back to the text and let's jump in john chapter nine and let's pray together father god we thank you how you're moving in our lives individually and in our church together and today lord we want to stop and pray for all the other churches in  the area and what you're doing in south puget sound and god what you're doing throughout seattle and we want to pray for them that they would be having great days of worship and lord they would be drawing near to you and god they would be alive as well and you blessed them in the pastors and god we would be united and we remember one church and so god we would celebrate unity together and out walk with you in your daily grace and we commit this to you in jesus name amen what does it to fight the good fight and you know it is a story of a blind man in john chapter nine but really his blindness as he was born blind is only a small part of the story and this is a chapter where a lot of elements get overlooked and so in his struggle we're going to pick things up that a lot of times get minimized in this passage because it's so much more than just his physical challenge and what we want to focus on today is how he responds we talk about respond in abide you know and do those two together and what does responding look like when we abide we're going to focus on his response to struggles because how do we respond to the struggles how are you responding to the struggles that you know oh so well in your own life in so he's really going to teach us in many ways with jesus is help how to respond so as we look at chapter nine and seeing past your struggle is the theme but notice that's not a denial it's not to say that there is no struggle it's just a say in the middle of the struggle i see a greater hope in so with that we start in john chapter nine in verse one as jesus went along he saw a man blind from birth his disciples asked him rabbi who see and this man or his parents that he was born blind neither this man nor his parents and said jesus but this happened so that the work of god might be displayed in his life so we're going to take this today kind of a round by round if you think of fighting the good fight and the first piece right here the first round is physical challenges this man is blind from birth physical challenge and seeing past our physical challenge and looking for god's good purpose even in the tragedies where there is a physical challenge sometimes god will bring healing and so whenever there is healing we know healing is a gift from god all healing is from god and you might think of the story of lazarus in the bible where last risk is dying is close to death john chapter eleven and they say hurry jesus goes the last wrist and jesus says no i'm going to wait two more days in the family is so upset what were you thinking but he waits two days he said th work of god is going to be displayed in lazarus his life lazarus dies jesus raises the him from the dead in incredible healing and the glory goes to jesus he is the resurrection and the life sometimes in your life will be physical challenges in god will heal you make sure you give thanks and praise to god for all healing we've all had a lot of physical healing in our life and sometimes god might use a doctor or medicine but it's all coming from god sometimes the healing doesn't come in so it's in the enduring that we glorify god think of job when the people around him even his own wife said curse god and die job said no no the lord gives the lord taketh away bless it be the name of the lord if your spouse is sick don't tell them curse god and die by the way that's not great advice but job just says you know we're only going to accept good from the lord no even in the trials we're going to continue to walk with the lord and endure there's a sixteen year old her name is kate and ashley lives in the midwest and a couple years ago she has cancer and so they gave her the decision commands and just as a teenager given the decision your leg or your life and so her leg has been removed and amputated but she's living and she wanted to continue her gymnastics and her coach said i've never had a one legged gymnast before but i'm willing to try to learn how that works in kate says i want that to you in so now at her meets a one legged gymnast and in there she is in now you know really the whole nation is is seeing her many people have seen and she's so inspiring and moving and what she's doing and she lands a dismount with one leg you know and everyone's cheering and it's powerful and i just think of it are some of the physical challenges that we have together and how inspiring how moving it is when you continue to praise god and endure and make the best of the situation and i don't know how your heart works but my heart is often just drawn in moved when i see someone in a real struggle and yet they're holding on to god and continuing to trust him through that and in our weakness god is powerful so in physical challenges we look beyond just the physical challenges and we see ok god what is your purpose what are you doing that's good in the middle of this sadness or tragedy so that's one thing in this man's life here's the second thing and personal put downs are the struggle and he's going to stand on god's truth with jesus help that seeing past the personal putdowns so what are those put downs well this man is born blind and the disciples come along and these disciples say well tell us jesus let's do a little study here who's sinned because he's blind was it him or was it his parents in so why not just kick him while he's down right have you ever had that where you know you're limping along in life and someone just decides to come up and just level you you know and so it's a worldly words it's stinking thinking but there was this false notion that if someone sick well they've definitely sinned you know tell us about the sin as a blind man jesus and jesus steps and says that's not the case now other times in the scripture where there's rebellion and then there's consequences yes there's rebellion or there's discipline so that does exist but you know it's sad today is that a lot of times people have a challenge in and right away they go to the mode of what did i do wrong in so often the answer is you didn't do something wrong you know they just think that it's must be because i've done something like other people point the finger like job's friends and say yeah you did something wrong you did something wrong or here's almost you know just as bad some people are told and even by maybe pastors that if you just had a little more faith you wouldn't be in this condition and why did drive by guilty to pile on top of someone in so that's what the disables do that's a drive by guilt thing is they will loose in this one or the parents in the personal putdowns come in and jesus says no he corrects the disciples this is not because of his sin or his parents see in jesus per tax in this way he's standing up for the blind man he's standing in truth and i just learned courage you when someone fires up put down at you as just a little test a little reminder i'm in a stand in god's truth i'm going to stand in what jesus says and that's where i'm going to find my security so when that put down comes just think you know ok they're trying to rattle me but i am going to be sick here in god's unconditional love is no mike weaver was talking about you know with all his battles and the voices he hears and the put downs and sometimes the put down will come from the accuser the devil you know and start to whisper lies and you had no i'm not going to believe that i am secure in the love of jesus and in his truth and in his word and i stand in that so that's the response let's go back to the text and drop down to verse six in verse six what is seen here it is having said this jesus spit on the ground he made some mud with the saliva and he put it on the man's eyes go he told him wash in the pool of siloam and this word means sand so the man wind and washed in came home seeing and this struggle is lonely steps in my encourage me it is to stay on course if your struggle right now it feels like life is a buncha lonely steps just continue to stay on course and see past the struggle now let's enter this man's shoes as jesus approaches does he really know who jesus is fully it doesn't it's easy for us to read john chapter nine and say oh yes i've studied this chapter a few times in bible study so wonderful chapter and i learned so i already know so much about jesus but put yourself in his shoes here comes jesus who's that ok so jesus comes close and then jesus spits so this man you just met for the first time now he's spinning now the spirit hits the ground he picks it up from the ground and this is a little bit more easter and spirit and mud and he puts it on your eyes now would you agree that's kind of a stretch i mean do you want a man you never met to just spit on some mud and then start rubbing it on your eyes how would you respond in sometimes jesus wants us to just receive and do things his way in so this man with his bit in kind of you know down the side of his face in mud in a mess and he's he's already blind and people look upon him they look down upon him is just a beggar and now he has to get up in start walk in through town he's aware in it and  jesus just spit on him anywhere in it walk into does that feel a little bit lonely little bit lonely we were at the park yesterday and there were a lot of ducks around and you know one of our kids was kicking a soccer ball and it rolled through all the duck mass and the kid didn't notice in our town they picked up the ball and then the ducks got now it's on his hands and everyone has a jacket before he can even tell and he's looking around and now it's like oh no there's no place to wash off we're going to practice in he's just wearing it this blind man he's just we're in it but he is stay in the course lonely steps he's going to go to the pool of so long it's on the south east side of jerusalem rock cut pool hezekiah did that so when enemies came they would still be a tunnel and fresh water a whole system there and he washes in the pool of siloam and then he can see was it worth it absolutely stay the course when he's walking he's walking by faith he's looking silly sometimes when you follow jesus in you're walking by faith you might be alone you might be lookin silly stay the course when you follow jesus are you always going to fit into this world i don't think so at all and the darker the world gets the more silly looking and unique you're going to look in so there's the decision when if you is kind of lonely in the majority's go in that way well i still go this way when it looks silly but i know jesus wants me to take those steps if you're in leadership and he capacity you know kind of that loneliness of leadership when you're out on a limb alone but you're walking by faith that's what he's doing he's walking my faith and no one's cheering him on no one saying yeah don't worry about the spit in the mud don't worry about the people looking at you don't worry about that just keep going no one's cheer him up maybe you're to season right now where no one's cheering you on stay the course keep going let's drop down to verse eight and and you know it's significant they're jesus asked him to do something small you know put that spit mud in your eyes wash in the pool so long is that a huge thing compared to what he gets is that a huge thing you know it's a small thing but how often in scripture does god say be faithful in the small thing and then i will do he would sing you know name dip in the jordan seven times and i will heal you of leprosy you know walk around jericho a couple times walls come down step in the jordan river all you can do is just step in the jordan river by what flood season step in there i will part it so what this man's learning is do the small thing that god has asked you to do don't say well that's only a small saying you know i'm a big shot and he's asked me do a small thing do the small thing well and god will take over with big results ok verse eight here we go look at verse eight says with the reaction the community his neighbors and those who had formerly seen him beg they had seen him begging now they ask isn't this the same  used to sit in bag now some claim that he was others said no he only looks like him but he himself insisted i am the man how then were your eyes opened they demanded and he replied the man they call jesus made some good put it on my eyes he told me to go to salome and wash so i went and washed in then i could see so this next struggle was really with a bunch of doubters and has got ever done something big and life and then you've got people around you who aren't celebrating they're just doubting in so what does he do he points them to jesus he points them to jesus thanks for watching our program today and i want to let you know about our web site activate life dot org you can send us your prayer requests we honored to pray for you we also have daily devotions and other resources you can sign up for and if you want to support us financially you can do that through the website now will get back to the teaching as we get into god's word together you will not soar in your faith you will not thrive in your walk with god into all you fully forgive your family in so we forgive just as we are forgiven by jesus we forgive him so was it disappointing i mean  you forgive you keep moving forward forgive for make a decision today that's worship make a decision today now look at verse twenty for a second time the religious leaders they summon the man who had been born blind they said give glory to god they said we know that jesus is a sinner and that's the emphatic in the greek the we know that this man jesus is a sinner and he replied whether jesus  a sinner or not i don't know but one thing i do know i was blind but now i see this and then here is having some fun later verse twenty seven look at he says he answered i have told you already and you didn't listen now why do you want to hear it again do you want to become jesus disciples to he's playing with the religious leaders now is this all right game on you know they are bold they're going to try and quiet him they're going to ask him a second time cause they want to catch a discrepancy they want to trap him they're not asking because they're open minded if he would ever ask you a question and they are so close minded i mean it's not going anywhere it's a set up they're trying to trap him they want to silence him they want to stop talking about jesus stop believing repent there's christians all over the world today they're being killed and they're being told the only way you're not killed is if you deny je s nothing new under the sun the same bullying you know i'm really humbled by our brothers and sisters i know a family with three kids they've just gone to albania to help refugees and i just think of all they're  suffering through right now but it's to reach and care for some of the refugees and they're also sharing jesus in i don't want to say this in any it's just a conviction i think it's just a healthy conviction for me it's  when i think worldwide our brothers and sisters in christ around the world today i almost feel like sometimes in america like we owe them an apology and again i'm not same pile on the guilt but what i'm saying is that  so often in america it's so easy to get intimidated in silence and just backing off with a little bit of pressure in so we're going to just sit back and just there we go and i look at so many believers that are just lay in their life on the line leading people to jesus and being killed and leading more to jesus and then someone else is killed that lead more to jesus and that's how they're living all around the world right now in so it's a wake up call for me in this country that so prosperous where it's easy to just be so casual about our faith and i just think there's a healthy inspiration that comes from seeing around the world what's happening today when you open our eyes so cynicism is there but he continues to tell his story he's not going to be silenced in fact he's yellow fun with it and then drop down to verse twenty eight we got to see this finishes its is then they hurled insults at him and they said you are this fellow's disciple we are disciples of moses can't you just hear the self righteousness in their so that's what they say in verse thirty four to this they replied you were steeped in sin at birth they're going right back to beginning the story see you were blind because you are a sinner and you are steeped in sin at birth how dare you lecture us and they threw him out that's out of the temple that's out of the center of life in the community in the social circles excommunicated rejection was the last struggle here in my encouraging is just wait for jesus when you're rejected just wait on the lord you know by the way as a side note you know they're little pompous we follow jesus and we follow moses not jesus listen what jesus said in john chapter five if they had been you know listen to him in verse forty six he says if you really believed moses you would believe me for moses wrote about me that goes back to deuteronomy and moses writing about the messiah he there saying we follow moses not you and he's saying oh yeah well moses actually follows me and if you followed moses you would be following me but they're not interested in truth their pride is swelling their ears are closed hard hard they don't want to hear it but wait on the lord  sometimes in the bible jesus the something so good and he gets hammered for doing it when we follow jesus sometimes you're going to do something that's truly good but you might lose some friends you might even lose your life due in something and that's just the reality of what happened to jesus what happens to us sometimes we follow him so here's the take home and verse thirty five is one of my favorites in this passage and verse thirty five says this jesus heard that they had thrown him out and when jesus found him jesus he knows our hurts an finds us the world wants to push you down jesus comes to lift you up jesus finds this one who has gone through round after round after round after round after round and here's the take home the way to overcome bullies is to find the one who is stronger his passage is full of bullies and this blind man finds the one who stronger it's jesus in so there's a physical healing and that's not all there is because now juice is going to say ok i am the messiah do you believe in a man's going to say i believe he's going to worship jesus and i just want to point out that a physical healing was not the end goal but it was a good thing then this man's eternal life and forgiveness of sins is an awesome awesome thing so much more significant than the physical healing and now he knows the lord is a child of god forever and a lot of people say oh that must be the end goal no the third piece now he bows down in the worship's jesus don't miss that about your worship the end goal is not just that you receive salvation a forgiveness of sins but now that you move forward and worship the one who saved you worship is the end goal not just the physical healing in so this blind man abiding responding he gets it and it's in worship he is praising the lord  say is jesus is so much stronger than the devil jesus so much greater than any bully you know michael had a battle with the devil in the book of judas and michael just said the lord rebuke you to the devil and and also john reminds us in first john four for the one who's in you the holy spirit is greater than the one who's in the world don't give the devil too much power he is a defeated foe the holy spirit is greater jesus is greater we don't have to walk around in fear in a spiritual battle we can rely on the lord so when the devil comes and knocks on your door you just say jesus will you go ahead and take care of that one right there  so he runs to jesus this blind man indias is stronger than any other bully in life in the last verse we want to read verse thirty nine jesus said for judgment i have come into the world so that the blind will see and those who think they can see basically will become blind did you know that more than any other miracle jesus heals those who are blind as you look through the gospels and why isa prophesied is the old testament chapter twenty nine and thirty five and forty two he keeps saying the messiah is going to come he's going to help blind people to see the messiah is going to come help blind people see i mean it was like a megaphone when on the sidewalk comes blown people are gonna be in jesus just keeps walking on blind healed blind healed blind healed i am the light of the world blind healed blind healed blind healed i am the messiah again clues clues clues there's two groups of people in life one of those who are blind because they don't think they need forgiveness and they don't think they need a savior so they reject the gift that jesus brings the other group they were blind now they can see jesus died for our sins he's risen i put my trust in him when you think of all of humanity there's two groups love everyone with all your heart snatch as many from the fire is god will use you to do in your short life and then there's two kinds of spirit jesus when he was crucified they spit on him and  now jesus uses spirit is the savior not creative i mean going back to genesis i mean just breathes life man made out of clay and dirty you know and in now here he is it's that greek word is put to zero and i'm going to try to say that without getting a front row away but you get the on amount of peer there you know put to oh it's a jesus spits put to zero and there's two kinds of spit here's a take on jesus can redeem spit and he can heal your deepest wounds this thing to spit on people is so vital in jesus read deems it let me say this way if jesus can redeem spit jesus redeemed the cross the cruelest way to kill someone the cross jesus read deems it as it becomes the payment for our sins what is your struggle right now where you abide and respond to see past y struggle the blind man had to see past his physical challenges see past the doubting community see past a family that let him down see past legalism see past rejection see past all these things to continue to see jesus to see the greater hope i'll close with hebrews twelve two it says we fix our eyes on jesus you're no stronger right now there's nothing better you can do than to fix your eyes on jesus the author and perfecter of our faith who you know for the joy seppa for him he endured the cross how does that work it doesn't mean the cross in the punishment wasn't real he said father how can you for sake me but for the joy set before him he saw the on the cross he is he saw the father in so joy in seeing past his struggle the struggle is real god helps us in the struggle but god also helps us to see past the struggle for the victory is not only in the struggle but it's to abide and respond to come to life in the middle of the struggle and to see past like the blind man does here with jesus help thanks for watching today and i want to let you know about our website activate life that org there are so many free resources to help you grow in your faith and if you've been blessed during the teaching please send us an e mail if you want to learn more about jesus we'd love to hear from you again our website is active a life that org and we'll see you next week