Knowing And Doing, Two Different Things Series

WW011602 Knowing and doing -two different things John 9:39-10:3

Beginning:

I know I am supposed to change the oil in my car every 3,000 miles.

I know that. I know that if I change it regularly my engine will last longer. I know that. In actuality I change oil about every 5,000-7,000 because I have it serviced four times a year no matter how many miles I have driven. Knowing to change my oil is not the same as changing my oil to the bearings in my engine. They don’t care if I know to change the oil. They only know wear if I don’t.

I know when the signal light shifts from green to yellow I am supposed to stop. I know that. I know that stopping on yellow is good for my safety. I know that. But I have this voice that is quicker than my foot on the brake that says, “You can make it – go fast.”

Knowing is not the same as doing!

Have you ever taken a bite you knew you could not chew? This text tonight is a bite I doubt if I am capable of chewing. There are concepts in tonight’s study that will challenge us all. There are deep thoughts in Jesus’ words here I have to walk away scratching my head about. There are some elements of it that are profoundly simply and clear, but other sayings that have the potential to remove us from our comfort zones forever.

Background:

There is an on-going struggle between Jesus and the established Jewish leadership.

The stakes of the struggle are huge. The Jews believe they have been given the privilege of exclusively knowing the mind of God. Jesus says they don’t know God and are in the way of others who want to know him. He calls them blind guides. He calls them serpents. He runs them out of the Temple for selling. He seems bent on confrontation.

Jesus’ words and actions will make the point tonight that knowing about God is not enough. He will say that knowing God means so much more than a religious form.

Burden:

In our world there are so many who affirm that God exists, but are stuck when it comes to making such knowledge impact their decisions and lives.

There are also many who think that believing in God is enough to be allowed into heaven. If Jesus is right, every attempt at gaining entrance to heaven is flawed outside of the shed blood of Jesus.

Jesus is a huge divider. He is the world’s most troubling character. You can’t ignore Him. He demands you do something.

He divides body from soul, families, churches, religious institutions and nations.

His claims are huge and demand such overt action He leaves us only two options. We must either believe in Jesus or reject Him.

There is no other neutral position.

The essence of John’s writing is this: Jesus’ presence brought the necessity to believe or reject Him, dividing humanity into two classes—the seeing and blind or the saved and lost.

Basic Truth:

One could make a case for believing that if you know to do something and then don’t do it, you are in much more trouble than if you didn’t know to do it in the first place. This is one of those hard-to-chew points I mentioned earlier.

This translated into a life application means that sitting in a worship service at Evergreen may be the most spiritually dangerous thing a person could ever do because here we dare to clarify people’s choices. We don’t beat about the bush as to what is required to be spiritual and heaven bound. We clearly pronounce that Jesus is God’s only way, and in that truth statement we force people into one of two groups.

One commentator said, “ It never occurred to the Pharisees that they could possibly be willfully, spiritually blind, but because of their claim to sight, to self-enlightenment, and to spiritual knowledge, Christ indicts them for not acting upon the revelation given according to their knowledge. Acting upon their knowledge would have necessitated their belief. Because they did not believe, they remained in sin.”

Another way to look at this nearly unchewable text is to ask the question, “When was the blind man actually saved?”

*Was he saved when Jesus put the mud on his eyes?

*Was he saved when he went in faith and washed?

*Was he saved when he found Jesus later and got to know him?

*Was he ever saved?

We know he did what Jesus asked, but did he believe?

When did the blind man go from knowing to doing the will of God?

Burning Question: What hard-to-chew truth is Jesus teaching here?

If you know to do something - do it. 39 Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." verse 41, “Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”