 The title of our sermon this morning is the dividing line, the dividing line. And we are in John chapter nine, looking at verses 35 through 41. In studying this passage this week, I read a story, read an illustration about the continental divide in the western United States. The continental divide, the great divide, some call it, is a long mountainous divide that runs from the western tip of Alaska at the Bering Strait, runs all the way down through Alaska, through British Columbia, into the United States, along the the Rocky Mountains, down through Mexico, all the way down into South America, along the Andes Mountains to the west of South America, all the way to the southern tip of South America at the Strait of Magellan. Now the continental divide, the great divide, is called a hydrological divide. One of the reasons that it's called that is because it separates watersheds or water basins, river systems on one side to the west that flow away from the continental divide into the Pacific Ocean to the west, and it separates those river systems, those water basins from those on the east side of the continental divide, that those rivers, those water systems flow some into the gulf, some into the Atlantic Ocean, eventually all of them end up in the Atlantic Ocean, but it divides those waters, divides those river systems. James Montgomery Boyce tells the story of visiting a spot along this divide, this very mountainous divide that runs along the western side, through Colorado, western side of the United States. In that spot, you can actually go to Google Maps and look it up and see it, there's a place where a small stream, high in the Colorado Rockies, is divided at a single point, at a single rock in the middle of the stream, a small stream divided by a single rock in the middle of the stream. Now that particular point in the stream, a water drop might hit against that rock and head west into one stream after another stream, eventually into the Colorado River, eventually into the gulf of California, eventually into the Pacific Ocean. At that point, high in the Colorado Rockies in that one stream, one water drop may hit that rock and go east, and east into a system of bigger streams and bigger streams until it dumps out into the Platte River, the dumps out into the Missouri River, the dumps out into the Mississippi River, the dumps into the gulf of Mexico, and eventually into the Atlantic Ocean. Two very distinct, very different directions, right? All beginning at one point in the small stream, high in the Colorado Rockies, striking against one rock in the middle of that stream. Two very long, two very different journeys. Two strikingly different destinations, two different drops of water. The dividing line for each of those destinations, the dividing line for that journey, the dividing line for those two drops beginning with a single point, a single rock in a small stream. In much the same way, there is a great divide that separates humanity into one of two destinations, like separating sheep from goats or wheat from chaff. They course along in the stream of their lives, and they come upon a rock. And having come upon that rock, they are divided, some to the right, and to everlasting life, and many, many to the left, and everlasting punishment. In John chapter nine, that rock is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone. Acts 4 says, nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. It is the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ that has drawn that great dividing line of humanity. What you do, how you respond when you encounter the rock, makes all the difference. It will determine your eternal destiny. The reality of all that is this from the Bible, that your destiny is already fixed. You are headed headlong left. The Bible says that you are condemned already. You were born in sins and trespasses. So to come upon the rock is God's grace to you to change course, to switch streams, so to speak, to head another direction, to cross the divide. If you fail to do that, if you fail at the rock to turn, then you will encounter an eternal destiny in hell, in torment. Once death comes, then the judgment. And there is no turning back. There is no crossing the line. There is no coming over the divide. Your destiny is fixed. This morning in John chapter nine, like the man who was formerly blind, you encounter the rock. How will you respond to him? Will you crash against that rock in your own hard-hearted self-will and turn left? Or observing the evident grace and mercy of Almighty God in Christ, will you take heed at his word and turn from your sin? Turn from the path that you're on and follow him. Follow him to life eternal. Follow him to heaven. You come across this morning in God's word, the rock, the great continental divide, if you will, of your life. Part of the tragedy of the blindness of our sin is that most of the time before Christ we can't see it. You have no idea. It's part of the blindness that you suffer. Is it that blindness blinds you from the truth? You don't see yourself as a sinner. You don't see yourself in the stream. You don't see the rock. And so you just continue the course of life. This morning the Lord presents before you clearly in John chapter nine, verses 35 through 41, the opportunity to observe the grace and mercy of God in Christ in the gospel and to change course. What will you do at the rock? We're going to see it beginning in verse 35. This dividing line drawn by God's sovereignty and salvation. It's a truth that you need to understand. God's sovereignty and salvation. We're going to see it drawn this distinction, this separation, this dividing line drawn by man's response in verses 36 through 38. We're going to see that line drawn clearly by God's work in verse 39. And then finally, tragically, definitively, maybe for some of you, eternally and permanently, we'll see that line drawn by man's depravity in verses 40 and 41. So first, the dividing line, this great divide drawn by God's sovereignty in verse 35. Now, as we come to verse 35, we've left the man who had been born blind in verse 34. Now, this man has boldly, he's courageously witness to the truth as he understands it. He doesn't know much at this point. He doesn't know much, but from verse 11, he knows that a man named Jesus has anointed his eyes, told him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam and now this man named Jesus has healed him from the lifetime of blindness. He knows that, right? In verse 17, he believes that this man named Jesus is a prophet of God. So in verse 31, he concludes that Jesus is doing the will of God because God has heard him in the man's healing. And by the time we get to verse 33, he knows without a doubt definitively that Jesus has been sent from God. Now, with that truth, the man who was once blind, now been healed by this man named Jesus, takes a stand for God with that truth. He's not uprooted here by a fear of man. He's not uprooted or shaken by a fear of these Pharisees. He doesn't waver in verse 21 when his parents compromise with the truth. He's not tossed to and fro over doubts. No matter how much they attempt to discredit him, no matter how much they discredit Christ, no matter how much they try to trap him in his words, he's unshakable here, unflappable. He is resolved and resolute in that truth. Even when he's assaulted here by the Pharisees, do you see? They call Jesus a sinner. They say he's a Sabbath breaker and a deceiver and yet this man is unshaken. So with the truth that he has, this man who was himself born blind has confounded these spiritually blind Pharisees. They can't argue with the truth and so they simply resort to hostility in verse 34 and cast him out of the synagogue. So the Pharisees in that sense have drawn a dividing line. That line has been drawn by these wicked religious leaders between them and Christ. In verse 22, they had already agreed that if you confess Jesus as the Christ, you're out. They put you out of the synagogue. The line has been drawn in the sand. You cross that line, you're out according to them. And this man who is healed by the Lord, this man who is healed by the Lord, chooses to suffer on the side of Christ rather than compromise that truth that he now believes and holds to be true. He's not going to compromise. He's going to stand with Christ. Now, having left him then in verse 34, he's in a very dangerous position spiritually. He's in a very dangerous position. He's been separated. He's been cast away from, cast out from the only religious moorings that he's ever known in his life. His spiritual life, so to speak, now being turned upside down. He's been cast adrift into uncharted waters. Like the disciples, this man born blind, might also have thought that somehow his sin has caused God's curse to fall on him and has caused his blindness. And now the Pharisees have cursed him again. They've cast him out of the synagogue, so to speak. So where is he to go? What happens to him now spiritually? He doesn't have enough information here. What is he going to do? What is he to believe? Who's he to follow? What is it that God in this wants him to know and to do? Certainly there would have been confusion, right? Can you put yourself in his shoes? There would have been some confusion. There would have been some difficulty. Who will he turn to for help? If you think about it, he doesn't really know who Jesus is at this point. He couldn't pick him out of a lineup. He doesn't know what he looks like. He's only heard his voice, right? He has taken a stand, but his understanding here is sorely lacking. He's eager. He's willing. He's taken his stand, but the Lord's work with him is not yet complete. He needs more. He needs to be brought here to a full and genuine saving faith in the Lord. He's been healed of his physical blindness, but the only cure for his spiritual blindness is saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So the Lord now seeks him out to ensure that he has it. Look at verse 35. Jesus now comes along. He heard that they had cast him out, and when Jesus had found him, he said to him, do you believe in the Son of God? That word there, God, many of the manuscripts have Son of Man. A better translation is Son of Man there. Most of the old manuscript evidences support that translation, and it's the more difficult of the readings, so we believe that the text is accurately translated to Son of Man. Now the first thing that I want you to note from verse 35 is note the divine initiative taken by the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus has heard that the man has been cast out of the synagogue, and so it was Jesus who sought him out and found him. He tracked him down, right? Just like the Lord did in granting his physical sight, he took the initiative and healed him. The Lord now takes divine initiative to grant him spiritual sight as well. Jesus wanted to see him saved. Do you see that? He sought him out to heal him physically, then he seeks him out again to heal him spiritually. The Lord Jesus Christ wants this man saved, rejected by the Pharisees, found by Christ. That's awesome. If you're in Christ, you were found by him. Do you see? Divine initiative. This seems simple enough. If you consider it, seems simple enough in its context, but this points to a very profound truth in Scripture that is very important that you understand. Apart from the divine initiative of Almighty God in salvation, apart from God's sovereignty in salvation, no one would be saved. Apart from God's work, apart from God's sovereignty, apart from His initiative, no one would be saved. I want you to listen for a moment to the testimony of Scripture. You can jot these texts down and study them. It's very important for you to understand, all right? Listen to the testimony of Scripture. First, just from the Gospel of John alone. John chapter 1 verse 13. Children of God are born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, not anything to do with man's heredity, not anything to do with man's decision. They are born of God. John chapter 3 verse 6. Jesus says, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, but that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. Listen, the wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but you cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the spirit. Listen to John chapter 6 verse 44. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. How much clearer can you be? That's the testimony of Scripture. John chapter 6 verse 65. I've said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by my Father. And so in other words, coming to Christ then is a gift of God. Coming to Christ is a gift of God. John chapter 15 verse 16. Jesus told his disciples, you did not choose me, but I chose you. Did he get that? You did not choose me, the Lord Jesus Christ says, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit. John is unabashedly, unashamedly clear about this, amen? There's no pulling any punches here. There's no trying to soft pedal this thing. That's what the Bible teaches. Listen to this from Matthew chapter 11 verse 27. All things have been delivered to me by my Father and no one knows the Son except the Father nor does anyone know the Father except the Son and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal him. Do you see? So who is it then that brings us to faith? Is it God that brings us to faith or man? Obviously God. Who effectually enables us to turn from sin? Who effectually enables us to turn from sin and put our trust, our faith in the Lord? Is it God or is it man? God does. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. This is the clear and unambiguous statement, testimony, witness of Scripture to the sovereign work of God and salvation. Look at Ephesians chapter 2 and look beginning there at verse 1. Here Paul says to the Ephesians, he says to us today, listen, if you're in Christ, if you're in Christ, listen, verse 1, and you, he, that's God, he made alive who were sick in trespasses and sins. Is that what it says? No. You, he made alive who were dead. You were dead in trespasses and sins verse 2, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. Who's that? Satan. That's right. Verse 3. Among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath just as the others. Look at verse 4. But God, that's God the Father, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were sick in, no, even when we were dead in trespasses, he, God, made us alive together with Christ. It's another way of saying by grace you have been saved, right? Listen to the sovereign work of God, the divine initiative, the divine work and salvation is all grace to the believer, grace to the sinner who was once a child of wrath, once a child of disobedience by grace you have been saved. That not of yourselves, amen, right? That not of yourselves, not of works, lest anyone should boast. It is the work and gift of God. Verse 6. And he, God, the work of God, he raised us up together and he, God, made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That in the ages to come, he, God, might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. God grants that you would come to Christ. God grants repentance and faith here. It is the gift of God. Verse 9. Not of works, lest anyone should boast. Boasting is gone. There's no opportunity whatsoever in the redemptive plan of God for anyone to boast that somehow by my will, by my decision, I've brought her out, brought about my salvation simply is not possible if you understand what the Bible teaches about your salvation. It's not because you did this, that or the other thing. It's not because of your good works. It's not because your good outweighs your bad. It's not because you walked an aisle, you said a prayer, you did some ritual, you were baptized, whatever it is, it's not about you. It is about the sovereign work of Almighty God. Verse 10. Listen, for we in this state of salvation, in this state of grace in which we are blessed to find ourselves, we are his workmanship, not our own. We are God's workmanship created as blood-bought redeemed worshipers of Almighty God. We were created in Christ Jesus for good works which God again even prepares those beforehand that we should walk in them. This, this is divine initiative. Do you see? This is God's sovereignty and salvation. As Jonah said, salvation is of the Lord. Now why is it that God must do that for us? Is it because we are sick in our trespasses? No, the reason that God has to do it for us is because we are dead in our trespasses. We can't do anything for ourselves in that respect. He doesn't offer us medicine. God offers us resurrection. Do you see? Life from the dead. Salvation is credited entirely, entirely to the Lord's initiative and therefore in God's saving a sinner, God gets all of the glory for it. Romans chapter 3, verse 10. There is none righteous. No, not one. How many? None. None. There is none who understand. Well, I understand. I think I understand. No, you don't. You don't understand anything. There's none who understands. There's none who seeks after. Now wait a minute. I've sought. I showed up today, didn't I? You're not seeking after God if you're outside of Christ. You came here because you want to get out of hell free car? Or you came here because of some girl you want a court? Or you came here because whatever the reason. There are numerous reasons. You know, you like the sound of my voice. I can't be it. There's none who seeks after God except God's diagnosis of your condition. Acknowledge it. There's none who seeks after God. They've all turned aside. They've all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. Good for nothing but to be cast away as filth, as refuse. There's none who does good. No, not one. You think you do good? No. Not biblically. Not according to God's definition. Not according to His judgment. So why then would we take time to understand that truth from the Bible? There are many reasons. Many reasons to understand. And so important to understand it. There's so much teaching directly against this truth from Scripture. And I am convinced on the authority of God's word that it has part in sending countless multitudes to hell because they do not understand what the Bible teaches. It's important to have this clear in your mind. One reason. One reason that it's important to take time to talk about the divine initiative in salvation is so that you will stop thinking the unbiblical thought that you can simply come to Christ and be saved of your own free will. You're not the source of your salvation. Who is? God. And if God is the source of salvation, then throw yourselves upon him and plead his mercy. Ask him to save your wretched soul. Go to him in prayer. Cry out for your own soul. Cry out for your eternal destiny. Don't go to hell of your own free will. Cry out to God and ask God to be merciful to you. The sinner. Go to him and plead your case. You can't just waltz down an aisle and be saved anytime you think about it. It's not the way things work. God is the source of salvation. Humble yourself. Cry out to God for mercy. Cry out that God would find you like he found this blind man in Jerusalem. Now you might object to that and say, you know, what about all those passages that say whosoever. Whosoever comes. Whosoever believes. Whosoever will. Praise God. Praise God for the whosoever's in Scripture. You know why? Because the whosoever's in the Bible throw open the doors of heaven to you. If it weren't for the whosoever in Scripture, there would be no hope. But take note, the whosoever's in the Bible are never alone. It's whosoever will. Whosoever believes. Whosoever comes. And who is it that grants that willingness and that belief, that faith, and that coming? Who is it that gifts that to sinners? God. There's none who seeks after God in and of themselves. It is a work of God in the heart. Salvation always begins with a miraculous work of God alone. Salvation is always of divine initiative. The second reason that we would take time and talk about a doctrine like that or study among many, among many reasons. But another reason is that truth humbles man. There's no room for pride, no room for boasting, and God gets all the glory. It is entirely of God's grace, and God's mercy, and God's compassion, God's goodness, God's kindness, God's patience. All of God. Back in John chapter nine, verse 35, the biblical doctrine of God's sovereignty, divine initiative in salvation, draws a dividing line between this man who is sought out by the Lord, all right, sought out by the Lord and healed, sought out now by the Lord and saved. It draws a dividing line between that man and those Pharisees. The Pharisees that we see presumptuously claiming right standing with God for themselves, claiming salvation for themselves. God's work draws the line. Do you see? It separates the sheep from the goats. It separates those who claim to be Christians and have never been born again from those who actually are Christians and who have been born again by God's spirit. It divides those clearly who have never had a work of divine grace in their hearts. It divides them from those who have, and you see the fruits of it. You see the evidences of it, just like you see the evidence of the wind blowing, right, and the leaves moving, and the trees rustling. If you are truly and genuinely saved, then be sure that Christ has sought you out, and he will see to it. If God seeks you out to save your soul, then God will see to it. The Lord Jesus Christ will see to it that you produce the fruits and evidences that the Bible describes of a true and genuine and fervent and healthy and vibrant faith. Therefore, my brother, as Peter says, be all the more diligent. Be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure. So now, having tracked this man down in verse 35, the Lord then asks him a critical question, the question of all questions, right? Verse 35, Do you believe in the Son of Man? Christ takes the initiative. God seeks the lost sinner. God makes him alive, and then God calls him to respond to that. Do you believe in the Son of Man? Now it's obvious from our text in the context here that this man who was formerly blind knows something about his Old Testament. He knows that no one was ever born blind and then healed of his blindness in the Old Testament. He's right about that. He knows that Jesus qualifies in verse 17 as a prophet. He knows what a prophet is, what a prophet looks like, and so he would likely then have known Daniel chapter 7 where the title, The Son of Man, comes from. Turn there with me. Daniel chapter 7. Daniel chapter 7. The Son of Man is a messianic title. It's a title exclusively for the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and it's derived from Daniel chapter 7 and look down at verse 13. Daniel chapter 7 and look at verse 13. Here Daniel writing, and he says, I was watching in the night visions. Now you know what that means? It means that Daniel had a vision and that vision was at night. Okay, so a lot of mystery there. I was watching in the night visions and behold, now look what it says in verse 13. One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. That likeness of a Son of Man speaks of the Lord's incarnation. This is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, coming in the likeness of the Son of Man. So he takes this title upon himself, the Son of Man. He's coming with the clouds of heaven. He came to the Ancient of Days. Who's that? That's God the Father. That's right. Comes to the Ancient of Days and they brought him near before him. Then to him, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the Messiah, the Son of Man. To him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed. This is one of many Old Testament passages that announce the coming of the Messiah. When the Lord Jesus Christ uses this title with this man who is formerly blind, he is asking this man, do you believe in the Messiah? Do you believe that the Messiah sent from God will come and establish his kingdom? Jesus is leading the man here to put his faith in the promised anointed one of God. Do you see? Do you believe in the Son of Man? This is the most important question back in John chapter 9. The most important question pertaining to his soul. No other question ever comes close. It is the most important question that you have to contend with today and every day for that matter. Do you believe in the Son of Man? Eternity hangs in the balances. With this question, God draws a line in the sand so to speak. He erects a mountainous great divide between those who will believe and those who will reject the Son of Man. This is the difference between heaven and hell. Life and death, do you believe in the Son of Man? Do you believe in the Messiah, the Son of God? Not. Do you believe that your good works somehow outweigh all your bad works? It's not. Do you believe that you have sincerely said some superstitious, silly little prayer and somehow that thing is going to earn favor with God and get you into heaven when you die? It's not. Do you believe? Do you believe in the same way that you believe in any other historical figure like Abraham Lincoln or Thomas Jefferson or any number of other American politicians? No, it doesn't mean any of that. What he's asking is what is your relationship to him? It implies this question. Do you believe in the Son of Man? It implies trust. It implies commitment. That word implies a following after. It bears the fruit of obedience. If you believe that this medicine will cure your cancer, then what do you do? What do you do with that knowledge? You take the medicine. Do you see? Do you believe that this parachute, when you jump out of the plane, do you believe that this parachute will save your life? Then you're going to take the parachute. You're going to put it on. Do you believe in the Son of Man? If you believe in the Son of Man, then just like that cure for cancer, just like that parachute, you give your life to him as a Lord. You entrust your eternal soul into his care. You believe upon him. You trust him. You commit yourself to him. You follow him all the days of your life. Obey what he says because you know it's for your good. This is the question on which this man's salvation hangs. It is the question this morning on which your salvation hangs. The Word of God this morning from John chapter 9 asks you the very same question. Do you believe in the Son of Man? Do you depend upon him for spiritual life, for spiritual sight? Do you trust in him for forgiveness of sins? Do you trust in him for cleansing, for right standing with God? Do you trust him to have loosed the bonds of your sin, loosed the bonds of death? He has come to give sight to the blind. He's come to set captives free. Do you believe him? He has come to you that you may have life and have it more abundantly. Do you believe him? He has come to fulfill all of the promises of God in salvation. All of them are yes and amen in him and in him alone. Do you believe him? He has come to redeem for himself his own special people, a people a redeemed people that would worship him in spirit and in truth. Do you believe him? Do you believe in the Son of Man? Do you entrust yourself to him? Do you entrust yourself to him for all of life, all of your decisions for salvation? Do you commit yourself to him now in all things? Do you commit yourself to him for your present good and for your eternal good? Do you want to be cleansed from sin, right with God, seated in the heavenlies, adopted as a child of God? Are you trusting him alone to forgive you, cleanse you, to make you right with God? That's the nature of the question that is being asked of this man in John chapter 9 in a view this morning. And it is the responsibility of man to answer that question. You're accountable to God for how you answer that question. You come upon the rock in the stream. Which direction will you go? The eternal well-being of your soul depends on it. We come to a decision. Which direction will you go? Come to a continental divide in your life. When someone hears the gospel and how gracious, how merciful, and how compassionate is God, that oftentimes we don't just hear it once, we hear it over and over and over and over and over again. When you go to evangelize to someone, when you speak to them about their soul, immeasurable grace and mercy from God to that person. When you hear it, the fact that you have not just a bible, probably bibles plural all over your house, you have access to resources that are unheard of to get the gospel to learn of him. The grace and mercy of God. And it is a deciding point, a dividing line. You come to that point where there's a line drawn in the sand, a mountainous divide. Which direction do you go? So this dividing line then, drawn even further, drawn even more clearly by man's response to this question. Men are divided right hand and left based on their response to this question. Eternity will be determined right hand or left on the basis of man's response on your response to this question. Look at verse 36. This man answered then and said, who is he, Lord? That word for Lord there? Better translated sir. He's asking here who this is for this person to be pointed out to him. That word not yet Lord and God, it's a title of respect here. Who is he Lord? Who is he sir that I may believe in him? Based on the grammar here, this isn't a request for information. He's not asking for more information. It's a request for identification. You see the difference? He's not saying here give me more information so I might believe. Maybe I'll believe him. He's saying, listen I believe, point him out to me. That's who I want to follow. That's who I want to believe in. That's who I want to give my life and trust my life to. Point him out to me. He knows that God is sending the Messiah. He knows that the Messiah saves and he now sees his own need of this Messiah, his own need of this Savior. Point him out to me. I believe. And this is not a blind faith here, right? This faith, this belief is based on clear evidence. Clear evidence. He's seen the miracles. This man is at a miracle performed on him personally. The people have heard the preaching. They've heard the claims of Christ. This is not just to simply tell me what to believe and I'll believe it. Whatever I got to do to get to heaven, it's not the attitude of this man's heart. This is faith. This is trust. This is dependence. This is commitment. And listen all of that faith, trust, dependence, commitment has an object. And that object is not a simply an intellectual ascent, not simply an idea or a concept. It's not simply a thing to say or a thing to do. This object is a person and it is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 37, Jesus said to him, you have both seen him. That's an amazing statement to the man who was once blind. He's now seen him. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, is standing in front of him. You've both seen him and it is he who is talking with you. You can almost see, can't you? The man, his new eyes, his new sight, just fixed on the Lord's face as he's talking to him. He hears his voice. The voice sounds familiar and he's looking at the Lord Jesus Christ waiting, waiting for Jesus Christ to point out the Messiah to him. And Jesus says, it's me. It reminds me of the woman at the well, right? I who speak to you am. It's me. I'm a prophet, you got that right, but I'm so much more than a prophet. I healed your physical blindness, but I'm here to deal with a far more deadly condition that you have. That's your spiritual blindness. You've trusted in me to wash, to go to that pool and you faithfully, obediently did that. You received your sight now trust in me for your very life. Trust in me for the sake of your eternal soul. Commit yourself to me and receive your spiritual sight. You know, you're to see yourself in the picture, the portrayal of this man born blind. But for many of you this morning, you may be more like this man born blind than you initially imagined. We're all spiritually blind outside of Christ. Every person blind in their sin outside of Christ. Apart from Christ, we desire the passing pleasure of this world and so we indulge ourselves with sin. And we don't, we don't see where that leads in unbelief. We suppress the truth of judgment. We suppress the truth of accountability. Most of the time we don't even care where it leads. Just give us what we want in the here and now. And not understanding that it has been appointed for you to die once and then comes your judgment. Maybe you this morning just despise being under authority. You know what? I don't want anybody to tell me how to live my life. Tell me what to do, what not to do. I'm the captain of my soul. That wicked poem says you just want to live for yourself. You want to do what you want to do. You don't care who else you trample on to do it. No one telling you how to live your life, telling you what to do. Maybe it's just self-will to indulge yourself with sex, with pornography, with money, greed, covetousness. Maybe it's drugs, alcohol, whatever it is that you indulge yourself with. You just want to live for your own fleshly desires. You'll lie to get it. You'll get angry with anyone that stands in your way. You're blind. You're blind and you don't care who else it offends. You may think to yourself, I doesn't hurt anyone. Another lie. You don't care how it offends the one who created you. You're not caring how it offends the one who created you, who gave you life and breath, has blessed you with a roof over your head and clothes on your back and food on your table. You're thankless. But maybe, maybe as you consider those things, in the goodness and forbearance of God, in the mercy of God to you this morning, you've come to see the fruitlessness of that life. Maybe you see those things now as harsh masters that have cast you out. You see the end of those things as death. Maybe you recognize and would acknowledge this morning that your outer clothing of religiosity is a sham and that you have nothing internal but a mere empty form of religion and you deny the power of the real thing. You have a form or a likeness of godliness but there's no evidence of power. Maybe you've come to see that the deceptions and entrapments of this life are empty and vain and there's simply nothing left for you there. You want to be free from it but you can't turn from it. You keep going back to it, keep going back to it. You realize there's nothing left for you there and you desire to turn. You know there's something bigger than you. You know that when you die that's not all there is. You know that there's an eternity, a heaven and a hell waiting. You know there's a god that you'll stand before and you know that you'll have to give an answer to him one day. And you don't want to do that stand there in your shame and in your guilt and suffer under the judgment of God who created you. Maybe you've been here in this church for a while. Maybe you've tasted of the heavenly gift. Maybe you've seen the powers of the age to come but as yet you've fallen short of the full possession of those things. You've seen others converted. You've seen others genuinely saved. Their lives transformed a real joy. A genuine peace in Christ. A genuine heart, hope for heaven. You've seen it, right? Maybe it's been your mom, your dad, maybe it's a friend. You've been around here. You've seen people genuinely converted. Their lives radically transformed. The obvious work of God's spirit within them. The hope of heaven, a love for the Lord on their lips all the time. People gathered around their table, fellowshiping with one another, loving one another, serving one another, praising and worshiping the Lord. You've seen it, right? You've witnessed their changed life. You've witnessed the power that God has exerted in their life but so far to this point you would acknowledge that you've not been given that spiritual sight. What will you do? What will you do? Where will you go now? Who will you turn to? You've come to the rock. You've come to that point in your stream where it is time to make a decision. Will you persist in your sin? Will you persist in self-will? Will you persist in your negligence and your disobedience? Living for yourself, indulging yourself, cast yourself upon Christ who is all-sufficient to save you. Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God should lead you to repentance? I pray that you'll do that this morning that you will see, taste and see that the Lord is good, that you'll cast yourself upon him. This is the great dividing line. And as much as God is sovereign over salvation, he calls you to respond with your very life. And listen, you profess Christ in the light of these glorious truths, in the light of all that God has done for you in the gospel. Will you not serve him with all your life now? You daily come upon the rock. Amen. Mercies new every morning. Live for him. Do you believe in the Son of Man? It's a great dividing line drawn by man's response to the Lord's question here. From God's word this morning, listen, you have both seen him and it is he who is talking to you now. Do you see? The same way the Lord says that to the man who is formerly blind, the Lord says that to you this morning from his word. As you study his word, you have both seen him and it is he who is talking to you now. What will you do as you come upon the rock? How are you going to respond? You can see in the text, can't you, his compassion, his compassion on the man born blind. You can see his power, his mercy, you can see his judgment. The man born blind certainly knows what to do here and he gives example to us all. Look at verse 38. The man born blind said, Lord, and this time it's not sir, this is Lord God Almighty, the Lord omnipotent Jesus Christ. Lord, I believe, and he worshiped him. No hesitation. He didn't ask for further evidence. The man's response here is immediate. The truth of the Lord's statement is pressed upon his heart by the Holy Spirit. This is at the moment, if you will, of regeneration, of new birth. God bringing him to life from the dead and he says, Lord, I believe, no altar call, no aisle walking, no ritual, no tongues, no charismatic experience. Lord, I believe, and he worships him. This time the use of this word Lord moves from mere respect to sheer adoration, sheer exaltation, sheer worship. No further questions necessary. I once was blind, but now I see you Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I trust you. I commit myself to you. The one sent by God into the world to save sinners, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, the one for whom I am now dead, and for the one for whom now the world is dead to me. I believe, Lord, the one in whom I have found life for my eternal soul. He's prepared right then and there to trust Christ in all of life, every day of his life, from now on. This is saving faith. And remember that the grace of God lies behind that confession. It's the grace of God that lies behind that. When Peter made his confession, if you remember that from Matthew chapter 16, when Peter made his confession, Lord asked him, Peter, who do you say that I am? How does Peter answer? He says, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And the Lord responds to Peter in that and says, flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father who is in heaven. Well flesh and blood hasn't revealed anything to this manborn blind. It's been God, the Father who is in heaven, that has revealed this to him and he responds with faith. Lord, I believe and he worships him. If you seek a Savior, this is him. Verse 38, he makes this stunning confession. He believes in him but then he responds by worshiping him. That word for worship there, proscuneo means that he he prostrates himself in worship of the Lord Jesus Christ. If the Lord Jesus Christ were a mere man, this would be blasphemy. The Lord Jesus Christ is not a mere man, not a mere prophet. He cries out, Lord I believe and he falls on his face right there before the Lord Jesus Christ and worships him. Now that moment, at that moment he's responding naturally. This is a natural overflow of the new heart that he has, the new spirit that now indwells him or that has been given. This is a response of the Lord's salvation here. He falls at his feet and worships. This response flows from a changed nature, from a renewed mind, new desires, new priorities, new longings in the heart to worship and honor the Lord, to praise the Lord, to exalt the Lord, to worship the Lord. In that moment he becomes a worshiper of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is evidence, do you see? He believes and then he worships and in the days and weeks and months, we don't have the details of this man's life after the fact, but we know like every genuine believer, this man perseveres in the faith, he's preserved in the faith by God and he lives for him. Trust him, not perfectly, but he trusts him. He obeys him, not perfectly, but he obeys him. He grows in his knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ through his word and it all produces worship. Jesus said to the woman at the well in Sychar that the Father is seeking true worshipers to worship him in spirit and in truth. And that response of true worship of God from the heart in obedient and repentant faith is a dividing line. It divides those that worship heartlessly or ritualistically and it divides them from those who worship in spirit and in truth. If your quote-unquote religion is just an empty shallow hollow ritualism, then you profess him with your lips, but your heart is far from him. Here, this is the worship of someone whose heart has been transformed by God. It separates the truth from the false. It separates sheep from goats. It separates the genuine from the counterfeit. A journey of life and peace, hope and heaven all beginning right here, this encounter with the rock. So God then sovereign over our salvation, exercising divine initiative to redeem to himself a people, to worship him in spirit and truth. He grants them a new heart. He provides even the gift of repentance and faith. That's what it means by for great by grace you have been saved. And yet there are many who are never saved. Many who are never saved. They die in their sins, spend eternity in hell. And the Bible lays the responsibility for this tragedy in their lap. Lays the responsibility, the accountability for that tragedy on them. And so it's very clear from scripture that a great dividing line then is drawn by the work of God's grace in this world. If you look at verse 39, a line is drawn by God's grace, God's work in this world. Jesus said, for judgment I have come into this world that those who do not see may see and that those who see may be made blind. God's saving work in the world becomes a dividing line in the sense that there's a judgment united to it. Luke 8 18 warns us, take heed then how you hear. So let's look quickly, carefully at what the Lord means here in this context. He says in other places, John chapter 3 verse 17, the Lord says, for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He says in John chapter 12 verse 47, I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. So then what does he mean here in John chapter 9 verse 39, for judgment I have come into the world. One speaks of purpose, the other speaks of consequence. One idea speaks of purpose, the other one speaks of consequence. Think about it this way, gangrene sets into your leg. You get an injury and your leg becomes gangrenous, all right? You go to the hospital, doctor comes into the room, the only way to save your life is to amputate your leg. So mentally as you prepare yourself for the surgery, the doctor comes into the room and you ask the doctor, doctor are you here to amputate my leg? And the doctor says no, I'm here to save your life. Do you see the difference? One speaks of consequence, one speaks of purpose. In the same way the Lord is communicating here, Jesus Christ came to save, to seek and to save that which is lost. The very course of his life is inexorably leading him to the cross where he will die for sinners. Jesus Christ came to save. He came to take their penalty, bear the wrath of God for their sin. But even in that work there is a judgment rendered on those who reject that saving work. Do you see? John chapter 3 18 says this, he who believes in him is not condemned. That's because of the saving work of the Son. But he who does not believe is condemned already because he is not believed in the name of the Holy Begotten Son. And this is the condemnation that the light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. That is the gangrenous leg that is amputated in the saving work of God amongst us to redeem a people to himself. His very presence in grace here demands a response and the response draws that line, draws the line in the sand. It is the great dividing line. So that's clarified for us further in verse 39. Verse 39, Jesus says, for judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see and that those who see may be made blind. On the one side Jesus will give miraculous sight to those who are spiritually blind. While on the other that saving work has a blinding effect on those that think they see and are blind. Do you see? They become more and more spiritually blinded. Therefore take heed how you hear. Take heed how you hear. As much as the appearance of God's grace draws a line in the sand man is drawing one also through his response and through his depravity. And verse 40 explains what we mean by that. Verse 40, there's a line drawn by man's depravity. Some of the Pharisees who were with him, they heard these words that Jesus said and they said to him, are we blind also? Now they ask that question with contempt. Contempt for the truth, what Jesus was teaching here with scorn and mocking of the Lord Jesus Christ. They refused to acknowledge based on what the Lord was saying, they refused to acknowledge that they themselves were spiritually blind. They refused to acknowledge that they were sinners. Many have responded in the same way. Just will not acknowledge that I am hopelessly sinful and doomed apart from Christ. They refuse to acknowledge that. They refuse to submit themselves to the diagnosis of the great physician. Don't do that this morning, right? Submit yourself to what the Lord says. They get what Jesus is saying here. The man was spiritually blind. Now he can spiritually see. That's what Jesus is communicating. And so they ask him, you're surely, surely, surely you're not saying that we're blind also like that guy was. That can't be what you're communicating, right? We keep the law. We're children of Abraham. To us has been given the covenants. They're self-righteous, right? They know what he's talking about, but they say to themselves, I'm not bad. I'm not a sinner. I don't need a savior. Certainly not you. In other words, they refuse to acknowledge their sin. Now Jesus picks up on that. He knows what they're thinking, right? He knows what they're getting at. And so he turns that back on their heads in verse 41. Listen to what he says. And in this now, he increases, exposes their guilt. Verse 41, Jesus said to them, no, no, no, no, no. If you were truly blind, you would have no sin. But now you say we see. Even in spite of God's revelation to you, in spite of the preaching that I'm giving you, in spite of all the instruction I've told you, in spite of the miracles you've seen, in spite of all this, you think that you still see. Therefore your sin remains, right? So he continues the metaphor of blindness to further make his point. Your depravity, the Lord is saying, is cutting you off from the grace of spiritual healing. You're drawing a line in the line in the sand. You're drawing that line and you're on the wrong side of it. In verse 40 he says you are blind, which means you don't see your sin. So what does he mean in verse 41? If you were blind you would have no sin. You're blind to your sin, he says to them, but you're not blind to the truth. You're not blind to the truth. If you were blind to the truth, if you had no knowledge whatsoever, in other words, if you didn't have the Old Testament, you didn't have the law, you didn't have the prophets, you didn't have the writings, you didn't have the Bible, if you had absolutely no knowledge whatsoever you'd be innocent. But because you think you see you're culpable for rejecting that truth and you're guilty, you have no excuse. You're not blind in the way that you are presuming that I'm saying you're blind, in other words, you've heard my words, you've seen the miracles, you have no excuse, you can't say that you're blind, your sin remains. They were blind regarding their sin, but not blind regarding the truth and they have no excuse. They reject that truth. So what happens to them? What happens to those of you this morning who will not acknowledge your blindness? You can't acknowledge blindness in the sense that you don't understand. The Word of God has been preached to you this morning, the Word of God has been clear, the judgment of God hangs, your soul hangs in the balance, your eternity is set before you, you have no excuse, you can't blame it on a blindness to the truth. They said we see, we know the truth, and because they thought that their sin remains. It's a judgment, do you see? They've drawn a dividing line. One side is Christ and life eternal, on their side is their sin, their false religion, their pride, their self-righteousness, and their death. In their pride they think they clearly understand all these things, but they're not willing to humble themselves, not willing to drop living for themselves. They want their sin, they want their rebellion, and so they justify themselves. We see. Many, many do that today, and their guilt remains. You go to evangelize to them, I know I'm not a bad person, I know God is with me, I see, right? And their sin remains, their guilt remains. Jesus didn't come for the purpose of judging the world, but it is that effect, that consequence that happens as a result of his coming for some. This is a judicial consequence of rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who willfully and rebelliously continue to walk in darkness will find that God judicially blinds them. He gives them over to the darkness that they prefer. You continue to reject God's word, you continue to reject the truth. He gives you up, Romans says, to the uncleanness and lust of your own heart. He gives you up to vile passions and to a debased mind. Isaiah chapter 44 verse 18 says, they do not know nor understand, for God has shut their eyes so that they cannot see, and he has shut their hearts so that they cannot understand. John says in chapter 12 verse 40, that God has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn so that I should heal them. Take heed how you hear. You come upon the rock, what will you do? How will you respond to the Lord Jesus Christ? Take heed how you respond to the truth of God in Christ. How will your life be changed? What will you do? Which direction will you head? Do you believe in the Son of God? Do you believe? There is a great divide, and you are on one side already if you're outside of Christ. If you're in Christ, praise God, you're on the other side, but there comes an opportunity for you this morning to change course if you're outside of Christ. Christian, if you aren't persevering in the faith, there's opportunity for you this morning to come upon the rock and change course. Do that this morning. There's a great dividing line, a great dividing line that stretches out into eternity, and there is the mass of humanity on one side or the other. Unlike now, where there's opportunity to cross over, to take Christ at His word, to turn in His reproof, there will come a point when that opportunity is gone forever and eventually the waters of judgment will sweep you away and opportunity lost, and you will spend an eternity and eternity on the other side of the line. Praise God for His grace and mercy in Christ, amen. Trust Him today. Let's pray. Father in heaven, God, we look into the truth of your Word. God, do we see the decisiveness of it, the clarity? God, there's no gray fumbling around in the middle. There's light and there's darkness, there's heaven and hell, there's life and there's death. God, I pray that there wouldn't be one person here this morning that would make the foolish decision of responding in rebellion and rejection of the truth of God, rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ, that would continue on that awful and terrifying side of that great divide, but that they would turn in faith and say, Lord, I believe. They would give their life to you, God, to live for you by faith in the Son of God who died and gave Himself for them. God, that they would turn. I pray that you would do that work. You're the only one who can, God. You, God, have the power of life and death. Salvation is from you, God, and so we plead for them with you now that you would save. God, that you would grant them faith and repentance, that you would cause them to be born again for my brothers and sisters here. God, I pray that you would emblazoned before their eyes the truth of your Word of what you've done for us in the gospel, that they might live more fervently and more faithfully for you, obeying you and trusting you, committing themselves to you afresh, God, that we would live in the power that you've afforded us in the gospel by virtue of your spirit in dwelling us, that we might worship you from the heart, worship you with our lives, worship you with our commitment to you, worship you with our trust, worship you with our obedience. We might worship you as we study your Word and pray and love one another and fellowship and God, it's for your glory that we pray these things. We long from the heart, God, to see you exalted, to see you praised. We cast ourselves, God, our lives prostrate before you to worship you, God Almighty, our great God and Savior. It's by virtue of the person and finished work of our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, that we can even come to you in prayer and we pray all these things in His blessed name, may it be blessed for all eternity in Jesus' name, amen.