Skip to main content

"One thing I know ..." (John 9:25).

"One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see" (John 9:25).
Every believer can share his /her personal experience of Christ.
Many people say, "I don't know very much." They use this as an excuse for their failure to speak a word for Jesus.
The man, who received his sight, didn't use his lack of knowledge as an excuse for not speaking for Jesus. He said, "I don't know." Then, he said, "One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see" (John 9:25).
To help us learn the lesson that every believer can and should share his / her personal testimony, when the opportunity, let's look at the context in which these words were spoken.
There are three factors which contribute significantly to this context:
  • the relation between Jesus and the man;
  • the relation between the man and his world;
  • the man himself.
(1) Jesus and the man
There are two moments of contact between Jesus and the man:
In both instances, we note the initiative of Jesus.
  • In the first instance, there is no indication that the man came looking for healing from Jesus. All we are told is this: Jesus healed him.
  • In the second instance, we are told that Jesus "found" the man. Isn't that the right order? Sometimes, we say, "I found Jesus." Is it not more true to the Gospel and Christian experience to say, "Jesus found me"?
When Jesus found and healed this man, He changed the man. When a person encounters Jesus, he / she can never be the same again.
One of the first changes was this: the man's new-found faith was put to the test. No-one can become a disciple and expect to evade the testing of his / her faith.
(2) The man and his world
The man's world was made up of three groups of people. Each of these groups had a different attitude towards him.
  • the man's neighbours had an attitude of indifference towards him;
  • the man's parents had an attitude of compromise towards him;
  • the Pharisees had an attitude of rejection towards him.
These attitudes of indifference, compromise and rejection face us today.
  • Think of the indifference of the person who hears the Christian's personal testimony and says, "So what!"
  • Think of the compromise of the person who hears the Christian's personal testimony and says, "I know, but ... "
  • Think of the rejection that comes from the person who hears the Christian's personal testimony and says, "Rubbish!"
We must learn not to be influenced by such attitudes. we must learn to be faithful to God.
(3) The man himself
Here, we look at the man's experience, testimony and influence.
  • The man's experience: his eyes were opened. This is what happens to the believer when Christ is received into his / her heart (2 Corinthians 4:3-6).
  • The man's testimony: he had received his sight. This is the Christian's testimony (Acts 26:18).
  • the man's influence: a whole lot of people started thinking about Jesus.
This man gave Jesus the opportunity to call the Pharisees to trust Him as their Saviour.
As we consider the man's experience, testimony and influence, we must ask some important questions about our own experience, testimony and influence.
  • Have I any personal experience of Christ, opening my eyes to see Him as my Saviour?
  • Have I a personal testimony to Christ as the Saviour, who has changed my life?
  • Has the Lord used me to bring other people to Him?
These are questions which require a personal response from each and every one of us.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If We Are To Be True Followers Of Jesus...

"Be careful! Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!" (Matthew 17:6), even after there is divine revelation (Matthew 16:17), the influence of evil can be felt (Matthew 16:23), The warning - "Be careful! Watch out... !" must never be forgotten. Satan is looking for an opportunity to lead us away from the Lord. We must hear what Jesus is saying to us about discipleship (Matthew 16:24), and we must commit  ourselves to Him (Matthew 16:25). There is nothing more important than this (Matthew 16:26). If we are to be true followers of Jesus, we must learn to live our lives in the light of eternity (Matthew 16:27). We are to seek revelations of God's eternal Kingdom, revelations which will send us back, from the mountain-top, to live each day for Jesus.
2 comments
Read more

The Lord has sent His Spirit of power to live in us.

We read about Elijah in his high-points of strength - the triumph over the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:36-39) - and his low-points of weakness - he is ready to give up: “I’ve had enough now, Lord” (1 Kings 19:4). How did Elijah get into such a mess? He forgot this: “The Lord’s power was on Elijah” (1 Kings 18:46). In all life’s ups and downs, we must hold on to this: The Lord has sent His Spirit of power to live in us (2 Timothy 1:7). How are we to live in the power of the Spirit? We need to feed on the Word of God and drink in the Word of God (1 Kings 17:4). We need to pray that the Lord will send His showers of blessing (1 Kings 17:14). We are to live our life “according to the Word of the Lord” (1 Kings 17:16). For our life of faith to be strong in the Lord, we need to listen attentively to the preaching of God’s Word (1 Kings 17:24).
Post a Comment
Read more

Strong words ...

“… watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned … By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people” (Romans 16:17-18). These are very strong words. They are words which have a great deal to say to the Church at a time when it seems that the voice of permissive society is threatening to drown out completely the voice of Holy Scripture.  When Paul addresses the problem of divisions among God’s people, He calls us to be faithful “to the teaching you have learned.” Behind Paul’s words concerning “the teaching you have learned”, there is something else: “according to the Scriptures.” We see this in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. Paul begins by speaking about “the gospel which I preached to you” (1 Corinthians 15:1). As we look on to 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, it becomes clear that he is not concerned with drawing attention to himself. What he is concerned about is this: “according to the Sc...
Post a Comment
Read more