The Causes of Blindness - Pastor Kipp Penrod

Thank you for listening to this message from

Lifehouse Church. You're new, and if you're not

new, you know what this is all about. But if

you're new, you may not. These balls, this is

not our decor. We did not decide, hey, let's

decorate the stage with fish tanks. That really

wasn't the purpose of this at all. But these

green balls represent invitations. These orange

balls represent salvations. And we just believe

every single week we come in here that God's

working in and around all week long through invitation.

And people come into Christ and we hear about

it all the time. So I want you to do this. Just

put your hand forward. Just point it out towards

these green balls. We're going to pray over those

invitations and believe for God's hand in this.

Father, we thank you. Lord, you see each person

is represented in this. Tank, Lord, you know

each person. You know their circumstances. You

know what's going on in their lives. And, Lord,

we just come. We bring them before you right

now. God, we place these invitations in front

of you because we're believing that those who

are far from God are going to come near. God,

that they're going to find you. And, Lord, they're

going to know what it is to be born again, renewed,

and refreshed in Jesus. So, Lord, we just ask

that you would go out, Holy Spirit, begin to

continue to move in their lives. And, Lord, as

we get opportunity, we avail ourselves as well,

God, to speak, Lord. to tell the truth, and Lord,

to speak of you. And Lord, we just give you praise,

we give you glory, and we give you honor. In

Jesus' name, everybody say it together. Amen.

Now give him a hand for what he's going to do.

Yeah, come on. He's going to do it. He's going

to do it. You may be seated this morning. It's

good to have you at LifeHouse this morning. Thank

you for joining us online. It's always amazing,

especially on such a cold day, everybody coming

out and shivering all the way to church. But

how many know that sometimes It pays to stay

just a little bit longer. Now, nobody's going

to say amen to that because I'm preaching. They're

like, he's going to preach long today. How many

know it pays just to stay a little bit longer

sometimes? It really does. Sometimes if we linger,

thank you. I got one amen in the back. Sometimes

if we linger, sometimes if we stay, right? Sometimes

there's more to be learned. There's more to be

grabbed a hold of. There's more to get. And sometimes

if you leave the game early, right? And you miss

the greatest play of the whole game. See Hawkins

Patriots today. You might miss the whole game

if you miss that last piece. So this is what

we're going to do this morning. I'm going to

come back around. I preached out of John chapter

John 9 · chapter mention

9 last week, but we're going to stay just a little

longer in John chapter 9. I've been jumping from

John 9 · chapter mention

chapter to chapter, but we're going to come back

around. We're going to linger just a little longer

in John 9 because there's more to grab a hold

of there. And John chapter 9 is really centered

John 9 · chapter mention

around a miracle. A miracle that Jesus performs.

A miracle that he does. And I don't know anybody

that doesn't love a miracle. It's something that's

miraculous. A story of the miraculous. And if

you've ever had that happen in your life, or

if you've known or witnessed that take place,

it never leaves you. I remember years ago as

a youth pastor, many years ago when I was youth

pastoring, I remember going to a conference in

Pensacola, Florida. And they wheeled in a young

man who was in a wheelchair type thing that was...

actually couldn't even sit. He was standing up,

and he had a severe nervous condition. His whole

body would shake and quake, and you could tell

he was almost not even lucid, and they brought

him down front, and they prayed for him, and

I saw this with my own two eyes. That young man

walked out of that place whole, complete, talking.

Yeah, come on. I know it was years ago, but I...

I'm still blown away every time I think about

it. And I saw it with my own two eyes. There

wasn't lightning. There wasn't thunder. God's

presence was in the place, and he walked out

of there completely different. Well, Jesus heals

a man in John chapter 9 blind from birth, and

John 9 · chapter mention

it's a miracle. This man has never seen the light

of day. He's never been able to differentiate

the color blue from yellow. He's never seen his

family's faces. He's never watched the sky above

roll past him. As a matter of fact, his world

was reduced to what he could hear, what he could

feel, maybe what he could taste or touch. And

that was very difficult in a society that he

lived in because it afforded no opportunities

for those that had this kind of challenge in

their life. It was blind and dark until he met

a man named Jesus. And in the strangest of ways,

Jesus walks up to this man, he spits on the ground,

makes some clay, smears some mud in his eyes,

and sends him to the pool of Siloam to go and

wash. And when he washes, in an instant, his

world changes. In a moment in time, his eyes

open. Color begins to be something that he experiences.

For the first time, he sees his relatives' faces,

and he sees the sky above him roll by. Now, endless

opportunities are in front of him. When everything

was so closed off before, now everything is brand

new. Everything about this man's life changed

in just a few minutes with Jesus. It's amazing.

And while Jesus is lighting up this guy's world,

everything changing for this one man. The world

around him begins to stir. That's what we're

going to look at today. His Jewish neighbors

and friends are trying to figure out what just

happened. They see this guy, but they can't believe

their own eyes. How could such a thing even take

place? They're flabbergasted. How many know that's

a word, flabbergasted? Go ahead and tell your

neighbor, say it's flabbergasted. Flabbergasted,

it's just fun to say. Some are so shocked they

don't even know if it's the same guy. The religious

leaders who hate Jesus are more infuriated than

ever. You got to understand before this time,

before he heals this man, they already wanted

to stone Jesus to death. Now Jesus goes and heals

this man has even greater influence. And even

this guy's parents are rattled about their son's

healing. So rattled that they defer when they're

questioned about the whole matter. The only one

that's clear What's just happening at this moment

in time is Jesus. But for everyone that is surrounding

this scenario, this incredible miracle that takes

place, they're all suffering from various kinds

of blindness themselves. So if you've got your

Bibles, go ahead and turn to John chapter 9.

John 9 · chapter mention

We're going to pick up at verse 8, verse 8 this

morning. And it says this. It says in John 9,

8, And those who previously had seen that he

was blind said, Is not this he who sat and begged?

Some said, This is he. Others said, He is like

him. He said, I am he. Therefore they said to

him, How are your eyes open? The formerly blind

guy's neighbors are experiencing blindness themselves.

I call this confusion blindness. Say confusion

blindness. It's a thing, all right? They're blinded

by confusion. The very nature of confusion actually

brings some blindness to it. If you say you're

confused about anything, there's something you're

not seeing clearly. There's something that's

not quite fitting, right? You're missing something

in some way. And the formerly blind guy, I'm

going to call him that all morning because that's

what the Word of God calls him, his neighbors

are confused. They couldn't get their head around

the fact that their neighbor could now see. And

they start questioning it. How many have ever

heard this? This has never happened before. That

means it can never happen, right? This has never

happened before. I don't believe it. This guy

looks like him, but, you know, I bet you that's

a twin. I always heard rumors it was probably

a twin somewhere back in the lineage, right?

The one we never heard about. I bet you that's

his twin. How many know everybody has a Doppler

ganger? Do you know what that is? You've got

to look alike somewhere. When I was in high school,

I had a kid in school who looked just like me.

No relation whatsoever. Teachers got us mixed

up all the time. We probably could have had some

fun. We never did. But they're confused. The

Jewish people around, there's got to be some

explanation. They refused to believe what was

right in front of them. What took place? The

miracle was there. There was confusion blindness.

And the blind guy answers their question in verse

11. He says this, and he answered and said, a

man called Jesus made clay, anointed my eyes

and said to me, go to the pool of Siloam and

wash. So I went and washed and I received sight.

And they said to him, where is he? He said, I

do not know. They brought him who was formerly

blind to the Pharisees. Now it was the Sabbath

when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.

Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he

had received his sight. He said to them, he put

clay on my eyes and I washed and I see. Therefore,

some of the Pharisees said, this man is not from

God because he does not keep the Sabbath. Others

said, how can a man who is a sinner do such signs?

And there was a division among them. So they

said again to the blind man, what do you say

about him since he has opened your eyes? And

the blind man said, he is a prophet. There's

a whole other group of individuals who are experiencing

blindness around this miracle. The Pharisees.

They don't see the power of Jesus. They don't

see the miracle. They're completely blind to

the fact that Jesus is the son of God, that he's

the waited on Messiah. The Pharisees are suffering

from what I call selective blindness. They just

select them what they want to see, right? I'll

choose what is true so I can make it fit my circumstance,

my desire, or my bias. That's what selective

blindness is. I choose to see what is true. It's

only what I can make fit my circumstance, my

desire, or my bias. If you have children in your

house, raise your hand right now. Raise your

hand. How many know your children suffer from

selective blindness? Come on, especially if you've

got teenagers. Yeah, some of you are like, amen,

amen, amen, amen. Selective blindness, right?

You could take them to the doctor today, and

they would be diagnosed. I just saved you 50

bucks for the copay. Selective blindness. You

can tell that child, go clean up your room. You

know what they'll do? They'll go in their room.

They'll put one pair of clothes in the hamper,

and they clean up their room. How many know that's

selective blindness? The 5 ,000 other things

that are all over the floor, they didn't even

see it. I cleaned up my room. I did. They'll

swear to it. They'll put their hand on the Bible

and swear in the middle of the kitchen that they

did it, right? They will. They're selectively

blind. I choose to see. This was the Pharisees.

I choose to see what I want to see so it fits

my circumstance, so it fits my bias, so it fits

what I'm doing. They're selectively blind. And

you start to see in this scenario more and more

people that are surrounding us, they're blind.

In this portion of Scripture, even the formerly

blind guy, still suffering from some blindness

himself. When they question him, who healed you?

The Pharisees question him. Well, he says, I

don't know. This guy must be a prophet. He doesn't

even know it's the son of God yet. He doesn't

even know it's the Messiah. He's a Jew, and he

knows this. Anybody that he's seen that had the

power of God up until this time was a prophet.

He knew in the history of Israel, anytime he

saw a miracle take place, anytime it was written

about or spoke about or taught to him, it was

a prophet. And he scrambles. They're asking him,

who healed you? And he's like, I don't know.

Who is he? He's like, he must be a prophet. He's

blind due to some ignorance, honestly, at this

point. It's ignorance blindness. We go on in

verse 18, but the Jews did not believe concerning

him that he had been blind and received his sight

until they called the parents of him who had

received his sight. And they asked him saying,

is this your son who you say was born blind?

How then does he now see his parents are up to

bat now and all the confusion and everybody getting

questioned, they're up to bat. And his parents

answered them and said, we know that this is

our son. And then he was born blind. But by what

means he now sees, we do not know. Or who opened

his eyes, we do not know. He's of age, ask him.

He'll speak for himself. Now, his parents said

these things because they feared the Jews. For

the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed

that he is the Christ, they would be put out

of the synagogue. Therefore, his parents said,

he's of age, ask him. Dad and mom. You know,

get questioned about this whole scenario that's

taken place. And here's what they do. They totally

bail on their son, right? They just throw their

son under the bus. I can see the formerly blind

guy. He's like, well, thanks, Mom and Dad. Way

to take one for the team. They're like, we don't

know. We don't know how he got healed. We don't

know who did it. We don't know anything. And

here's what the problem was. They were afraid

of getting thrown out of the synagogue. They

were afraid of the social repercussions of this

and where they were going to church and where

they were practicing their religious duties.

And they're like, oh, no, just go talk to our

son. Right. They just saw him completely under

the bus. And he answered and said, whether and

blind guy gets back up and he speaks again while

there's question him. And he answered and said,

you know. I'm sorry, let's go back to John chapter

John 9 · chapter mention

9, 24. So they again called the man who was blind

and said to him, I hope when you get in the picture,

I'm trying to unfold a picture of what's taking

place here, right? Give him, give God glory.

We know that this man is a sinner. They call

the blind guy back in. The Pharisees are still

questioning everybody and everything. And they're

telling him, we know that this Jesus is a sinner.

And I love the blind guy's response to all these

religious leaders. He answered and said, whether

he is a sinner or not, I do not know. One thing

I know, that though I was blind, now I see. And

they said to him again, what did he do to you?

How did he open your eyes? And he answered them,

I told you already. And you didn't listen. Why

do you want to hear it again? Do you also want

to become his disciples? I just kind of think

the blind guy here, he's like, you know what?

I'm tired of these clowns questioning me. I know

they're already fired up. I know they're already

mad at Jesus. I think I'm just going to stir

the pot a little bit more. Because he looks him

in the eye and says, well, why? Do you want to

become his disciples? And I can guarantee you,

they lit them up, these Pharisees. It even says

in verse 28, it says, then they reviled him and

they said, you are his disciples, but we are

Moses' disciples. We know that God spoke to Moses.

As for this fellow, we do not know where he is

from. And the man answered and said to them,

why, this is a marvelous thing. What you do not

know where he is from yet. He opened my eyes.

Now we know that God does not hear sinners, but

if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his

will, he hears them. Since the world began, it's

been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of

one who was born blind. If this man were not

from God, he could do nothing. Man, he preaches

it. He gives it right back to the Pharisees like,

man, I don't know what your deal is. I don't

know if he's a sinner or not, but let me tell

you something. I know this. He wouldn't have

been able to do any of this unless he knew God.

He says it. And they answered and said to him,

you are completely born in sins. They're fired

up. They're mad. And you're teaching us. And

they cast him out. They throw formerly blind

guy who just experienced a miracle. They throw

him out. And look what Jesus does. Jesus heard

that they cast him out. And when he had found

him, he said to him. Do you believe in the Son

of God? And he answered and said, Who is he,

Lord, that I may believe in him? And Jesus said

to him, You have both seen him, and it is he

who is talking with you. Then he said, Lord,

I believe. And he worshiped him. He worshiped

Jesus. And Jesus said, For judgment I have come

into this world, that those who do not see may

see, and those who see may be blind. And what

a scenario. What a story. What gave a man who

was blind from birth the ability to see it all

in one day? He not only begins to see physically

what's taking place, but his eyes in the second

encounter with Jesus are opened up spiritually.

He sees God. He sees the Messiah. He sees the

Son of God. And all those around him who had

physical sight couldn't see. They were blind

to something. Something had them shaded. And

I submit to you today that it can be my religion

that can cause me to be blind to God, or it can

be my religion that will cause me to see God

clearly. Let me say it again. It can be my religion

that causes me to be blind to God, or it can

be my religion that will cause me to see God

clearly. I can be completely blind. Because of

my religion or I will see God clearly because

of my religion. Turn to somebody right now and

tell them that sounds confusing. Go ahead, tell

them right now. Tell them that sounds confusing.

That sounds like double talk, right? What does

that mean? That sounds confusing. My religion

will either blind me in some way or my religion

will cause me to see clearly. And you might say,

well, how can that be? Well, it's in the definition

of religion. See, religion has two definitions.

And the first definition is this. A religion

is the belief in and the worship of a supernatural

power or powers, especially a God or gods. If

my belief and my worship is fixed on the superhuman

power of Jesus Christ, if my belief and my worship

is fixed on the superhuman one, God the Father,

Jehovah, Jesus, the Son of God, right? And the

Holy Spirit, God the Holy Spirit. If my belief

and my worship are fixed on the one and only

true God, the creator of the universe, the one

who manages all that I see around me, the one

who is above all gods, right? The King of kings,

the Lord of lords. causes me to see everything

clearly when my eyes and my heart are fixed on

the superhuman one. No longer do I walk in a

state of confusion. The longer I have walked

with God, the less confused I am. The more I

engage with him, the more I encounter him, the

more I get into his presence, the less confused

I get. The more the world becomes clear to me

around me. Sometimes there's so much happening

in the world around us, and we're trying to make

sense of it all. And I'm here to tell you, if

you get focused on the Lord Jesus Christ, if

you encounter him, if you get in his presence,

things begin to become clear. You start to understand

what's taking place around you. It becomes open.

It becomes obviously. You know, obvious. The

former blind man first received his physical

sight when Jesus first approaches him. But in

the second approach, when Jesus comes up to him

again, he receives spiritual sight. And he begins

to see things for exactly what they are. In one

day, one day, he can see it all. If our religion,

if our belief and worship is in the superhuman,

in Jesus, If we continue to have encounters with

him, pursue him, our vision will become clearer

and clearer and clearer. The shade will go up

on what's taking place around you. And let me

talk about a second definition of religion. The

definition of religion that will blind you to

God. And this was the kind of religion that the

Pharisees had and the Jewish neighbors that were

around him and even his parents, right? The ones

who were confused, they had selective and convenience

and ignorance blindness. All those who surrounded

this man in this story. And it's this, it's the

second definition. And religion, the second definition

of religion is this, a particular system of faith

and worship. Do you know what's missing in that

definition? Faith and worship are there. That's

what's in the first definition, by the way, right?

Faith and worship. But instead of a supernatural

or superhuman one, it's a system, right? The

superhuman one is taken out of the equation.

It's faith and worship within a system of some

kind. Whether you make that up or whether it's

something that's set up for you, it's a person

who's worshiping the system of faith instead

of actually leaning them into faith with Jesus,

the superhuman one. And this happens all the

time. It was this way with the Pharisees in Scripture.

The Jews of that time and even some of his parents,

they were all in love with the system and not

so much with the one that the system was supposed

to point to. They weren't in love with the King

of Kings and the Lord of Lords. They were in

love with the system. The Pharisees loved the

system of worship of that day. They were experts

in the law of God. Some of them probably loved

the smell of the scrolls, right? They didn't

have books back then. They certainly didn't have

iPads. right? They would unfurl the scrolls and

read in public. They probably breathed in deep

and loved the sounds of the scrolls unrolling.

They loved that they got to wear a different

outfit than everybody else, right? They had the

Pharisee garb on and the costume. They loved

the respect and the attention it brought. They

loved the fellowship with the fellow Pharisees,

right? It was like a club. They were all in it.

They were all educated. They were all doing the

same thing. They loved the fellowship with their

brother. They loved the traditions of the group.

They loved all the extra laws that they came

up with and added to the law of God. They loved

the community. They loved it all. They were totally

in love with the system of faith and worship,

and they totally missed God in the middle of

it. This guy's parents, same thing, just a little

different bet, right? That when there was a threat

of getting thrown out of the synagogue because

of believing in Jesus, they were like, peace

out, man. Go talk to our son. We're not talking

with anybody about it. We don't know nothing,

right? I don't know anything. They're just hiding

somewhere when all the tension starts, when the

things begin. You say, well, how does that work

with us? We can love church. We can love the

culture. We can love our life groups. We can

love the people. We can love the practices of

worship. We can love the songs that we sing.

We can love the community that it brings. You

can love the smell of the coffee over at the

cafe. You can love the greeters at the connection

station. You can love pulling into the parking

lot and somebody being there just to smile at

you and send you into the door. You can show

up every week of the year and completely miss

the superhuman one. Completely miss God. Never

get into contact with him. Never encounter the

holy one. You love the system of faith and worship.

You love the prestige. You love where you sit.

How many know you got a place where you sit?

Come on, raise your hand. I know, I see you.

I look for you every week, right? If you move,

it messes me all up. That's okay. As the worship

team comes. And there's even a flip side to religion

keeping us blind on this. We can also talk about

those who hate religion. They hate the worship.

They hate the system. They hate people of faith.

And they even carry a subtle hate for the superhuman

one that's associated with it, right? They hate

religion. Maybe this person's been burned once

in the system of faith and worship. And I talk

to people all the time. I can't tell you how

many conversations I've had with people who got

burned in the system of faith and worship somewhere

at a church. Somewhere in a community, it happens

all the time. Been there myself, by the way,

all right? And they've been wronged big time.

And maybe they've been burned once. Maybe they've

been burned twice. Maybe they've been burned

seven times, maybe ten times. And they're so

frustrated. They're so hurt. They've been rejected.

They've been hurt. They've been betrayed by somebody

in the system of faith and worship, right? And

they're so focused on the system of faith and

worship. that they can't see God any longer.

Sometimes what happens when you get in the middle

of something like this, and I've been there,

right? You superimpose these people on God. You

really do. You superimpose this person who's

far from God and really isn't following God,

who's acting out in all these kind of ways, even

though they're in the system, right? We superimpose

them onto God. Somehow God ends up guilty by

association. Because somebody in the system,

right, they're supposed to be representing God

in some kind of way. But it's actually some lousy

people who are just far from God, right? Sinners

who have not fully surrendered to God. People

who have not given their hearts over. This is

real. This is real. And if you've ever been hurt,

it's hard to get past the system. It really is.

It's hard to get past the association with it

all. And if that's you, I want to be the first

one to say I'm sorry that happened to you. I'm

sorry that you suffered that frustration. But

know this, people and systems fail. They really

do. People and systems fail in some kind of way.

They're flawed because, you know, they're flawed.

They're sinners saved by grace just like all

of us are. And sometimes they act out in sinful

manners. But don't miss God. Don't miss the supernatural

one. He's the one who does the miracles. He's

the one who does the healing. There's nobody

in this house that they carry a miracle with

them for you. There's nobody in this house. You're

not going to find him, right? It's only with

him. And Jesus left us the greatest example of

how to overcome this because for Jesus, the system

failed him. If you look at the crucifixion of

Christ and the worship team begins to play softly,

you'll begin to see that the system failed him,

right? He had a dozen disciples who were following

him. And when it was time for Jesus to come to

the hour, his greatest hour of pain, all his

disciples scattered and left him. They scattered.

They left. They got scared, right? Their sinful

nature began to come up. Even Peter, who beat

his chest and said, I'll be with you, Jesus,

no matter what, denies Christ three times before

the rooster crows. Three times he denies him.

The religious system of that day, who should

have recognized Jesus as the Messiah and the

Savior of all time, that system failed. Not only

did it fail, but they were the very people who

were going to crucify Christ. They're the very

ones who set up Jesus to take a fall. And then

instead of just punishing him, they want him

crucified. But listen to what Jesus says in Luke

23 and 32. He says there were also two others,

criminals, right? Jesus was hung between two

criminals on a cross, led with him to be put

to death. And when they had come to the place

called Calvary, there they crucified him and

the criminals, one on the right hand and the

other on the left. Then Jesus said, Father, forgive

them, for they know not what they do. They're

driving nails into Jesus' hand and his feet.

This is after being scourged with a Roman whip.

which was designed and built to rip the flesh

from your body, to expose the bones. It would

tear literally away. He has been bloodied. He

has been nailed, hung in a tree. In crucifixion,

most people die from asphyxiation because the

weight of your body pulls down and begins to

close off your lungs, besides all the torment

and pain from the torture. And he ekes out in

all that, Father, forgive them, for they know

not what they do. Do you know why Jesus could

do that? If you read in his word, his eyes were

always fixed on the superhuman one, his father.

He was always telling his disciples, I got to

go get away with the father. I got to go encounter

the father. I got to go. I'm doing my father's

business. I'm not worried about what's happening

around me. I don't care who's. falling apart

right who's coming apart at the seams and I don't

care about the system I don't care about any

of those things he just said I got to get to

the father and it's in the encounter it's in

the encounter so if you're going to stay eyes

wide open heart wide open ready to move forward

in life seeing everything that goes on around

you and seeing it for what it is you got to encounter

the master You got to encounter the superhuman

one. You're not going to find it in a system.

And there's nothing wrong with systems. They're

there for a reason. But you're not going to find

it there. You're not going to find it in some

form or faith of worship. You got to get to the

superhuman one. You got to get to worship him

and him alone. Amen? I'm going to ask if you'd

stand this morning. And I venture to guess. If

you bow your heads, close your eyes. I would

venture to guess in this house, there are some

here who have been burned by the system. There

have been some here, you could probably tell

a story, two, three, or four, how you were hurt

in some way by those who shouldn't be hurting

others, by those who should know better, right?

Because they're following Jesus. Don't be blind.

Get your eyes off the people and get them on

the Savior. Get your eyes off the circumstance.

Get your eye off the system. Get your eye because

he's where the healing is. He's where the joy

is. He's where the peace is. He's where the vision

is. He's the one who clears all things up in

our heart and our mind and our soul. And all

it takes is an encounter with him. The word of

God says, if you seek me, you will find me. Jesus

is just waiting for us to seek him. He will come

and encounter. You will encounter him, but you've

got to seek him. You want to stand flat -footed

and be prideful and just stand there in your

stubbornness? Go ahead. You're going to be standing

there a long time. You've got to humble your

heart, and you've got to go after God. You've

got to tell him, I don't have all the answers.

I don't even understand all the things I'm feeling,

but I'm just coming after you, Lord. I'm just

chasing after you. I want you. I need you in

my life. I need to know your presence. Some of

you need this this morning. Some of you need

his presence in your life. Some of you need an

encounter with him. And it will change how you

see. Just like that blind man. A couple minutes

in his presence changed everything. Come on.

We're going to sing. Thank you for tuning in

to this message from Lifehouse Church. powerfully

by this message. If you have been personally

affected by our ministry and you would like to

partner with us as we love God, love people every

day, visit our website at