah, blah, blah
May God help us to see the Light of Jesus Christ and experience the life that is within Him.
SONG BREAK 4
Medley Lyrics
Prayer
Behold Our God Title Screen
Behold Our God Lyrics
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