The blind man had his eyes opened with mud by the One who is the Light of the world. People there thought foolishly and could not comprehend this mystery. The nature of the ministry of Christ is to show what He can do for us. Once we were blind, now we see. (John 9: Song of Solomon 3:1-4; Acts 9:15-16; Acts 26:18)

Speaker(s): Thomas Schaller
Sermon 12443
7:00 PM on 1/18/2023

P. Schaller –

Okay. Pray with me for a moment. (Prayer). Okay. I want to introduce a thought for you tonight for our message
that comes later, and that is has Jesus Christ done anything for you in your life? Has Christ
done anything for you? Yeah. That’s what I want you to think about tonight.
What has he done? What has Christ done for you? Is the ministry of Christ that is on the earth
not just here in this room tonight for which we are very, very, very thankful but everywhere.
Everywhere where Christ’s name is mentioned. Everywhere where the gospel is preached.
What does Christ do for people? Is he alive? What does he do? What’s the impact of his
ministry to us? Can you put your finger on it? Can you describe it? Can you explain it to
somebody?

I’d like you to look at Acts when Paul got saved, chapter 9. Just a couple verses in Acts when
Paul met Christ on the Damascus road. Where are we? vs.15. This is Ananias that was sent to
pray for Paul and this was needed. Paul needed a brother to pray for him. God was showing
him Body life in a sense. vs. 15. to bear my name. This is what Paul did. Paul was a chosen
vessel to bring the ministry into the world to kings, Gentiles, and Jews.

Then the last part is Acts 26. I was thinking about this today. What is the ministry? What is the
ministry? Why do we assemble? What is the ministry? What does it mean? What does it do for
people? Look at Acts 26:15-16. By the way, ministers, do not highly exalt them. Don’t trash
them. But don’t put them up on a pedestal or highly exalt them. They are just servants that are
faithful to God. They have a portion in the ministry, but the ministry is not them. The ministry is
Christ in the Body. Christ.

What is he doing? vs. 17. Wow. Does the ministry deliver us from the power of Satan? That’s a
good question, isn’t it? Has he delivered you from the power of Satan? It’s a question. Has he
opened your eyes to turn you from darkness to light? Has he done that? Isn’t that a great
question? That is. That’s amazing. If this is real, then shouldn’t it be in all the world? If this is
real, shouldn’t it be in places far removed and in darkness and blindness and pain and unbelief
and foolishness.

Because the ministry is not foolish. The ministry, it is wise. The ministry is not a waste of time.
The ministry has great value in the present and in my presence life and in the world to come. It
prepares me for the world that is to come. The ministry has an incredible amount of value in the
eyes of God for it came from God. It is operating through God and it glorifies God.

I’m not saying Greater Grace World Outreach. Yeah, we’re part of it. But it’s more than us. It’s
the ministry at the time of the Apostle Paul and through the last 2,000 years. What has it done
for people? What is it’s value? Why do we invest our time in it? Why do we give our lives to be
faithful stewards of its mysteries? For these are mysteries we are talking about. Things not
clearly understood by the world. If the world understood it, they would be in here. They’d be part
of it. If the world was part of it, they would be part of it. If the world understood it, they would be
beholding it and understanding it and appreciating it and knowing it and discerning it and
moving in it and believing in it and loving in it and through it. They would. But they don’t because
this is its nature. We’ll speak about it later.

Let’s finish this. vs. 18. What is an inheritance? What have we inherited? What is it that God our
Father has given to us? We have received an inheritance. Do we know about it? Have we heard
about it? In a way, I think of the pastor with a legal document acting to explain to the family what
your uncle has given you. The uncle you never knew about has given you an inheritance of a
million dollars. The attorney is reading the last will and testament of your unknown uncle that
has left you a treasure.

In a parallel way, this is the Bible and the ministry of the Word is to reveal to us what it is that we
have received from Christ, what is our inheritance. And it’s the Holy Spirit who is our teacher to show it to us. When we realize it that actually we have inherited spiritual blessings, blessings of
incredible magnitude. Way beyond what we could ask or think. Inheritance could be called the
name of God. I’m called by your name Jeremiah said. Your words were found. Jeremiah said, “I
found the word and it was a joy and rejoicing of my heart for I am called by thy name, O Lord
God.” I am called by God’s name. This is our inheritance. Okay. That’s the end.
What I want you to do is lean over to your neighbor and just say, have you gotten anything from
Jesus Christ? Have you received something from Jesus Christ into your spirit and heart? What
have you received?

Now, the message for tonight. Are you good? Do you want to stand or no? It’s Wednesday
night. No! No! No! Okay. So, you’re awake. Everybody is awake and ready to listen? Alright. I’ll
break this down. I hope it will help us.

Turn to Song of Solomon for the first short part. I want to make a few points here. Song of
Solomon. Seeing Jesus. Seeing Jesus. This is John 9. There was a blind man who was healed.
We’ll look at that in a minute. He saw Jesus eventually. He saw Jesus. He heard. He was
healed. He lived in faith. He understood this is Christ. He saw Jesus.

In Song of Solomon 3, she knew the one that loved her and she sought him on her bed, Song of Solomon
3:1. I love that. I sought him but I did not find him. That’s like us. I sought him. I know him. I
know him. I know who he is. I sought for him. There’s nobody like him. There’s nobody like him.
He is God. And I know him. You know him. You know him. And you seek him but you can’t find
him.

So, then vs. 2-3. There’s no answer. That’s like going on the street or even talking to your
relatives who are not believers. And you say to them, have you seen him? Do you know Jesus?
Do you know where he is? I’m looking for him. Do you know? They don’t know what you are
talking about. So you pass from them, vs. 4. This is a spiritual poem that addresses the longings
of our heart to be intimate with Christ and to connect with him in fellowship. For his countenance
to be on us in Psalm 27, Numbers 6:23-24. For God to speak to our hearts like at the Last Supper. For
him to send the Holy Spirit into our lives like at Acts 2 at the time of Pentecost.

Or as in the time – this literally happened to me. I was in love with the woman that was to be my
wife. I was living in Finland. I went up in the attic of the house we were renting and I knelt down
by myself and asked God if I should ask her to marry me. And it was one of those visitations of
peace and love in my heart. A go. Green light. Go for it. Go. Ask her. So, I did. You probably
have times when you can say in a service, in a meeting, in a prayer time, in active obedience, in
a mission, in a time when you forgave someone, the visitation of God in your life. And you found
him whom your soul loves. This is a real thing.

Now, our diagram just to help us in our concentration. We have the house with two floors. Jn. 9
is our text. There’s a blind man and all people, we all live in the first floor of the house and we
see things in life on the first floor. Because we cannot see up above. We cannot see God. We
cannot see why is the man blind?

So, let’s turn there, John 9. God is good to us, isn’t he? He is. He’s good to us. He is. He has
something for you. He has something for you all the time. He is for you all the time. He is the
God of all grace. He is so much for you. Look at chapter 9:1. This is on our diagram, floor #1.
First floor. vs. 2. Of course, we wonder why. On the first floor, we know the word “what.” We ask
what. But why is a philosophical word. Why did it happen? Why was there a car accident? Why
is somebody sick? Why is a man blind? Why didn’t it work out? Why am I being penalized or
why am I being judged or why am I suffering? These are good questions and they don’t have
the answer here on the first floor.

What’s the value of the ministry? What’s the value of the ministry? That phrase just kind of – I
like turning it round and round and thinking about it. vs. 3. That’s why he’s blind. Cause I’m here. He’s blind cause I’m here and I’m going to heal him. That’s why he’s blind. Wow! People don’t
talk like that but Jesus does. People don’t understand this life but Jesus does. Jesus knows
what’s going on.

If we could get a little bit, a little piece of Christ in our life. If we could find Christ, a little piece of
it here and there so to speak. Give me a word, Lord. Give me your Spirit God. I am after you. I
seek you. I know who you are. I know you are the answer for my life. I know you will bring me –
I’m in the first floor, but you will bring me bigger into the bigger room, because that’s what this
chapter 9 is about. And I’m going to make the message – I think it will be short. Look at chapter
9:5.

See it. Light. Who? Jesus is the light. We could write it through over the whole house. Jesus is
the light of the world. Jesus. But there are people that don’t know Jesus. There are people that
don’t care about Jesus. There are people that are not humble before Jesus. There are people
that are blind to Jesus. They’re right in this chapter. When a miracle happens in their very
presence, when a miracle happens, they know that this man was born blind. They know that this
man has been sitting there begging his whole life. They know that, what this is. Jesus is the light
of the world but men live in darkness. They don’t want to know about Jesus.

Let’s read it. vs. 6-7, many of us who have been in Jerusalem have been at that pool. We’ve
walked around in the city of David. If you ever get a chance before the Rapture, right? While you
are still alive, if you can go there it’s something that sticks with you the rest of your life. This man
went there.

As he goes there without seeing Jesus because the clay, the mud is on his eyes. He just goes
and walks down to the pool, washes, and then he is healed. That means to me the ministry isn’t
always so clear to me what is actually happening. You mean if I go to that little church, that little
Pentecostal church down the road that God could speak to me? Yeah, he could. You mean that
if I pull in and I go to some meeting somewhere and I listen to some guy preach, a farmer
preach, that this could change my life? Yeah.
In the 18th century, it happened in Sweden. A farmer. In the 18th century in Finland, a farmer. In Norway, 18th century. A farmer. One farmer walked 200 miles to get a little book, a little
devotional book, and his heart was on fire.

And just went to farms and was preaching the
gospel. You mean the kingdom of God is something like you don’t always see what is going on
but you just kind of say my life is messed up. I’ve been blind. Now my face is dirty. But I’m
believing the voice that told me. I’m going by faith. I’m washing. And he comes seeing.
Who did that? I don’t know. I never saw him. I never saw. It was Jesus that did that. Jesus did it.
That’s our life. The estimation of its value is beyond human calculation and empirical data. You
cannot put your finger on the value of a changed life who was turned from Satan to God.
Go to the next portion there. vs. 7-9. Some said that’s him. Others said I don’t know. He’s like
him but I don’t know that that is him. vs. 10-12.

That’s like God, isn’t it? Where is he? I don’t
know. How about your friends and your family and your neighbors that see your life is changed.
Where is he? Show me Jesus and I will believe in him. Really? I don’t know about that. Do you
want him? Are you after him? Do you believe in him? Do you believe that God is a living God
that could change your life and what would happen in your life would be of incredible value and
importance to you. He’ll give you new friends, new spirit, new mind, new heart, new motivation,
new purpose. Do you want that? No, I don’t want it. I’m good. I’m good. That’s how it goes. This
is what’s going on here.

vs. 13. Now, it’s getting really dicey here. The Pharisees are getting in the picture. vs. 14. When
you see the word “Pharisee” sometimes just think of the word “pride.” Religious pride. Like us,
by the way. This can happen to us. We become proud. We are some kind of Greater Grace Pharisee or Baptist or Pentecostal or Catholic or whatever it might be. A Pharisee. Or a secular,
unbeliever atheist who is proud. Pride is the nature of the human race.
The Pharisee says to the blind man, vs. 15-16. First floor. First floor. Division. Division. It’s not in
the kingdom. God is not divided. God is not the God of division. God is the God of – He is the
God of unity with diversity. God is the God that makes us all different from each other. All of us
are wonderfully different from each other, every one of us. We are all different and yet we are
one because God is one. They are divided.

vs. 17-18. Now, it’s getting into – okay. Okay. Parents. Division. Pride. A lot of talking. Tell us
again how this happened. How did this happen? We don’t believe that it happened. Is this the
same person. What is going on? This is the nature of the world. What is the nature of the
ministry? That’s a good question. What’s the nature of the ministry? What is it supposed to do to
us? What does the ministry do to us? It’s good work, isn’t it? It’s amazing. It’s the greatest thing
going on in the world is the ministry of Christ. It’s the greatest answer for our problem. It’s a
manifestation of God that has the biggest and lasting impact in our hearts. Just ask anybody
here who has been here 50 years. How did it start? In your heart. And what is it now still? In
your heart. It is still in my memory. It is still in my heart. There is nothing like it. There is nothing
of any more value. There is nothing that can turn my heart on. Nothing that could carry me
through my life. Nothing that could teach me to forgive and not live like a fool.

Actually, we looked up that word tonight. Ulla did for me. There’s some words for it but I’m not
going to go into that. I just want to say this world without God is really a world of foolishness.
How could you live your life for no good reason? What do you live for? How could you live your
life without a divine purpose? How could we live? We can. We can. And in the story, it looks like
these people are doing it.

Look at vs. 20-21. Why did they talk like that? Because they didn’t want to get thrown out of the
synagogue. vs. 22. By the way, in church life, church politics destroys churches. Church party
spirits and church politics eats us up. It divides us. It produces conversations and talk and
chatter that is not edifying. This is chatter that is not edifying. Where are his parents? What do
you have to say about it? But they can’t say it directly because they are afraid. It’s like an empty
world but there is something that is way beyond like the way people are. That’s the, that’s what
we are reading in the story. Jesus is there and that means the Holy Spirit is there. That means
this man loves Jesus. He loves Jesus. Life is reduced to Jesus. He loves Jesus with all his
heart.

I don’t know. I was blind but now I see. I don’t care about you people. You people in your small
talk. You people in your little world of pride and religion. You people that are just chattering.
None of you care about me. I was blind and now I see. None of you are asking me about my life
or talking to me like you love me. None of you care about me. No man cares for my soul. There
is one that cares for me. One that can speak to me. One that can heal me. One that visits me.
One that will carry me all my life. One that will identify and be compassionate. One that will help
me and answer my prayer. One that will help me raise a family and forgive my friends and live in
the Spirit of God and the love of God. There’s one only and that’s Jesus.

If you are church member or a church person like we are and you dive into this stuff, my, my,
my. I’m out of there. Does anybody talk about Jesus. Has anybody gotten a fresh touch from
Jesus. Is anybody moved by Jesus? Is anybody loving people because of Jesus? Is anybody
excited about Jesus? Anybody relating to Jesus? I saw him on my bed and I couldn’t find him,
so I went out on the street and I said to the first person I met, have you seen him whom my soul
loves? And they couldn’t say a thing. And I passed from them and then I found him. She knew it.
That’s what we want. We have it. It comes and goes so to speak but we have it all the time.

There is never a time he is not with you. Never a time he’s against you. Never a time when he is
judging you. Never a time when he is condemning you. It’s always a time like this one. He’s
always saying – it may come across funny because he puts mud on your face and tells you to wash, but as you do you come away seeing. You say, yeah. I got it. I know who Jesus is. I know
what the ministry really is. What it really is. What it really does. How it really affects people. How
demons are cast out and people turn from Satan to God. How bad habits drop away like dirt off
your body in the shower. Sin just drops like leaves off a tree and bad habits go out the window
because of him.

Let’s go to the last part here. We’ll go down to vs. 25. And you people don’t care about me. You
don’t care about my changed life. You just care about your little world. You have no idea what
God did with the food bank. What God did with the bus picking up people. What God did with a
missionary. You have no idea what God did in changing a life in an Islamic country. You have no
idea what God did in a Hindu or Buddhist country or a Communist country. You have no idea
what God has done through the ministry of Christ on the earth. Right? Well, actually I think we
do know cause it happened to us. This is where we are living and moving.

We’ll finish here. They came up with a lame, funny statement in vs. 31. Oh, thank you for your
theology. Very good. Very good. Man, I’m falling asleep listening to you. vs. 31-32. This sounds
like the blind man talking. vs. 33-38. there you go. This world is one way but this one, he
worshipped him. I would just like to put in there when that happens, you don’t forget it. You got
it. You got Jesus. You got it. You got eternal life. You got it. You got forgiveness of sin. You got it.
You got God, our Heavenly Father, the only wise, true God. What else matters? Who cares?
Who cares? We are worshippers of God. Who cares about this stuff? God will take care of us.
We have found him and we love him.

vs. 39. Let’s do a closing warning for us. On the first floor, all these people are saying I see. I
see. I see. I understand it. I understand it. And Jesus said, you’re blind. You don’t see a thing.
You don’t see. But the guy that’s blind with his eyes, he’s blind – I by my grace came so he
might see. But he’s going to see the whole thing, isn’t he? He will see it all because Jesus is that
light.

vs. 40. Jesus is saying, yeah, you got it right. You’re blind. What? You’re saying we are blind?
Yeah. You are. You are. You know, tonight before we came to church, I said to my wife at the
dinner table; she said what are you going to speak about? I said I’m just caught on this idea of
what is the ministry. What is the ministry? What is it that we are doing? How does it affect
people? What is the ministry and the value of it?

I just introduced the theme tonight this way and hope it speaks to your heart. It is the most
incredible thing on the earth and one day we will see it. Don’t forsake it. Don’t treat it as a
common thing. Don’t say I can take it or leave it. Don’t be a homebody and stay home all the
time. And don’t withdraw and get the way we can get as people. I know. I know I can. I can get
attached to things that are of this world, but as they turn and show me I’m just tired. I need
Jesus. I’m just tired out. People run from one thing to another and we are just saying, no. The
ministry means we can sit in quiet and listen to God speak to our hearts and help us and
comfort us. We can be together and put our eyes on him.

The ministry means in all the stages of life, we have something more than just the first floor of
the house. Our kids need it. It doesn’t matter how old they are. Our grandchildren. Elderly
people need it. All of us need it. All the time. The people that are unbelievers in the world, they
need our missionaries. They need our workers. We have Turkish and Finnish and French
people here in Bible school. They need it. It happened to them. It happened to them. They found
Jesus. It happened to them. And for us to be part of this and to see the hand of God in it is just
an incredible joy. Okay. Amen. Let’s pray.

Please enjoy these sermon notes from the messages preached at Greater Grace Church in Baltimore. These notes are provided to aid in your study and understanding of the Word. Note that these notes do not represent complete, word-for-word transcriptions. Also, they may contain omissions as well as some errors in spelling and structure, etc., as we attempt to provide them as soon as possible. Our hope is that these notes serve as a way to help you search and connect with messages on related subjects and passages. Thank you for your interest in the ministry of Greater Grace.