The
Clay of The Spittle
John 9:1 “And as Jesus passed by, he saw
a man which was blind from his birth.
2
And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did
sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born
blind?
3 Jesus answered, Neither
hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the
works of God should be made manifest in him.
4 I must work the works of him that
sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no
man can work.
5 As long as I am
in the world, I am the light of the world.
6 When he had thus spoken, he spat
on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he
anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,
7 And said unto him, Go, wash in
the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation,
Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and
came seeing.
8 The neighbours
therefore, and they which before had seen him that
he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and
begged?
9 Some said, This is he:
others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he.
10 Therefore said they unto him,
How were thine eyes opened?
11
He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus
made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me,
Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and
washed, and I received sight.
12
Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I
know not.
13 They brought to the
Pharisees him that aforetime was blind.
14 And it was the sabbath day when Jesus
made the clay, and opened his eyes.
15
Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had
received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay
upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see.”
1. God Turns Things Around
2. Work
While It Is Day
3. There Is Something About That
NAME
4. Eyes To See
5. Sabbath: The Sign To
The Jew
1. God Turns Things Around
Verse two: “And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?”
We are just clay! Does that bother you? If you have any sense at all, you know you came from dust and YOU will go back to dust. [I am talking about your body … your flesh. I am not talking about your soul.]
Now as the potter turns and fashions the clay, he has something in mind. He has an intentioned design to implement … something he wants to accomplish with the clay.
Now, in regard to sin, it is man who sinned and is suffering because of his sin.
Let us get a little personal.
WE ARE SINNERS!
Yet God, in spite of our sin, can turn things around in our affairs [the affairs of men] to point our attention back to HIMSELF.
[Ephesians 1:12] “That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.”
2. Work While It Is Day
Verse four: “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.”
There will come a time when it is too late to labor in the field.
Even now the spiritual wickedness in high places is descending to an ever-increasing depth over all the earth’s political and religious entities. This spiritual wickedness will culminate in the seven-year TRIBULATION coming up soon.
It will be such as the earth has never seen. Amen! The Great Tribulation in the timeline of historical events is bearing down on this old earth and all its inhabitants.
The time is short for us to work. We need to be about the work that God has set for us. We Christians need to win the lost to Jesus Christ. We are HIS ambassadors according to Second Corinthians.
• We are HIS ambassadors according to Second Corinthians.
“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.” [2 Corinthians 5:20]
• We are the fishers of men!
“And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.” [Mark 1:17]
3. There Is Something About That NAME
Verses eight and nine: “The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged? Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he.”
Most things in life you can do every day, and not cause a problem or controversy. They are the mundane and every day things in life that everybody does.
However, there is one thing you can do [that is PURE and RIGHT] that will guarantee instant trouble if you do it. Are you ready?
Here it is. You can pray in a public place, and end your prayer: [in Jesus Christ’s NAME]. That will do it!
[There is something about that NAME.]
Now, on the other hand, if you pray by Mohammad, or if you can pray by Buddha, or if you pray by Mary, that will be OK.
It will hardly cause a ripple in the pond, so to speak. But if you pray in Jesus Christ's NAME, it will cause a RUCKUS.
• So much so, that they have made it a law in the United States of America that no one can pray in that NAME [1963].
[The Bible is all about Jesus Christ.]
Ruckus you say. It certainly has caused a ruckus.
• So much so, that they have made it law in the United States for the Bible NOT to be read [or even displayed] in the public schools of America [1963].
They have not outlawed Confucius’s writings, or Mohammad’s writings, or Buddha’s writings. They have singled out just one book to OUTLAW; THE BOOK about JESUS CHRIST [THE BIBLE].
[There is something about that NAME.]
4. Eyes To See
Verses ten and eleven: “Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened? He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.”
This was a man blind from his birth. The man’s PHYSICAL sight was totally non-existent.
This, by the way, exactly correlates to our SPIRITUAL sight being totally non-existent from our birth. All men come into the world spiritually BLIND.
We know this is so because the Bible tells us so. Not only does the Bible tell us so, but it even tells us who the responsible party is, that would do such a dastardly thing as blinding all men from birth from seeing the glorious light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I wonder who the person is that would do such a thing to us?
Turn to Second Corinthians, chapter two. Read verse four:
“In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” [2 Corinthians 4:4]
Now, the small letter “g” in god tells us this is none other than Satan. He is the god of this world. He is the culprit.
Now, there is an antidote for all this evil.
Here is the ANTIDOTE to counter the work of the DEVIL. It is so crude that a self righteous person will be repulsed, and be in utter disgust; but to the broken, contrite and weary heart of a sinner, it will be ATTRACTIVE … the perfect solution to take away his BLINDNESS. [Verse six]: Jesus “spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.” Spit! Spittle!
Now, the CLAY OF THE SPITTLE, applied by the SAVIOR, restored the sight of the blind man, and likewise, the “opening” of the heart of a man [THE APPLYING OF THE CLAY OF THE SPITTLE] by the Holy Ghost will allow a man to see the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. The blind man can now see. This operation [THE CLAY OF THE SPITTLE] of the Holy Ghost is seen in that account of Lydia’s conversion in the book of Acts chapter sixteen.
“And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.”
When Lydia received her sight, she could see the TRUE LIGHT for the first time in her life. She got the CLAY OF THE SPITTLE applied to her eyes.
She got saved! She got healed! She got born again. She received eternal life
.5. Sabbath: The Sign To The Jew
Verse fourteen: “And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes.”
This is the seventh day of a week. The seven-day week was established by God in the Genesis account of the creation of the Heaven and the Earth.
The LAW OF FIRST INSTANCE of a word in the Bible will often shed light on God’s WORD.
• Who [in the first person] is God speaking to?
• [Who is it for?]
• Who else [in the third person] [in hearing range] can benefit?
Keeping in mind that: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” [2 Timothy 3:16-17]
The first instance of the word “Sabbath” occurs in Exodus chapter sixteen, verse twenty-three.
“And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.”
• Who is HE speaking to?
The answer to this is [them] Israel.
Who is it for?
The answer is HE is speaking to them as a nation … to practice as a nation.
Here is what is expressly commanded to the children of Israel.
[Exodus 31:13-16] “Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.
Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.”
• Who else can benefit by putting it into practice, even though God did not expressly tell [command] them in the first person?
The answer is all the nations of the earth can benefit, yet it is OPTIONAL.
Now why did God command the children of Israel to KEEP the SABBATH? The purpose of the commandment was that it was to be a SIGN to Israel.
• CHAPTER – VERSE [Exodus 31:17] “It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.”
• CHAPTER – VERSE [Ezekiel 20:12] “Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them.”
• CHAPTER – VERSE [Ezekiel 20:18-20] “But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols: I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.”
Three times God said it. Have we gotten it into our heads?
If you look at the Ten Commandments given in Exodus twenty, you find that the commandment: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:” [Exodus 20:8-9] differs from all the other commandments, in that, it was the only commandment given expressly to be a SIGN. The Jew’s as a [nation] require a SIGN. The Gentiles [nations] seek after WISDOM. [1 Corinthians 1:22] “For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom.”
When Jesus Christ died on Mt. Calvary the signification was made by God to Israel [when the temple veil was torn from top to bottom] that Old Testament dispensation was DONE. [Mark 15:38] “And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.”
The shifting of the gears, so to speak, from one dispensation into another is shown in Romans chapter eleven. [Romans 11:15] “For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?”
Henceforth, the pattern for the New Testament believers [The Church] is to meet on the FIRST DAY of the week rather than on the SEVENETH DAY.
Search the SCRIPTURE, and SEE. Careful and believing Bible study will show a new pattern toward the first day in the week [SUNDAY]
Note the following verses: Mark 16-2, 9, Luke 24:1, John 20:1, 19, 1 Corinthians 16:2.
Sunday is for the Christians [SAVED BY GRACE], and Saturday is for the Jews [WHO ARE UNDER THE LAW]. That is what we see in the BOOK. Amen!
[Acts 20:7] “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.”
Amen!