The Church of Eleven22 - I Am The Man: Testimony - Wk 2

Episode Date: January 21, 2024

I am the man. I was blind. I met Jesus. Now I can see. Share your testimony with us at coe22.com/stories/ - The Church of Eleven22® is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. Eleven22 is led by Pastor Joby Martin and based in Jacksonville, Florida, with multiple campuses throughout Jacksonville and the surrounding areas. To find out more about how God is moving at Eleven22, go to coe22.com

Amen and amen. Hey, how many of you know the young man in that video was the smartest guy in the group? You realize that? Not because he knows the most. He knows that he knows the least, but he wants to surround himself with people that know more than he does.

And I promise you, the food in that disciple group is better than one if he went to a bunch of people his own age. Amen? Hey, if you've got a Bible, grab one. We're going to be in John, Chapter 9. We're in week two of this series that we're calling testimony.

Last week, we talked about the power of testimony. that Revelation 12 says, and they, talking about the church, and they will overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of your testimony, and they love not their lives even under death. So we talked about the power of testimony. And today we're going to talk about your story, about your testimony, because God is writing your story. Now, one of the things that's interesting, you know,

I've been preaching here since 2012 when we opened this place up. I preach probably 40-ish times a year here. And I found out this week, I have not. never taught John 9 at 1122, which is crazy. So one of my favorite passages in all the scripture, I feel like I say that every week, but it's true every week. John, one of my favorite verses from high school is in this. John 9-9, you'll see why in a little while.

But every single time we've taught John 9, Pastor Ryan Stone has been the one to preach it. And if you don't know who Stone is, you must be brand new, because he is an OG. He was a part of the original team that helped us plant the church. I love this guy. He's a godly man, and he's had about 12 jobs since we opened the play. and he's currently our St. John's campus pastor,

and so if you're at St. John's, you are blessed beyond measure because you have Pastor Stone as your campus pastor. And if you have Stone's number right now, get out your phone and text him right now, okay? Just blow him up, tell him how awesome he is. Everybody loves to be encouraged. He loves it more than most, you understand? And if you're at St. John's, after the service,

I just want you to hug him over and over and over, and it'll mean a lot to him, and he'll cling a little bit too long. All right. Now, love that guy. John chapter 9 It's a very familiar passage If you've been around Bible study

It comes after John 8 If you've ever thought that Jesus is not offensive Then you've never read the Bible John 8 Jesus gets in a fight He actually picks a fight In 8 and 9

With the religious people With the Pharisees And he says to the Pharisees Every time you move your gums You're lying you're just like you daddy The devil, that's what he says And then in John 8 He tells them they're deaf, they don't have ears to hear,

and now in John 9 he's going to tell them they're blind. And so he's just going for it. There's this festival going on in John 8 and 9 in Jerusalem at the temple, and it's called the Festival of Light, a lot of bunch of candles and stuff, it's going to matter. Jesus is going to the temple every day to preach. At night, he'll go out to the Mount of Olives and kind of camp out. And in verse 9, I mean, chapter 9, verse 1, this is where we pick it up.

It says, as He, that's Jesus, passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. Now, if you've been around Bible study for a while, anybody read John 9 before? If you haven't, it's no problem. I'm going to teach you all about it. Okay, six of us, neat. Come on, people, read your Bibles.

The problem with a passage like this, if you're familiar with it, is your mind jumps to the end. You know what I mean? Like, spoiler alert, Jesus is going to heal the blind guy. Sorry to ruin it for you if this is new. Jesus is into healing blind people. seven times in the gospel,

Jesus brings sight to the blind. It's a fulfillment of prophecy. Now, here's the problem. Is that when you read this in like Bible study, your mind jumps to the end of the story. And it's a problem if you think about it like a story instead of an actual event. Jesus, as he passed by,

saw a blind man. Blind from birth. Imagine what his parents are going through, right? Find out they're pregnant. A bunch of us have been there. You've got hopes, you've got dreams. You're praying for a healthy kid. And then at some point, at delivery, they find out something's wrong.

They begin to ask these questions, did we do something wrong? Is this our fault? Right? And imagine this poor guy. We know, based on tradition, this guy's probably in his 30s at this point because he's called a grown man. And his whole life, man, he's been an outcast. people have said, is this your fault?

This might be your fault. Did you do this? He's uneducated. He can't go into the temple. He's outside of the synagogue. He can't be involved in community. The Bible's going to say that he's a beggar. This is a regular dude, man.

He's got a first name, you understand. And every single day he gets up and the best he can do is go and sit outside the temple. And that would be like our version of church and he's begging. He has nothing. nothing to offer this world, and from his perspective, he's got nothing to offer God. He doesn't want to be in this place. And as Jesus passed by, Jesus saw this man.

Here's what I need you to know. Some of you might feel like the blind man right now. Maybe you find yourself in a set of circumstances, and this is not how you saw your life going. And you're asking yourself, is this my fault? Did I do something? Does God hate me? I want you to know this.

God sees you. Jesus sees you right now. And right now, right where you are, you're sitting around some people and they know that there is no testimony without a test. And that God is in the business of taking us in our biggest messes

and miraculously using them to share the good news of the message that he loves you and he ain't done with you, amen? And he sees, he doesn't glance at him. He sees him so much that the disciples see him, see him. Because they're going to ask a question. And so Jesus sees him.

He sees you too. And if you'll let us, this church will walk along with you no matter what you are going through. And if you have been ignored by the rest of the world, we, the church, the body of Christ, wants to be the tangible expression of the reality that the Son of God sees you right now. And his disciples ask Jesus, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Well, my first thought is, he's blind. He ain't deaf, dummy. up. He can hear you say this stuff. So there was his first century idea that people thought that if you were suffering, it was because of previous sin either in your life or somebody else's,

which is really not based in the scripture at all. That's called karma. Just newsflash, karma and the gospel do not line up together. Karma says you get what you deserve. Now listen, I know people like to put a little stupid karma stickers on their car and stuff. If you got one, scrape it off before you leave the parking lot. Thank you. You know what karma teaches? Karma would have you believe that you walk into Children's Wolfson Hospital and the cancer ward and say, y'all deserve this.

That's what karma teaches. Karma says you get what you deserve. I don't want what we deserve. I want grace and mercy and love and God is rich in mercy and he doles it out upon us and not only does he withhold what we deserve, he gives us what we don't deserve, and that's new life in him. Give me some gospel of Jesus Christ, amen?

And so, it's a legit question, Rabbi who sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind? The reality is, is there are reasons for pain and suffering. And if you are in pain and suffering, I'm going to give you at least five reasons while that might be true, though it's not going to help your heart at all. So if I was sitting with you at the hospital,

I wouldn't point one of these out, I would just go John 11, put my arm around you when we cry together. Okay, tell you God loves you, and he's still got the whole world and his hands. But the reason that there is pain and suffering in this world, there's at least five. Number one, we live in a fallen world. And when sin entered the world, not like your individual sin, but when Adam and Eve reject God and sin entered the world, sin held the door open for pain and strife and suffering to walk in with it. The world is broken.

at the cellular level, so it might be cancer or a car wreck or a natural catastrophe. But the good news is Jesus is not just coming to save sinners, he's also coming to make the whole thing new, that all of it will be restored one day. There'll be no hurricanes in heaven, praise God. And surfers, don't worry, waves will be good all the time, I think, or something. So number one, it's collateral damage of the fallen world. Sometimes, man, we just live in a broken world, bad things happen.

Number two, sometimes it's a direct attack of the enemy. Yeah, sometimes the devil is attacking you. And, you know, people are like, you mean to tell me you still believe in the devil? First of all, I preached for an hour last week about it, so go back and listen to that. Secondly, go ahead and punch yourself in the face if you don't believe in him. Because he's going to kick your tail, you might as well get it started now, okay? Number three, sometimes it is your sin. I mean, you know, my daddy used to say, boy, you're going to be dumb, you better be tough.

That should be in the Proverbs. I've been pastoring for 30 years. I've had people come to me and be like, Pastor, the devil's attacking me. Okay, tell me what's going on. And they explain to me some of the decisions they're making. And I go, well, there's good news, bad news. Good news, you're right.

The devil's attacking you. Bad news, you're the devil. I said, man. The devil's not attacking your finances. You just keep spending money. You don't have all stuff you don't need. Oh, you understand what I'm saying. Like the kingdom is set up with certain principles,

and if you don't abide by those kingdom principles, you'll never be positioned for that kind of blessing. So sometimes it is a result of our own sin. Sometimes the reason you're suffering is somebody else's sin. It's not your fault, man. It's not your fault. They lied about you. They abused you.

They misused your power. Whatever it is, other people sin against us. So there's a fallen world, attack of the enemy, your sin, other sin, and then sometimes this is the hardest one to get your mind around. It is directly from the hand of God. We don't like to teach this one in America. in 2020, whatever it is. You're like, where you get this?

How about the Apostle Paul, 2 Corinthians? He's got a thorn in the flesh. Thank God he doesn't tell us exactly what it is if he did. There'd be a whole section at the Bible bookstore just on that one particular thing. But it was in his flesh and it was a thorn and it hurt and he didn't want it.

And he goes to God three times and says, would you take this away from me? And I don't think this means he prays like one to who, three prayers. I don't think that's what it means. I think there's like three seasons of intense prayer and fastings saying, God, would you please remove this thorn from my flesh?

And you know what God's answer is? My grace is sufficient for you. He's actually saying, I have tormented you to keep you from your own pride. Ooh. Or how about Old Testament Joseph Cote him any colors, God? He gets beaten up by his brothers, domestic violence. He gets sold into slavery, human traffic.

He gets accused of something he doesn't do and spend a whole bunch of years in jail. and yet God used all of that in his life and elevated him to senior VP of all of Egypt in order to save God's children out of which the Messiah would come. And one day he's standing in front of his brothers who beat him up and sold him into slavery and said, am I not in the place of God? You intended this for evil, but God intended this for good. Don't miss that.

We don't like to quote it that way. People misquoted all the time and say, what you intended for evil, God used for good. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. God doesn't drive an ambulance. He doesn't wake up, be like, what have you all done? Oh, don't worry about it. I can clean this mess up. No, no, no, no, no, no.

He's still got the whole world in his hands, and he is in charge, especially when it doesn't make sense to us. Maybe my favorite one lately, Jesus and Peter are talking after the last supper. And Peter, my favorite disciple, because he always talks. And he's like, Jesus, I would never leave you, I would never forsake you. I would die for you. And Jesus is like, that's adorable. And then he says this, Jesus says this, he says,

the devil is going to sift you, but I'll pray for you. To which if I'm Peter, I'm like, hey, Jesus, how about don't let him sift me, whatever that means. Falling world, attack of the enemy, your sin, other sin, directly from the hand of God. But all five fall under this truth, Romans 828, that God is at work in all things for the good of those that love him and are called according to his purpose.

You see, we have this idea. It goes all the way back to the book of Job. Job's entire life gets crushed. Children die. His house falls apart. His businesses go away. What is interesting, though, is, but he keeps his wife. I don't know what that means.

I don't know what that means. It's like, oh, you're going to be miserable. No, you just keep her for a while. But anyway, that's a different sermon probably. And his friends are like, well, would you do wrong? You had to do something wrong. It's like, no, man, that's not how it works. Jesus is going to answer this.

your current suffering isn't necessarily based on some past sin. And we know it's not in this one because Jesus says, whoa, Jesus answered, it was not that this man sinned nor his parents. God's not being punitive, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. You see, we always want to figure out what the cause is, and Jesus says you're asking the wrong question,

and it's not about the cause. Let me tell you what the purpose for this pain is. Look, pain only makes sense when there's a sovereign God, and He is your supreme affection. And so, he says, we must work the works of him who sent me while at his day. Night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Let me tell you some work we got to do. Especially in light of this, some parents that had a child that was born blind and they are thinking, why has this happened? And the answer of Jesus is for the glory of God. That's why this has happened. In just a few weeks, we got Night to Shine coming up. You've been to Night to Shine.

Night to Shine is a prom for special needs folks. And a group of people that gets ignored by everybody, we're going to roll out the red carpet and put on the rits for these folks. You understand? There, VIPs here at 1122. And so, now listen, man, if you've never been to Night to Shine, I'm telling you, I've never been to an event that smells more like Jesus than this thing right here called Night to Shine.

And so we need a bunch of volunteers to show up. You will be the blessed one. Now listen, now this is not a competition, except in the previous years, if you added up all the volunteers from every other organization and every other church, 1122 had more volunteers than all them put together. Now, it's not a competition, but we better win again, you understand. So, go to night to shine jacks.com. You can sign up.

If you live in Jessup, we're running one in Jessup too, so just ask PJ there, and he will get you all signed up, sign up for that right now. Now, don't miss this. Jesus sees this God. The disciples asked the question. Jesus says, oh, it's for the glory of God. And what's going to happen is that this blind man's going to see. And what we're going to see is this poor blind man who can't see

is actually going to be the one that sees reality clearly. And the religious leaders that have all kind of access are actually going to be the blind ones. And Jesus, who is the light of the world, is going to allow the man that he sees to see. That's what's about to happen. and having said these things, he spit on the ground and he made some mud with his saliva. And then he anointed the man's eyes with mud. What?

This is how you know Jesus used to be a youth pastor. That's how you know. Just doing weird stuff. Why in the world would he do this? I mean, think about it. The man's blind, but he can hear. And you know what he hears? And he's like, what is that noise?

And then he made some mud. This is like, he spits. on the ground, he gets some mud, and he's like neat and, you know, mushing it together. So this is just, and this guy's like, did a cow get his foot stuck in the mud? Is that what's going on? Are there teenagers making out? I don't, what am I hearing here? Jesus over there making mud, what's he doing, man?

And then he don't even ask. He goes, boom, puts it on his eyeballs. A little mud mask. Now, here's what I think. I don't know. Here's what I think. All throughout the book of John, Jesus wants everybody to know that he is God. seven times he makes these I am statements.

Jesus sees this man born blind, and he goes, you know what, I can do a lot with a little bit of dirt. If you're not picking what I'm putting it down, Genesis, God speaks everything into existence, but when he creates human being, his image bears, the Bible says he gathers together the dirt, the dust, Ottama is the Hebrew word. It's where we get the name Adam.

He gathers together the dust of the earth, and he makes the shell of a human being, but it's not until he breathes in the breath of life, the ruach of life, and the very first man opens his eyes, and he is face to face, and he beholds the glory of God, he is face to face with his creator, and that's what every single one of us were created to do. And so when Jesus does the mud thing, he's like, I can do a lot with a little bit of dirt, and he puts it on the man's eyes.

Notice this man has been blind from birth. He's not fixing his broken eyes. He's giving him something that he's never, ever had before, and that is sight to behold the glory of God. I think it's a picture of our salvation. He's not just saying, hey, here's a few tips so you could be a better version of you. He wants to create in you a brand new creation,

and the old is gone and the new has come through the salvific work of Jesus Christ. That's what's happening. And then he says, DeWin, go and wash at the pool of Salon. And I think, how is he going to find it? So you don't think about this stuff when you read the Bible. You've got to think about it. The man can't.

He's like, okay, because he can't see. And I'm not trying to belittle anybody that can't see. In other words, he's going to have to have help to get there. Following Jesus is not an individual activity. You've got to have help. And so he goes to the pool of Saloam, which means sent. Now, why does John make sure that we know what Saloam means? Here's why.

It because Jesus was sent on a rescue mission for you and me, and the moment that you and I are rescued, we become a part of the rescue team, and then we are sent out so that more people can get rescued. The way that Stone said it a few years ago when he taught it is this. He says, when God opens your eyes, he wants you to open your mouth. That you are sent. And so he went and he washed, and he came back seeing.

This is a big deal. You realize that in the natural, this don't make any sense, does it? I mean, what's Jesus doing with the mud and the spit and to go over there, and you can't see? Why? He could have just said, ta-da, and boom, he could see. see. And yet, when did the man see? The miracle happened on the other side of a few steps of obedience. This is the whole crux of the 10-10 life, abundant life that you and I are chasing after.

It's that the good shepherd speaks to his sheep. And when we do what he says, especially when it doesn't make sense, especially when it's hard. How many of you know that some of you, the miracle that you're praying for, could be on the other side of six or seven steps of obedience that don't make sense in your head? Because these ways are not our ways, man. And what's crazy is, the guy wasn't even asking to be healed. Do you notice this? You see, Jesus wasn't hung up on the temporary, that he was focused on the eternal. This man's asking for a little bit of change, and what gives him, God gives him a changed life.

Amen? So that's what happens. And then everybody's going to chime in because that's what people do. And their neighbors, and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, is this not the man who used to sit and beg? By the way, the greatest apologetic for the gospel is a changed life. I mean, apologetics have their place. Like, defending the historicity of the Bible and all that stuff has this place for sure.

But the most powerful apologetic for the faith is a changed life. But the neighbors are like, we're not sure if it's him or not. Verse 9. Some said, it's he. And others said, no, but he is like him. Do you know why I think this is happening? Because they didn't see him. You get this?

He was just like white noise to them because he couldn't do anything for them. He couldn't contribute to them. He couldn't participate in what they thought was important. And so every single day, even though they passed him along the street, they did not have eyes to see because this world will ignore you if you can't play its game. And yet, the king of the universe saw him

and did something about it. So they're arguing, is it him? Verse nine, this is like my life verse in high school. Some said, it is he. Others said, no, but he is like him. And he kept saying, I am the man. One of my favorite verses right there. No.

He said, what you mean? Is it him? I am him. I promise. It's me. When God opens your eyes, it's time for you to open your mouth. He was not a shame. And so they asked him, then how were your eyes open?

And he answered, check this out. Here's his testimony. Here's the blind man's testimony. It's not very common. complicated. And the man, he says, the man called Jesus, made some mud, anointed my eyes, and said to me, go to Salam and wash, so I went and washed and received my sight. Boom, that's his testimony. That's what he said. I used to be blind. I met Jesus. Now I can see. That was his testimony. What I want to ask you is this, so what's your testimony? What's your

story? And if you're like, well, I don't, I don't know of every thought about it that concisely. This is a template and how to tell your story. You just answer these questions. When we watch these baptism videos, they did a wonderful job just giving testimony that I used to be blind, here are the circumstances by which I met Jesus, and now I can see.

And so, I want you to write your story, and you answer these questions, what was your life like before you met Jesus? Like, where were you spiritually blind? Where were you looking for life? Second question, how did you meet Jesus? What were some of the details and circumstances surrounding the moment where you realized that he was your Savior? And then third, what has your life been like since then, since following Jesus?

And include the good, the bad, and the ugly. And I want to give you some homework, okay, some homework. If you're a Jesus follower, then this week I want you to write out your testimony. Or if you don't want to write, I want you to speak out loud your testimony. I want you to stand in front of your mirror and I want you to answer those questions. Well, what was my life like before I met Jesus? And what were the circumstances surrounding me surrendering my life to Jesus?

And what has my life been like since then? And be honest. Anybody got the testimony? Like, you used to be blind, you met Jesus, and then your life went to hell? Because it happens. Because the reality is that he doesn't pluck us up out of the circumstances, but, yeah,

though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we fear no evil because he is with us. Amen? Amen. So that is your homework. There will be a test. If you don't do this, you might not go to heaven. That's not true at all, but you know what I'm saying.

Come on. Now, let me give you a couple of warnings here. And do not compare your story to anybody else's story. Because I can remember, I can remember, especially like in college and stuff, you'd hear these testimony, go to these big conferences, and they bring a guy up. And he would be like, I was born in prison. Like, what?

How's that even happened? Born in prison, started a gang, and I was in a knife fight in Mexico City, and a, stabbed a man in the neck. And as the blood was oozing out, the blood took the shape of the face of Jesus on my stiletto switchblade. And I said, Jesus, and got saved. And now I pastor a church,

and it's the largest church in Spain. I'm like, what? You know, God next to me is like, I went to Vibis. There's no such thing as a bad testimony because you're not testifying about you, you're giving testimony to God who saved you. Amen?

And so every single one of us, spiritually speaking, we're blind, we met Jesus, and now we see if we are saved. Now, for all you kids that grew up in church, and you can't remember the moment, no problem, no pressure there whatsoever, honestly. Spiritually speaking, eternally speaking, there was a moment when you were spiritually dead and Christ brought you to spiritual life. And even if you can't remember the moment, he knows the moment. The real question is, currently are you submitted and surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ? And there's a lot of people that need to hear the good church kid testimony. And we're all praying for that for all of our babies. Amen.

So that's what he says. He gives the testimony. He's like, I was blind. I'm at Jesus. Now I see. And they said to him, where is he? And he said, I love this. He goes, I don't know.

I do not know. See, sometimes I think we hesitate to share our testimony because we think we don't know enough. Well, you know your story, don't you? Do you know you don't have to have all your questions answered to be a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ? Like a legitimate answer when people ask you a question about something you don't know is to say, I don't know. But let me tell you what I do know.

Used to be blind, but Jesus is now I see. Listen, when I was in high school, I got invited to go to this FCA, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Leadership Conference, okay? I think I was a rising senior, we went to St. Simon Island, Georgia, Reggie White, he was the mean Dean, and we get there one morning, it's like a Saturday morning or something, and he's like, all right, today we're going witnessing.

You know, like Acts 1-8 says, and you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witness. Well, the Holy Spirit was in the form of Reggie White, and he told us, and so we were going. So about 30 minutes, we did this quick little witnessing class, and we memorized as best we could, four verses out of the Book of Romans. If you grew up Southern Baptist, you know what, it's the Roman Road, all right? It was 323, 623, 58, and 10.9. I don't know why it couldn't be in order,

but that was how they gave it to us. And so they told us what to do. We memorized it. I'm pretty decent at memorizing. So I had a solid three and a half verses in my back pocket, ready to roll. Then they split us up in the little teams, and we went all over St. Simon Island,

knocking on doors, and they gave us a clipboard, and we were doing some surveys. And you're supposed to ask these questions. I can't remember what they were. And then you ask a church question, and then if you felt like the door was open, whether physically or metaphorically, then you would turn the corner in your presentation

and you would say this question, can I tell you them about the peace I've found in Jesus? And if they said, yeah, then you hit them with the four holy hops of heaven, you pray and boo-ya, sign them up. They're in heaven, got it? So that's what we've got to do. So we go out to our first house.

Everybody in my van's a wimp, and I was like, I'll go first. So I go, and I knock on the door, and this lady opens the door, and she is in shambles. She's running this little underground nursery. Like there's no signs out, but she's like a woman in the shoe with so many kids. She doesn't know what to do. They're everywhere.

They're all the same age, okay? And there's snot and there's diapers, and there's P.B&J, and they're screaming. And she's like, and I was like, can I tell you about the piece I found in Jesus? And she's like, yes, yes. Oh, yes. And so I share the gospel with her and pray with her, and she receives Christ right there. She cries so you know it counts. All right.

She's in. And then, so I sign her up for some church to follow up with her, and I go back to the van. I'm like, boo-ya, I got them one. I'm one for one, man, what'd take? For 16 minutes, and let's go. So we're going to the next house, and I was like, you wimps are slowing me down.

Y'all stay in here and pray, a bunch of worthless people. I got this. I'll go to the next house. We're going to be first back to lunch with the most salvation. So we go back. Knock on the door, a guy opens the door, and it's, bro, it is July, St. Simon Islands, 111 degrees in the shade. humidity's 212

and this brother has on a black turtleneck black slacks black shoes he's got the little like cul-de-sac balding thing with jet black hair just around here if you squint you can see horns you know what I'm saying and I was like hey I got a couple questions about church he's like why don't you just come on into my house

and I was like got him got him man let's wrap this one up real quick so I sit down in his library and I'm working through my questions man I'm like 16 years old got three and a half verses from Romans in my back pocket and I'm about ready to close this deal. And for every question I asked him about Jesus or statement I had, he had about 12 more questions about how the Bible was put together

and what about Constantine? And I don't know. I was like, who's that? Is that a gum? What are you, I'm not sure, huh? Apparently he had the same motivation I did that said we were working for different teams. He was trying to deconvert me. And I was like, well, sir, you seem to know a lot about this. What do you do for a living? He's like, well, I'm a professor. Oh, that's cool. What do you teach? World religion.

Neat. He said, yeah, I write books to disprove the validity of the Bible. And I said, can I tell you about the peace that I have found in Jesus Christ? He'd heard him a three and a half verses out of Romans. So I got to a point where I was just like, sir, it's obvious. You were far smarter than I am. I don't even know half the words you're using. But here's what I can tell you, man.

A few years ago, my life. life was in shambles. And everywhere I went looking for life, it was a dead end. And I heard that Jesus Christ died on the cross for me, and he changed my life. And he simply said, well, I can't argue with that. You see, that's the power of a testimony. That's what this guy's saying. They say, where is he? I don't know. I don't know. And so they're going to bring in the big guns. So they brought to the Pharisees, the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. That was Saturday. And so the Pharisees, the religious leaders, again, ask him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, he's getting good at it. Ready? He put mud on my

eyes and I washed and I see. Now, by the way, he's not sharing his truth. There's no such thing as his truth. There's just the truth. There's his experience, there's his opinion, no problem there. But the truth is, he used to be blind, he met Jesus, and now he can see. And so some of the Pharisees, this is crazy, said, this man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath. To which I'm the blind man, I'd be like,

you heard me say I was just blind, and now I can see? I think you're missing the point. You ever bump it to some religious people? You see, these guys, here's what, man, religious people hate it when lives get changed, and they're not in charge, and they don't get credit or control. That's what's happened. And so he rolls up, you know.

He's got a shirt tucked in to his pleated docker. He's got his glasses down there. He's got a clipboard. He's like, oh, a healing. When did that? Saturday? I don't think so. Hold on a scooter.

You're missing the point. By the way, by the way, please, please don't ever walk away from Jesus because you had a bad experience with religious people. Jesus had a bad experience with religious people every day of his life. You understand? So, what they did, Jesus didn't break the Sabbath, he broke man's rules about the Sabbath.

This is classic fundamentalism. Churches, churches have been doing this for years, man. The Bible says what it says, and then religious people say, we know what you mean, but God, you didn't explain it. Let me help you out, and let's put some rules on top of your laws. Now, self-imposed guardrails, a lot of wisdom. But when you try to impose your own rules on somebody else, in addition to what God says, no, bueno. And so church has been doing it forever,

dancing and drinking and music and movies and dress code and how to Sabbath? Uh-uh. And so some of the Pharisees say, this man is not from God for he does not keep the Sabbath, but others said, how can a man who was a sinner do such signs? And there was a division among them.

Because some of them are like, well, he's not doing it right. And another group is like, the do can see. And so they said again to the blind man, what do you say about him since he has opened your eyes, and he says he is a prophet. So what he's doing is he's rebuking what they said. No, no, no, he's not a sinner. He has sent from God on behalf of God, and he speaks for God.

Also, you're going to notice a progression of his understanding of Jesus is. At first he said he's a man, now he says he's a prophet. Then it says the Jews, and this does not mean the Jewish race. This means like these people and authority that he's talking to. So the Jewish leaders 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 he asked them, is this your son who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?

And his parents answered, we know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees, we don't know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Man, you don't want to talk about abandonment. See, this is very important. When you encounter Jesus, it changes everything. but you don't get to coast on somebody else's encounter. There are no secondhand experience with Jesus. Like, there's no grandkids of God.

He saves first names, not last names. I've told you this before, man. I'm not a Christian because my grandma was. There's so many people in the South that believe, oh, that's just who we are, and we grew up going to church that makes us a Christian. I've told you this before. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian anymore

and put in your head in the oven and makes you a biscuit. That's just not how it works, man. It's not an outside end thing. It's not something that you inherit because of where you're from. But his parents are afraid. You're going to see this. So they say, hey, he's grown. He will speak for himself.

And his parents said these things because they feared the Jews. For the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be the Christ, that he was to be put out of the synagogue. You see, fear paralyzes. This man has no fear because the Bible says perfect love drives out fear. I'm not saying he wasn't scared. There's a big difference between being scared and having fear. Fear is not a feeling.

Paul tells Timothy, God did not give you a spirit of fear. Fear is a spirit that does not come from God. Now, you get in a situation, you get nervous, no problem, man. You get, be scared, be scared. And then by faith, take steps of obedience in the direction that the good shepherd calls you. And that's called courage, and by God, we need some courage around this place right now. Amen? And so his parents are paralyzed by fear, and he's fueled by faith.

And so, therefore, his parents said, he is of age asking him. So, for the second time, the Pharisees called the man who had been blind and he said to him, give glory to God. This means like under oath. We know that this man is a sinner, and he answered, I love this. All right, whether he is a sinner, I don't know. I love it so much.

He's saying, I'm not prepared to argue about the theological nuance, but one thing I do know that though I was blind, now I see. He's just anchored to his testimony. And they said to him, what did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? Now, check this out. It's my favorite part. And he answered them, I have told you already, and you wouldn't listen.

Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples? Don't you love it so much? While we're here, we can fix this right now, because you're blind. That's what he's saying. I don't know if y'all realize this, but you're the actual blind ones, and I usually blind, and now I can see, and if you will just submit and surrender to this one, then you'll be able to see, too.

By the way, I've been doing this a long time, man. 30 years, I've been on staff at church, and here's what I have known. The freshly healed people are always the loudest about where you find healing. Isn't it true? And even though he doesn't know it all, he counts himself as a disciple. I got really good news, man. If you got a whole bunch of unanswered questions, you can make a great disciple. Just keep following after Jesus.

Well, they don't like his answer. verse 28 and they reviled him saying you are his disciple but we are disciples of moses and they're thinking they're like ooh might drop and if you read this you go ooh don't you mean yahway god see be really really careful about confusing the messenger with the message don't you ever elevate a human being above the god man that came and died on the cross. And here's what happens when people get hung up on the messenger. The messenger can't handle the pressure. He wasn't built to. There is one Savior in his name is Jesus. And if you lift up a messenger too high, then what will begin to happen is when they reveal that they are also just a sinner

in need of a Savior and they let you down, then what will happen is whatever you idolize when they let you down, you will demonize. And I ain't talking about Moses right now. And so around here, Listen, man, this is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ, and this is just one family. You got it? I just happen to be the lead pastor right now, but we're one body with a whole bunch of different parts,

and I'm just having to be the loud one, you know, because I got the face mic, but every single one of us are equal at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ. Don't ever forget it. So, they keep going. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from. And the man answered,

the man begins to realize that he is seeing reality clearly. He goes, why, this is an amazing thing. You 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. What's crazy is these people, people that he's talking to, they were Old Testament experts. And you know what the prophets said about the coming Messiah? That he would open the eyes of the blind. And the dude's going, Exhibit A. How can I see this and you can't see this? Nobody in the Old Testament was ever healed of blindness.

And seven times in the Gospels, Jesus heals blind eyes. You see, he, the blind man, the guy that was blind and now can see, he can see ultimate reality and the Pharisees are blind to the truth. And they answered him, you were born in utter sin, and would you teach us? Do you see the arrogance? And they cast him out. Listen, man. There's no place for arrogance in the church.

You cannot simultaneously look down your nose at somebody else and fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfect of our faith. I mean, the real difference here, here's the problem with the religious people. They forgot that they, too, were born and utter sin. They just think that they are better than this man because of what they have done with their life. Remember what this guy's job was. He was a beggar. Think about the posture of a beggar.

Humble, empty hands ready to receive. You know why it's hard for religious people to get saved? You know what you need to be saved? Need. And when your hands are full and you think you have all the answers and you are the one offering, then you were full of pride and God opposes the proud. If you begin to bring your rights,

bring your resume to God, huh, huh, you'd be lucky to have me on your team, look at all the good things I have done. Then you are the Lord of your own life, and this man, a simple beggar, has empty hands. The religious people, they forgot that they were born in utter sin. They just think they're better. And so Jesus, and so they cast him out, so get out of here.

By the way, one thing that I would say to you, these Pharisees spent their life studying the Bible so that they would be the first ones to recognize the Messiah, when he showed up. They created rules about the rules, by the rules. Pharisee means separated, so they weren't gonna be tainted by the filth of this world.

They were gonna be so pure that when the Messiah showed up, they would be the first ones to recognize him. Check this out. They could smell the breath of God and they were never filled with the spirit of God because he did not fit in their religious construct. Please don't miss Jesus. Please don't show up here week after week

and sing the songs and do the things and go to group. and missed that Jesus came on a rescue mission for you. So this guy didn't fit. He would fit here. He didn't fit there. So they cast him out. And then Jesus heard that they had cast him out and having found him,

he said, do you believe in the son of man? I want you to hear this, man. This is why Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. I am praying like crazy that today some of you would be found. You don't realize that God has orchestrated your whole week in all the events of all the cosmos. of all of human history that you would be hearing this right now and he is walking you down and he has found you

and I'm hoping and praying that he would open your eyes that you would see him for who he really is. So he asked this question, do you believe in the Son of Man? Son of Man is a messianic title. And he says, do you believe? That word believe in Greek is Pestuo. It means like trust.

Believe in, not just believe that, but believe in the son of man. And you see, here's what Jesus knows. Jesus knows that a physical healing was not enough because that was temporary, that the miracle was not enough that this man needed the message of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ so that not only would his eyes be made new, but his whole eternity would be made new.

And here's how the man answers. Who is he, sir? You see, he's never seen Jesus yet. You get this? Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him. No presumption. He doesn't act like he. know something he don't know. And Jesus says, you have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.

Like, if this was the first century and I was reading this in Greek, and you would read that, you would hear that, that's the moment you'd be like, whoa, you know, you'd lose your mind. If you still got any hair, he'd blow it back. Don't you remember what Jesus said? They were like, why is this man born blind? It's like, oh, for the glory of God. That the reason that Jesus opened this man's eyes. I mean, he was going to see the sunset for the first time, and he was going to see his mama for the first time. He's going to get to see what he eats.

And all of that is neat, but he was going to behold the glory of the Son of God. Just like when Adam was the first one to open his eyes and come face to face with his creator, this man's eyes were open so that his eyes could be open so that he could see the one that came to rescue and redeem him and that he could believe in the Son of God. That was what the miracle is really about.

And look at his response, and he said, Lord, I believe. What a testimony. You see what's going on? Jesus in his life went from sir to savior. I'm afraid some of you still only know him as sir. Like you believe he came and you died on the cross and all of that. But it has never been personal for you and you personally have never surrendered your life to him. And so he says, Lord, I believe and he worshipped him.

That's the right response when you see Jesus for who he really is. So I want to ask you, have you seen Jesus? Do you believe? Have you ever confessed, Lord, I believe. In the next couple few minutes, I want to share with you a very short version of my testimony, of my story, that I was blind and I met Jesus and now I can see. I grew up in the South, obviously. Grew up in Dillon, South Carolina.

And if you would have asked me, like in middle school, are you a Christian? I'd be like, what else you're going to be? It's not what exactly like the cornucopia of diversity in religious thought in Dillon, you understand? But I believed in Jesus, like I believe in NASCAR and SEC football and the tooth fairy. Like I thought it happened, but that was about it.

And, you know, my grandma was. as a Christian, so I thought that might make me one. And then through a series of events, I found myself at this camp. I was a high school kid, and I was blind, man. And I hesitate to share too many details of what my life in high school was like because I honor and respect and love my mother and father,

and my home life was not good. And they loved me and my brother very well, but they just couldn't figure out how to love each other very well. and it was chaos upon chaos. It's bad. And through a series of my own choices, I find myself working at camp,

like cutting the grass and doing this stuff. It was Camp Pine Hill Baptist Retreat Center in Benetsville, South Carolina. Benettsville is like a suburb of Dillon, okay? It was real small. Like if you lived in Benetville, you had to go to Dylan to go to Walmart, okay? And that's where this camp was.

And Coach Bulley, I talk about him all, the time. He's kind of a local hero as a football coach, and he worked it out so that my brother and I would be there. We didn't really have necessarily a place to go in the summer. And so we went to camp. And before I'd ever even heard the message, the way we got treated was just completely different. Coach would recruit all these college kids to come and be the Bible study leaders and the worship leaders and the preachers and all that kind of stuff. And he'd get a bunch of athletes because he knew all the athletes in the state, basically. And man, I just did not have a lot of a category in my mind while these college football players would give a care about me whatsoever.

And if you'd ask me on that Tuesday night, hey, are you a Christian? I'd be like, you know, sure, because I go to church. I didn't really go to church, but I'd lie about that too. So I had plenty of sin that needed to be forgiven in my life. And then the last night of camp on Thursday night, those counselors, they all dressed up in like bed sheets, like togas and reenacted the crucifixion of Christ. So like, wait. before Mel Gibson ever did The Passion of the Christ, they were doing this in Veniceville, South Carolina on a Thursday night.

And they'd start at Jesus' arrest and his trial. And listen, man, as cheesy as you think that is, and I assure you, it's cheesier than you think. It's a bunch of southern kids acting like first century Roman centurions and stuff. You understand?

Like, Pilot Millet, what should I do with this boy named Jesus? I'm like, I don't think that's how he said it, you know? But they just acted the thing out. They take Jesus, put a crown of thorns on him. They're walking him to the cross. And, I mean, they throw him down and they're whipping him. And in fact, it was so loud, so loud. And later when I came on staff, I realized that every time that whip would come down,

there was a kid in the woods with his flip-flops, they'd smack them together. And you'd think, oh, Lord, they're going to kill Ted, man. Come on, we get it. And they, we were all, we did it near this pond because we didn't have amplification. so the sand would just travel over the water really easy and all the kids would be sitting over here

and all the counselors would be acting this thing out and then you hear the hammer hit the nail over and over and over and they lift up these three crosses and Jesus says these seven sayings on the cross and I'm telling you man I know I was in Venezuela and not any kind of miraculous metaphysical way but in my mind I was transported to Jerusalem 2,000 years ago I'm telling you, man, I was like I was in Galgotha,

because I had heard the story, but I thought it was a story. I didn't know the reality that the son of man had come to ransom me. Then I'll never forget, Jesus pushes up on his nail, pierced's feet, and he says, it is finished. And somehow in that moment, I went from being blind. I'd never seen this before. And then I believe that counted for me. This is not just some kind of arbitrary historical reality.

That counted for me. Then Coach Lee gets up there and he says, listen, for God so loved the world, and he gave us permission to scratch out the world there and put our name. For God so loved you, Jobi, that he gave his only begotten son and that whoever would believe, including you,

would not perish but have everlasting life. and my eyes were open. And we're Baptist, so we sang just as I am a bunch. We just kept seeing it over and over. And I'm sitting on this little homemade stool thing, and I've got my legs wrapped around the stool because I thought ain't no way I'm getting up front for all these people and embarrassing myself.

I was getting emotional. You know, I'm a high school kid. I don't want to cry in front of people. And then Coach Lee gets up, and he says, I think there's one more. You ever heard that? language and I was the one more. And so I got up and I walked forward and the language that we would use back in the day is I want to ask Jesus into my heart. Now we don't use that language

because a king doesn't ask anything. Okay. But if you ask Jesus in your heart, your grandfather in, it worked, I promise you're saved. It's no problem. You understand? That's how I did. And that night I surrendered my life to the lordship of Jesus Christ. And by the grace of God, I've never been able to get over the gospel. That he would do that for me? Dude, I was, all the things you could think of of a 16-year-old kid with no supervision would be doing, that's what I was doing. And when he died on the cross, it counted for me. And then I got home from that camp, and all hell broke loose.

It got worse. I mean, exponentially worse. in ways that they don't even need to be talked about. You know? And I thought this is not, I didn't think this is how it goes, man. And he never left me. And he never gave up on me. He never did.

And I remember this girl, one of the counselors from Clemson, she gave me a Bible. Her name was Beverly. And she gave me a Bible. And I read it for many days after camp, like four in a row or something. Remember? And I was walking through the valley of the shadow of death, man.

And I went, and I just did the old Bible roulette. It's a terrible idea. I sat on my bed and I just popped that thing open. And she had put a bookmark in Jeremiah 29-11. For I know the plans I have for you declare the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future. And I'm telling you my current situation, the future wasn't bright and it seemed pretty dang hopeless.

And I was like, Lord, I remembered that moment at camp when I surrendered my life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and said, Lord, I will follow you, but you cannot let me down. And my testimony to you is from that moment to this moment, he has never, ever, ever let me down. And my promise to you is, and he won't. And he won't. Not because of anything that I did, man. He saw me. He found me. He died for me

And then he gave me new eyes to see him And I crowd out, Lord, I believe So how about you? How about you? Have you ever come to the place in your life Where you've surrendered your life To the Lordship of Jesus Christ? If not, I want to give you that moment

In this moment right now. Not by anything that I can say, man, I can't talk you into this. Boy, if I could, I would. But it has to be a revelation from God that he would open your eyes and you would see Christ on the cross and that when he died on the cross,

it counted even for you. And the moment you realize that, you cry out, Lord, I believe. Would you bow your heads? Would you close your eyes? And if you are ready to put your faith in Jesus Christ, to believe that when he says it is finished

that that counted for you. And in this moment, you were ready to surrender your life to the Lordship of Jesus. I ask you to raise your hand as high as you can and you confess very simply, Lord, I believe. Right now, for the very first time, lift your hand. If you were ready for the first time,

and you just confess, Lord, I believe. Father in heaven, Lord, we thank you that you continue to save people. In this very moment, in this time, in this space, in this place. Jesus, that you came on a rescue mission, not for the healthy, but for the sick like me. God, I thank you that though I was blind,

you found me, you saw me, you died for me, and you saved me, and now I can see you. see. And I don't just simply see you. I see all things by you and through the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Lord, I pray for every believer in this place, Lord, would you please take us back to that moment of salvation that we would never, ever, ever lose our first love? God, if you've opened our eyes this week, would you open our mouth? And Lord, I pray that you would overwhelm every single person that raised their hand in this moment with your unfailing

love because it's just who you are. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Church, we respond to the gospel. If you please stand, we're going to respond. I don't know if you've ever picked up on this, but every weekend of 1122 around here is like the last night of camp. That's what it is. And so the gospel demands a response. So we're going to sing how appropriate we're going to sing, turn your eyes upon Jesus. And if you have sight, that's why he has given us sight so that we can fix our eyes on him. We're going to worship him. through song, and we're going to pray. We're going to pray, because when Jesus says it is finished, it gives us access to the

Heavenly Father. So maybe some of you are like the blind man, you feel like the blind beggar that nobody sees, he sees you. Won't you come pray? And we're going to bring our tithes and our offerings to worship him, that he would use them so that more people would see and believe. So let's sing, let's bring, let's pray. Let's respond.

I'm Merna Brannon, and I, I, accepted the Lord as my Savior when I was 10 years old. We had a very dear, sweet family friend. Her name was Lou Say Paul and never forget her. She took me to her revival at their church, and we were sitting in the back. I just remembered Jesus calling my name. To know that the God I understood,

I mean, I knew God was real from the time I was really little, but to know that he truly knew my name and called my name. And didn't get any better than that. In 2018, he said, you need a community. And I was like, no, I'm good. We're good. He was like, no, you need a community. And, I mean, I kept other Christians around me,

but I didn't have the kind of community that have now. And so that's how I came to 1122. In 2019, I walked through breast cancer. And then we knew that the Lord had given us this house. And I was diagnosed with breast cancer when we had the house under contract. But we knew that the Lord had given us this house to share and to glorify him. So when we sat down and said, we think it's time for us to have a disciple group. And I never expected everything.

that God has done in less than a year that this group has been together. I mean, it's amazing. We've had people come in and just really pour his soul, heart and soul out to us. And I'm saying, we don't really know these people that well, but they're not holding anything back. So, and that's got to be God working here. So we have a great, great group. And, and we've opened our home up, and we will continue to do so long as God willing. Merna and I see each other almost daily, and she invited us to her discipleship group. And it was beautiful and welcoming and loving.

And then people started to testify at the end of the group. In that moment, it just brought all of us together like a family and the support and the encouragement and the love to experience with the family. one another is remarkable. It glorifies God. It honors God and it gives us the opportunity to say, I was blind, blind, no light. And now I see. I'm new. I'm kind of new on this, on this city, like in church, 1122, just moved from Miami. I heard Pastor Jalvi about joining a disciple group, a community of godly people, you know.

The first time I came in, that was so lovely. There was so much, like, wisdom. There was so much love in here, you know, welcoming. And since then, I just, I feel like I can just call them and get to talk to them and come home, like, come here. It's God who brought me here, honestly.

You know, it wasn't luck. It's amazing how God puts everything together, you know, how he lines everything out for the good of his childs, you know? Because I was seeking for a good family. In the 10-10 initiative, I have watched Mike grow and our relationship grow, our marriage grow, to something I never, ever thought it is more than I ever hoped or dreamed. And then when we opened the house to Disciple Group and to see Jason walk in the door with the most beautiful loved Bible I've ever seen in my life, and to know that he's only had that Bible a year. And to see Susan and her husband come in and to meet them and to hear her story. So the fact that he lets us see all of this and do all of this and do it together was amazing.