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If you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Matthew chapter 12 and this segment of Scripture really focuses on the Rejection of Jesus Christ.  It's very sad.  It's indeed tragic that Jesus, God's Son is sent by the Father into this world to die and to save man from his sins yet His own people, the people of Israel, will not receive Him. They reject Him.  They reject Him as King over their lives. They will not believe upon Him and so Matthew chapter 11 to Matthew chapter 14 gives us this segment - what we will call the Rejection of the King.

It really began with hints of it in verse 11 of chapter 9.  Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?  They insinuate that Jesus is mixing with unclean people.  They say how can your master, how can your teacher, how can your “sifu” [dialect: master/teacher] be hanging out with the Ah Bengs and Ah Sengs, [local: lowly] the lowlifes, the scums of society.  It's so unbecoming of a holy man and then later on, they would say that He cast out demons by the prince of demons.  He says He performed the miracles because He is a messenger.  He is the Son of God but no, they say!  They say that He's doing all these miracles by the power of demons.  He's a servant of the devil himself, not the Son of God but now in chapter 12 that antagonism cranks up a notch or two because instead of talking about Jesus to other people, they now come straight to Him, confront Him and say look - Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.  They subsequently asked Him - is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath so that they might accuse Him and then in verse 14, the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, how to destroy Him.

Today we are going to look at Matthew 12 verses 1 to 14 and it really is a, is an acceleration of their fury and their hatred towards Jesus Christ.  Now we are very clear, Jesus makes it very clear, in verses 34 and 39 that they did it out of evil, out of wickedness of heart.  Jesus compares them to a brood of vipers.  Jesus calls the people in His days, an evil and adulterous generation because in spite of all the clear evidences He has demonstrated, His miracles, His healing, His preaching, His message, it's so clear that He must be sent of God, they will not come to Him, they are simply blinded to who Jesus is all about and so we are going to look at how Jesus calls them blind guides.  We are going to look at their Spiritual blindness today.  How they are blind to Jesus.  How they are really blinded to the Law of God and they're really blinded to God Himself so what we are going to study, I want to help us along, is in the understanding of Spiritual blindness alright.  What it looks like?  How can you tell if you and I, we are stricken with spiritual blindness and I hope at the end of the day, you will see that your hope is found in the grace of God, in the Gospel of Jesus Christ alright so what are we going to look at today - Spiritual blindness, alright.

Now the story takes us therefore, Matthew 12 takes us to the harvest, to the grain fields, to the farms in those days.  Jesus was walking through the farms, the harvest, the grain fields with His disciples and because they are hungry, they're famished, they went along and they plucked the wheat and they rubbed it in their hands and then they would consume it like your cereals, your popcorn or whatever you have so the Bible tells us - at that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.

Now you may say aiyoh! [local exclamation] how can they steal?  Well, it's not stealing because in the Jewish nation during those days, according to Mosaic Law it's perfectly legitimate, it's perfectly allowed for them to pick from the margins, those that are not harvested for their needs. Of course, it would be wrong if they were to cut down the sheaves and carry bucket loads and baskets of it, that would be wrong but for their own needful consumption, that would be quite all right.

However, as they were doing this in the grain fields, there was a group of people who, in a sense, were spying on Jesus and His band.  You will see them right in the far right corner, this group of ah….who are they?  The Pharisees, alright, the protagonists, they, as they were antagonists, as it were, they were at the far right, in this picture spying on Jesus, trying, I think, to find something they could latch on in order to accuse Him so they said – look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.

Now plucking the grains to eat is not wrong but plucking the grains, grinding it and so on, is considered work in the Jewish culture and they say You have broken, Your disciples have broken the Sabbath laws.  Sabbath is what God has commanded in the Bible for His people that they should not do any work in so this one day in seven, is where they focus on God, where they rest and they worship and so on so the, the Pharisees have found something they can latch on to.

If you were someone standing there on that day and Jesus was not around, what would you say?  You'll be stuck right?  I think, I'm going to, I, I, I somehow will be very dumbfounded.  I would be at a loss for words because, number one it is indeed true that the Mosaic Law says - do not do any work on the Sabbath and it is also true that they did work on the Sabbath by plucking, harvesting the grains but this is where the genius of Jesus Christ shines through.  How He answers them is a master class on theology so He says in verses 3 and 4 - have you not read what David did when he was hungry and those who were with him, how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence which it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him but only for the priests?

Now, I know some of you are not raised in church, you are not familiar with the Bible and this sounds really a lot but let me just break it down.

Number one, I find it amazing how often Jesus answers a question with a question.  He often does that.  He wants you to think about it.  You ask Me this question, I want you to think about it so let me ask you, in return.

Number two, do you realize that Jesus also often answers questions with reference to the…. to the Scripture, to the Word of God - have you not read?  He's a very Bible-based, He's a very word-based person.  His answers are not imagined, they are from revelation, from God's Word.

Now, Jesus therefore says, have you not read?  Aren't you familiar with our ancestor David?  Oh, you might have read about him in 1 Samuel 21, some of you may want to read up on the story you can, it's in 1 Samuel 21.

Basically, David was on the run for his life.  King Saul wanted to kill him. He's been on the run, like a fugitive for a long while, together with his men and they have not eaten for a long while, they're now famished, they get into the temple and they see bread but that bread is special bread.  It's bread that God has ordained for worship and this bread can be eaten but only eaten by priests but David and his men were so, so hungry, famished, they were starving that they took that bread that was only to be eaten by the priests, according to the Law, they took it but the Bible does not attribute any blame to David nor his men so He says, in essence, to these Pharisees who were trying to pick up a bone or a fight with Him - have you not read that your respected ancestor, our king David, what he did when he was hungry?  He took that bread that was only reserved for priests, ate it and was considered blameless.  He did it out of necessity and if God did not attribute blame to David, then why do you attribute blame to My disciples now?  It is out of necessity.

In case they don't get it, Jesus gives example number two and again, His style of response is a question and a reference to the Bible or have you not read in the Law, how on the Sabbath, the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless. Ah, this one you’ll be more familiar.  Don't you know every Sabbath, the whole nation ceases to work but our priests continue to work because on Sabbath, offerings and sacrifices are still needed to be made and our priests have always been working on the Sabbath, they break the Sabbath but they are guiltless and then Jesus goes on…..I tell you something greater than the temple is here.

Logic is this, if the priests could break the Sabbath Law for the sake of the temple, then you cannot blame My disciples, because a greater than the temple is here, I am greater than the temple so I know you might still be lost because it's not easy, if you're reading this for the first time so let me just put it in a, in a more cartoonish form it might help you.  Manga [Japanese: refers to all kinds of cartooning, comics, and animation], comic form, alright so ta.da… okay, alright, no sound effects but Jesus led His disciples into the grain fields and the Pharisees saw them do something in their minds was unlawful and they began to speak up.  They began to accuse and say - look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.  With anticipation we await the reply of Jesus.  In essence, He said - remember David, he broke the Law with regards to the show bread and ate it all out of necessity and was blameless.

Remember the priests, for the sake of temple worship, they broke the Sabbath, they work on Sabbath but they were blameless so both of these examples from Scripture tell you that they also broke the Sabbath Law but remain blameless and what is the principle, what, what is it that we can glean from this?  I think is this - the Law is not what we woodenly apply.  We say here in Singapore, mai char char, [dialect: done be wooden], don't char char apply, don't woodenly apply, not blindly follow, not, not without thinking. The Law is not what we woodenly apply and one may, at times, break the Law and remain blameless.

Now, let me be very clear.  You don't break the Law anyway you like or for any reason, you selfishly prefer but there are occasions for example, when it was necessary for temple worship, for example, when it was necessary to preserve life that they would break that Law. The Law is not something you woodenly apply but you have to grasp the intent and not just the spirit of the Law. That's what Jesus is replying to the Pharisees.  The fact they did break the Sabbath.  The understanding they broke the Sabbath because there is a greater need beyond that.

In case you think this is going off track, off tangent, we are going on the wrong direction, verse 7 really brings us, I think, to an anchoring of this understanding because it says if you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless.  In other words, the Law for Sabbath, the Law for sacrifices, they were not given just for the sake of the Law or for the sake of the sacrifice or nor for the sake of the Sabbath.  What God wanted was not the sacrifice but what that sacrifice meant, what these laws represented.

The spirit of the Law is so that you may perform mercy and not just give Me bulls and cows.  I desire mercy and not sacrifice. The purpose of the Sabbath was not for the Sabbath per se but the purpose of the Sabbath is so that you may do mercy.  You may meet needs - that's the real reason. You don't understand this because if you understand this, you will not have condemned the guiltless.

Ah, this again is a reference to the Bible.  Jesus is very word-based right?  It's a reference to the Bible.  Where do you get this?  Hosea 6:6.  Hosea, long time ago, centuries ago said - for I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice. That's where we get that, for I desire mercy and not sacrifice so Hosea is, is writing God's thoughts, God in all His commands, His rituals, His ceremonies, He's, He's not really wanting your bull or cow or your blood but He wants you through these laws, learn how to practice steadfast love.

Not only that, Hosea here tells us something more.  The knowledge of God rather than burnt offering so in all these things, what I really want you to do, what you really should get at, is that you may do mercy to others and that you may know God, that's why the Law is given, not just to do outward performances and rituals but more importantly that you will know God and that you would do acts of mercy.  You get that?  That's the intent of the Law, you don't woodenly apply, grasp the spirit behind it so in case people say, nah, I don't, I don't really get that?

Well, Mark, in a parallel passage says - even more explicitly, clearly, in my opinion, the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.  I think this seals it, isn't it?  God gave the Law of Sabbath, an example, not so that man can serve Sabbath but God gave Sabbath so that Sabbath may serve man.  The Law was not given to restrict us.  The Law was given to be a blessing to us so that on the Sabbath, we are freed from our daily chores that we may worship Him, that we may do good to others, that we may perform acts of mercy, that's why the Sabbath is given.  Sabbath is not given so that God makes you miserable that you can't work.  Oh no, Sabbath is given so that you may be freed from your work to pursue God and mercy, they just didn't see it.  In case again we think Jesus is ah…who are you Jesus to say all these things?  Who do you think you are?

Well, Jesus answered that, verse 8, for the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath that's why I tell you what I think Sabbath should be all about because I'm in charge not you!  I am the Lord of the Sabbath.  Wow, this, like you can imagine hairdryer blowing on the hair of the Pharisees, whoosh, they must be blown away man, wow!  Who in the world has such theology, understanding, they must be blown away!

Well, at least Matthew, Mark, Luke never, didn't record for us what else they said.  They must be, I think, dumbfounded but then after this, Jesus enters the synagogue.  A synagogue is a place of worship for the Jewish people in the times of Jesus and when He went to the synagogue, there was a man with a withered hand.  I do not know how he got it withered?  Was it leprosy, was it something else?  I do not know but he has a withered hand and he comes to Jesus or he is there with Jesus.  Guess who else will be there?  The Pharisees, alright, our good friends, they will still be there and they will be there asking, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?  They ask this not for information but for accusation. They asked this so that they might accuse Him. If He said yes, I can heal then they say You break Mosaic Law!  You don't respect Moses but if He says no, then you are not a very merciful man, You're not the Savior so either way, it's a trap.  It's almost like…do you pay taxes to Caesar, kind of a question but look at our Master's great reply.

He answers them again with a question… haha, I ask you alright, you ask this question, I ask you, which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath will not take hold of it and lift it out?  Anyone of you?  Anyone of you will not lift up your sheep that has fallen in the pit, who may die there, who may be attacked by wild animals, which one of you won't?   I guess the scarecrow can go and, silence, complete silence, no one would.  It's obvious.  Everyone would help their sheep because their sheep is in trouble right, it's good to help the sheep, it's good to help those in difficult predicament and so Jesus lectures on and say of how much more value is a man than a sheep so it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.  You do work on the Sabbath but are blameless because the intent and the spirit and the desire of God for Sabbath is not for you to zobo [dialect: idle] and do absolutely nothing.  No the intent is that you may be ceasing from your regular work, to do all these beneficial, merciful deeds.  Ah, that's the teaching and now the demonstration.  He said to the man - stretched out your hand and the man stretched it out and the miracle was done right there and then, it was restored, healthy like the other hand.

Huh, You are truly the Son of God, we repent.  Would that be the response of the Pharisees? No, we are in this segment, where we are seeing the persistent rejection by the religious leaders, so verse 14 tells us, the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, how to destroy Him.  Their rejection of Jesus was not a once-off.  It was a persistent posture.  They were determined.  Their hearts were so darkened by sin.  They were enveloped in evilness, in blindness and they will not see.

Now I have just finished in 20 minutes running through 14 verses with you and actually I can close shop and say have a great day, sermon's over but I think that would not be very helpful because I think we need to understand not just what these verses mean, what the story is like but to understand the intent of God in these verses so what's the perspective we should adopt?  What's the big idea?  What's the thrust in verses 1 to 14?

I think most of the time when we read the Bible this way because the word Sabbath happens a lot of times, we would think that this passage is all about the Sabbath so let's teach about the Sabbath but I think that would not be quite right.  My understanding as I read this passage, in the context of Matthew is that Matthew is not really teaching Sabbath.  He's just saying Sabbath was a trigger point to highlight a greater issue which is spiritual blindness.  These men are so darkened in sin that they are blind even though it's so obvious, even though Jesus is so obviously the Son of God, they are so blind they will not receive Him.

Now just in case you think I'm skirting around the issue of Sabbath, don't want to preach it, I just want to say, if you want to find out more, you can always do so, just go to one of our earlier sermons dated 30th October - special day – why?  Anybody knows?  Special day, yeah, it's a special day because it's the last sermon before we moved here to Punggol so that’s 30th of October, we’re coming to two years here, it's amazing so 30th of October last sermon, I think we were at err.. Furama and the… so we've looked at this sermon on the Sabbath, I’ve called it the Christian hol, holi or holy day, however you want to pronounce it and you say wah how do I find out about this sermon?

Well, you know how to use Google?  If you do not know our church website it's okay.  You know Google, just key in three words, Gospel Light Sabbath and it will be the first result you see on Google alright, Gospel Light Sabbath, the sermon is there and if you're wondering what is Sabbath for, what is it all about, how do I go about fulfilling Sabbath, how is it meant to serve me, help me in my spiritual life, check it out there but this morning, I think I want to honor the intent of Matthew and really touch on what spiritual blindness is.

Now I'm 42 now and somehow when you hit 40 something magical happens in your life.  How many of you are 40 and above can I see?  OK, OK, no, no, no, aah, aah, sorry, sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that question.  I know it's sensitive to ladies but in my experience when you hit the big 40, something magical happens.  What happens?   R.O.D, no!  If you are officer you don't R.O.D. yet right yah so at 40 years old, something happens to my eyes. Suddenly I find that I can't read anymore, every time I read, I got to like that….. I think it's, it's a God's humor to make you look old but yup at 40 years old, I don't see very clearly because you have a what do you call that, lao hua yan [Chinese] what's… presbyopia, yah, presbyopia and don't see so well, things near you.

Spiritual blindness is when you don't see things so well. Now, there are, there are not, not all kinds of blindness is complete blindness. There are some blindness where you don't see things so clearly, color blindness is one kind right. When you're colorblind, you still can see outlines, shapes, definitions very clearly, you just can't see the red, green, blue distinction well.

I think when someone is spiritually blind, he can still see some things spiritually but he doesn't see them clearly.  There are three tests I want to bring you through.  If you go and see an optometrist or an ophthalmologist, they will put you through some tests.  They put you on this thing, check your eyes, squirt some air…. and the, they do all kinds of tests to assess your eyesight so I'm going to put you through three tests to check if you're spiritually blind.  You can pay me after this, oh no, huh, no need to, alright!  Three tests for assessment of spiritual vision or Spiritual blindness.

Number one, I think if you are spiritually blind according to this story I learned, a man will be blinded to the Law of God.  Spiritual blindness reveals itself when you're blinded to the Law of God.  Now a spiritually blind man can still see a car, a tree and so on, no problem but he is blinded to the Law and like I said, he's not completely blind to the Law, he can still read…thou shall not kill…he can understand that right?  Everyone can understand… thou shall not kill.  Everyone can understand what the words mean.  Everyone can memorize what the words are.  Everyone can even teach what does it mean - thou shall not kill…don't kill lah [Singlish] don't take your knife, don't, we can all explain that but he’s spiritually blind because he doesn't really understand fully the Law.  He's blinded to the Law because he thinks this is the summary statement.  He thinks that the Law is a burden but not a blessing.  He sees the Law as a burden.  He doesn't see it as a blessing he's blinded to the real intent and spirit of the Law.

To him the Law is a set of rules and regulations, a burden of dos and don'ts in order to find some acceptance with God but the man who can see very clearly looks at the Law very differently.  He sees the Law not as a burden but a blessing, a delight to the soul so let me illustrate this - picture of the Law.  We all are born into this world as sinners, right?  There's no angel born into this world, no one!  You may say, ah my baby looks like an angel, he's a rascal alright.  He is clearly a…because every parent would know you don't have to teach them how to lie, to cheat, to scream, they naturally do so, we are all sinners so when you are a sinner, you do not know God.  You do not know Jesus, you're not saved, you are not born again God has given you a new heart yet.

Every sinner when he looks at the Law of God, he doesn't really see it clearly.  He takes on this lens of sin and it's darkened, it's defective, it's not clear, it's murky, it's confusing so when sinful man looks at the pure Law of God, what he really gets out of it at the end of the day is that the Law is merely a set of dos and a set of don'ts.  It's just very restrictive things we have to comply with so that perhaps someone out there up there would not be too angry with me, would not send me to hell, maybe, save me so they look at the Law as a burden that they had to fulfill.  That's really no good thing that can come out of it but when a man is saved, when a man comes to Jesus, when a man is born again, given a new heart with a new pair of spiritual eyes, he's now having this Gospel-lens, look how clear it is!   He sees the Law for what it is and now he finds that the Law is not a burden, it's a blessing, it's not a set of dos and don'ts, it's a delight.

How do you know if you are spiritually blind today?  A very simple question - is the Law a burden or a delight to your soul?  Is the Law a burdensome set of dos and don'ts or a blessing, you discern.  You see, this is the language of a man who knows God.  Psalm 1, blessed is the man whose delight is in the Law of the Lord.  He delights in God's Word.  He doesn't say aiyoh [local slang] got to read the Bible, so many things to follow, very troublesome.  No, he loves it, he delights in it, he reads it not as a chore but delightfully because he recognizes, it is a blessing, not a burden, his life will be fruitful, blessed, strong, consistent, rich, not in the material sense but in the spiritual sense.  I love God's Word he says, why - new pair of glasses.  In the past, it's all blur, burden, boring, troublesome, now I love it!

I love hearing some of our people here speak about studying the Bible.  I mean just a lady last, yesterday in our care group, she just say, I'm so excited when I learn things of the Bible, it's so exciting, so delightful, I say, that's the heart of a man, of a woman born again because such language does not come from those who are spiritually blind.

I saw a Facebook post of Roxanne, one of our co-laborers in Philippines, SMCI, she reposted a post she put up five years ago and she posted something about what she learned on obedience and she said obedience must be ICED. Huh what does it mean?  I know iced Milo, iced Horlicks but what is ICED obedience.

She says, well, very simple.  I learned that obedience to God must number one, be immediate, you don't delay.  Shawn, go and bathe.  No lah, daddy, wait lah, wait, wait, wait, is that obedience?  Not obedience because obedience must be immediate.

Number two, obedience must be….very good, wah, I hope you are obedient at home.  Obedience must be complete. Shawn, go and bathe and brush your teeth, don't want la, I only want to bathe, that's not obedience!

Number three, obedience must be…she said, I mean it can be many words but she said obedience must be exact.  Do exactly what God told you to do. Go brush your teeth and bathe, no, I want to bathe and pang sai [hokkien: poop], no, no, no, no, you just got to do what you're told to do.

The last one, obedience must be…very good, obedience, true obedience to God is not drudgery but delightful. That is the heart that has eyes to see, he really understands the Law.  Many people everyone today can read the Law, memorize the Law, even teach the superficialities of the Law but it's only the man born again, who can say the Law is not just a set of dos and don'ts. More importantly, I discern the intent that it is to be a delight.  The Pharisees look at the Sabbath as a set of dos and don'ts, as a burden so heavy, no one can carry.  Jesus came in and shed light. Oh no, the Law is not a bad thing, it's a great thing, don't you understand?  It's for you to practice mercy, don't you understand, man is not made for Sabbath but Sabbath for man.

It's so sad today, we have churches teaching that the Law is bad, don't teach the Law, just all about grace please, the Law is a great thing except don't try to obey the Law to find favor with God but apart from that Law is a beautiful thing. The psalmist delights in it, the whole Bible tells us of God's people who loves His Law, loves His statutes and if you say the Law is a bad thing, I wonder if you're really in blindness or you can see clearly so Spiritual blindness, first mark is that you're blinded to the Law.  You see it as a burden you don't see it as a blessing. You know why?  You know why you see it as a burden and you see, and not see it as a blessing because number two a man who is spiritually blind is blinded to the Law Giver.

The Pharisees, I think, underestimate God.  Sinful people don't really understand God.  We think that God is just interested in the externalities or we think God gives all these commands so that we can get, He can get something from us. He wants our goats.  He wants our ox.  He wants our bulls.  He wants the blood from these animals.  They totally don't understand God.  They think that God just wants to burden people with laws and they don't understand that God is so much for His people.  He gives laws for their good so the summary statement for this point, if I may say, is this - they think that God is a killjoy and not the source of real joy.  It's all a burden.  The Sabbath is a burden.  The Sabbath is a chore.  Oh no, God is a God of love, that's why He gave you the Sabbath, you see that so if you were to google - who is God?  You might key in…God is a….. and people may put in…is a killjoy, He’s a tyrant…He's all these things,  He is just mean.  He is a party pooper.  He doesn't want us to have fun.   He doesn't want us to be happy, that's why He gave us so many laws, isn't it true?  Isn’t it true that's how people think about God.   Oh God just doesn't want us to really be happy, that's why He gives me all these restrictions?

Actually this is an old lie dates back to the Garden of Eden and that's what exactly I think Satan was trying to insinuate to Eve.  Satan was saying - oh Eve, come on, of course you should eat of this fruit.  The only reason why your God told you not to eat this fruit is because He knows that when you eat of it you will be like Him and He’s such a petty-small-minded being He doesn't want you to be like Him so He tells you not to eat it really it's good for you to eat it.  Your God is a killjoy.  Your God is a party pooper.  Your God just wants to rain on your parade when you’ve found the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  This language has not changed.  It’s the same today people say oh no premarital sex.  Oh Christians cannot have adultery.  The people of God cannot have sodomy, no masturbation… it all leads me to one inescapable conclusion - God is such a killjoy. That's why He gives you the 10 Commandments.  It’s like a cage.   Well, I think they’re blinded to who God is you see.

The best response to God is a killjoy is given, I think, by John Piper, in one short, punchy statement when he said - God is not a killjoy, He just opposes what kills joy.  I love that.  I love that because we are so blinded and we believe that God is a killjoy when He gives us His commandments and the Bible.  He is not but He's vehemently fighting against things that kill your joy.  He is vehemently fighting against things that separate you from Him who is the source of real joy.  God tells us in thy presence is the fullness of joy.  At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore, Psalm 60:11.   We are to rejoice in God and that's why He tells you don't go there, don't do this, don't commit yourself to these things because they kill your joy by separating you from Me.  God is not a killjoy.  Blind people say He's a killjoy but people who have received the grace of God in the Gospel says He’s my source of joy.

Sabbath is given from a God who loves me.  The commands are given by God who loves me and it is God's grace that I can say now the Law is not a burden, it is a blessing.  It is God's grace that allows me to say now God is my joy, not a killjoy and lastly, simple most obvious but it is this - Spiritual blindness is blinded to the Lord Jesus Christ.

How do you know if people are blind today spiritually, they do not really understand who Jesus is!  Again like I said this is not complete blindness.  They can see a few things about Jesus.  He’s a man, they understand that.  They can see that He died on the cross.  They understand that.  They can see that He has given some amazing teachings of the Bible.  They understand that but that's all they really can see.  Perhaps some of them would even say He's a liar, He's a lunatic but only those who are spiritually given sight can say He is the Lord of all glory.

I think the best example is Apostle Paul.  He hated Christ and His church. He, I must think, have thought, must have thought that Jesus was a liar or lunatic but when he really was given sight, he saw Jesus for himself on the road to Damascus, he now starts to say, for example, in Philippians 3:8 I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, I now see.  I was blind I thought Jesus was a bad guy, He is a cheat but now, no He is a glorious Lord and that’s not just for Paul.  I think that's the language we as Christians would say we now could see that the Gospel tells us about the glory of Christ.  It's a born-again man, a man was has received grace, who really revels and rejoices that our cries is so great and good and glorious and if you do not brim with such excitement and joy about your Savior, I wonder if you really know Him.

If you just think about who He is and what He's done for you on the Cross, oh how can anyone of us not worship Him as the Lord of all glory so folks, these are my three tests for you.  You can apply the test for yourself today, what is the Law to you?   Is it a burden or a blessing?  Who is God to you?  A killjoy or the source of my life’s joy?  Jesus – is He a liar, a lunatic or is He the Lord of all glory?

If anyone of us today say I passed all these three tests. The Law is a blessing.  God is my source of joy.  The, the Lord Jesus Christ is who I worship, I say to you, please don't be proud, let's be thankful because you did not remove the blindness yourself.  It was God who gave you light.  It was God who shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and I say all of us who today could say with all our hearts I’m not blind, I was blind but now I see. May we all say it is all about God's amazing grace and then let us with joyful gratitude go forth and represent Him well.  Let us go forth and serve Him and tell others because there are other blind men all around and maybe God is working in their hearts to give them sight but they need to see the Gospel Light and that's where you and I come in with our lives, with the preaching of the Gospel that blind man might see, together with you and me.

Perhaps some of you today you can honestly say I can’t really understand these things.  I think I’m blind spiritually.  I don't really understand how the Law is good for me.  I can’t really understand how God is good when I feel that He's very, very restrictive, I can’t really see how Jesus, this man who lived 2000 years ago could save me?  I don't understand that but I want to try to understand that.  Would someone help me?  I say this is what this church is all about.  We would love to help you, give us a call, dial into us, drop us a message, write on our emails, speak to anyone of us, we would be so happy to help you.

Now we can't give you light in your heart, that’s what God has to do but we can show you Jesus from the pages of the Bible and hey perhaps in this process, God will give you sight and as you understand these things, see these things, He might save you from your sins so I hope this health check for your vision is helpful for your soul today.

Let's bow for a word of prayer together. If there's one prayer, I would like you who are new in church today, to pray it will be this - Lord open the eyes of my heart, I want to see You for who You really are.  I want to see Your glory.  I want to see the real God revealed in Scripture and I know that’s a prayer if you genuinely pray that from your heart is a prayer that God delights in and I think if you seek Him with all your heart, you will find Him.

I hope this morning as well that Gospel Lighters, we will be a people who will so humble ourselves before the amazing grace of God.  You came to Christ not because you were morally superior to anyone or intellectually better than anyone but that it was God who sovereignly graciously gave you light in your heart so let us worship Him.  Let us praise Him.  Let us serve Him with our lives.  I was blind but now I see.

Would you pray for your friends, your relatives you are trying to share the Gospel with because you know what, they are blind and only God can give sight.  Oh this humbles us, in evangelism, sure but I think it's also excites us in evangelism because when God gives sight they will see so let's do our part to show them when they can see, show them even before they can see but let's be there for them so that when God so works in your hearts, they come, they believe, they’re saved.

Open the eyes of my heart Lord, open the eyes of my heart, I want to see You.  To see You high and lifted up.  To see You shining in the light of Your glory.  To see how majestic, how good, how gracious, how glorious You really are, God I want to know You, to see You.

Father, thank You for this time we could study Your Word.  It’s not an easy sermon, not an easy message but I pray that we will all leave this place, saying, Lord open the eyes of my heart, help us to see You more and more.  Oh take away the veil from our eyes, take away the deception that Satan is always trying to spin around us, open the eyes of my heart, I want to see You.  Thank You we pray all this in Jesus Name, Amen.

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