Seeing With the Heart

August 20, 2017                           NOTES NOT EDITED
Seeing With the Heart

John 9

Sermon-in-a-Sentence:  True believers see the world as God sees it and serve the world as Jesus served it.

Let’s set down in concrete the foundation for the Life and Work of Jesus Christ—the essence of Who He is, What He came to do, and Why.

We can establish that fact in the Lord’s own words,  “I came to seek and to save that which is lost” (Lk. 19:10).

What was the Lord’s mission, and now our mission as His disciples?  “Seek lost souls and share the life-giving message of the gospel with them.”  That is “what” we are called to do, but there is also a “why” question that we can answer.  Why did God send His Only Son to die on a cruel cross to pay for the sins of all mankind?  A familiar verse answers the questions of “Who, What, and Why” in regard to the plan of God for the ages (John 3:16):

“For God SO loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Jesus, God’s Son is the “Who.”  Salvation and eternal life is the “What.”  Love is the “Why.”  God sees us through the Eyes of His Heart.  If we are going to amount to anything in this world as fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, we need to learn how to “See With Our Heart.”

The gospels tell the story of a time when Jesus was on a hill overlooking the beloved City of God, Jerusalem.  He saw the people of the land as if they were “wandering sheep without a shepherd.”  This is what the Bible says (Lk 19:41),

⁴¹ As He approached and saw the city, He wept  over it, ⁴² saying, “If you knew  this day what would bring peace—but now it is hidden  from your eyes.

The Jews had become blinded by their religion.  The long-awaited Messiah stood in their midst and only a very few recognized Who He was—the Lord and Savior.  Today, we are going to observe a blind beggar who has a life-transforming encounter with Jesus Christ. 

Instead of reading the Scriptures today, we are going to watch the story.  VIDEO CLIP (John 9).

In our story today, we meet a man that had been born blind.  At one point in the story his mother makes reference to the man, “being of age” indicating he was probably somewhere near between 30 and 40.  Darkness had been his constant companion for decades.  But, he was not the blindest man in the story.  John, in his gospel, loves to use double-meanings.  Jesus refers to the religious leaders of the day who rejected the miracle Jesus performed, as the truly blind ones.  People can see with their eyes and still be blind as a bat in their souls.  True sight is being able to “see with one’s heart.” The essence of believing in God is learning to “see with the heart.”  When we begin “Seeing with the heart” we start seeing things as God sees them, most importantly the souls of the world bound by the blackness and darkness of sin. 

Our calling, our mission, is to continue that of our Lord, “seek lost souls and share the life-giving gospel of salvation.”  We will only engage in this Great Commission when we stop looking with our eyes and our minds, and start “seeing with our hearts.”

Chapter 9 of John’s gospel continues a longer story of Jesus in regard to the autumn Jewish festival called the “Feast of Booths, or Feast of Tabernacles.”  This is one of three essential festivals the Jews were commanded to observe.  They would live in hastily built “booths” to remind them of how God delivered them from Egypt and provided for them during their wanderings in the desert.  Tabernacles lasted seven days.

Two primary elements that Jesus used as symbols to explain His identity as God was “water and light.”  In chapters 8 and 9, Jesus focuses on the part light played in the Feast of Tabernacles.  An extensive description is given in the Jewish writings that are called the Mishnahs.  These rabbinical writings describe the Feast of Tabernacles as “one of the most spectacular in Jewish life” (NIV Application Commentary).  Take note that this Feast takes place in the autumn of the year (around September).  Since the summer equinox, days have been getting shorter and there are longer and longer periods of darkness (hence the importance of light and the double-meaning of physical darkness or blindness).  The beggar had been blind from birth, not because of his personal sin, nor the sin of his parents.  We are all affected in one way or another, or many ways, because of the sinfulness of the world we are born into. 

The lights of the Feast of Tabernacles represent Jesus Christ.  He says so in John 8:12:  “I am the Light of the world!”  According to rabbinical descriptions of the Festival, it included four large stands, each with four golden bowls.  These bowls could only be reached by a ladder.  The bowls were filled with oil and the worn undergarments of the priests served as wicks.  The stories may be exaggerated but it is said that when these sixteen bowls were lit, “all Jerusalem was illuminated.”  The symbolic meaning Jesus brings out of all of this is that the world is steeped in darkness because of sin (spiritual blindness) and He has come to be the Light.

Our text this morning serves as a “real life illustration” of what Jesus was teaching in chapter 8.  A blind beggar becomes a “visual aid to demonstrate how Jesus cures spiritual blindness.”  Again, remember that John uses this “double-meaning” often in His gospel.  Jesus is the Living Water.  Jesus is the Door, and so forth.

Jesus never did a miracle that did not have a message.  Many magicians tried to scam the people by doing “feats of magic,” or what the Bible calls, “lying miracles.”  These “tricks and deceptions” did not promote the message of the Messiah, but were simply to promote the magicians and fill there pocketbooks.

John’s double-meaning in this passage forces us to examine not simply the physical blindness of the beggar, but the spiritual blindness of the religious leaders, and Pharisees.  This encounter also demonstrates for us four foundational requirements for completing the Great Commission of the Lord to continue His work of seeking and saving the lost.  Engaging in this mission requires first of all,

1.  True Conversion (v38)   

Verse 13 tells us, ¹³ They brought the man who used to be blind to the Pharisees. 

Then the man did what all followers of Christ should be doing on a regular basis:  he gave his testimony.  Verses 14-15:

¹⁴ The day that Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes was a Sabbath.  ¹⁵ So again the Pharisees asked him how he received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” he told them. “I washed and I can see.”

The very essence of “soul-winning,” gospel preaching, evangelism, or whatever you want to call it, “seeking and saving the lost” is “telling others what you know about Jesus by experience.”  A witness simply testifies to what he or she has seen or heard.  Notice the beggar offers no doctrine or commentary—just the facts!  No debate; no doctrine; just the facts.

Observe also that the disciples, like most Christians today, would rather debate doctrine in the church than deliver the gospel message on the streets.  Look at their question in verse 2:

² His disciples questioned Him: “Rabbi,  who sinned, this man  or his parents,  that he was born blind?” 

This was a very common question for Jews, and for pagans as well in ancient times.  Physical afflictions were considered as punishment from the god’s, or in the Jewish context, Yahweh.  Like many theological errors, this premise contained some truth.  Sickness is the result of sin—particularly the sin of Adam.  If Adam had not sinned, death and disease would have been unknown to man.  So, the prevailing theological view was partly correct; but still totally wrong.  This man was no more a sinner than anyone else; and as we will see later, Jesus said that the real sinners were the religiously upright (I’d say religiously up “tight”) Pharisees.

What the disciples’ question does do, however, is focus the encounter on what is most important—not the physical, but the spiritual.  This passage is about the conversion of souls, not the elimination of the symptoms of sin.  The gospel may do the latter, but only after it has done the former.

Now, lost people will also want to argue doctrine or philosophy. 

¹⁶ Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for He doesn’t keep the Sabbath!” But others were saying, “How can a sinful man perform such signs?” And there was a division among them.  ¹⁷ Again they asked the blind man,  “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” “He’s a prophet,”  he said. ¹⁸ The Jews did not believe this about him—that he was blind and received sight—until they summoned the parents of the one who had received his sight.

The Pharisees were more concerned that Jesus broke one of their 600 or so laws of the Sabbath than they were that a man born blind could now see!  They wanted to argue “doctrine.”

The Pharisees would not give up or give in.  They brought in the man’s mother and father to give testimony as to whether this was:  1.  their son; and 2.  he had been blind since birth. 

Still unsatisfied the Pharisees continued to question the man until they finally ridiculed him and expelled him from the synagogue.  All the man did was share what he experienced personally.

The most important aspect of this story is not the man born blind could now “see with his eyes,” but that the man born blind could now “see with his heart.”  Look in verses 35-38

³⁵ When Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, He found him and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”  ³⁶ “Who is He, Sir, that I may believe in Him?” he asked. ³⁷ Jesus answered, “You have seen Him; in fact, He is the One speaking with you.” ³⁸ “I believe, Lord!” he said, and he worshiped Him.

Why do so many people never share Christ with others, or even have a desire to share?  I think the only thing one can conclude is that they:  have nothing to share.  A person will never even want to be a soul-winner, much less become one, until that person has had a genuine conversion—a life transforming encounter with the Living God!
Too many church-goers are as blinded by religion as the Pharisees. They may be able to see 20/20 with their eyes, but they are as blind as a bat in the heart.  Becoming a soul-winning, fully-functioning, follower of Jesus Christ takes a genuine conversion. 

Soulwinning is about souls being “converted” not baptisms being counted.  That’s the main issue in learning to “see with the heart.”  The other requirements, I will cover more quickly.  Learning to See with the Heart also takes,

2. COURAGE (20-22; 34)
I have already shown you that the religious leaders grilled this man in regard to what he said happened.  Even the man’s parents did not stand up for him.  Look verse 20-22:

²⁰ “We know this is our son and that he was born blind,” his parents answered. ²¹ “But we don’t know how he now sees, and we don’t know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he’s of age. He will speak for himself.” ²² His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jews, since the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him as Messiah,  he would be banned from the synagogue. ²³ This is why his parents said, “He’s of age; ask him.”

His parents knew that if they sided with their son, they would be thrown out of the synagogue and be scorned by the community.  One absolute fact of following Jesus is this:  “the world, especially the religious world, will hate what you have to say about Jesus.”  Soul-winners must be courageous.  Jesus, Himself reminds us (John15:18):

¹⁸ “If the world hates  you, understand that it hated Me before it hated you.

Then, the Pharisees had enough of the man.  In verse 34 we read, “You were born entirely in sin,”  they replied, “and are you trying to teach us?” Then they threw him out.  KICKED TO THE CURB!

If you are more concerned about gaining the favor of men than the favor of God, you will never be a soul-winner.  If you are more concerned about avoiding ridicule and persecution, than you are the judgment you will face before the Father if you don’t share the gospel, you will never be a soul-winner.

Jesus said, “I came to seek and to save that which is lost!”  His reward for that mission was a beaten, bloodied body nailed to an old rugged cross.  God’s mission requires courage.

The Devil doesn’t care how excited a person gets in church—as long as that person leaves that excitement in the pew.

3.  COMPASSION (v1)

Notice the difference between the blindness of the disciples, and how Jesus “Saw With His Heart.” 

¹As He was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth.

The word translated, “saw” is inflected by the third person singular ending, “he,” not the third person plural ending, “they.”  They were all travelling together, but the disciples “passed by” the blind man without “seeing” him.  Our text clearly states only Jesus “saw the blind man.” Obviously, we are not talking about “physical sight” in this instance.

Notice as we said before that the disciples wanted to “discuss” the man’s condition, Jesus wanted to “fix” it!  So many of God’s people want to “discuss” world affairs rather than do the one thing that is guaranteed to “fix” world affairs—preach the gospel!

So many churches preach about hell as if they are glad lost people will go there.  I remember a new preacher of a church, noted for preaching about hell.  One day a member came to him and said, "I didn’t like our last preacher. He told us we all deserved to go to Hell." The new preacher replied, "Well, haven’t I told you the same thing?" "Yes," the man answered, "but; you said it like you really didn’t want us to go there."

People in the world will not care what you know until they know that you care.  Conversion is our goal—Compassion is our vehicle.  We accomplish the “Great Commission”—“go into all the world”—by practicing the “Great Commandment”—to “love God with all our heart, all our souls, and all our mind, and love our neighbors as ourselves.” 


The Bible declares that God “sees with His heart,” a heart filled with compassion for the whole world:  “For God SO loved the world that He gave His only Son!”  We need to see with our heart if we are going to see souls won to Christ.

Now, as jazz singers like to say, “let’s bring it on down.”  Let’s “see” (pun intended) where the rubber meets the road today.  Soulwinning requires that we learn to “See With Our Hearts.”  Seeing With Our Hearts requires radical, true conversion.  It requires courage.  It requires God-sized compassion.  And it requires:

4.  CONVICTION (v4)

⁴ We  must do the works  of Him who sent Me  while it is day.  Night is coming when no one can work. ⁵ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

This is the whole point of this passage—and the point Jesus has been making all the while the Jewish were lighting the sixteen bowls of oil during the Feast of Tabernacles. 

The world is blind—smothered in the darkness of sin.  Jesus is the Light which shatters the darkness and pushes back the blackness of sin in our world. 

Until we, God’s people, the Church, become fully convicted that we were saved to participate in the salvation of others, we will never see the blackness of our world pushed back or flood of the sewage of sin turned off!

Conviction. That’s the key to soulwinning.  Notice in verse four we meet a little word again that I have told you about many times, and just a few weeks ago when I preached on the Woman Who Got Well.  Remember, that most people “avoided going through Samaria” when travelling from Jerusalem to Galilee or vice versa.  In that instance we read this (Jn. 4:4):

⁴ He had to travel through Samaria.  Now, here in 9:4 we read, We must do the works of Him Who sent Me.  “Had to; must.”  This is the little Greek word, dei (pronounced, day).  It refers to an absolute necessity, or a moral obligation. 

Until every church member becomes totally convicted that he or she has a moral obligation to God to share the gospel with other people—no matter what the risk—the church will die.  Oh, it may continue to stumble around like characters in the Zombie Apocalypse, but it will be dead!

“Convicted” means to be “totally convinced to the point of resolute action.”  Are you “convicted” that you have a moral obligation to share the gospel?  If not, you are “convicted” in another sense.

“Convicted” can also mean, “proven guilty of an offense by verdict of a court.”  If you are a believer and NOT involved in sharing the gospel, “you have been convicted by the Court of Heaven of being derelict of duty!” 

Listen to this verse from the prophet Ezekiel 33:: 


The word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, speak to your people and tell them: Suppose I bring the sword against a land, and the people of that land select a man from among them, appointing him as their watchman, ³ and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows his trumpet  to warn the people. ⁴ Then, if anyone hears the sound of the trumpet but ignores the warning,  and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. ⁵ Since he heard the sound of the trumpet but ignored the warning, his blood is on his own hands.  If he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. ⁶ However, if the watchman sees the sword coming but doesn’t blow the trumpet, so that the people aren’t warned, and the sword comes and takes away their lives, then they have been taken away because of their iniquity, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood. 

One of the theological giants in American Christian history was Dr. R.A. Torrey.  He helped Dwight Moody, the great evangelist, establish Moody Bible Institute.  He then came to Los Angeles to establish the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (BIOLA).  While in L.A. he established and pastored the Church of the Open Door.  A passionate evangelist and pastor, R.A. Torrey once boldly declared,

"I would like to ask what right any man has to call himself a follower of Jesus Christ if he is not a soulwinner? There is absolutely no such thing as following Christ unless you can make the purpose of Christ’s life the purpose of your life."

“Seeing With Your Heart” means one is fully convicted that every believer has a moral obligation to share the Good News that Jesus saves with other people!

Now, this is a hard, direct message but one that is needful for us to hear.  We must “do the works of Him Who sends us.”  To do this work, we must learn to “See With Our Hearts”—to see the world as God sees it and then serve the world as Jesus served it.


There is no other path to hope and renewal for our church.  There is no other hope for mankind.  We are not called to “save” our church, save our community, save our nation, or even save the world.  We, the disciples of Jesus Christ are called to “save souls.”

Would you seriously consider asking God for the boldness and courage to become a soulwinner.  It is the only work that matters for eternity.