Alright, brethren, let's go to
Isaiah chapter 42. Isaiah 42. My text is verses
18 through 21, but I want to read into chapter 43
just for some context. Isaiah 42, 18. And look, ye blind, that you
may see. Who is blind but my servant,
or deaf as my messenger that I sent? Who is blind as he that
is perfect, and blind as the Lord's servant? Seeing many things,
but thou observest not. Opening the ears, but he heareth
not. The Lord is well pleased for
his righteousness' sake. He will magnify the law and make
it honorable. But this is a people robbed and
spoiled, and they are all of them snared in holes, and they
are hid in prison houses. They are for a prey and none
delivereth, for a spoil and none saith restore. Who among you
will give ear to this? Who will hearken and hear for
the time to come? Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and
Israel to the robbers? Did not the Lord, He against
whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in his
ways, neither were they obedient unto his law. Therefore he hath
poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle,
and it set him on fire round about, yet he knew not, and it
burned him, yet he laid it not to heart. But now thus saith
the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel,
fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy
name, thou art mine. Our brethren, most every commentary
that I read, I try to read a lot of the works of others, sermons
and whatnot, when I'm preparing. And most every commentary I read
says that this passage speaks only of the children of Israel
who were blind and refused the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, it certainly
does describe them. That's no doubt about it. God
gave the children of Israel His Word. He didn't give His Word
to any other nation. He gave it to the children of
Israel only. They had every advantage a sinner
can have. Every advantage. But without
a worker of grace in their heart, They could not understand the
word of God, nor would they. They could not believe, nor would
they believe. They couldn't hear what the message
of the law is. They couldn't hear it. You know,
when they would see that lamb die, the message of that book
is, of the book is, that's what the children of Israel deserved.
That's what you and me deserve. But that lamb is a picture of
the Lamb of God that God would sin, that would lay down His
life in the room instead of His people. He laid down His life
in the room instead of God's spiritual Israel, just like that
lamb represented the political Israel in that day. But they
saw that. Over and over they saw that.
But they trusted their act of bringing that lamb. They trusted
their act of going through their religious service and thought
that's what made them righteous before God. They were blind,
but they thought they could see. They were blind, but they thought
they could see. They thought they were perfect
by their works of the law. Therefore, they would not and
they could not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. When God sent judgment to them,
it said there, they laid it not to heart. Even when the Lord
Jesus Christ came forth and He went to the cross, And He bore
the fury of God's wrath in place for His people. They laid it
not to heart. They laid it not to heart. That
shows us with all the advantages they had, all the oracles of
God they had, the priests and the prophets and the Word of
God, all that God sent, that shows us without the grace of
God, without the Spirit of God, Without Christ Himself being
our Teacher, we cannot and we will not believe. Look with me
over at 1 Corinthians 2. This is the truth of all men
by nature right here. 1 Corinthians 2. It says, Verse 14, the natural man, that's
all of us when we come into this world, the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him. Neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned. They're spiritually discerned.
But he that is spiritual judgeth all things. He has discernment
to know all things. How did you get that discernment?
Look back up at verse 10. God hath revealed them to us
by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth
the things of a man save the spirit of a man which is in him?
You're the only one that knows what you're thinking. Even so,
the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. Now
we receive, been given, freely given, not the Spirit of the
world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the
things that are freely given to us of God. You see that? The Lord has to reveal this to
us. Now look at John 9, John 9, and
look at verse 39. John 9, 39, this is after the
Lord had healed that blind man. The Pharisees cast him out of
the synagogue. His own parents wouldn't stand
for him. They denied him. And in John
9.39, the Lord had found him and the Lord revealed himself
to him, gave him faith to believe, and it says, And Jesus said,
For judgment I am coming to the world. Remember Isaiah 42 starts
that way. He said he came to set forth
judgment. He said, For judgment I am coming to this world, that
they which see not might see, and they which see might be made
blind. And some of the Pharisees which
were with him heard these words and said to him, Are we blind
also? And Jesus said to them, If you
were blind, you should have no sin. But now you say we see,
therefore your sin remaineth. Are you spiritually blind and
deaf by nature? Can you confess that I am spiritually
deaf and blind by nature? I need Christ to reveal himself
in me. I need Christ to fulfill the
law for me. I need Christ to keep me and
preserve me and present me faultless to the Father. I need Christ
to be the author and finisher of faith. I need Him to save
me. Can you confess that? He said if you were blind, if
you confessed your total inability and your need for Christ to be
all your salvation, He said you shall have no sin. If we can
confess that, it's because the Lord's already given you sight
and already given you hearing. Because that's the only way a
man can confess it. That's what we just read in 1 Corinthians. And you have no sin by Christ,
if that's so. But also, Christ said, I came
so that those who boast that they can see might be made blind. The Pharisees thought they could
see. They said, are we blind? And
they thought they could see. They thought they made themselves
righteous. They thought they made themselves holy. And so
they rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. And He rejected them.
Their sin remained. If one aspect of salvation is
up to you, then salvation ceases to be all of grace. Paul said
in Romans 11, it's either all of works or it's all of grace.
They do not mix. And salvation is all of God's
grace. Therefore your sin remaineth. So certainly this text describes
the children of Israel. It certainly does. Certainly
does. But it doesn't describe them
only. Verse 18. Hear ye deaf and look
ye blind that you may see. This chapter began with God's
command to look. It began that way. It began with
God's command to behold Christ Jesus, His righteous servant.
Let's read it, verse 1. Behold my servant whom I uphold,
mine elect and whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him.
He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not
cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and a smoking flack shall he
not quench. He shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. He shall not fail, nor be discouraged,
till he have set judgment in the earth, that is, on the cross
and in the hearts of his people, and the aisles His elect Gentiles
by His grace shall wait for His law. Matthew says they'll believe
on Christ. Christ came to magnify the law
and make it honorable. That's what He came to do. He
came to magnify the law and make it honorable. In order to do
so, there were some things the Lord Jesus had to be blind to
and He had to be deaf to. He came to magnify the law and
make it honorable. So there were some things He
had to be blind to and He had to be deaf to. Now let's go back
here in our text and let's see this in verse 19. God sent His Son and the Son
of God took flesh and became God's righteous servant. Verse
19. Who is blind but my servant?
Or deaf is my messenger that I sent? Who is blind is he that
is perfect, and blind is the Lord's servant. Christ Jesus
is the messenger. The word is angel. He is the
messenger of the covenant, the messenger that God sent. It is said in Malachi 3.1, He
said, Behold, I will send John the Baptist, and he will prepare
the way before me, and the Lord shall suddenly come to his temple,
the messenger of the covenant, he will come to the temple. He's God's perfect servant. He's
God's perfect servant. Who is perfect as my servant?
God said, look at verse 21, the Lord is well pleased for his
righteousness sake, he will magnify the law and make it honorable.
As God's righteous servant fulfilling the law for His people, Christ
Jesus did not see and He did not hear as sinful man does. He didn't see and hear as sinful
man does. Look at verse 19. Who is blind
but my servant? Or deaf as my messenger that
I sent? Turn to Isaiah 11. The Lord said in Isaiah 42, He
said, I put My Spirit upon him. Look here in Isaiah 11, verse
1. He's God, He's all God, and He's
all man. The God-man. But as the servant
of God, as the servant of God, God poured the Spirit out upon
him without measure. Look here, Isaiah 11.1, there
shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch
shall grow out of his roots. Speaking of Christ. And the Spirit
of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding. the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord, and shall
make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord. And
he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove
after the hearing of his ears. But with righteousness shall
He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the
earth. And He shall smite the earth with the right of His mouth,
and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked. And
righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness
the girdle of His reins." You see there, the Lord Jesus didn't
judge after the sight of the eyes as carnal men judge, and
He did not hear after the hearing that carnal man hears. He didn't
reprove after the hearing of the ears, as carnal man does. Christ Jesus was blind and deaf
to some things as He walked this earth. Our Lord Jesus was blind
and deaf to Satan's temptations. In Matthew 4, if you want to
look there, Matthew 4, when our Lord Jesus, as soon as He was
baptized, Even when he was baptized, he didn't hear as Cardinal men
hear. John the Baptist said, I need
to be baptized of you. Don't you baptize me. And the
Lord didn't hear that. The Lord said, no. He said, thus
it behooves us to fulfill all righteousness. He was doing that
for his people. He showed us what he came to
accomplish. That watery grave going into
his death, burial, and resurrection. Now look here, but then as soon
as he was baptized, he went into the wilderness to be tempted
of the devil. But he did not hear and see as carnal man hears
and sees. He'd been there for 40 days and
nights without food, and he was hungry. He was all man. He had the same infirmities you
and me have. He hungered just like his people. And he's hungry. And the devil
said in verse 3, Matthew 4, 3, he said, I got to get, I'm in the wrong
book. Hold on. Matthew 4, 3. He said,
if thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
But he answered and said, it's written, man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth
of God. We would have failed right then and there. Hungry
for 40 days, he hadn't eaten for 40 days. The devil took him
up on a pinnacle of the temple, and he challenged him. He said
in verse 6, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, for
it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning
thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any
time thou dash thy foot against a stone. The proud heart in sinners,
the proud heart, if challenged that way, if you are the Son
of God, We would have said, I'll show you, I'll show you. The
Lord didn't hear like men hear. Jesus said to them, it's written,
again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And this next temptation
would have surely slew us right here. Verse 8, Again the devil
taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showed him
all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and said
to him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall
down and worship me. Brethren, how many times have
we been tempted by far less. The Lord showed him all the kingdoms
of the world, and all their riches, and all their glory, all at one
time, or the devil did, and said, I'll give this to you. The Lord
didn't see as men see. The devil leaveth him. The Lord
said, thou shalt, it's written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy
God, and him only shalt thou serve. And the devil left him,
and angels came and ministered to him. Our Lord was deaf and
blind to some things as He walked this earth. Our Savior was blind
and deaf to those He loved. He was blind and deaf to those
He loved who would turn Him from the work the Father sent Him
to accomplish. He was preaching the gospel one
day in Matthew 12. It says in Matthew 12, 47, It says, Then one said to him,
Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without desiring to speak
with thee. This was Mary, she believed the
gospel, but most of his natural relatives, they didn't believe
him. They didn't believe him. And it says here, And they were
standing without desiring to speak with him. Verse 48, But
he answered and said to him that told him, Who is my mother, and
who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand
toward his disciples, and he said, Behold my mother and my
brethren, for whosoever shall do the will of my Father which
is in heaven, that is, believe on Christ, that's my brother
and my sister and my mother. You see, he couldn't be turned
from the work the Father sent him to do. He's preaching the
Gospel. And He would be turned by His natural descendants, those
He knew and loved. Our Savior, look at Mark chapter
8, our Savior was blind and deaf to the desires of even His apostles
who tried to turn Him from the cross. Mark 8 and verse 31. He began to teach them that the
Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders
and of the chief priests and scribes and be killed and after
three days rise again. And He spake that saying openly
and Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him. Peter didn't want
to see his Master go to the cross. and die on that cross. He didn't understand. He didn't
understand what Christ was doing. That was another temptation of
the devil, using Peter. But it said, but when he had
turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter.
saying, Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou savorest not the things
that be of God, but the things that be of men. You see, the
Lord made him of quick understanding. He saw not as men see. He heard not as men heard. He
knew what that was. He knew that was the devil's
temptation. And he did not heed that word.
He was deaf to the accusation and slanders of men. Go with
me to Psalm 30. Hold your place in Matthew, but
go to Psalm 38. I want you to see this. Psalm
38. This is Christ right here in
this psalm. Psalm 38, 12. The accusations
and slanders of men. They called him a winebibber.
They called him a gluttonous man. They called him a child
born of fornication. They said he eats and drinks
with sinners. Thank the Lord he does. But look what he says here. And
then they just spewed all kind of venom upon him when they arrested
him. Psalm 38.12. He said, They also
that seek after my life lay snares for me. And they that seek my
hurt speak mischievous things and imagine deceits all the day
long. But I as a deaf man heard not. And I was as a dumb man that
openeth not his mouth. Thus I was as a man that heareth
not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs. He didn't revile back. For in thee, O Lord, do I hope
thou wilt hear, O Lord my God, thou wilt hear. Look at Matthew
27. Matthew 27. Here's when it happened right
here. Matthew 27. Verse 12, it says, and when he was accused,
Matthew 27.12, when he was accused of the chief priests and elders,
he answered nothing. He was like a deaf man, like
he didn't hear it. He answered nothing. Then said
Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness
against thee? And he answered him to never
a word, insomuch that the governor marveled greatly. You know what
1 Peter 1.23 says. It says, when he was reviled,
That's what they were doing, reviling him, saying every just
nasty thing they could say against him. When he was reviled, he
reviled not again. Now listen, he didn't even do
it in his heart. He was perfect. He came to magnify
the law and make it honorable. He came to magnify the law and
make it honorable. And it says, and when he was
reviled, he reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. That's what he did. That's what
he said in that psalm. But Lord, I'm hoping in you.
I'm trusting in you. Isaiah 53 7 says he was oppressed
and he was afflicted. Yet he opened not his mouth.
He's brought as a lamb before the slaughter and as a sheep
before his shearers is dumb. So he openeth not his mouth.
To anybody that wants to boast that they've kept the law. Have
you done any of this perfectly? Because this is what it took
to magnify and honor the law. He was a blind man when it came
to the things that he had to suffer on the cross. He let all
the obstacles and all the suffering he was going to face. He didn't
let that turn him away. He was going to have to bear
the sin of his people. He was going to have to bear
the curse of God. He was going to have to be forsaken of God.
He said in John 12, 27, Now is my soul troubled, and what shall
I say? Father, save me from this hour,
but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy
name. And there came a voice from heaven,
saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.
He said, I gave my back to the smiters, to them that plucked
off the hair of my beard. I didn't hide my face from shame
and spitting, for the Lord God will help me. Therefore I shall
not be confounded. I've set my face like a flint.
I know I shall not be ashamed. He's near to justify me. Who
will contend with me? That's perfect faith. That's
perfect faith in God the Father that it took to magnify and honor
the law. To declare the righteousness
of God. To declare God just and justifies
people. That's the righteous perfect
faith it took to do it. He, the Hebrew writer said, look
to run this race, look into the Lord Jesus, the author and finisher
of faith. Here's what He did. Who for the
joy that was set before Him, that's what He saw. He saw spiritual
things. He saw the joy set before Him
that the Father promised and therefore He endured the cross,
despising the shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne
of God. Right now, brethren, from His
throne in glory, right now from His throne in glory, He's magnifying
and honoring the law by being blind and deaf to certain things. That's right. Look back at our
text in Isaiah 42, look at verse 19. The second part there, He
says, Who is blind is he that is perfect and blind as the Lord's
servant. On the cross, our Lord Jesus
accomplished the redemption of all those given Him in divine
election. And God raised Him to His right
hand as the perfect captain of our salvation. Listen to, He's
perfect. Actually, He's perfect. And by
His one offering, He perfected forever them that are sanctified.
Listen to Hebrews 2.10. It became Him for whom are all
things and by whom are all things in bringing many sons to glory
to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering. Everything He endured from The
whole time of his life, all the way to the cross, to the grave,
he did it to be the perfect captain of our salvation. And he perfected
his people. He's the author and finisher
of faith. He's the perfect righteousness
and the perfect holiness of those he represented. Hebrews 1.3 said,
when He had by Himself purged our sins, He sat down at the
right hand of the Majesty on high. There was no seat in that
Holy Stuf Holies. That high priest that went in
there once a year could never sit down because they never finished
the work. But when the Lord Jesus purged
the sins of His people, He entered into the true holiest of holies,
and He sat down because He finished the work. He did that for somebody. He did that for a particular
people. Neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by His own blood, He entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. He accomplished
it. Now once in the end of the world,
if he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself,
that's what he did. Isaiah 42 back there, verse 21,
the Lord is well pleased for his righteousness sake. He hath
magnified the law and made it honorable. He's done it. And
because He justified all His people, because He made us the
righteousness of God in Him, right now from His throne in
glory. Verse 20, seeing many things,
but thou observest not, opening the ears, but he heareth not. Christ sees the sins of His people's
flesh. He sees it. Seeing many things. He sees it. He sees all things.
But because He made His people righteous, because He put away
our sin, because He magnified the law and honored it, He's
magnifying and honoring it now even toward those lost sheep
that He's redeemed. Even toward you that are His
people who believe Him, who still have a sin nature. He's magnifying
that law, He's honoring that law by observing not. Seeing many things, but thou
observest not. What do you mean he observes
not? He will not charge sin to his people. He knows about them. He knows
the sin that's in our flesh. But he won't charge them to his
people. Numbers 23, 21. Listen to this now. This is true
of all God's elect. This is true of everybody for
whom Christ died. He hath not beheld iniquity in
Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel. He hath not beheld
nor has he seen the iniquity and perverseness in his people. There is yet sin in his people.
There is yet sin in His people. In our flesh dwells no good thing. But because He fulfilled the
law for His people, because He is the righteousness of His people,
because He purged all the sins of His people away, because we
are complete in the Lord Jesus Christ, He sees, but He does not observe. He does not lay them to our charge. In those days and in that time,
saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for,
and there shall be none, and the sins of Judah, and they shall
not be found, for I will pardon them whom I reserve." What does
he do? He magnifies the law and shows
how he's honored the law by opening the ears of his people. But he heareth not He openeth
the ears, but he heareth not. For he has lost sheep, he is
going to send the gospel to each one that he redeemed, and he
is going to speak effectually this command. He is going to
say in verse 18, Hear ye deaf, and look ye blind, that ye may
see. He opens the eyes. He is the
one who opens the eyes. God told Ezekiel, He took him
out to that valley of dry bones, and it says they were very dry,
they were scattered, they were laying all about, and He said,
can these bones live? He said, Lord, you know. He said,
you say to these bones, live. And you pray to me to send the
Spirit. And he said, and I will send the Spirit and I will make
them live and they will know I did it and they will glorify
me. And that's what God's doing through
this gospel. He said those bones represent
the house of Israel. They represent my spiritual people. He's the one who opens the eyes. The Lord is. He opens the eyes. If you can confess you're blind,
Like that blind man, he gave sight too. If you can confess
you're blind, that you have no ability in yourself to make yourself
righteous and holy and save yourself, that you need Christ to do it
all. If you can confess that, it's because He's opened your
eyes to see that and know that. And for His saints, when we need
correction, because He does see the sin of our flesh and He does
know, He opens our ears. He opens our eyes. He turns us
to behold Him on the cross. And what He's done for us, that's
how He corrects His people. That's how He grants you repentance
when you need correcting. He's making you see what He's
accomplished for you all over again. But when it comes to anyone
attempting to accuse or condemn his people, he magnifies and
he honors the law by being deaf to the charge, he will not hear
the charge. Because if he condemned one that
he's already justified, that wouldn't honor and magnify the
law at all. And he doesn't do that. When the devil raised up
the law of Moses to condemn Joshua the high priest, and Joshua the
high priest was guilty, he had sinned. And the devil says he
came before God and tried to condemn Joshua with the law. And the Lord said to Satan, the
Lord rebuked thee, O Satan. Even the Lord that hath chosen
Jerusalem rebuked thee. Is not this a bran plucked out
of the fire? Joshua was clothed with filthy
garments and stood before the angel. And he answered, and he
spake unto those that stood before him, and he said, Take away the
filthy garments from him. And he said, Behold, I have caused
thine iniquity to pass from thee. He said this to Joshua, I have
caused your iniquity to pass from thee. And I will clothe
thee with a change of raiment." And he said, let him set a fair
mitre upon his head. And so they set a fair mitre
upon his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel
of the Lord stood by. That's how he granted repentance
to Joshua the high priest. As he showed him, nobody can
lay anything to your charge, Joshua. I've redeemed you. I've
clothed you. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect is God to justify. Who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea, rather
than it's risen again who's even at the right hand of God who
also make this intercession for us. Scripture says, as far as
the East is from the West, so far has He removed our transgressions
from us. That's how He honored and magnified
the Law. He covered us then when He came
and opened our ears and opened our eyes and He gave you faith
to believe Him and to confess Him. He clothed us in His righteousness. And He says this, Song of Songs,
Chapter 4 and verse 7, he says to his bride, thou art all fair,
my love, there is no spot in thee. He won't see it otherwise. What about the sins of my flesh?
I see sin in me. There's some things he won't
see because he's going to honor his law and he's put that sin
away. And He says, I'm going to tell
you what I do see. I'm going to tell you, I see
it how it is. I see no spot in you. How did
you get this? Ezekiel 16, 14, Thy beauty is
perfect through my comeliness which I put upon thee, saith
the Lord God. Oh brethren, this is why the
Psalmist said, Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is
no guile. This is what I pray the Lord to help us to do. I
pray He would make us deaf and blind to things that He is deaf
and blind to. and make us hear and see the
things He heard and saw. What do you mean? I mean this.
2 Corinthians 4.18 says, We look not at things which are seen,
but at things which are not seen. For the things which are seen
are temporal. They are temporary. But the things
which are not seen are eternal. Just like our Lord was blind
to His own wants and His own will, that's what I pray He make
me and you, blind to our own wants and our own will, not insistent
on our own way. Just like He was blind to every
obstacle before Him, I pray He would make us blind to every
obstacle before us and every enemy that opposes us, to make
us seek Christ and know You have nothing to fear, Christ is with
you. I pray he'd make us blind to the offenses and the sins
that are in our brethren. Make us be like Japheth and Shelman
who covered their father's nakedness. Make us know that Christ has
put away the sin of his people and justified them and made them
righteous. so that we can be merciful to
one another. We can remind each other of the
great forgiveness we have in Christ that He will not impute
sin to His people, just like Nathan did to David. And by that,
the Lord will speak and open the ear of His child and grant
them repentance and turn them back to Him and they keep walking
by faith in Him, seeing things this world can't see, Christ
Jesus, our righteousness. I pray He make us deaf to all
the rumors and slanders and accusations that men wage against you and
against me and against His people. Make us just not even give ear
to them. Make us deaf to them. Just like our Lord. He won't
hear it. He won't hear it. And I pray above all that He
make us see Him High and lifted up. See Him ruling, reigning
everything in this world. See Him seated there because
He has perfected His people forever. See Him there with all ability
to send the gospel to His people. All ability to quicken the heart
and open the ear. All ability to correct us when
we need correcting. All ability to strengthen us
when we need strengthening. All ability to keep what He's
begun in His people and finish it all the way to the end. May
He make us blind to everything that is carnal and here below
and is perishing, because it's just going to be a little while,
brethren, and the Lord's going to fold it all up. But the things which are not
seen by these carnal eyes, those things are eternal. They're forever. They're the creation of our righteous
Lord Jesus who served God in perfection. That's what we need. We need to see Him. We need to
hear Him. And we need to be blind and deaf
to everything here below. You remember when the Lord saved
Saul of Tarsus? When the Lord came and saved
Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus, he was so proud of himself and
all that he had done, and he had his papers, and he's going
to arrest God's people and throw them into prison and have them
killed and everything else. And he's marching along. And
you know what the Lord, the first thing the Lord did is He shined
a light and He blinded him. He had to be blinded to his own
so-called goodness and blinded to everything he put his confidence
in. And then the Lord gave him sight
to see the unseen. He gave him sight to see the
Lord Jesus and believe Him. That's what we need. That's what
we need constantly, brother. Pray for that for one another.
Pray the Lord, make us see Him constantly. All right, let's
go to Him. Our Father, we thank You for
this Word. We pray, Lord, You bless it. Keep Your people. Keep
us looking only to Him and trusting only Him. Lord, help us to hear
You. Help us to see You by faith. Stop up our ears to everything
that would turn us from Christ, everything that would discourage
us. Lord, be our strength, be our confidence, be our assurance
and our hope. We ask you, Lord, do this in
our hearts. And as we partake of this, your
table, Lord, we pray you'd help us to remember you. Help us to
remember your broken body and your shed blood by which you
redeemed your people. Thank you for this day. Thank
you for these brethren. Thank you, Lord, for the service,
the food we're going to receive after the service. We pray, Lord,
You bless us. We need Your blessing every hour. In Christ's name we ask it. Amen.