John 9: 1-12: Here we are going to read about the blind man, how Jesus healed the person who was born blind. And this blind man, his life was very different from the others because this man did not do any sin; his sickness was not a result of sin. So we see the difference between this person and the previous person that we saw, who Jesus healed.
We are going to read from Verses 1 to 12
1. And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from his birth.
2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
3. Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
4. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
5. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
6. 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,
7. 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.
8. The neighbors therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?
9. Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he.
10. Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?
11. He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.
12. Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not.
If we read from Verses 35 to 41, we will see how Jesus talks to the man and how He is introducing Himself to the man. This man did not actually know who Jesus was.
And we would just read that also
35. Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
36. He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?
37. And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.
38. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.
39. And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
40. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
41. Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.
As we see from Verse 35 Jesus is introducing himself as a Son of God to this blind man. He did not know anything about Jesus, he was born blind from birth and he couldn't see. But now Jesus goes to this man and He is healing him; what He is doing is, He is putting the clay that He made with his spit on his eyes and it says He anointed his eyes. The Lord Jesus actually, it was not an object that He put, he anointed his eyes and He is telling him, "Go, wash your eyes in the pool of Siloam." So this man didn't know who Jesus was, but he knew that he had to obey. And his lights came at that time.
All these years he was blind, he couldn't see, but we see over here," As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world," Verse 5. That Light, Jesus Christ, came and He stood before him. When He came and He spoke to him and He said, "Go do this, Go to the pool of Siloam and wash your eyes." And he did that, he obeyed that.
Imagine he did not go, imagine he said Who's this man? He is putting some wet stuff on my eyes. “What are you doing? I don't even know who you are. I am not going to go, make a trip.” He didn't do that but he listened, then he went; he went by himself and he washed his eyes. When he obeyed, he was able to see. The Lord opened his eyes. When the Lord Jesus put the clay on his eyes and anointed his eyes, he was healed. He was already healed. But his obedience caused him to inherit that blessing. So Jesus comes to us and He tells us, no matter what your situation is “Arise, your light has come. Tonight it has come.”
For this month God is going to do something, you were not expecting; God is going to do something that you never thought was going to happen. You might have prayed and prayed and prayed, and almost felt like giving up. The Lord says, “I am going to break that which is pressing your heart. I am going to take that burden off. I am going to give you what you have been yearning for, what your heart has been longing for.” God says, “I am going to do it.”
Are we willing to believe? Or we are going to say, "This is going to be another day like yesterday, this is going to be another day. Every year it's like this, every month it's like this; every week, every day is like this. This is how it's going to be.” Are we going to settle for that? Or when Jesus comes to us and says, "Arise, Your light has come; God's glory has come on you."
Are we willing to say,” Lord I am going to get up, I am going to do what you're telling me to do, I am going to believe. I am going to inherit everything that You have for me, even though I don't know what God is telling, even though I am not able to see the light”, like these people. They didn't know who Jesus was, they didn't know that Light. So Jesus, the Light of the World came and stood before them, they didn't know that light.
It is like in Isaiah 60, God is saying, “Arise and Shine for your light has come”; if we can see the light, obviously we will get up already. Nobody needs to tell that our light came, but everything still looks dark. But obedience matters!
When the Lord speaks to us, even before we see, (that's what faith is - Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.) when we act upon God's word, when the Lord speaks to us, "Arise, your light has come" and when we obey Him, we see that light shine in our lives.
So the Lord speaks to us tonight saying, “When I come to you and when I speak to you that I am rolling your burden away, I am taking your sorrow away, I am going to take away the thing that has been weighing heavy on your shoulders, that yoke that was not from me, I am going to remove that. I am here, I am the light, I am going to take the darkness away.”
And God says Arise, that's an act of faith. The man who could not get up, who was there thirty-eight years, he could not get up. But he got up, when the Lord said Arise, he got up. Because he believed, even though his body was dead, he wasn't able to get up, he believed and he got up. So similarly, when the Lord told this man to go wash his eyes in the pool of Siloam, he went and he did it, even though he did not know that that light was in front of him. This night that same Light is in front of us, He is on us and He is telling us, “Arise and Shine, the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.”
And the reason why the Lord has come to us tonight is God wants us to shine for Him. God wants us to shine for him. In his light that lights every person, in His light that drives out every darkness; when that light comes on us, it makes us to reflect Him. That is the purpose, that people may be drawn to Jesus Christ.
As we read here in Mathew Chapter 5 Verse 16, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Jesus was talking to his disciples, to the people who are following Him, listening to Him - that light that God puts in us, His Light, let it shine. It should shine in a way, that people would see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven.
If we see the previous verse, it says, "Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house". The purpose why God is giving us light is for us to shine so that the people will see that light and glorify the Father who is in heaven. The light is not for us to just keep it in, that's why I was saying that it was a twofold blessing. When the Lord comes to us, when His light shines on us, it is a twofold blessing. One is first personally - our darkness has been removed. Number two is, that people see that and they are drawn to the Lord. So that is the purpose, He says let them see that light and be drawn to the Father which is in heaven. Let them give glory to the Lord.
So we have to say, “Lord, I want to be that light that you want me to be. Lord, I know you're here to remove my darkness. I know you're here Lord, to remove that which I was thinking which is not even going to happen. But Lord I believe. Because you're speaking to me because you're telling me to Arise I am going to Arise. And I am going to do what you tell me to do, Lord, as an act of faith. Lord, I believe your glory has risen upon me even though, I do not see anything.”
See that is the point of this message, even though we do not see anything, even though our circumstance stays the same, looks the same, God sees it completely differently because His light is on us. He is able to see it; we will not until we wait until we step out in faith. Only when we step out in faith we will see the glory light on us. And the people around us will see the glorious light on us. So we have to be those people who took that step of faith, who walked to the pool of Siloam, who got up, took up the bed, and walked so that people saw them and they glorified God.
When we see these two people's life, they never hid it. After receiving the healing, they never hid it. They were telling everyone, even though they did not know who Jesus was, they were telling, this man did this to me and that's how I got healed. I know I was blind, but now I can see. That's what Jesus is talking about, people will see what God has done, they will see that light that God put in your life and glorify your Father which is in heaven. So they did not hide it under a bushel, they let their lights to shine. So that's what we have to do.
Our responsibility is, when that light comes on us we want that light to shine, so kings will come to the brightness of the light so that gentiles will come to that light. And that light will draw, and that light will surely draw, it has to draw. Just like we cannot cover the moon, when the light of the Lord comes upon us, we cannot cover it.
So we have to realize say, “Lord, I want to be that light Lord; I want to reflect your glory. Lord, this month I believe you are going to do something new. Lord, I believe, what has been stagnant in my life, Lord you will remove that for me.” And say, “Lord As you're speaking to me this night, that burden that has been weighing heavy on my life, Lord you're going to remove that off of me because you have promised your light has risen on me. And you're going to do this in such a way that not only my burden is going to be gone, but people will also see that in my life and they will glorify God.” So we have to remember that it is a twofold blessing, what the Lord will do for us. One is He will take our darkness away. Number two is he will cause the gentiles to see that light to be drawn to Jesus.
We are going to read Acts 10:38 and see what is said about Jesus here:
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him.
The Lord Jesus Christ when He was on this earth, He was doing good. He was healing the people, He was raising the dead, He was setting the demon-possessed free; He was doing all those things and His power has not changed. That same Jesus Christ who went about doing good, healing all that were oppressed by the devil, He is here tonight. And that same Jesus Christ, His Power has not diminished even a little bit. He is speaking to us this night and He is saying, “Arise and Shine for your light has come.”
If we believe that the Lord Jesus went and stood in front of that paralytic man, the Lord Jesus Christ went and stood in front of the blind man and He did that for him, that same Jesus Christ is in our midst. That same Jesus Christ is looking to us and He is saying ‘Arise.’
We have to put our name in that Book of Isaiah Chapter 60 Verse 1: we have to put our name and just say, “Arise and put your name there. Arise Pradeep, Arise Kiruba, Arise Stanley, Arise Gincy for your light has come, the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” When we put our names in that it becomes so personal to us because it is God, the same Jesus Christ who went about doing good - is the Risen Lord and He is right in front of us and He is saying, “Arise for your light has come. The glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. Gentiles will come to thy light and kings to the brightness of thy rising.”
And we are going to close by reading Isaiah 60 Verse 1, 2, 3 one more time.
1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
Jesus says in John Chapter 15 Verse 5, Without me, you can do nothing.
Without Jesus Christ, we can do nothing. As long as we live in Him, abide in Him, only then we can bear fruit. In the same way, unless the Lord’s light comes on our lives unless God shines His light on our lives, our life will remain dark. Unless God comes and turns our situation around everything will look gloomy. So we have to be so thankful to the Lord because we have the light of this world, Jesus Christ, who is standing in front of us tonight, who is giving us this promise for us this month saying, “Arise and Shine for thy light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.”
I just want to rehearse it one more time. Three parts of this message: One is what we do – Arise, the other thing is – Shine; we shine because God’s Light has come. Our job is to Arise. We cannot shine on our own. When His light comes on us, we shine. So we have to remember this part: we obey, we act on the word of God. Jesus comes and tells us ‘Arise’, and we do that and then He makes us shine. In what that light does to us is, that He not only turns our darkness around and puts a new song in our mouth, but He causes the Gentiles to come to that light of Jesus Christ, and the kings to the brightness of thy rising.
So we are going to pray and ask the Lord tonight, we are going to ask him to bless us this night. We are going to seek the Lord’s Face and ask Him, “Father, make this word a reality in my life.”
We are going to say, “Jesus, help me to realize Lord, that you are standing in front of me and telling this to me, Arise, whatever circumstance you are going through Arise; whatever depression it may be, whatever anxiety it may be, God is telling us, Arise and Shine, for your light has come.” Take that as a promise for this month and say, “Lord I will arise, I will declare your goodness, I want gentiles to see that light. I want kings to see that light. Lord, I want to be that light that you want me to be. Your light should shine through me. I want to be that vessel Lord. I want to let that light, shine through me.” And the Lord is faithful to do that.
Let’s close our eyes and look to the Lord.
Thank you, Jesus, we thank you, Lord, we thank you, Lord, we thank you, Father, thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for Your Word for this month. Thank you, Lord Father, thank you for your life Father; for your timing God Father, for you telling us to Arise and Shine Lord, for the kings can come to that light Jesus Christ so that gentiles can come to that light Jesus Christ. We ask you Oh Father, help us Lord Father, each one of us not to look at our circumstance Lord but to Arise, in the midst of that darkness to Arise, so that we can see your light shining on us Lord. So that people can see your light shining on us, Jesus. Lord we pray.
Lord, help us to be like that man, who arose, took up his bed and who walked, who listened to you and obeyed. Lord, help us to be like that the blind man Father, who walked all the way to that pool at Siloam, to wash his eyes O God. O Father, help us, Lord Father. Lord we pray: Give us that obedient heart, that heart of faith Oh Father, that simple child-like heart Jesus, when you will tell us to do something, not to question you God. Lord, we pray to help us Lord Father, to know our time Oh God. Help us to know the time of our visitation Jesus we ask you.
Shine, Jesus, shine
Fill this land with the Father's glory
Blaze, Spirit, blaze
Set our hearts on fire
Flow, river, flow
Flood the nations with grace and mercy
Send forth your word
Lord, and let there be light
May God use this message to speak to you over and over again, and to make you long for His presence in your life so that His light may dispel all the darkness in your heart, and make you a blazing torch in His Hands to illuminate this dark world. Blessed Heavenly Father, you are the light of the world and you said, that whoever follows you will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life. Bless the listeners richly Oh Father and cause them to inherit all the blessings that you have for them as they put their trust in you. In Jesus' Name, we thank you, Lord, Amen.
Shall we pray? Blessed Heavenly Father, you are the light of the world and you said, that whoever follows you will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life. Bless the listeners richly Oh Father and cause them to inherit all the blessings that you have for them as they put their trust in you. In Jesus Name we thank you, Lord, Amen.
May God richly bless you until the next time!
