John & 1,2,3 John | Lecture 12 : BC301-John-20260918

Oh yes, good morning all of you who are here in the class. Okay, everyone is too busy with their own thing. Good morning to those >> no voice. Okay, we'll uh begin with a word of prayer because without prayer ask the Lord's hands we will be wasting praying for us. Okay. Yeah. Ask the Lord to bless our class and teach us. Amen. Amen. Thank you. All right then. Um, so we were in chapter 8. We have looked at four different accounts of how uh different uh on different occasions Jesus was opposed, Jesus was rejected. Uh so we saw the rejection after the healing of the paralytic in chapter 5. The rejection which took place after the feeding of the 5000 in chapter 6 and then in chapter 7 the festival of tabernacles was going on during that time. the open opposition against Jesus um where they even tried to arrest him. And then we have in chapter 8 uh the uh occasion when um they tried to trap Jesus by bringing a uh adulterous woman to him. So we saw all of that. So we are still in chapter 8. We came to this passage where Jesus starts talking about how he is the light of the world and um he is fulfilling the prophecy from Isaiah 9:2 which says that the people walking in darkness have seen a great light. So up before the time of Jesus um people were walking in darkness assuming that maybe you know whatever direction they are taking is the correct direction. People were not very sure whether whether their life is going in the correct way or not. So um just as we you know we know that when we walk in the dark there's danger of falling into a pit or there's danger of hitting against something and injuring ourselves. In the same way, people were taking whichever direction they felt was right in life and they were harming themselves, harming their future, uh hurting other people in the process. So all of that was going on and now Jesus is saying a great light has come and I will now take you by the hand and I will begin to lead you in your life so that you know if there's any pit coming up then you will know that it is there. you'll be able to avoid it because the Lord is now here guiding you. Uh so in in that way Jesus has chosen to be the light who will lead us every step of the way so that we will always know where the dangers are. He will warn us of the temptations which are lying ahead. He will um uh show us the solution when we are wondering you know where the answer is to our situation. So he will light up all the things that we need to see so that we can have a um safe direction and a good future. So when Jesus declares that I am the light of the world and anyone who follows me will no longer walk in darkness. So they will no longer have to stumble around wondering whether they are getting their life right. They can have the assurance that with Jesus by their side they can now really get their path straight. So when Jesus you know makes this announcement again we have a position from the Pharisees and this is basically what the Pharisees say. Um they challenge him and they say what proof can you give you know that what you're saying about yourself is true. Uh so we could maybe read out all the way from verse 13, chapter 8, verse 13 up to verse 20. 8 13- 20 if you could read out please. The Pharisees uh challenged him here, here you are appearing as your own witness. Your testimony is not valid. Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards. I pass judgment uh on no one. But if I judge you, my uh decisions are true because I'm not alone. I stand with the father who sent me. In your own law it is written that that uh that the testimony of two witnesses is true. I am one who testifies myself. My other witness is the father who sent me. Then they asked me they asked him where is your father? You do not know me or my father. Jesus replied if you know me you would know my father also. He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offering were put. Yet no one uh says to him because his his hour had not yet come. >> So when Jesus says I am the light without me you'll be stumbling around in the darkness. If you believe in me and start following me then you will no longer walk in the darkness because I will light up the path for you. When Jesus says this, the Pharisees are asking him, you're testifying this about yourself that you're the light. What proof is there? What evidence is there? So Jesus says, not only am I telling that I am the light, my father also is saying the same thing. He is giving testimony that I am the light. Now in another place earlier, we looked at how there were other test uh witnesses testifying to Jesus. How many witnesses were mentioned over there in that passage in an earlier passage where we talked about uh how many witnesses were testifying about Jesus? Anyone? Yeah, approximately four or five. Okay. So that the five of them actually. Uh so yes, those were the number of witnesses testifying about Jesus being the uh divine and about being the Messiah. So here he says I do have another witness. The father is testifying about me. And then they make a sarcastic remark over here in verse 19. They say where is your father? Because uh the general impression that people have is that Mary was involved in some kind of uh you know illegitimate relationship and that Jesus was born out of that. So um therefore very mockingly they say to him where is your father? the one who is supposed to be witnessing about you. And then Jesus says, "You do not know me or my father. If you knew me, you would know my father also. If you were to really understand that I am the Messiah, then you would understand that my father is, you know, um the one who is in heaven. So this this is the declaration that Jesus makes about himself." And then he goes on to talk about how there are two categories of people. people who refuse to believe in him and then they will go and die but and then there are those who will place their belief in him and to them he has some particular advice to give. Okay. So we're going to be looking at two categories of people now. The ones who are headed towards death because they are not believing in him and then you have people who say they believe in him and he has certain things to say to them. Um, okay. If you could maybe read out all the way from 21 to 24. >> Once more Jesus said to them, uh, I'm going away and you will look look for me and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot, uh, come. This made the Jew Jews ask, will he kill himself? Is that why he says, where I go, you cannot come. But he continued, you are from below. I am from above. You are you are of this world. I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins if you do not believe that I am he. You will indeed die in your sins. Now it says here once more Jesus said to them, I am going away and you will look for me. Uh and he says where I go, you cannot come. Now we did not read out this particular verse you know in chapter 7 but this is the second time that Jesus is saying this in chapter 7 he he again had said where I go you cannot come and at that time the people wonder among themselves is he going to go off to some Greek nation and is he going to start preaching over there is that the reason why he's saying we cannot go where he is from you know so um so over here again for the second time Jesus is repeating the same thing and he's saying where I go, you cannot come. So what is he talking about? He's talking about how he is from above and they cannot go there. They will not be able to go above if they do not believe in him. So he says, I told you that you would die in your sins. If you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins. That is the wording that you have in verse 24. So if you if you look at your NIV, it says over there, if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins. But if you look at the original Greek, it just says if you do not believe that I am. So Jesus is using that uh divine title, you know, the the title of I am over here in this particular verse chapter 8 verse 24. Jesus says if you don't believe that I am the I am then you will indeed die in your sins. So this is the first time that he uses that phrase I am over here in this chapter. He uses it again and again because he's talking to these people who are very hardened in their hearts and he's telling them openly I am that is who I am. I'm the divine I am and they you know refuse to acknowledge him. So he says if you do not believe that I am then you will indeed die in your sins. So again they question him again that this the dialogue continues um verses 25 to 29 if you can read out. Who are you? They asked just what I have been telling you from the beginning. Jesus replied, "I have much to say in judgment of you, but he who sent me is trust trustworthy. And what I have heard from him, I tell the I tell the world." They did not understand that he was telling them about his father. So Jesus said, "When you have uh lifted up the son of the son of man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own, but speak just what the father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him." >> So Jesus says, "The day you'll really understand that I am is when you have lifted up the son of man." So Jesus is referring to his crucifixion. So on at that time when you crucify me and I rise again from the dead then you will indeed know that I am. So over here for the second time he's using that divine phrase I am. That will be in your verse 28. 828 he again says then you will know that I am. In your English translation it says I am he. But then actually the if you look at the Greek it just simply you know he's making the declaration I am. So this is the second time in this chapter that Jesus uses the you know directly refers to himself as I am. And so after telling these people that they are going to die in their sins because they are not believing he speaks to those who are saying that they do believe. And there are some very harsh things that he says to this group of people who are saying that they believe in him. Okay. So um let's look at verses 30 and 31. So you we looked at the first category of people. They openly are not believing. So Jesus said you're going to die in your sins. You will not be able to go. You'll not be able to come where I am going. And now to the second category who are saying that they believe in him. This is the first thing which he says to them. Verses 30 to 32. If you can read out. Even as he spoke, many believed in him. To the Jews who had believed in him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will send set you free." If you look at the statement that Jesus is making over here, there are three things that Jesus is saying to people who are claiming that they believe in him. The first thing that he says to them is that you will have to hold to my teaching. If you really believe in me, show it. Demonstrate it by holding to my teaching. When you hold to my teaching, then you will know the truth. And then when you know the truth, then the truth will set you free. So, you know, we we we go around, you know, always declaring and saying the truth sets us free. But there's a process involved. When will the truth set you free? First of all, you have to believe in Jesus. And then you have to hold on to what he is teaching, obeying it, applying it, holding on to his words, holding on to his teaching. When you do that, then you will begin to know the truth. And when you start getting to know the truth, actually at that time is when you will get set free by the truth. simply saying that you have heard the truth and now you know you're going to be set free. It does not happen that way. There's a process involved. What do I mean? Jesus is basically telling these people who are saying you know oh yes Lord we believe in you. He's telling them if you really believe in me then prove it by holding on to what I am saying. Apply what I'm saying. Obey what I am saying. So you have to go beyond just intellectually in your mind saying okay I have understood what you're saying because that's what a lot of Christians do. They sit in the church they listen to the sermon and they say oh yes I have understood what the scripture is saying they have understood it over here in the in their mind which is a good thing. I mean if nobody teaches us the truth we will not even know it. So you begin by knowing about it in your mind but then you go one step further. You take that truth and you start applying it. You start obeying it. Then you begin to discover that this truth actually works in your everyday life. And then now you know the truth in a very different way. Earlier you just knew it as a as a statement in your head. But now after applying it and obeying it, you're discovering that this truth actually works. So now you know this truth in a deeper way. And when you know this truth in this very experiential way, that is when the truth will set you free. Otherwise it just continues to remain as good information in your head and it will not set you free. Let me use an example. We are all very very you know familiar with this uh truth that Jesus can quench our thirst. Okay. So if you go to Jesus and you drink from him, your thirst will be quen quenched. It's a good piece of information and we all know it over here in our mind. But many Christians don't know this at an experiential level level. They have not applied it to their life and so they don't actually have any experiential knowledge of their thirst being quenched. They they're continuing to be thirsty. They're continuing to be hungry in their personal life. They know the information. If you go to Jesus, your hunger will be know satisfied. Your thirst will be quenched. But they have never actually applied it to their life to see whether it he actually can satisfy to the fullest extent. I mean um there was this uh time when I was just going through a difficult phase and um there were a lot of issues that I was very concerned about, worried about and um I was just watching some uh serial I some detective serial. I was just watching that and the Lord said something to me in my heart. He said, "You are uh watching this to distract yourself from the issues which are going on. Why don't you come to me and allow me to quench your thirst?" And that was a very surprising thought. I mean, I had finished having my, you know, quiet time in the morning. You know, I'm a very sincere person. I have spent my time with the Lord in the morning. I read the Bible. I prayed. I finished my duty. Now, the Lord is saying, "Come to me and I'll quench your thirst. Why are you sitting over here and watching this? This can't really satisfy you. I can satisfy you. You see, it never had occurred to me that I should actually take this truth, apply it in my life, start practicing it and see whether he can really quench my thirst or not. Because generally when we think of go God quenching our thirst or satisfying our hunger, we only think in terms of answered prayer. Okay, the day he answers my prayer, that day my you know hunger is satisfied. But even during the time of waiting when the answer has not yet come, you can still be satisfied. Your thirst can still be quenched because his presence is enough. You know we sing in the church, right? You are all I need. So even if my prayers are not answered, you are all I need. So is that a nice piece of information in my mind or do I really know in reality in experience that he is really what I you know what I what I need and he is enough he is sufficient. So that's something that I had to start learning you know whenever I have this urge to just avoid dealing with issues or I I run to those things you know entertainment or whatever to comfort myself. Am I willing to actually test out this truth that he can quench my thirst and go and sit in his presence and see whether he can actually quench my thirst? So as I began to do that, I discovered that he provides deeper, greater satisfaction than just sitting and watching a detective cal. See, there's nothing wrong with the detective seal. As long as it's not too violent or um I don't know, too immoral or whatever, you know, as long as the standards are decent, um the Lord is okay with what you're watching. But if you're using that to comfort yourself to, you know, somehow get through life, then you're you're going to the wrong source for your comfort. So as I began to spend more time with the Lord, I realized that he can satisfy in a way that a movie or a serial can never satisfy you. That can distract you for some time, but it can't really help you with your situation. You don't feel comforted. You don't feel confident when you come out of God's presence. You feel confident that yes, I can handle this situation. So I had to learn that you know they take this truth from my mind and move it to my experience level. So that is what Jesus is talking about over here. He's saying oh you believe in me is it if you believe in me then start holding on to my teaching start applying it obeying it then you will know the truth in a completely different way. So I made the discovery that God can actually quench my thirst in a way that other things cannot. And then once I knew the truth in this way, the truth began to set me free. Because now those things which were earlier so important to me, you know, those movies, those cals, those things which were which were entertaining me, they began to losen their grip. You see, because now I realize I don't really need them that much. the Lord can help in a much greater way. So those things could not hold me in their clutches and that that deep sense of dependency on you know on those sources of entertainment began to grow loose. So the truth began to set me free only when I held on to it and actually applied it and found out whether it's really true or not. And that is the way it works with every truth that we you and I are learning here in the Bible college. So there's a lot of information that is sitting over here at the mind level. It's good. This information has been provided to you so that it can be useful to you. But as long as it just stays over here, you're not going to see much benefit. You got to move these truths from your mind level to the actual practice level where you're start starting to apply those truths where you're starting to obey those truths and then you will discover for yourself whether or not these truths actually work and then you'll when you're when you're talking to someone about you know about God quenching your thirst you'll not just give a teaching about it you'll talk out of your experience about it and then the people who are listening will believe you because you have actually experience that truth. You're going to talk about it in a deeper way and then when you know the truth in that experiential manner, it can actually set you free. It can actually set you free. So Jesus says you need to be obeying me and holding on to my teaching at that level. Simply saying that you believe in your mind at an intellectual level is not enough because we know right even the demons also believe. They know that what God is saying is true. So they know the information. It's all there. In fact, the demons probably know the Bible by heart. We don't we don't we don't have that power to memorize every single verse. They actually probably know it by heart. But for them, it's staying over here. They have never bothered to apply it. They have never bothered to obey it. So the truth could never set them free. But we you and I we have the privilege of taking it from the mind level and bringing it down to the heart level where we start practicing it where we start obeying it and that starts leading to freedom. The truth starts setting us free from all the things which are holding us down. Okay. So that's the beauty of actually holding on to the truth. When you hold on to the truth, you actually experience experience and find out that it works. And once you start realizing that it works, it starts setting you free from all the things which were distracting you or holding you back. So these people now they're very offended that Jesus should say something like that to them and they say you know we were never slaves. We were always free people. You're talking about how the truth will set us free. We are already free. We are children of Abraham. Children of Abraham are are very very free. But Jesus says, "Very truly I tell you," you know the wording which he uses to highlight something. So he says, "Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin." If you people are so free, then why are you still living in sin? So you need to give up your sin and actually hold on to the truth and obey it. If you're not doing that, you're still a very very much a slave to sin. So he says, "If the sun sets you free, you will be free indeed. If you truly come to me, if you truly hold on to my teaching, if you truly are applying it, then I will personally set you free." So it's actually the Lord Jesus who set me free from the grip of, you know, those cals and those movies which were wasting my time. I mean I I still use them for entertainment but now I'm not dependent on them. So who did that for me? The son set me free. Jesus did that for me. Why? Because I began to hold on to his teaching and actually apply it and obey it and practice it. So here Jesus says, you know, it's it's if you if you're still being held down and trapped and, you know, being enslaved by different things, then you're not really free. So he says if you really believe in me and come to me and hold on to my teaching then I the son will indeed set you free. Okay. So that's the teaching which Jesus is giving on how to be free uh from the clutches of all the things which are holding us down. And uh so then uh Jesus says I know that you're Abraham's descendants yet you are looking for a way to kill me. Okay. So, um, yeah, maybe you could read out these verses. Verses 37 to 39. Yeah, >> I know that you are Abraham's descendants. Yet, you are looking for a way to kill me because you have no room uh for my word. Uh, I'm telling you what I have seen in the father's presence and you are doing what you have heard from your father. Abraham is our father, they answered. If you are if you were Abraham's children, said Jesus, then you would you would you would do what Abraham did. >> So they are very offended that Jesus is calling them slaves of sin. And so they say, you know, no, no, we are actually Abraham's descendants. And then Jesus says, if you were Abraham's children, then you would do what Abraham did. What did Abraham do when heavenly messengers came down? You know, he was sitting outside outside his tent and then some heavenly messengers come. Does do any of you remember your Old Testament? What did what did Abraham do when those people came? He exactly you know he he sacrifices an animal and he cooks a meal for them and he does all that. So Jesus is basically saying over here you know what Abraham did when when heavenly messengers came immediately he went he you know he he prepared food for them he served them but what are you people doing when a heavenly messenger came to you you're actually trying to kill him so he says you're not actually children of Abraham in fact you are the children of some other father is what Jesus says and now they are even more angry that will be in your verses 40 and 41 if you can read Not as it is. You are looking for a way to kill me. A man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the works of your own father. We are not in uh >> illegitimate children. >> Illegitimate children. They pro uh protested the only father we have is God himself. Jesus said to them, "If God were your father, you would love me. For I come I I have come here from God. I have not come on my own. God sent me." Yeah. Um so now he says, "You don't really belong to Abraham. You are not Abraham's children. Your father is somebody else." And uh so they are very offended by this. And they say, "Oh, we we we are legal children of Abraham and you're calling us illegitimate children. That's not true." And Jesus is very very frank and he says in verse 44, "You belong to your father, the devil. And you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth. Uh for there is no truth in him." And so in the same way like your father always was a murderer. Now you people are trying to have me killed, you know. So Jesus very frankly says that because you are still choosing to be in slavery to sin. It is it is proof that your father is the devil, your father is not Abraham because Abraham chose to obey God. He didn't disobey God. So after having said those things, uh Jesus goes on to say in verse um 51. Yeah, maybe you can read out 51 to 54. Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death. At at this uh they ex exclaimed, now we know that you are a demon-possessed. Abraham died and so did the prophet. At you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. Are you uh greater than our father Abraham? He died. So and so did the prophets who do you think you are? Jesus replied if I glorify myself my glory means nothing. My father who whom you claim as your god is the one who glorifies me. >> So here uh Jesus says whoever obeys my word will never see death. Now this is very shocking statement. So they say how can you say that Abraham our father he died. All the prophets who came they also died. Are you greater than all the prophets and greater than even Abraham? It's what they say. And so Jesus says it's not just me talking about myself. The father himself glor is glorifying me regarding this. And then Jesus goes on to say in your verse 56, your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day. He saw it and was glad. So at some point of time in Abraham's life, God must have revealed to him about the Messiah. how the Messiah will come, how he will deliver the people, you know, all the descendants of Abraham would be delivered through this Messiah. So when Abraham's heard about these things and when he saw these things in the prophecy which was given he rejoiced and he was very very glad. And so when he when Jesus tells them Abraham rejoiced when he heard about me. Then in verse 57 they say you are not yet 50 years old. They said to him and you have seen Abraham. And then Jesus says very truly I tell you. You know that wording which he uses to highlight a sentence which is important. So he says, "Very truly I tell you, before Abraham was born, I am." Okay. So now um again in your chapter 8, this is the third time that Jesus is using the term I am. Okay. So um so at this they picked up stones to stone him because this is the third time that he is referring to himself as I am. So here we see Jesus saying before Abraham was even born I already was there because you know uh God in his divinity has always been there. So three times in this uh very heavy argument that goes on between uh Jesus and this uh leaders and the Pharisees and the you know Jewish people who say they believe in him in this argument which goes on between them. Three times Jesus refers to him divinely as I am and he says because you're refusing to believe that I am the I am you are you will die in your sins. So now uh we'll move into chapter nine and uh here you have the opposition which comes after the blind man is healed. Okay. So that will be a chapter nine which talks about the blind man being healed and how uh this leads to a lot of opposition and argument. Uh so this will be the fifth sign you know the fifth large sign board with an arrow mark pointing towards Jesus and saying look look what Jesus is doing over here in this particular miracle. This is proof that he is the divine Messiah. Now what were the four previous signs? If this is the fifth sign which were the four previous signs the first one was Cana. The second one was the official who um you know yeah whose son was healed. The third one was um the paralytic right uh at the bedside pool. That would be the third one. Uh the fourth one would be the feeding of the 5,000. And yeah, now this will be the fifth sign. So there's this blind man who is kind of walking along the road and then the disciples look at him and they say you know uh what sin has made him blind. Okay so that's basically the question which they are asking. Let's read out those verses. Uh let's read out chapter 9 verses 1 2 and 3. As he went along he saw a man uh blind from birth. His disciple asked him Rabi who seen this man or his parents that he was born blind? Neither this man nor his parents sinned. Jesus said but this happened uh so that the work of works of God might be displayed in him. So their belief at that time most of the people in that time believed that if you have committed some terrible sin then you'll be born lame or blind or deaf you know or you'll have some very serious handicap like that. So they believed that it is because of sinfulness that these things happen. But of course now today you know we are more learned in the old in the new testament. So we know that sicknesses can happen even if a person has not sinned in any way. There are so many other factors which can lead to a person being lame or blind or deaf. So um we don't have to you know believe that only sin is the only thing which causes you know serious handicaps like this. They they did not have that kind of knowledge. So they assumed that either this man you know would commit very terrible sins in his life and God knowing that he would commit terrible sins gave him punishment beforehand by making him you know to be born uh blind. So they ask him did the sins of this man you know lead to the blindness? Did God know that he's going to be leading a very sinful life? And is that the reason God punished him beforehand by making him blind? Or is did he become blind because his parents were living in sin? So Jesus says, "No, nobody sinned over here, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him." Now, it's very very important theologically that we should understand verse three in the correct way. Verse three is not saying that uh God caused the sickness so that he can glorify himself. That is not what is being talked about over here. Jesus is not giving the giving the reason why the sickness happened. When Jesus says this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him, Jesus is not giving the reason why the sickness took place. We don't know why the sickness took place. Maybe it was some genetic defect you know which which was there in the parents and they have passed it down to the child. It may be because Satan was attacking the child. It may be many many different things. Here Jesus is not giving us the reason why the sickness happened. All he is saying is there is a purpose in the suffering which this man is facing and the purpose is that God may be glorified. So here in this example in it in this event which is being discussed Jesus is not explaining why the sickness happened. He's not giving the reason why the sickness happened. He's simply telling that there is a purpose for the suffering which this man is undergoing for because sometimes God permits things which are against his will. He's permitting those things which are against his will not because he hates the person or because he wants to hurt that person but because he knows how he can bring good out of even that evil thing. He permits that evil thing which is against his will. He permits that evil thing because he knows fully well how he can bring good out of it. Let's look at some examples to understand this. Um, we're all familiar with, you know, Peter who was tempted by Satan. If you could read out that Luke 22 31 and 32. Luke 22 31 and 32. Simon Simon Satan has asked to uh shift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you Simon that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. >> We get to know that uh Satan has asked for permission in heaven, you know, saying that I want to tempt these disciples. So Jesus is saying Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. So Satan had to take permission to tempt these disciples. Now, is it God's will that his people should be tempted to do sinful things? Definitely not. It's definitely not God's will that his people should be tempted to do sinful things. So this is something which is against God's will. But why has he permitted it? Because he knows how he can bring good out of this evil thing. The reason that God permitted these disciples to be tempted. Why he permitted something which is against his will to be done. Why did he allow it? Why did he permit it? because he knows how to bring good even out of evil things. Let's look at another example in a more familiar example of Joseph. This is what Joseph says to his brothers in Genesis 50 verse 20. Genesis 50 verse 20. If you can read out that uh 50 Your people don't sleep. No, please. >> 50 verse 20. But as for you, you meant evil against me. But God meant it for good in order to bring it about as it is this day to save many people alive. >> Yeah. So here the brothers intended to harm Joseph. They wanted to destroy him. They wanted to sell him away as a slave. So is that God's will that his people should be sl sold as slaves? It's against God's will. God definitely doesn't want any of his children to be sold as slaves. But why did God permit something which is against his will? He permitted it because he knows how to bring good even out of that evil thing. So we see in many many instances in the Bible, God permits something which is clearly against his will. He permits it only because he knows how to bring good out of it. So in the same way he allowed this poor man to be born blind. Why? Because he knows exactly how to bring good out of it. So therefore confidently Jesus says God has allowed this so that the works of God might be displayed in him. There are many wonderful works which God wants to do in this man's life. And God will be able to do all of those wonderful works. Even though this man has been born blind, his blindness will not stop this from happening. God will fulfill all the wonderful works which he has in his heart for this man. So only one work is described over here in this chapter. You know how his blindness is taken away. But then there are many other works which God had planned for this man because the the word over there works. It's plural. So there are many many works wonderful works which God has planned for this man's life and God will fulfill them. So that one evil thing which God has permitted which is against God's will which he has permitted it will not be able to stop God's beautiful plans from being fulfilled. So what are the one or two things which are there in your life right now like an obstacle like a thorn you know they are not what God's will is for you. I mean they there are things which are which go against God's will and but still you you finding those things right now in your life. It may be financial need. It may be a sickness. It may be uh broken relationships in your family. This is not God's will for you. This is against God's will. But God has permitted it only because God knows how to bring good for you even out of that evil thing. Therefore, trust God that he has many many good works for your life. And this this thing which is obstructing will not be able to stop God's plans. This thing, however great it may be, however great your financial need may be, it will not be able to block what God wants to do in your life. However great the sickness may be that you're facing, it'll not be able to block what God wants to do in your life. So that is the confidence you know which we can have. So here Jesus says yes this is something which is not God's will but God has permitted it only because God knows how to bring good even out of this evil thing. And uh so we see that God does a work of restoration in this man's life. So the what is the learning for us when there is anything in our life which is against God's will we can be sure that it will not stay permanently. God will help us to overcome it, crush it, get rid of it. Anything that is there in your life and in my life which is not God's will, uh you know uh something which is causing suffering, something which is obstructing our progress, something which is pulling us down. It's not it will not remain in our life because God has works which he has planned for us and those works will be fulfilled and God's plan for us will not be blocked by that thing which is obstructing. So rather than asking ourselves oh why did this happen? How did this happen? Instead of going on wondering about the source and the cause of the suffering, we can instead focus on what God wants to do. We can say to the Lord, you know, Lord, how do you want me to overcome this? How do you want me to crush this thing which is, you know, you know, troubling me? How do you want to help me to gain victory? So rather than, you know, going on breaking our heads about what caused it, did my sin cause it? Did my parents sin cause it? did some other uh uh you know uh some other negative factor cause it instead of wondering about those things directly go to God and say Lord I don't care what has caused it maybe Satan caused it maybe people caused it doesn't matter point is Lord what do you want me to do about this negative thing right now how do I overcome it you show me your plan you give me your strategy and you empower me and I'll overcome it because I'm meant to have success this thing cannot hold me back. This thing cannot block me. It cannot stop God's purposes from being fulfilled in my life. Okay? So with that confidence, we go to God and we say, "Lord, you have given me the spiritual authority. Now show me what I want, what I have to do, you know, show me how I have to overcome." Um, so this is what it says in Matthew 10 verse 1. Um, look at the wording used over here. And now we we are talking specifically about disease and sickness. Matthew 10 verse 1. >> Jesus called his 12 disciples to him and gave them authority to dry uh dry out impure spirits and to heal every disease and and sickness. >> It says over here that the disciples were given authority not just to heal some diseases. Look at the wording over there. It says they were given authority to heal every disease and sickness. Okay. So in the same way the authority which was given to the disciples has now been given even to us because we too are his disciples. Right? So we have not been given the authority to heal only some sicknesses. The authority which has been given to us it can heal every disease and sickness. Okay. So that's a truth that we need to keep in mind. Uh so um so they are faced right now over here with this uh sick man. And so how does Jesus heal him? Why does Jesus use this particular method of healing him? And what is the response of the Pharisees? All of those details we will look at uh next class. Yeah. So shall we close with a word of prayer? Yeah. Lord, we just thank you so much that when we believe in you and we hold on to your teachings, then we will see your truth doing great things in our life. It will bring about miracles, oh Lord. It will set us free from things which have hold which have held us back. It will bring into fruition the plans of God in our life. it will uh uh cause obstacles to fall away so that the pathway is cleared. All this will happen simply if we believe in you and start holding on to your teaching and start applying it in our life. Nothing will be able to stand in our way. We will be able to stand in victory and we will be able to move forward to uh lay hold of every plan that you have for us for our lives. So we thank you Lord that you have given us your teachings as a gift. They are not a burden which has been imposed upon us. Your teachings are a gift that have been that has that has been given to us. And when we begin to practice these teachings, we begin to see great freedom, great deliverance, and uh uh we see that all obstacles are moved out of the way and we are able to become what we are meant to be. Thank you, oh Lord, that you have given us your teachings as a gift to enjoy. We commit ourselves into your hands. Help us, Lord, to hold on to your teachings and to obey them. Thank you Lord in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Thank you.