Come and See
Chapter 9 of the Gospel of John
Part ii
Questions
And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. (John 9:1)
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Come and see the works of God: he is terrible in his doing toward the children of men. (Psalm 66:5)
For I [know] their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. (Isaiah 66:18)
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He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about tenth hour. (John 1:39)
And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. (John 1:46)
And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. (John 11:34)
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Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; (Philippians 1:27)
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And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. (Revelation 6:1)
And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say,  Come and see. (Revelation 6:3)
And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. (Revelation 6:5)
And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. (Revelation 6:7)
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The Questions in Chapter 9
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  One should understand the far reaching depth of the Spirit of Christ in the COMPLETE gospel according to John. It is the REVELATION of the mind of the Spirit. We must enter into His presence to understand ALL the truths and all that are revealed in the gospel according to John. Chapter 9 is the final single digit, it contains the number 3, three times, and begins with the awakening of blindness of the soul in John Chapter 3. Chapter 3 is a man meeting the Lord in the darkness of night: the whole condition of Adam who has no light in his heart, soul, and spirit. The second segment is Chapter 6 (the duplicate of the number three) and in this duplicate the Son of God is completely revealed before man in His power over the elements of nature, over the feeding of the five thousand, and by many of the miracles that He performed that man might believe. Chapter 6 closes with the declaration of Peter, thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. (John 6:69) Therefore, we see in the number 6 the entire need and the whole number of mankind.
  We also see that in Adam ALL die because of sin, and therefore, God sent His Son to deliver man out of the bondage of sin and death, and to give His life for an atonement for the sin of the whole world. The Holy Spirit wants to break down all theological questions in John Chapter 9. He uses the simplicity of a multitude of questions that every man MUST answer before God.
  You do not have to be a Greek scholar to understand these questions. You do not have to be a theological professor to lay hold of the truth that is found in John Chapter 9. What is the premise of these questions? By answering them you determine what path you are on; whether you are on the right path which leads to redemption and the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, or the wrong path where you continue in darkness. Where your heart, soul and spirit continue to grope in blindness and you will not believe because of your sin. I am going to present these eighteen questions found in John Chapter 9. These questions are not just to be answered with knowledge but with heart sincerity before God. I will list these eighteen questions, and then we will discuss them one at a time to reveal man’s blindness, and how all men come into this world blind to the knowledge of God.
1. Who did sin? (verse 2)
2. Is this not he? (verse 8)
The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?
3. How were thine eyes opened? (verse 10)
4. Where is he? (verse 12)
5. How he has received his sight? (verse 15)
Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see.
6. How can a man? (verse 16)
Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.
7. What sayeth thou of him? (verse 17)
They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet.
8. Is this your son? (verse 19)
And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see?
9. How then doeth he now see? (verse 19)
And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see?
10. What did he to thee? (verse 26)
Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes?
11. How opened he thine eyes? (verse 26)
Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes?
12. Would you hear it again? (verse 27)
He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples?
13. Will you also be his disciples? (verse 27)
He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples?
14. Since the world began (verse 32)
Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind.
15. Dost thou teach us? (verse 34)
They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.
16. Dost thou believe on the Son of God? (verse 35)
Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
17. Who is he Lord that I might believe on him? (verse 36)
He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?
18. Are we blind also? (verse 40)
And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
  Before we enter into these eighteen questions, please read in its entirety John Chapter 3, and John Chapter 6 with these two points in mind — following the mind of the Spirit of Christ, and the opposition to His Spirit in the Spirit of man. Then read the entire 9th Chapter of the gospel of John. And now, we will begin with question number 1.
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Who Did Sin?
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1. Who did sin? (verse 2)
And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? (John 9:2)
  This is the only time we hear a conversation between the Lord and His disciples in John Chapter 9. This conversation is to reveal that even those who were with the Lord day after day, still did not grasp the fullness of eternal light in Jesus Christ, nor did they understand the power and the depth of sin that sin bringeth forth death. There are three family members brought to light: a father, a mother, and a son (who was born blind). The suffering and despair of these three family members, in the blindness of this man blind from his birth, are deep scars upon all three family members, and yet, all the travail that these three people suffered was so that the works of God could be known amongst mankind. Sin was not the question, but the opposition to the light and life of Jesus Christ. He came to reveal the hearts of men, and the sin that does so easily beset them. For it is the sin WITHIN man that has blinded man from his birth to the knowledge and relationship with Almighty God. Sin is a general condition of ALL men because of Adam’s transgression by this one man sin came into the world, and death by sin for sin has passed upon ALL men because ALL have sinned. Sin is the deep embedded character of man, ALL men.
  To understand the fullness of the blindness of sin one must always begin at the first mention or action in the Scriptures. You will not find this word ‘’sin’ in Genesis Chapter 3, but you will find it in Genesis 4:7. If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. In this verse we have two words mentioned for the first time: the word ‘sin’ and the word ‘door.’ In the word ‘door’ we see the entrance of the heart, for it is with the heart that man believes, or disbelieves. In Cain we not only see inherent sin from Adam, but we see the progressive sin within Cain building a wall of enmity and resentment against the Almighty God, his Creator. In the fullness of Chapter 4 of Genesis, we see the revealing of the heart of the first born of Adam. He is pictured as a rebel against God which he acquired from his father Adam. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Romans 5:12 initiates the blame for sin coming into the world. There was only one Adam, and he is the one who bears the full blame for sin. It is Adam who brought sin into the world to have dominion over ALL of mankind, for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23). Sin brought fourth death. Death is not just something that happens to man, but death is a predominant force over man because of sin. Therefore, ALL die in Adam because of Adam’s inherent sin. The Word of God reveals in Romans 5:12 that sin is the very weapon of death, for sin bringeth forth death. Sin and death are undivided partners in this world. To overthrow mankind and the evil heart of Cain controlled by the sin within brought forth the first death, the death of his brother, Abel. Cain did not become a murderer. The murder was within Cain from his birth because of sin. Cain was a murderer. God could see this vast corruption within the heart of Cain, so therefore, God declared sin lieth at the door, and Cain further followed the door of his heart in the path of sin that led to the murder of his brother Abel. It was Cain who opened the door to death, and death consumed Abel at the hands of Cain. Sin opened the door and Cain closed the door of his heart to all the righteousness of God. Cain embraced sin and death, and watched life flow out of his brother which became the first human death recorded in the Word of God. This was not what we falsely call ‘a natural death.’ For man never dies a natural death. There is no such thing. There is nothing natural about death. Man dies a sinful death which he denies at all the glorious declarations at the funerals of the unjust, and sinners of this world. Sin is that smoking gun that brings forth death. And this was all accomplished by one man, Adam, at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Through God’s mercy and grace Adam continued to live although he was driven out of the garden, his life was spared because of the sacrifice and death of two innocent victims: two lambs without spot, without blemish, one for Adam and his trespass, and one for Eve for her trespass; and then they were both exiled into a world of thorns and thistles evidenced by the sweat of their faces. It didn’t take long for sin to reveal its true depth, and its true depth is death. Chapter 4 of the book of Genesis reveals the dreadfulness of sin. Cain opened the door wide for sin to engulf, to overtake, and to swallow up mankind. The devil was his father, and he was a murderer from the beginning.
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. (1st John 3:8)
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. (1st John 3:9)
In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. (1st John 3:10)
For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. (1st John 3:11)
Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. (1st John 3:12)
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44)
  The relationship between Cain and the devil is brought to a conclusion in1st John Chapter 3, we see the revealing of the seed of the devil IN Cain which man does not want to admit. Man likes to look at his sin as chance, and not as reality. He will not admit that sin is WITHIN him, and he is alienated from God. When we believe the truth of Scripture and not the erroneous doctrines of theological men, we will see the truth at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The good side is the Seed of God, and the evil side is the seed of the devil.
  In Genesis Chapter 1 we have the unlocking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In verse 12 of Genesis Chapter 1,  the earth brought forth the tree yielding fruit whose seed was in ITSELF after his KIND. And God saw that it was good. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
  Genesis 1:12 takes place before the sin of Adam. In Genesis 3, we have the disobedience of man for man brings sin INTO the world, and the SEED of sin IN the evil workings of Satan for Lucifer (Satan) and his hosts of angels were cast out of heaven because of their sin against God. The battleground of sin and death was revealed on planet Earth. The good was/is God. The evil was Satan, his affiliate Adam, and Adam’s affiliate Eve. The trinity of good is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. The trinity of evil in Satan was and is man and woman: the book of Proverbs bears this out. God established two seeds in Genesis Chapter 3. A seed which would be from Satan (the evil seed) and the seed of God that would be of God, and from God. The seed of evil was dependent on mankind, and man (through his propagation) multiplied the seed of evil. (Once Adam believed the great lie of Satan, and acted against his Creator, mankind did not require or need any other evil influence from outside his own species or other creatures when it came to rejecting God’s righteousness and following his inherent evilness.) The seed of good could not be acquired from man, or by man; it has to be a gift from God and God alone. Nothing good could come from mankind unless it came from above, from the throne of God. It would be God who would determine the good seed and not mankind.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:Â (John 1:12) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:13)
  The battlefield had its first human fatality in Abel. Sin and the evil seed overcame the younger brother of Cain. Abel, the chosen of God, was the first martyr of faith and grace. So much so that even today his blood speaks of that first act of violence that sin brought forth and which death completed.
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. (Hebrews 11:4)
And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. (Genesis 4:10)
  In 1st John we see the seed of faith. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. (1st John 3:9) Here we have the mind and the determinate counsels of God. The seed of the just cannot be separated because they have been given the seed of faith that has brought them to grace, and grace has embraced them with God’s righteousness which can only be imputed: not gained, but IMPUTED by God through Jesus Christ. When the Lord answered His disciples in John Chapter 9 He revealed a mystery that has plagued mankind from the beginning. He described the unseen elements in the will and purpose of God. God’s will is predominate over mankind. Although sin is a real force in the lives of all mankind, for no one can deny that it brings forth death, the mystery of the will of God is that faith delivers us from both sin and death. Unbelief delivers ALL to the realm of sin and death. And the parents of the blind man were sinners, and most likely had committed many sins, yet, this was not the cause of the blindness of their son. It was God’s purpose and plan, just a moment in time, to show the power of God in Jesus Christ to open the eyes of the blind to the dead spiritual beings: the Pharisees, the neighbors and all those who saw the blind man begging. Yes, even his parents and the Jews, it was too much for them to accept that God IN Jesus Christ is not controlled by the whims, by the thoughts, and by the actions of men. That God is in power, and the expression of that power is through His Son Jesus Christ.
  This was a much bigger stage then just one man born blind. It was a giant Colosseum of good versus evil, and sin and death versus grace and life. For ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All need grace and truth which leads to light and life in Jesus Christ. At the point of birth ALL are blind in sin, therefore all are on the road to death because of sin. However, as with this blind man, not only had light come, but life itself would be given to the man who was born blind. Although we (as individuals) are born into the world blind spiritually to the things of God, life has come in Jesus Christ. Those who were blind to belief in Christ now see the unseen things through faith. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.(Hebrews 11:1)
  Although the word ‘faith’ is not mentioned in John Chapter 9, the very substance of faith is there in His very own Person, for it is Christ who is the Author and Finisher of ALL faith. The apostle Paul declared in Galatians 2:20, that his very life was embraced and implemented by the faith that was in the Son of God, who loved Paul, and gave Himself for him. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
  The Spirit of God in the 11th Chapter of the book of Hebrews declared that there is a tangible substance to the faith of God which is IN Jesus Christ. One cannot have faith unless it comes from above. In John Chapter 9 we see the declaration of faith although not mentioned when the blind man proclaimed to the Lord Jesus that he believed on the Son of God.
  When we see the central theme of life in Christ through the gospel of John, a great flower will open unto us and fill our spiritual being with the glories of Christ. Those who were born blind to the unseen world of God have their eyes opened by the faith which is IN the Son of God, and who has given it so that men will believe. If faith brings forth fruit for God then the seed of belief has to be within faith, and faith becomes the seed of the just, and the good side of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. How does faith enlarge the heart? Faith reveals the glory of God in Jesus Christ.
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;Â (Hebrews 1:3)
  With our eyes opened by faith, we believe that the worlds were framed by the Word of God. And we believe that this very Word is alive, and He has personality. He has preeminence over ALL the works of His own creation. It is the Man of Hebrews 1:3 who upholds ALL things by the word of His power, and who has created ALL things by His very Word. (John 1) You would think that after contemplating the vastness of the Person of Christ: His majesty, His glory, His power, His righteousness, and His holiness, one would fall down and confess Jesus Christ as Lord. However, John Chapter 9 reveals the very depth of sin in mankind. He will deny the very reality before him, when the Lord Jesus performed a miracle, the first thought of mankind was NOT belief, but unbelief. Man becomes a sceptic of ALL that is of God. For example, those of faith believe that God has given an infallible written copy of His Word; the sceptic denies this, those of faith are willing to walk by the infallible Word of God, the sceptic denies God’s ways and Word and walks his own path of sin and death.
  As Christ, in that moment of time, opened the eyes of the blind man, there was a marvel, a miracle that took place both with the outward man and the inward man. The Lord Jesus gave the man born blind specific instructions so that he might see. After the Lord took the clay and His spittle and anointed the eyes of the blind man, He instructed him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. (John 9:7) This was the antidote to this man’s blindness. And when he came again, he came seeing for he was obedient to the words of Christ. Now, is spiritual blindness any different? The Spirit of Christ woos man, broods over him, convicts him of his sin, and establishes in the heart the need of repentance toward God. It is God who enacts or takes up the clay, He mingles it with the water of His Word, and anoints the blindness within the heart of man, so that through faith man must believe.
  The cleansing water of the Word of God is like the laver in Exodus. The Word of God has a sanctifying power. How? Because it is linked to the Living Word of God in heaven, the Man Christ Jesus. It is not the sin of your parents, nor your own sins, it is the sin WITHIN you from Adam that keeps you in the bondage of sin and death. The eyes of faith and grace can only be opened by the One who came from heaven, and submitted Himself in the likeness of sinful flesh. Although there was no sin upon Him or in Him, or done by Him, He took on the clay. He identified with the dust so that those who are clay and dust can be created anew in the image of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. (1st John 3:1)
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1st John 3:1)
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (1st John 3:1)　
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Is This Not He?
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2. Is this not he? (verse 8)
The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?
  The man who was born blind met the Savior of men. However, we should notice that it was the Lord Jesus who went to him. The meeting was prearranged in the determinate counsels of God. The mystery of God’s will and His counsel are beyond the thoughts of men. God knows the very beginning and the very end. He IS the Alpha and the Omega whether it is the beginning to the end, or the end to the beginning. The entire time line of mankind is one giant tapestry of God’s determinate counsel. His ways and His will are beyond the comprehension of mankind. Man can search throughout his whole world and he will not find God unless God reveals Himself to that individual. In the life of David, he had his time of mystery of God, not being able to understand all that God was revealing to him. Consider 2nd Samuel Chapter 7, and meditate on these words, these are the words of God through Nathan, and the words of God through David.
“ And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the LORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies; (2nd Samuel 7:1)
That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains. (2nd Samuel 7:2)
And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the LORD is with thee. (2nd Samuel 7:3)
And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying, (2nd Samuel 7:4)
Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? (2nd Samuel 7:5)
Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. (2nd Samuel 7:6)
In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar? (2nd Samuel 7:7)
Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel: (2nd Samuel 7:8)
And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth. (2nd Samuel 7:9)
Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime, (2nd Samuel 7:10)
And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house. (2nd Samuel 7:11)
And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. (2nd Samuel 7:12)
He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. (2nd Samuel 7:13)
I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:Â (2nd Samuel 7:14)
But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. (2nd Samuel 7:15)
And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever. (2nd Samuel 7:16)
According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David. (2nd Samuel 7:17)
Then went king David in, and sat before the LORD, and he said, Who am I, O Lord GOD? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? (2nd Samuel 7:18)
And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord GOD; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant’s house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Lord GOD? (2nd Samuel 7:19)
And what can David say more unto thee? for thou, Lord GOD, knowest thy servant. (2nd Samuel 7:20)
For thy word’s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these great things, to make thy servant know them. (2nd Samuel 7:21)
Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. (2nd Samuel 7:22)
And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods? (2nd Samuel 7:23)
For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be a people unto thee for ever: and thou, LORD, art become their God. (2nd Samuel 7:24)
And now, O LORD God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said. (2nd Samuel 7:25)
And let thy name be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God over Israel: and let the house of thy servant David be established before thee. (2nd Samuel 7:26)
For thou, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee. (2nd Samuel 7:27)
And now, O Lord GOD, thou art that God, and thy words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant: (2nd Samuel 7:28)
Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee: for thou, O Lord GOD, hast spoken it: and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever. (2nd Samuel 7:29) ”
  We have the words of God, the words of God through Nathan (the prophet), and the words of God through David, the king. And this is the mystery that God, the prophet Nathan, and king David all agreed upon in one of the most expanding prophecies that are given in Scripture. For it not only takes us to Matthew Chapter 1 where the King of righteousness is revealed, but it also concludes in the millennial kingdom, when Christ sits on His throne as the Son of David, and as the Priest of the most high God after the order of Melchisedec. For all the offices of God are established and fulfilled IN the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is Priest, Prophet and King, and has availed Himself to all of these positions throughout the history of mankind.
  The question of . . . Is not this he? . . . covers a lot of ground. When speaking of the man who was born blind, the neighbors and the people had watched him day after day begging because he could not labor under his condition of blindness.
  Today, this very moment in time, man is overwhelmed by his blindness. Religion has swallowed up the truth. The traditions of men have cast off the truth. And the world, the flesh, and the devil deny the truth. As then, so also today. They could not believe that this man who was blind from birth now had all the facilities that they enjoyed. This is the heart of man.
  When Moses returned to Egypt after forty years in the wilderness in self imposed exile, yet, for the purpose of God it was a completely new generation who in Egypt that he returned to. They knew not the ruler Moses, the architect and builder of many of the monuments of Egypt, they saw a man of eighty and not the famous soldier and royal prince. They saw a man of humility, and not one of the Egyptian ruling class incredibly arrogant. They could ask the question, Is not this he ? You see man does not change. His fall was great, and Adam NEVER recovered.
 When we go back to the days of the Lord Jesus, what was the question after the Lord had already performed many miracles. Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not this he? And it was said of the apostle Paul, Is not this he? who persecuted the church and cast men and women into prison. So you see, man does not change. Even today, when God touches the heart, soul and spirit of a person, the world cannot understand; they ask the question . . . Is not this he? The religious world throughout the ages, as in the days of the Lord Jesus, and the religious Jews could not understand these things. Their leaders and their teachers could not understand these things, especially how a man who was born blind could now see? Their enmity was so great that some refused to believe that it was the same man who had begged even when he had clearly stated to them that he was the same man who was once blind. This relates to the present day and the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We live in a world of blindness — dead men walking — because they know not God, they have eyes to see, and yet, they cannot see. They have ears to hear, and they cannot hear. And again, with the Laodicean thought, when any individual finds grace and truth others question and ask, Is not this he? And many deny that it is the same person. In truth, when God calls the soul and the spirit, the person is changed. He becomes a new creation before the Almighty God. Salvation is not a collective thing. Salvation only deals with one individual at a time. It is an individual experience, not a collective experience. This is why the religious world cannot comprehend a new creation in Jesus Christ. It is not the old lump of clay made new or improved. It is an entirely new spiritual being within: called, possessed, and led by the Spirit of Christ. All this is within the tapestry of God’s determinate counsels. As Job of old pondered the mysteries of God in Job Chapter 9:10, Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number, Job no longer had his previous glory as a man before God. He had been stricken with the flesh of impurities, he had lost the vastness of his wealth and herds, he had lost his children to the venom and murderous darkness of sin. Yet, Job pondered the mysteries of God. Job could see the wonders of God in the very things that he was suffering. In the New Testament, Paul, through the Spirit of God, pondered the same mysteries in Romans 11:33. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
  Even the psalmist in Psalm 92:5 contemplated the wonderful works of God. O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. We do not have the mind or the mind-set as children of Adam to understand the will and ways of God. God gave the Law and the ordinances as a school master knowing in His foreknowledge that Israel would fail. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; (Hebrews 2:2) If they could not escape the judgment of the Law and failed at every turn, how can they understand today the fundamental path of grace and truth in Jesus Christ. The gospel that God has given us to proclaim among mankind makes no sense to Adam’s fallen race. They have a mind and heart that are both alienated from God and are enmities against God. The gospel proclaims that in itself it is the supernatural working of God in Jesus Christ. Christ is the Center of God’s good news, for it does not depend upon mankind in any way. It is God’s prerogative to save mankind, and it was totally inspired and initiated by God. How many love to deny these two verses in the book of Ephesians in Chapter 1.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:Â (Ephesians 1:3) According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (Ephesians 1:4)
  Job, Paul and the psalmist entered into these mysteries of God because they were sons by adoption, adopted children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His own will and not the will of man. It is Christ, by His grace, who has made us accepted in Himself. It is Christ who completely fulfilled the plan of redemption in the fullness of time that was conceived and set forth in the determinate counsels of God BEFORE the first word of creation. He has made known all the mysteries within His counsels, the mystery of His will which He has purposed in Himself. We are still in the dispensation of the fullness of time, brought forth by Jesus Christ Himself. The purpose: to gather in one ALL things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth even in Him.
  The intelligence of mankind has left him inapt. How? He seeks artificial intelligence. If mankind was so intelligent why seek something that is artificial? There is a true intelligence in faith. For it lays before mankind the very mind of God. This artificial intelligence cannot do. Man has lost all thought of reason because of his sin. He desires ALL that is artificial. He will accept an artificial faith, an artificial life, artificial food (labeled an alternative) and an artificial existence, he denies both sin and death. Consequently, he cannot live in reality, so he is a prime victim for the master of artificial intelligence: the devil. Satan has been deceiving man since the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He is a master of artificial intelligence. Therefore, when anyone has their eyes opened (when their blindness is past) and they express to the artificial world that they now SEE the majesty, and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, the world then questions, deny, and rejects not only the message, but the witness is also questioned, denied and rejected. Once again the artificial world repeats this question, Is this not he?
  The devastation of the intelligence of mankind that took place at the tree of good and evil is manifested to its fullest estate in Genesis Chapter 6. Man’s intelligence had brought him to a place, a deep spiritual darkness that God would declare that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. Man’s imagination had run wild, he was worshiping every form of beast, including himself, his heart was so corrupted that the imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually or perpetually. This was the intelligence of mankind, and God would judge it by destroying ALL of mankind upon the earth except for Noah, his wife, his three sons, and his three daughters in law. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.(Genesis 6:5) This was the result of artificial intelligence which was inspired by Satan, and still today, he inspires mankind in all the imaginative evils that man can perform. Man has set himself as a being that desires to be a god, for if he accomplishes a godlike dominion over the human race, then he will be the god of his kingdom, he will show himself as god, and he will build himself a house to his own divinity. This will take place. In the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, Chapter 13, his kingdom will be FULL of artificial intelligence. Even the image that is constructed in the image of the Beast will speak as man, and will demand that ALL men worship the Beast. Now, for those who belong to Jesus Christ, there is no room for artificial intelligence. Philippians 2:5 bears this out, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. The world might doubt or reject godly intelligence, however, the true child of God KNOWS that the Spirit within him is the Spirit of God. He knows that he has received the knowledge of God with all godly intelligence. Let us back this up with 1st Corinthians Chapter 2, verses 9 -16.
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (1st Corinthians 2:9)
But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. (1st Corinthians 2:10)
For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. (1st Corinthians 2:11)
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. (1st Corinthians 2:12)
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (1st Corinthians 2:13)
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1st Corinthians 2:14)
But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. (1st Corinthians 2:15)
For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. (1st Corinthians 2:16)
  On examining this text we find that it is directed in verse 9 to ALL of mankind who loves God, and who have been washed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and have been supernaturally changed into a new creature, and this new creature is possessed with the mind of Christ. Many do not begin at verse 9, they only want to apply the mind of Christ to the apostles, and to those false apostles who are the current day ‘men of renown.’ These ‘men of renown’ lead the world into spiritual bankruptcy for they themselves deny the Spirit of God by denying verse 9 of 1st Corinthians Chapter 3. Paul is looking at the broader spectrum, he was looking at all those who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 10, Paul proclaims that God has revealed them unto US by His Spirit, and it is the Spirit of God who searches all things with the holy spiritual intelligence of God the Holy Spirit. The apostle in verse 12, states that each and every Christian has NOT received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God shows that WE can freely understand the Holy Scriptures WITH the mind of Christ. It is the Holy Spirit within us that teaches us, comparing spiritual things with the spirituality of the Spirit of God. The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit for he is walking in the spirit of Adam with Adam’s perverse imagination and intelligence.
Just a side note: I was born at the very end of WWII in Widnes, Lancashire in Great Britain seventy-six years ago. My father was an American GI and my mother was English. I grew up in the United States, and this was the intelligence of that day when every boy approaching his 16th birthday could only think of getting his driver’s license, so that he could finally drive an automobile. At this particular time in American history there was a love relationship with the automobile. Now let’s fast forward to today: man does not want to drive, he wants artificial intelligence to drive him wherever he wants to go. Whatever happened to that desire to be independent, and to become skillfully self-reliant? Driving develops skill in physical reaction and an awareness of others. What does automotive artificial intelligence accomplish? It dulls the perception, and lessens the ability to quickly reason and to react. It takes more from mankind then it gives. What does artificial intelligence accomplish? It achieves another method of control.
  Man in his imagination is using artificial intelligence to change the minds of mankind in every nation. This is just one of the many facets that artificial intelligence is being used. It is designed to take over all aspects of life, and the end goal will be to put mankind in a position of slavery to artificial intelligence ruled over by a select few of ungodly men with the power of artificial intelligence to force mankind into bondage. I would not doubt a moment that soon from the pulpits of the churches of all lands, the Bible will be replaced by artificial intelligence. The big screens in your churches today are already preparing you psychologically to put God aside for artificial intelligence.
  Paul is bold to say in verse 16, for who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he (God alone) may instruct him, and how can this be? Because those who are born of God have the mind of Christ, and deny ALL intelligence that is NOT of Christ. The reason that religious intelligence is artificial intelligence is that the majority of those who profess Christ do NOT have the mind of Christ because they are NOT of Him. It is amazing how the artificial intelligence of Satan has deranged their minds so that they accept within themselves and publicaly profess Christ, however, there is no godly fruit from them, everything is still based on the artificial intelligence of Satan. This will bring forth the reply from the Lord in the day when they all stand before Him, He will say of those ‘Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity, for I NEVER knew you.’ And they will say . . . . but . . . but . . . but Lord, but it will be to no avail. For they never had the mind of Christ, nor the Spirit of Christ within them. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? (Matthew 7:22) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:23) They were blind to the truth, and they would say of those who hold the truth, Is this not he?
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How Were Thine Eyes Opened?
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3. How were thine eyes opened? (verse 10)
Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?Â
  The blind man returned from the pool of Siloam and there he was met by his neighbors and a group of the Jews and they asked him, How were thine eyes opened? His reply began with the Man called Jesus. He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight. (John 9:11)
  Remember, he only knew Jesus by name, and by voice and touch, for he had not seen the Lord Jesus face to face. Doesn’t this speak of our own creation as new creatures in Christ? We often sing a hymn titled “Face to Face” knowing one day that we shall SURELY see Him.
Face to face with Christ my Saviour,
Face to face — what will it be?
When with rapture I behold Him,
Jesus Christ who died for me.
♦
Face to face I shall behold Him,
Far beyond the starry sky;
Face to face in all His glory,
I shall see Him by and by! *
  For now we know Him by the Spirit and by the Spirit’s voice within us, and our answer to the world about our conversion is that a Man named Jesus opened our eyes, opened our ears, and cleansed our soul, and gave us a new spirit, and imputed unto us the righteousness of God. The first step always begins with a Man called Jesus.
  Even today, it is the same Man who is in heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ. He has been availing mercy and grace from Abel to the present day, and to the last saint brought into the veil of grace.
  For the blind man to receive his sight, he must first meet Jesus. Jesus, the Lord of glory, came to him. The meeting was one of complete blindness on the part of the man born blind. He could not see his Benefactor. He could not describe the Man of sorrows who would be acquainted with our grief and with our blindness. The Bible tells us to seek the Lord while He may be found.
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:Â (Isaiah 55:6) Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (Isaiah 55:7)
  Isaiah Chapter 55 is God’s expression to the nation of Israel that had gone astray from the Lord. Although they had been given light in the words that Moses penned from the mouth of God, they had become blind in heart, soul and spirit. The same can be said of the Church today that they have gone astray from the Lord. The Laodicean Church is rebuked in Revelation Chapter 3 because of their blindness. The Lord also brings up their nakedness: the first state of man after sin. They have no covering for their sin. They have cast off the truth, and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ (that is the cleansing power and covering for sin).
  In the Lord’s translation back to heaven as the Redeemer of men, he has taken His image from the world, and replaced it with His own Spirit. When one meets the Lord Jesus today it is the voice of the Spirit of Christ that speaks to the heart, soul and spirit of that individual. All who have met the Lord Jesus and have been created into a new being knows that this voice of the Spirit burns within as those on the Emmaus road. Remember they heard the Redeemer’s voice, they were in the presence of the Redeemer, and yet, they were blind to His Being, they did not recognize Him as the Lord Jesus. He had to open their eyes and hearts, and then they knew Him. As the scales fell from the eyes of Paul, so they also fell from the eyes of those on the Emmaus road when the Lord Jesus opened the Scriptures to them from Moses and the prophets, and the Psalms. And they could say, Did not our hearts burn within us? A Man named Jesus opened their eyes.
Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:Â (Luke 24:25)
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? (Luke 24:26)
And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:27)
And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. (Luke 24:28)
But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. (Luke 24:29)
And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. (Luke 24:30)
And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. (Luke 24:31)
And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? (Luke 24:32)
  There is another aspect of this blind man receiving his sight. He still had in his mind and in his being all those years that he contemplated a sight that he never had. If he once had sight, he would have some form of identification with it, however, he had no idea of what it would be like or what it would do, it was beyond his imagination and only one in the history of mankind could open his eyes, a Man named Jesus.
  To the sinner under the penalty of death, he cannot imagine all the wonders of eternal life in Jesus Christ. Without the Word of God man fantasizes all kinds’ of means and ways to extend his life and even believes that someday (through his own power) he will be able to create a life that never ends. However, he can only experience this by meeting a Man named Jesus, who has all life within Himself. Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. (Hebrews 7:16) The words of the Lord Jesus Christ to the blind man seem as foolish to most of the world today. After He had anointed his eyes with the clay and the spittle, the two most important words were — Go, wash. We read in John 9:7, And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. (John 9:7) The world cannot comprehend this. Think of the trust and the faith it took to believe a man whom one cannot see, and yet, that Man demanded to Go, wash. How amazing when the Spirit of Christ directs us not with our own reasoning, but with the reasoning of the Spirit of Christ. He reveals to us our form that we are but clay, and belong to Adam. The Lord Jesus directs us not to a church, neither to an organization, nor even to a particular message, but He directs us to Himself, and tells us to wash in the pool of Living Water which is the Spirit of Christ Himself then we are to continue this cleansing in the Living Word of God through the written word of God.
  To all those who belong to the Lord Jesus how often have we heard those two words, Go, Wash. The voice of Christ whispers, Go, wash in the word of God. His voice says to us: Learn of me, follow me, come and see the wonders of the Son of God. Again in John Chapter 9, we must see the miracle of revelation. The Lord reveals Himself to this man. Just as the Lord reveals Himself to us. This is a revelation from on high. In Adam we were all blind. It is only through the Lord Jesus revealing Himself to us that we know Him and are born of Him, and are washed in Him.
  In Adam we were blind to God, we were driven out of the presence of God. And yet, while we were in disobedience and trespasses of sin, the Lord’s eyes (which are always open) seek that moment in time when He would come to us, and proclaim: Go, Wash. We live in our past life in the landscape of humanity. Not just the landscape of the earth, but the landscape of humanity and what humanity has built for its own glory and habitation. Through the mystery of the Spirit of Christ He has translated our spirit and soul into another world, an unseen world, only known to those who have the Spirit of Christ. In the case of the blind man meeting the Lord Jesus it is the Spirit of Christ that the man listens to, he hears an audible voice, but sees no image. The most powerful force in this world today and creation is the voice of the One who upholds all things by the Word of His power. Our eyes are the physical gateways for our sight, however, although we have physical sight it does not translate into spiritual sight. It takes the Spirit of Christ with that same powerful voice of creation to open the eyes of the heart, and to cleanse the soul and renew the spirit. Since mankind is born in sin and enmity against God, they can neither imagine, nor conceive in their hearts all the wonders of the glorious Creator. And yet, the Lord Jesus, through two simple words: Go, wash can change life, change the heart, change the soul, and change the spirit. The Lord Jesus creates His own Spirit within those who are born of Him. Christ is within us. He has come within us to declare His own everlasting glory as the Son of God, a Man named Jesus.
  The simplicity of the words from the blind man (who was born blind) proclaimed to the world that it was a man called Jesus who gave him new life IN Him. His name is a name above all other names, in all of heaven, in all of the earth, and even under the earth. There is no greater name in the history of mankind. There is no greater name in all eternity. There is no greater name in the physical realm, nor in the spiritual realm— a man named Jesus. He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight. (John 9:11)
  In this walk of faith I have heard many testimonies, some real, and some fabricated in the hearts of sinful men. Yet, the ones that stand out are the ones who have met the Lord Jesus. There is a reality in their meeting, and there is a reality in the grace that has been placed upon them. They need not the approval of their neighbors, nor their countrymen, or of the religious order of the day, all they need is a Man named Jesus. This is the surety of salvation for heaven and earth can pass away, but the Word and name of Jesus will abide forever. Man professes the name, but it is the Lord who brings forth the action from the heart, and because of the indwelling Spirit of Christ, the Lord declared through that man what the Lord has done for him. He is a witness to God’s mercy, and has become a witness to God’s grace. We will simply close with John Chapter 9: 35-38.
Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? (John 9:35)
He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? (John 9:36)
And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. (John 9:37)
And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. (John 9:38)
*Â From the hymnal titled “Choice Hymns of the Faith”
Published by Gospel Perpetuating Fund, Fort Dodge, Iowa
Printed in the U. S. A.: 1952
Words of “Face to Face” by Mrs. Frank A. Breck
Melody by Grant Colfax Tullar
© Copyright 2021, Michael Haigh
This article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the Authorized King James Bible. (KJV)