The Blind, the Lame, the Deaf, the Mute and the Dead | Ep. 201

A miracle can restore eyesight, but can it restore trust, humility, and faith? That’s the tension we sit with as Jay walks us through the man born blind in John chapter 9, where the first question isn’t “how did this happen?” but “who’s to blame?” We slow down long enough to hear Jesus’ answer clearly: neither the man nor his parents sinned, but so God’s mighty works would be revealed. That one line challenges how we interpret suffering, closed doors, and the seasons we didn’t choose. 

We also talk honestly about God’s sovereignty, the difference between open doors and closed doors, and why timing matters when we’re asking for healing, provision, or breakthrough. The story turns confrontational as neighbors and Pharisees interrogate the healed man, his parents fear being cast out, and the conversation becomes more about rules than wonder. Still, one sentence cuts through all of it: “I was blind, and now I see.” It’s a masterclass in testimony, clarity, and courage when the room doesn’t want to believe you. 

From there, we connect the dots to other gospel miracles: the paralytic forgiven before he walks, the mute man delivered, and Lazarus raised so people might believe. The big takeaway is uncomfortable and hopeful at the same time: the greatest miracle isn’t always the natural one. It’s the transformation of a blind, deaf, lame, mute, or dead heart into a heart that sees, hears, walks, speaks faith, and truly knows Jesus. If you’ve been praying for someone you love, we end with language from Ephesians 1 and Isaiah 35 that puts the focus where Jesus puts it: revelation, faith, and salvation. 

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A Vision Of Purpose And Flow

j - Jesus M. Ruiz 0:03

The vision received was that of blood cells traveling throughout the body, supplying the much-needed oxygen and other nutrients to the differing members of the body to fulfill their purpose. Once the blood cells are spent, they must return back to the heart to be refilled before being sent out again and fulfill their purpose. Thank you all for being here tonight. Tonight I'd like to share with you about the blind, the lame, the deaf, the mute, and the dead. All in one night. I know that's a lot. And we're going to be mostly in John chapter 9 for most of the night. I don't know if the scriptures are coming up, but I will be in John chapter 9 if there's anyone in the back or in the top that can do that. But I told you I wanted to talk about those five types of people, and we're going to start with the blind man.

Why Pain Exists In God’s Plan

j - Jesus M. Ruiz 1:06

So in John chapter 9, you may well remember that there was a man that was born blind. He's never seen before. From the day of his birth, he was blind. And the disciples asked him a question. It's a question we all ask ourselves in this day and age, and the world asks themselves, why in the world, why in God's name was this person born blind? And sometimes it's not about being blind. Why were they born with this deformity? Why were they born like this or like that? And we always have these questions, and we wonder why, why, why? And interesting enough, I'm a teacher, and that's our um that's our uh that's our anthem for this year. Know your why. That's our anthem for our high school this year. But when Jesus was asked this by his disciples, he said to they said to him, Rabbi, who sinned that this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Like I sometimes feel like if something bad happens to me, my initial response is, Oh my God, what have I done? What did I do to deserve this? What what did I do in my past? Did I lie? Did I steal? Did I cheat? Did I do something? Because we always want to know what it was that we did that we we deserved this bad thing to happen to us. And in their day and age, they're just like us. They're human. They wanted to know why. And sometimes they attribute it to themselves, or sometimes if it was in a particular family, they attribute it, well, if it wasn't the kid, it was the parents. And so the parents are to be at fault in this matter. And he says to them, neither. Neither this man nor his parents sinned. But I want to highlight and focus because this will be the crux of this message in John chapter 9, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. So for a couple weeks, several weeks now, Pastor Joe has been trying, and I'm gonna put it in different words. So if you've been here, just understand I'm saying it a little bit differently. He's trying to get us to understand that our perspective needs to change. So he's been talking about miracle eyes and miracle ears and miracle hearts and miracle mind. And for me, as I listen to that and I kind of have a feeling where he's going with it, I get I kind of put it so simply that we our mind, our perspective needs to change. Because if our perspective stays carnal, we miss it. We always miss the purposes, the reasons why we go through the things that we go through. Why do we struggle with the things that we go through? Why does our loved ones go through the things that we go through? Why did my mother die when I was 20 years old and she died of a heart attack and she was only 40? Why did we have to go through this? And sometimes it has nothing about me and nothing about my uh my mom or my dad or my grandparents, but he basically said, Neither the man or his parents sin. Sometimes we go through things because God wants to glorify himself. And he doesn't need our permission to put us through something to do that. I don't know if you realize that. That may be a hard word for some of you. What do you mean? Well, yeah, he gave me life. He could do whatever he wants with me, he could put me through whatever turmoil, whatever ordeal, whatever trial, whatever tribulation, whatever uh thing that that might tempt me, and and I'm tempted by my own lust, not by God, but he'll test me to prove me he can do whatever he wants with me. So in this particular case, he simply states the reason that the works of God should be revealed in him. And Pastor Joe said something, and I took note of it because it hit me because it was speaking of the sovereignty of God, which I just said he doesn't need to ask us for permission. I think Pastor Job saie it like this the open door, I don't know if you remember, but the open door is as much the will of God as the closed door. That's the sovereignty of God. We like our open doors, we like those opportunities before us, and we'll walk right through them and we'll we'll we'll take the blessing of the money or the car or the job or the the increase in income or or all those blessings. But but if there's a closed door, we kind of get upset. And we we kind of get a little bit spoiled. Well, I want I want to go through that door, and God knows better than us whether that door should be opened or not, or whether it's not even the right time because you can't handle what's through that door. It's the sovereignty of God, He knows better than we do ourselves, even when we desire it. And many things that are desires in our heart, we have to understand they were planted there by the Lord, but we have to wait on it. There's a timing to this process. We just don't get everything all at once because if we did, we couldn't handle it. So I remember this that the works of God should be revealed in this man that was born blind had nothing to do with him and it had nothing to do with his parents.

The Blind Man Healed In Odd Ways

j - Jesus M. Ruiz 6:43

So he said, furthermore, He says, I'm here to work the works of him that sent me while it is still day. Because the night is coming, and no man can work, and as long as I'm in the world, I am the light of the Lord. So when He said these things, He He spat on the ground, hHe made clay with saliva, He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and He said to them, Go wash in the pool of siloam, which is translated scent. Odd, very odd way of handling that. Gosh, if He's gonna heal this man, He could have just said, We'll be healed, right? He could have just said that, but but he spits in in the ground, He He puts this on his eyes and he tells him, furthermore, go wash in the pool of Siloam. So he went. Wow. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine a man born blind? A man, he was an adult. I would say he's probably more than 20 plus years, never seen in his life. And all of a sudden he sees after 20 plus years. I don't know how old he was, but let's just say 20 plus years. And and Pastor Joe has been talking about, and and I and I I have the same same heart. I long for an authentic move and work of God. Don't you? Don't you long for an authentic move? Not not not that the fabrications and the counterfeits, and I'm just an authentic move. And so, you know, you start continuing the reading, and and the neighbors, uh those who had previously seen that this blind man, they just start saying, Well, isn't he the one that he sat here and he begged? Isn't that that same man? And some said, This is he, and others said, Well, he's he's kind of like him, and he's standing there and he's saying, It is me. It is me. I see, yes, I'm that man that was there. It's not that I look like him, I am him. I can see now, and they said to him, Well, how did your eyes get open? How is that you're seeing right now? And he says to them, A man called Jesus, made clay, anointed my eyes, and said to me, Go to the pool of Siloam and wash. And so I went and I washed and I received my sight. And they said to him, Well, where is he? And he said, I don't know. Now you can imagine, he doesn't even know what Jesus looks like, does he? He was blind when he talked to him, he doesn't even know what he looks like, he was just a voice. Everybody else was talking about this, Jesus walking by. And so all the people that knew this man all the days of his life, seeing him sit there begging or just being there, that blind man, everybody knew that blind man, well, they go and take him by the arm to the Pharisees. Can you imagine seeing such a mighty miracle as that, knowing that this man has been blind for 20 plus years, and you're not even happy for him? You're like, I gotta go get you to see the pastor. I don't know what's going on right here. Come over here so I can show you to the pastor. This is crazy. Can you imagine? So they bring him to the to the Pharisees, and and it was the Sabbath day when Jesus did this.

The Pharisees Versus A Simple Testimony

j - Jesus M. Ruiz 10:35

On top of it all, it was the Sabbath day, and He made this clay and He opened his eyes, and the Pharisees started asking him questions. Well, how did you receive your sight? And he says again, Well, He put clay in my eyes and I washed and I see. It was very simple. And then some of the Pharisees, well, this man is not from God because he doesn't keep the Sabbath. So the first initial response is not, wow, you could see. This is great, this is incredible. No, it's about, well, Jesus should have never done that on the Sabbath. And then there were others that said, Well, how can a man who is a sinner do such signs? You see, there's people around there that even question the Pharisees. So you're saying that this man is a sinner, this man is not from God because he broke the Sabbath. But if he's a sinner, then how did this happen? Explain that to me, Pharisee. And so there was a division among them. And they said to the blind man, Well, what do you say about Him? That He that opened your eyes. And so the man said, Well, He's a prophet. Now the Jews did not believe concerning him that he had been blind and received his sight. So they questioned the whole thing. They started saying, Well, this man wasn't born blind. Let's go get his parents. So they go call for his parents, and his parents come and they say, Hey, is this your son? Is this your son that you say was born blind? Well, how does he now see? And they answered him. Number one, yes, this is our son. Alright, so so we're confirming, yes, that that that's the one that we bore through our womb and our loins and our seed. Yeah, that's our son. And yes, number two, he was born blind. But number three, we don't know how he sees. We don't know how his eyes were open. We have no idea. You know what? But he's an adult. Why'd you ask him? He speaks for himself. Why? Because they didn't want to step out and say, Yes, this is our son, he was blind, and now he sees, but we really don't know why. Why don't you ask him? Why were they kind of hesitant to say all these things? It's because they feared the Jews. You see, the Jews had in that day had already agreed that if you confessed that that man over there that's walking around doing all these mighty miracle signs and wonders, that he's Messiah, we're gonna kick you out. So they said, Well, hey, he's of age, why don't you ask him? Anybody ever been excommunicated from their church? I have. I have. Yeah, join, join with me. It's not a great thing, it's not a great feeling when you're standing up for the truth, when you're trying to just preach the word of God to fellow brothers and sisters, and you're being told, no, you need to stop that. You can't be doing that because they're already going to another church. You know, they're they're in that church over there, and that church is gonna call us and and and tell us that we're trying to steal their sheep, and and and so no, you can't be doing that. You can't be holding up a Bible study in your house. You can't be sharing the word to people that you've known since you were in high school. I literally played against him, and his wife was was a year behind me, and we were friends from long time, not friends, but we became friends as I was in college. And so I got to that point where do I obey God or do I obey man? And so they were fearful, they were they were gonna get excommunicated, and so they called again this blind man and said to them, Give God the glory. We know that this man is a sinner. He answered and said to them, Listen, I don't know whether he's a sinner. I I don't know. To be honest with you, I could probably insufferable words. I don't even know what he looks like. I've never seen him before. But one thing I know, one thing I know that I could testify to. I was blind, and now I see you. I see the trees, I see all these people, I see all these buildings, I see the ground, I see the sand, I see all of this, and I've never seen this before in all my life. You see, isn't that the most important thing? Wasn't that right there the most important thing? That a man was born blind and now he sees and they say to him, Well, what did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? That's the third time this this this man has been asked this question. How many times is he gonna be asked this question? And so he gets fed up, but then he says, Listen, I told you already. You're not listening. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples? Is that what you want? And they reviled him. You are his disciple, we are Moses' disciples, and we know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow here, he don't know where he is or where he's from. Oh, really? The man answered and said to them, Well, this is an incredible, marvelous thing. You're telling me that you don't know where he's from, but he just opened my eyes. That's what you're telling me, Pharisees. The people that we looked up to, the people that we highly esteem, the people that know the word, you don't know where he's from, but he just opened my eyes. And then he says something profound. He says, We know that God does not hear sinners. But if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, him he hears. That's profound from a blind. And who's he teaching that to? The teachers of the law. Pharisees didn't understand that. If God doesn't hear sinners, we all know God doesn't listen to sinners. Person is sinning, fornicating, stealing, robbering, murdering, and he starts praying to God while he continues to steal, kill, and destroy. God is not gonna listen to them. We all know that. So tell me, you're calling him a sinner, but I see. How's that? Who's the teacher of the teachers now? This man that was born blind. He said, since the world began, it is unheard of that anyone has opened the eyes of one that is born blind. If this man were not from God, he can't do anything. The man is still teaching, he's literally teaching the Pharisees all of this. And so, what did he become? This blind man living in darkness became the light in the darkness. He not only saw what he's never seen before, but now he's becoming a shining light in the midst of the darkness. The darkness meaning the Pharisees and their unbelief. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness still doesn't understand it. Yeah, that was spoken of about Jesus. I understand that. But you've got to understand when you come into Christ, you become a light unto the world. Your testimony is a light unto the world, testifying of this man Jesus, amongst all those around you that don't believe in this great God of ours. And so they answered the Pharisees, and they said to him, You were completely born in sins, and you are teaching us, and they cast him out, they kicked him out. I kind of imagine you know that you know how they threw out the the in the old westerns, you came into the bar and and and you didn't pay up the tab, and they kind of just took you and they threw you out. And that's kind of what I imagine if they just threw him out. This man born blind, come and teach us and all of this stuff and correct us and rebuke us. Who do you think you are? You've been blind for 20 plus years. Get out of our face. Now Jesus heard that he'd been cast out. And when Jesus found him, he said to this man, Do you believe in the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him? And he said, You have both seen him, and it is he who is talking with you. And this is how he responded. Lord, I believe. Can you say " matrix explosion"? That that right there was what this was all about. It was not about a natural blind man receiving his sight. In the beginning, it was said, so that the works of God would be glorified through him. But right there is the end result, and that's what Jesus was after the whole time. Jesus said, I didn't come into this world for judgment. I came that those who don't see may see, and those that do see may be made blind. And then some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these words and said to him, Well, are we blind also? And then you realize Jesus just spoke prophetically because he says to the Pharisees, Well, if you were blind, you would have no sin. But now you say we see therefore your sin remains. The blind man never

Miracles As Spiritual Sight And Hearing

j - Jesus M. Ruiz 22:10

saw Jesus, never saw him physically, never knew that he was the Son of God or the Messiah. He just listened to what this miracle man said and he saw. And that's great and that's wonderful in the natural that he was able to see again. I mean, what a blessing. What a blessing. But the most important thing about that whole story is that at the end, when Jesus said, Do you believe in the Son of God? Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him? Well, you've both seen him, and he is talking to you. And then he says, Lord, I believe. That right there is the explosion of it all. That's the point. You see, because we can either stay in the natural and try to understand things the natural and always be fuddling and be tripping up and be wrestling with the scriptures because we're trying to interpret things naturally and we cannot interpret the word naturally. Jesus said, My words are spirit and life. It's spoken of through the prophet or yeah, the prophet, the apostle, his name was Paul, that the things of God are discerned not naturally, but spiritually. They are spiritually discerned, they're spiritually understood, they're spiritually comprehended, they're spiritually appropriated. Because if you stay in the natural, well, then it's just a guy that was blind and now he sees. But the most important thing was that now he believes that Jesus is the Son of God. And so we we have this scripture in in Matthew, where the disciples at one time came to Jesus while they were walking him and walking with him, and they said, Why do you speak in parables? Why do you keep speaking in these stories, these these mysteries, these dark sentences that the scriptures describe it as? And he answered and said that because it's being given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, not them. You who was he speaking to? The disciples, the followers, the ones that are pupils that are trying to learn underneath the rabbi, the teacher, the master, Jesus. And so he starts quoting the Old Testament scriptures about how hearing you will hear and shall not understand, seeing you will see and not perceive. For the hearts of the people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing. Their eyes are have closed lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with what? Their hearts and then turn. Meaning, and then repent. But if you miss what those miracles of God are really trying to get at, then you've missed the point entirely. So let me give you a few examples. Because he said at the end of that, blessed are your eyes speaking to disciples because you see. Blessed are your ears because you hear. You literally hear and understand what is being spoken to you, even though sometimes they didn't, they were getting there, they were starting to understand what Jesus was saying. Because he said, Many prophets and many righteous men desire to see what you see and they didn't see it, and to hear what you hear, and they didn't hear it. So let me give you a shorter example. I just went through this blind man example. How about the paralytic?

Paralytic Mute And Lazarus Point Beyond Healing

j - Jesus M. Ruiz 25:50

Do you remember the paralytic that had four friends that that the man could not walk? He could not walk anywhere, he couldn't get anywhere. He had four friends. Why were they his friends? I don't know, because that'd be a huge burden to always have to hang around with your friend, but he can't walk anywhere with you. And so they pick him up, and this is that story where they come through the roof. Remember, they came through the roof. I mean, there were so many people surrounding him that they had no way to get through this mass of people. So they said, Well, well, let's go up and over. And so they went up and over through the roof, and then they dropped him down into Jesus' presence. And this paralytic that was on his bed, when Jesus saw their faith, can you imagine? Jesus is surrounded, he is teaching, he is ministering, and it's just it's just a packed, packed crowd in this little tiny area. And then he looks up and he hears something, and and and the roof comes off, and he sees light, and then he sees people up there, and then and then they drop someone down into his presence. And he says, He says, When he saw their faith, he said to this man that they just dropped down in front of him, son, be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven of you. Now wait a second, he's a paralytic man, he can't walk. I don't think he came there so that his sins would be forgiven. I think he came there because he wanted a walk. But Jesus didn't say, Hey, take up your bed and walk. He said, Hey, son, be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven. You see, Jesus, it's not that it wasn't important that a man be healed, but what was more important for Jesus is that a man be saved. And so he said, Son, be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven. And then you know what? The Pharisees were there, the scribes were there. This man blasphemes. Who does he think he is? There's only one that can forgive sin, that's God. Why do you think evil in your hearts? Jesus asked them. Because they didn't say this out loud. They were thinking this. And Jesus calls him to task and says, What are you why are you thinking that in your heads? Why are you thinking that in your hearts? What's easier to say, Pharisees? What's easier to say? Your sins are forgiven of you? Or, hey, arise, walk. Which is easier, Pharisees. But I said what I said because I wanted you to know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. I could have said it any way I wanted. But I wanted you to know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. And so there was a greater purpose. Not just simply to heal a man that can't walk, that can't get anywhere, but there was a greater purpose. And so he said to the paralytic, arise, take up your bed and go to your house. And he arose and he departed the house. And all those people that were pressing into Jesus, that there was no room in that house or even outside, they marveled. Wouldn't you? Man who's paralytic, four friends dropped in front of Jesus, and then he just gets up and walk. They marvel and glorified God. What was the reason for that man being born blind? That the works of God may be manifested through him. Why was this paralytic paralytic? He was gonna bring the glory of God so that others would see and then glorify God. There's also that mute man. The mute man was demon-possessed, if you remember. The mute man in Matthew chapter 9, they they brought him a man that was mute, he couldn't talk, and the demon was cast out, and the mute spoke, and you know what the multitudes did? They said, It was never seen like this in Israel. So we got a blind man, a lame man, that's the man that can't walk the paralytic. We got a mute man, and then I'm gonna go over to Lazarus. Y'all remember Lazarus, right? Lazarus died. And when Jesus heard the story, when they initially came to him when we heard about Lazarus, he said to his disciples, This sickness is not unto death. This is in John chapter 11. But for the glory of God, Jesus says. You see, he's oh the reason is not just so that a man can be brought back to life, or a man can be healed, or a man can see, or a man could speak, it's for the glory of God. We talk about these miracles, these signs and wonders that we want in this place. And I I guess I guess one of the main points of my message today is that it's nice to see those natural miracles come to pass, come to existence. But if we miss the point entirely that it's really about glorifying God and the salvation of man, then we've missed it all. Y'all, y'all already know the story of Lazarus, don't you? Yeah, he was brought back to life. And I'm about to go through the story, but let me ask you a question: Is he alive right now? Is he walking on this planet right now? Is he still alive? Then I guess that wasn't the point now, was it? Yeah, we know that Jesus brought a man back to life, but let me go through the story so you can get what the real point was. Because when he goes back, finally waiting several days before going back to make sure that he was dead and to make sure that everybody knew that he was dead, he said to his disciples, Hey, you know what? Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I'm gonna go and wake him up. And the disciples said, Well, Lord, if he sleeps, he's gonna get well. The denseness of the disciples. So Jesus is speaking metaphorically here, and he says, Okay, listen, Lazarus is dead. Alright. And then when he gets there, you remember Mary? You remember Martha? You remember which one went to talk to him, the other one didn't? Which one was it? Mary? Or Martha? Because Mary was the one that sat quietly at Jesus' feet. She wasn't helping out anything when Martha was like, Man, get up here, Mary, help me. I think it was Martha though. But we could check it. I think it was Martha. And and he spoke to Martha because Martha came to him and said, Man, if you were here, he would have been amazing, he would have been alive. You know, you would you would have healed him, and da da da da da da da da. And and Jesus said to her, Martha? I am the resurrection and the life. Any anybody in grammar, language arts? Anyone strong in grammar, language arts? Nobody raised their hands. Oh my god. Oh thank you. Let me ask you this. You know, there's I'm gonna give you multiple choice just to make it easy, just to be sure. There's past tense, present tense, and future tense, right? What was Jesus speaking in? I am the resurrection and the life. He's speaking present. He's speaking present. I am not I will be the resurrection, not I was the resurrection, I am the resurrection and the life. Martha, I know you see him dead. I know you believe that if I was here, I would have healed him. But Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this, Martha? She said to him, Yes, Lord, I listen to a response. He's talking about him being the resurrection and the life now, and that if people believe in him, that they will never die, even though they may die, they'll they'll they'll continue to live. And and she's asking, Do you believe this? And she answers, Yes, I believe that you are the Christ. He wasn't mentioning anything about him being the Messiah. He said, I believe you're the Christ, I believe that you are the Son of God. He he wasn't saying anything about him being the Son of God, and then she said, Who is come into the world? That the blind may see again, that the deaf may hear again. She's not hearing, she's answering something else entirely. He's talking about Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. And she started talking about yes, I believe you're Christ, you're the Son of God that came into the world. That's not what I said. That's not my point. So he goes into the scene, he's getting closer to where Lazarus is, and he's dealing with this, this, this, he's wrestling with with what Martha was questioning him about. And it says in verse 35 that Jesus wept. Have you thought about why Jesus wept? How many of you raise your hand and think that Jesus wept because Lazarus was dead and everybody was mourning Lazarus? Oh, nobody. So why did he weep? He was weeping at their unbelief. Because the whole point of him being there to do what he's about to do is to show them that I am the resurrection and the life. And none of you believe this. And so he's weeping over that because he already knew what he was gonna do. He told the disciples, hey, I'm gonna go back and wake up Lazarus. He already knew that. Why would he weep over Lazarus' death? No need. He's weeping at the unbelief. So doesn't it say in the scriptures that when he returns, what is he searching for? Will he yet find faith? Faith. Faith gives you eyes to see, faith gives you ears to hear, faith gives you the power to appropriate the healing that you need. Will he find faith in the earth? So he said to her, Martha, didn't I not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God? And so they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying, and Jesus lifted up his eyes and he starts speaking out loud. Listen to what he says, Father, I thank you that you have heard me, and I know that you always hear me, but because of the people who are standing by, I am saying this right now that they may believe you have sent me. He wants the people to see, not naturally, spiritually. He wants their eyes to be open to the reality of who he is. I am the resurrection and the life. Lazarus come forth, and he did all of that because he could have just not prayed out loud, but he was trying to open their eyes to see that I am the resurrection and the life. I want to heal the sick. I would love to raise the dead. I would love to save the lost from eternal dread. I want to loose the bound. I want to set them free. I want to touch the blind that they might see. And I hope that you share that too, because I know Pastor Joe shares that. I hope you desire that, because I am not preaching right now to get you to not desire that too much, but to get you to remember the whole point of being healed, seeing again, uh delivering people that are bound, touching the blind that they might see. Because there was a day where John the Baptist was in prison and he sent his disciples to Jesus and he asked them about, hey, are you really? Are you really even John the Baptist started kind of doubting and started, kind of wondering what was going on, and if this was really the God. I mean, I did see the Spirit of God, follow him. And the Lord told me, whoever saw the Spirit of God, that that was going to be the Messiah, that was going to be the Christ. That's the one I've been talking to you about, John the Baptist. But he had this moment of doubt, and so he sent his disciples, and Jesus said to the Sabbath, go tell John the things which you see and hear. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. Tell them what you see, tell them what you hear, tell them what's going on. Because he also said, if you read John in other scriptures, Jesus said that the works testify of me. Because as the man said, you're calling him a sinner, but we all know that God doesn't listen to sinners. So how in the world did he tell me to go wash in the pool of psilowam and then I receive my sight? How does that happen if he's a sinner? I purposely left off this last line, but in Matthew chapter 11, verse 6, where he said, The blind see, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. He's telling John's disciples, go and tell them that. He ended with this. And blessed is he who is not offended because of me. There is a greater miracle to be obtained than just the natural.

Blind Deaf Lame Mute Dead Hearts

j - Jesus M. Ruiz 40:38

And contentions are like the bars of a castle. When I told you I wanted to talk to you about the blind, the lame, the deaf, the mute, and the dead. I wanted you to understand, not the natural. I wanted you to understand that those are types of hearts of men. There are hearts of men that are blind to the revelation of Jesus. There are hearts of men that are lame that they can't walk. They're not walking right. They can't get around. They're stuck. There are hearts of men that are deaf that they can't they don't hear. You're talking to them naturally, they hear what you're saying, but they don't hear in their spirit, in their hearts, they don't hear what's going on and what you're saying. And there's there's hearts of people that are mute, they have no voice to speak, to speak the words of faith, the language of faith that Pastor Joseph has been consistently over the last few weeks wanting to develop that we would have faith as a language. It is our language to speak the words of God, to speak forth in faith the things that we desire to see that are in line with God's will. But there are some people that their hearts are mute to that, and there's some hearts that are just dead, the walking dead. There's no relationship between them and God, they don't realize it, it's been lost. And so when I talk to you about that, there's a greater miracle to be obtained than just these natural miracles that we're that we're talking about. When we meet a brother that is offended, it means that they have transgressed. That's that word. When it says it in the KJV, if you look into the to the Hebrew or the Aramaic, you realize that that brother offended means that that brother's transgressed. That brother's rebelled against just authority. In other words, that there's right authority and they just rebelled against it, and they've revolted against that. Well, when you have a brother that's offended, it's like harder to win him than a strong city. And the reason why that there are hearts that are offended. Remember, Jesus said, Blessed are those that are not offended of me. Some people start hearing the name of Jesus and they literally close up like a like a clam, like an oyster, and they close up tight and they don't want to hear anything about it, anything about him, anything about the kingdom. And they're offended. Why? Because experiences in life and the and the the responses that they made to those experiences. Well, you know, I I brought up a couple experiences that I that I've had that I know that others had. Well, number one, I was alone, or I felt alone. Number two, I felt rejected. Number three, I felt abandoned. Number four, I I felt like I was left to fend for myself. I had to survive on my own. And I'm not the only one that's done that. There's a lot of us in here that have done that, or that our family, our relatives, our cousins, our uncles, our aunts have done that. They've had just rough lives where they've just had to fend for themselves. And and when they do that, they have to survive on their own. And you think after all of these years of doing these things, that they become. Street smart. They start figuring out ways of how to hustle, how to bustle, how to just survive in this crazy life and this existence that we're in. And over time, they become untrusting of others. They can't open their heart to other people because they can't trust them. No one took care of them when they were young. They were taken advantage of when they were young. And so we all have different ways of responding, but many of the ways that we respond when the world treats us that way, when the world rejects us, is that we clam up and we protect ourselves like nobody, like this is all I got. And I'm holding on to this life as much as I can, and I don't care who I hurt, I don't care who I who I reject. I don't care who I wall off. And over time, they begin to depend solely on themselves. They begin to depend solely on their own thoughts, they begin to make their experiences and how they responded to those experiences, they make that the bar, the litmus test. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say, that they create a paradigm where, because that's what they went through, that was their lived experience, that that's the way it is. And no one can tell him any differently. And all that is done is just develop and increase the strength of pride. And don't get me wrong, I understand why it's there. The hurts, the pain, and the way that they dealt with it drove them to just like, oh, I'm taking care of myself. But Jeremiah 18: 12 tells us what happens to a heart that goes through that and does that. They end up saying everything is hopeless. They end up saying in their heart, I'm gonna walk according to my own plans, and I'm gonna do whatever my heart says to do. That's Jeremiah 18: 12. And so, although I desire, and I know you should many of you share the same desire of wanting to see the lame healed and the blind see and the mute to talk and cancers to be gone and and and all of these sicknesses and diseases and infirmities to be wiped out from our lives and our existences. I want you to remember the sovereignty of God. He doesn't have to

The Greatest Miracle Is Transformation

j - Jesus M. Ruiz 46:40

ask us for permission to put us through something because he wants to glorify himself in a certain way through it. Remember that. But remember also that the greatest miracle of transformation of a blind, deaf, lame, mute, dead heart is that that blind, lame, mute, deaf heart becomes a seeing, hearing, walking, talking, quickened heart. That's the main thing. What do they see? They see his glory now. What do they hear? They hear his voice now. How do they walk? They walk in a manner worthy of the calling in which they have been called. How do they talk now? They declare the praises of him who redeemed him. And how are they quickened? Well, they're made alive in the righteousness of Christ. They begin to walk in righteousness. And so when that happens to a transformed heart, a miracle heart, now 1 Peter 2, 9 and 10 comes into play. Now you become a chosen generation. Now you become a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people that do what? Proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. And you were once a people that were not a people. You were once a people that didn't have mercy, but now you have mercy. God may have given us a lot of gifts and a lot of talents. I know, I know how to sow, I know how to teach, I know how to tell the truth, how to how to forgive. I know that I should be forgiving. I know how to instruct and to demonstrate and to love. I I know lived over time to accept others' misinterpretation of myself and my efforts. But all that time, I'm entrusting myself to the one who called me. I entrust my life to the one that created me, to the one that sent me out, imperfect as I know that I am, imperfect as I know that I see myself, he still sent me to be used as an instrument to help do a perfect work in other people. So I want to heal the lame, I want to see them walk, I want to touch the mute, I want to hear them talk, I want to love this world, I want to share his truth. And I've got people in my life, loved ones, that I have prayed for. God, God, do a miracle. God, rescue them, save them, heal them, deliver them, do all of these things, and I want their salvation. But that man or that woman that we're praying for, God is not going to make the choice for them. God will do everything, and God has done so many things to reach the people that we love, but in the end, they have to make a choice. So Paul prayed for the saints, and I believe it's a prayer that we need also need to have, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the person that we're praying for, a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. Because that's what Jesus was about. It wasn't just about healing the lame and seeing this, the paralytic walk and hearing the mute talk and seeing the dead raised again. He wanted their eyes on him to know that he is the Messiah, to know that he is the Son of God, to know that he is the El Shaddai, the God Almighty. So it says in verse 18 of Ephesians 1 that the eyes of your understanding would be enlightened that you may know him. He wants to be known. That's what he wants. Above and beyond all the natural things we want. Seeing, hearing, naturally, mute talking naturally, dead walking naturally. No, he wants you to know him. So keep in mind that the purpose of the miracles today is never solely on the natural, it's more so the spiritual, meaning that of the heart. And so I leave you with an old testament scripture,

Isaiah’s Promise And Closing Calls

j - Jesus M. Ruiz 51:45

Isaiah 35, 3 through 6. Strengthen the weak hands, make firm the feeble knees. Say to those that are fearful hearted, be strong. Do not fear. Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with recompense of God. He will come and save you. Do you hear the message that we're supposed to be giving others that are broken, that are blind, that are lame, that can't walk, that can't talk, that are dead? Be strong, do not fear. Behold, the Lord your God will come and save you. That's our message of the gospel to them. But look at what the result is, because it says in verse 5 after we say these things to those who are fearful hearted, to those that are weak, to those that have feeble needs, it says, Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened. We're directing their attention to Jesus because he needs to be glorified. If I be glorified, Jesus said, I will draw all men unto me. Right? Amen. And it says, Then the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. It says, Then the lame shall leap like a deer. You see, that heart that was all lame and and and being able unable to see and being unable to walk, when they hear the gospel, the gospel, the gospel, and they respond to it with faith and obedience because they see and they hear these things take place. The praises. For waters shall birth forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. That's metaphorical. That once was a dead desert wilderness becomes full of life. That life comes from the living waters, the river of life. Which we all should know by now is the blessed gift of the Holy Spirit. If you were blessed and appreciate listening to this podcast and you would like to support us in our efforts, consider lifting us up in prayer first. Then remember these four social media buzzwords. Share, like, subscribe, or follow. Share this podcast link with someone else by text, email, or word of mouth in the hope that they might be able to do work. Like by leaving a positive rating overview with whomever you listen to our podcast with. Subscribe to support the show monetarily with the link in our podcast description. Follow us on all our social media platforms. May God bless you and make you prosperous as you listen and obey his voice.