???????????????????????????????????????????????JOHN 5:31-47 ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Lesson # 11 ???

???????????????????????????????????BECOMING SPIRITUALLY BLIND

I.? Introduction:

???????????Q? Can people become spiritually blind?? Can you give me an example from Scripture?

???????????Q? Can we become that way, even if we are members of the faith?

???????????Q? How do we become that way?

????????????? An = Let them give their answers.? We have been reading in John how Jesus tells folks what the truth is.? He is not just concerned with speaking forth the truth but that people will be changed by it.? He wants us to change, even when we are spiritually blind.? The religious leaders of Jesus day were blind to what the Lord was doing.? They were blind to having compassion on a man sick for 38 years and focused on “carrying mats on the Sabbath”.? Jesus did not just announce the truth, He also tried to help them see it.?? Let’s see both how He tries to help them and in the process see how we can avoid becoming like them….

II.? The Witnesses to Jesus’ Right to Give and Live and Render Judgment.? John 5:31-37

>>>>? Have someone read John 5:31

???????????Q? What is the principal being annunciated here?

????????????? An = This is an Old Testament principle:? >>> Have someone read Deuteronomy 17:6.

???????????The fellow who always blows his own horn is not true.? Gals is this not true in dating?? If a guy is always tooting his own horn, he is a phony.? Be wary of those Christian leaders that always claim their own authority.? If another bears witness to someone’s credibility or skill or ability then it should be considered.

>>>>? Have someone read John 5:32-35.

???????????Q? Who is the one being mentioned here that is bearing witness to Jesus?

????????????? An = John the baptist.? John had a tremendous ministry and drew great crowds and stirred the hearts of that time deeply.? This same John bore witness to Jesus as the Messiah.? However, the Jewish leaders took pleasure in John, but did not really listen and do what he said.

???????????Q? Does Jesus lean heavily on the witness of great men according to verse 34?

????????????? An = Actually He does not.? God does not need our witness, but to help bring us to God, He uses human witness.?? Jesus does not depend that heavily on our witness to Him.? We are to shine and we help for awhile.

>>>>? Have someone read John 5:36.

???????????Q? What is the second witness Jesus mentions?

????????????? An = The works which Jesus did.? They were signs that God had sent Jesus.

???????????Q? Are we witness to our family just by our words, how could we be like Jesus and be validated like He was?

????????????? An = There are to be signs that the Father has sent us.

>>>>? Have someone read John 5:37.

???????????Q? Who is the third witness?

????????????? An = It is the Father Himself.

???????????Q? What does this mean?

????????????? An = Let them answer, but do not answer yourself.? If they press, let’s read on…. to find the answer.

III.? Spiritual Blindness:? John 5:37-47

???????????Q? Do you know people who are spiritually blind?? What do you mean by that?

???????????Q? What causes spiritual blindness?

???????????Q? Are some people who belong to the church, the people of God, spiritually blind?

???????????RQ? Have you ever been spiritually blind?

>>>>? Have someone read John 5:37-38.

???????????Q? How have these people responded to the Father according to Jesus?

????????????? An = ???????????In four ways:

???????????????????????????????????They have not heard (obeyed) His voice.

???????????????????????????????????They have not seen His form.

???????????????????????????????????They do not have His word abiding in them.

???????????????????????????????????They do not believe in Jesus whom the Father has sent.

???????????Note:?? Barclay (pp. 197-98) says you can take this rhetorically:? “It is true that you have never seen God;? it is true that God is invisible;? and so is His witness;? for His witness is the response which rises in the human heart when a man is confronted with Christ.”? When we truly encounter Christ, we see His beauty, His wisdom, His Wonderfulness.

>>>>? Have someone read John 5:39-40

???????????Q? Why do the Jews (or Church going Christians for that matter) study the Scriptures?

????????????? An = Because they think that in them they have eternal life.? It is the Scriptures themselves that bear witness to Jesus.? The Father’s Book bears witness to the Son of the Father.? The depth structure of the OT bears witness to the depth structure of the NT.

???????????Q? Can religious people be blind?? Can they read the Scriptures and still miss God?

???????????Q? Do you know folks in church like that?

???????????Q? Are there people with Ph.D’s in Bible or pastors that are extremely far from the heart of God?? Could that happen to you?? Could it happen to me?

???????????Q ?How does that happen?

????????????? An = Jesus is going to show them, let’s read on.? If we can understand how Jesus tried to help the people of His day then we can understand how He wishes to help the people of this day.

>>>>? Have someone read John 5:41-44.

???????????Q? What is their problem?

????????????? An = Jesus does not see the glory of men, but they do (41).? They do not have the love of the Father in themselves because when one from the Father comes their way they do not receive him.? If God sends someone our way to speak in His Name we will know it if God’s love is abiding in us.?? We will sense the presence of our Master in them (42).

???????????But they will seek glory from men who build up themselves because they do not seek the glory that is from God and God alone.? Many times we seek scholarly approval but do not really care what God desires or wants (43-44).? This takes another form, in that we humans often are religious in such a manner that brings us the praise of men.? That is so dangerous.? If we are religious because it is politically correct then, it is phony and will not last.? Here at APU if you are religious because it is popular, it will vanish when you leave here.? Worse yet, it will not save you in the judgment, God knows phonies.

???????????Others will listen to imposters, not God, because such imposters make claims that correspond with their desires.? They offer an “easy glory”, not the “hard way of the God, of the cross.”? (Barclay p. 200).

???????????Q? How can we become so dumb?

????????????? An = Jesus gives His answer in the next verses..

>>>>? Have someone read John 5:45-47

???????????Q? Who or what is going to accuse these religious people.

????????????? An = Moses or the Scriptures themselves.? People who fight the truth sent by God’s messengers in the name of religion will find that they will be condemned by the very thing they set their hope in.? Great irony!?

???????????Q? Why do people misinterpret Scripture and become spiritually blind?

????????????? An = They disobey what they already know.

Note:? If you are spiritually dark tonight it is because God has already spoken to you about some truths that you will not obey.?

???????????