The Deaf Hear And The Blind See

Q: What does the Bible say about spiritual blindness?

The Bible teaches that spiritual blindness is a result of sin, and only God can open our eyes to the truth. Spiritual blindness is a pervasive theme in Scripture, particularly illustrated in passages such as Isaiah 29:18, where it indicates that the deaf will hear and the blind will see in the day of the Lord. Christ himself referenced this concept when speaking of those who, despite having eyes and ears, do not see or hear the truth of God. This state of blindness and deafness is tied to man's sinful nature, which causes him to resist and close his eyes to the holiness of God and the true condition of his own heart. Only God, through His mercy, can remove this blindness, as emphasized in figures like the healing of the deaf and blind in the Gospels, illustrating the need for divine intervention to understand spiritual truths.

Q: How do we know God heals spiritual deafness?

God heals spiritual deafness through the proclamation of the Gospel and by opening the hearts of the elect to hear His voice. The healing of spiritual deafness is a work of God that is closely tied to the preaching of the Gospel. Romans 10:14 states that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. In Mark 7, Jesus healed a deaf man, which is a direct representation of the spiritual awakening that occurs when God sovereignly calls His elect to faith. This involves God taking one aside from the noise of the world to open their ears and reveal the truth of the Gospel. This process is essential for salvation, as without hearing the Gospel, one cannot believe in the one whom they have not heard. Thus, the work of the Holy Spirit is crucial in making the truth known to those who are spiritually deaf.

Q: Why is understanding Christ's sovereignty important for Christians?

Understanding Christ's sovereignty is crucial because it assures believers that their salvation is entirely in His hands and uniquely His free grace. The sovereignty of Christ is foundational to the Christian faith because it establishes God's absolute authority over all creation, including salvation. A sovereign God is one who not only creates but also redeems His people according to His divine will and purpose. Scripture, as seen in Ephesians 1:4-5, emphasizes that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, highlighting the security and assurance that comes from knowing that our salvation does not depend on our actions or choices, but solely upon God's grace and sovereign plan. This truth encourages Christians to trust wholly in Christ's finished work and gives them confidence that they will persevere in faith, as Christ is the author and finisher of our faith.

Q: What role does faith play in hearing God's voice?

Faith is essential for hearing God's voice, as it is through believing the Gospel that the spiritually deaf begin to understand and respond to Him. Faith plays a vital role in the relationship between the believer and God, especially in hearing His voice. Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes from hearing, and hearing comes from the word of Christ. The spiritually deaf may be able to hear physical sounds, but without faith, they cannot comprehend the spiritual truths contained in God's Word. When God opens a person's heart to believe the Gospel, they are enabled to not just hear but respond to His voice in repentance and faith. This transformative work is a divine calling, and it often involves God imparting understanding in tandem with faith. As believers grow in faith, they become increasingly attuned to God’s voice, which guides, corrects, and leads them throughout their lives.

A couple of verses in chapter
35 Isaiah 35 look at verses 4 and 5 Isaiah 35 verses 4 and 5, say to them that
are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not, behold your God will
come with vengeance, even God with a recompense, he will come
and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall
be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped." The Scriptures has much to say
about those who are deaf and have no hearing and the blind,
especially the book of Isaiah. You can go all the way through
and see much, read much that is said concerning the deaf and
the blind. The Lord Jesus Christ is who
this is talking about there in chapter 29. It says, in that
day, or that is the day of the Lord, the day of visitation when
he visits this earth, that day, it says, your God will come. It says, the eyes of the blind
shall be opened, the ears of the deaf unstopped. Now, he did that. It's recorded
in the Gospels, miracles such as giving the blind
their sight, the deaf their hearing, and perhaps those miracles occur
more than any other. He healed quite a few along with
the lepers and so forth. When they asked him if he was
the Christ, John the Baptist sent two men to say, Are you
the Christ? Are you the one we're looking
for? We look for another. He gave these two proofs, or
two of the proofs were this. He said, You tell John the blind
see and the deaf hear. And the Lord restored many with
this physical affliction. hearing and eyesight, many. But he has restored much more
with spiritual blindness and spiritual deafness. You're looking
at one. I once was deaf, but now I hear. Oh, I'm going deaf physically. Some of us, Brother Charles,
are literally hard of hearing. But I hear all I need to hear,
Brother Charles, now. There was a time when I didn't,
didn't hear at all. But I do now. I once was blind, but now I see. I'm going blind physically. I take these glasses off and
you're a blur. You really are. Terribly nearsighted. It runs in my family. But I once was spiritually blind.
I mean totally blind. Couldn't see a thing. But now
I see. Now I see. Did you notice here
in chapter 29 of Isaiah, look at it, did you notice what he
said the deaf would hear? He said the death in that day. The death here, what do they
hear? What is the first thing a deaf
person here? Spiritually speaking, look at
verse 18 in that day shall the death. Here the words of the
book. He's talking about spiritual
death. Or lack of here, the death hear
the words of the book and our Lord said. He said many people
have a year. To hear. But they don't hear. Having years to hear but they
don't hear listen to this and eyes to see but they don't see.
Listen to this from Matthew thirteen fifteen OK listen very carefully. Our Lord said this. He said,
This people's heart is waxed gross. Their ears are dull of
hearing. Their eyes they have closed, lest at any time they should
see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand
with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal
them. But blessed are your eyes when
they see, and your ears Have you ever been blind? If you haven't, you don't see
now. Our Lord came and he said, those
that because you say you see, your sin remaineth. He said,
I am come that they that see not might see. Have you ever
been deaf spiritually? If not, you haven't heard the
words of the book. You haven't been given spiritual
ears. Well, that's man by nature. That's
man by nature. Did you hear what he said there
in Matthew 13? He said, they have closed their
eyes. Man by nature, when it comes
to this book, at least certain parts of it,
when it comes to this book, man by nature does not like what
it says about God. particularly the Old Testament.
That's the reason there's not much preaching going on today
in the Old Testament. They say God has changed. He's
now all love. He doesn't just slay people right
and left like he did back in the old Bible. Well, the Lord
himself said, I don't change. And the Revelation says he's
going to slay some folks. Men don't like that. They think
that God is just too holy, too sovereign, too just. They don't
like that, so they stop their ears to that sort of preaching. They stop their eyes. They close
their eyes to what this book says about God. And men, by nature,
do not like what it says about man. Men, by nature, and women, When
I say man, when the Bible says man, it means you too, ladies. Men by nature do not like what
it says about man. Filthy, wretched, vile, no goodness,
a worm, a dog, don't like that. So they won't hear that, and
they, the scripture says they have itching ears. I'm itching to hear a few compliments.
That's what itching is. Were your ears burning? They
say. Are your ears itching? We were
talking about you. Paul said they have itching ears and they
heap to themselves teachers, prophesize smooth things. And they shut their ears to the
truth about what man is, what God says. They close their eyes
to what the Scripture is, how it reads. natural man refuses to see or
hear it until the Lord opens his eyes, until the Lord opens
their ears, until the Lord transforms their minds, changes their minds. That's what repent means, have
your mind changed. Changes the mind, opens the eyes,
until God shows a man who God really is. Until that, he won't
say. He just refuses to say. You can
show them in black and white, this is what it says about the
Lord. We have a different God. That's what they'll conclude. They will not see themselves
as they are. James said it. He said they're like people who
behold themselves in a glass, that is, a mirror. That's what
this book is called. A mirror to show us ourselves.
What? Show us how pretty we are? No. To show us how to blemish us. And men, James said, they behold
them like men beholding themselves in a glass. And it clearly reveals
what we are. And then go away and forget what
manner of man they were. Forget. Well, our Lord must open the
ears and open the eyes. He who made the ear must give
it hearing. He who made the eye must give
it sight. And he said, if your eye be single,
the whole body is full of light. He who made the heart must open
it. He who made the mind must transform it. It's been deadened. It's dead to God. It must be given life. He who
is life must give it. All right, in Mark chapter 7,
look over at Mark chapter 7, OK? That's the necessary introduction
I just gave. Because, see, his words, the
word of God is spirit. Everything written in the book
has primarily, listen to me, everything written in the book
has primarily a spiritual application. If you miss that, you don't understand
what this book is saying. See, a whole world has gone after
and taken up with signs and wonders and miracles and all that, but
they were done, Christ performed miracles and signs and wonders
to illustrate a greater work than that. Christ gave eyes to
the physically blind to illustrate or picture or prefigure a greater
work than that. Well, you remember, you remember,
Sherry, when the lame man was put down through the roof of
the house, and the Lord said to all those around him, said,
you remember he said, your sins be forgiven, and people You remember
that you're going to use. To save us and be forgiven or
to say get up and walk. Or more difficult to reason. Or more difficult. To examples in the scriptures
of Or an example of each of a blind man, a deaf person being healed
and a blind person being healed. And these are clear illustrations
of how God heals the spiritual hearing and the spiritual eyesight. This happened to me. This is my story. This is my
song. Praising this Savior. All right,
let's look at it, all right? And they're strikingly similar.
Strikingly similar to each other. You're going to be amazed at
how similar they are. Maybe because the eyes and the ears are connected.
They're vital to each other. All right, Mark chapter 7, verse
31. Mark 7, verse 31. Again, departing
from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, he came into the Sea of Galilee.
through the midst of the coast of Decapolis. And they bring
unto him one that was dead, and had an impediment of his speech. And they beseech him to put his
hand upon him. They brought to our Lord one
that was deaf, one who could not hear. I don't mean he had
a hearing aid. He was deaf. When the Scripture
says he was deaf, he couldn't hear. Like when it says, man's
dead, that means he ain't got no life. All right? That's what it said. He was dead. These bogus miracles that go
on today. You know, a fella, you've seen
them, you know, a woman's hard of hearing and a fella goes up
and whacks them on the side of the head. But you'd hear something
too if somebody boxed your ears. What do you hear? A ringing!
I hear a ringing now. This man was deaf. Okay? Deaf. Stone deaf. The old saying. And they brought him to Christ.
They brought him to Christ to touch him, to heal him. Now listen,
this is a picture. If a person is going to receive
spiritual hearing, they're going to have to come to Christ. They're going to have to be brought
to Christ. They're going to have to hear
Christ speak. Maybe some other fellas tried.
There was one time when the apostles did try to remove demons, and
they couldn't, and what'd they do? They brought him to Christ.
That's where he should have been brought in the first place. They brought this fellow to Christ,
and because Christ said, now my sheep will hear my voice. They don't need to hear yours
anyway, but they need to hear mine. And they'll hear it. If
a person is going to be saved, they're going to have to hear
the gospel. That does away with all this
foolish notion. It's a primitive Baptist doctrine.
that if you're elect, you're going to be saved no matter what.
No, if you're elect, you're going to hear the gospel. You've got to hear the gospel.
That's what the Scripture said. Listen, How shall they believe
in him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And he's not a preacher if he's
not seeing. Our Lord said in that same chapter,
he said, faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. And Peter said that this is the
word. This is the word. What the word may preach is the
Bible. That doesn't mean he has faith. Peter said, this is the
word. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing
by the word of God. Peter said, this is the word
which by the gospel is preached unto you. Paul said, he called you to the
Thessalonians. He called you how? By our gospel. The gospel. And Paul said in
Galatians, he said, it's not another now. It's not the one
they're saying. It's not the one about this Jesus
who loves everybody and died for everybody and didn't save
a flea. But it's up to them. That ain't the gospel. That's
a perversion. That ain't even God. There's
no good news at all in that. If Christ died for me, and I
might go to hell anyway, what good news is it that he died?
What's the gospel in that? If God loves me, I might go to
hell anyway. What good news is there in that?
Is that good news to you, Stan? God loves you, but you might
go to hell anyway. Is that good news? Would you
jump for joy? I'll tell you what is good news,
Stan. God loved you before the foundation of the world sent
his Son to die for you. You're going to be saved eternally. I mean, you're going to be saved.
You're going to be kept by the power of God, which is the gospel.
You're going to be saved, buddy." He said, I give unto them eternal
life and they'll never perish. That's good news. That's good
news. I'm talking about the gospel
of a sovereign God, God who is God. There ain't no good news
in a God who wants to be God and can't unless you let him. What good is that? I'm stronger
than he is. There's good news in a God who
is God, don't I mean his hands, ain't nothing gonna happen to
me unless he says so, and does it, and plans it, and purposes
it, and decrees it, and orders it, and all things ensured. Oh,
that's goodness. That's gospel. There ain't no
other gospel. A gospel of a sovereign, successful
Savior, blood that's saved, righteousness that covers. a redeemer that
redeemed, an advocate that never lost a case, an intercessor who
God always hears his prayer, a mediator who always brings
everybody to God, never lost, a shepherd who hadn't lost a
wife. That's the gospel! There ain't no other. of a Holy Spirit who Christ sent
and says, round them up. Christ sends his Holy Spirit
and says, round them up. Everyone I died for, they got
a brand on them. What is it, Lord? Blood. Got
a big C branded on them. Round them up. Bring them to
me. Every last one of them. And he
does it. Now, there's good news in a Holy
Spirit like that. That's the gospel. Ain't no good
news otherwise. And this is the gospel a person
must hear. They must hear it. They must
hear it. Well, they brought him to Christ. Look at verse 32. They brought
him one that was deaf and had, it says, had an impediment of
speech. An impediment of speech. Not
only do people not hear God's Word by nature, but their speech
is adversely affected. And this is proof. One is proof
of the other. Because people do not properly
hear God's Word, their speech is bad. They've got bad speech.
Listen to me. One who hasn't heard of God's
holiness is going to be talking about their own. Right? If they hadn't heard of
the absolute perfection and holiness and righteousness of God, if
they hadn't heard that, they're going to be talking about their
own. If they hadn't heard where God
said in Isaiah 64, 6, that your righteousness is a filthy rag
to God, they're going to be talking about their own. I've got a righteousness. If they hadn't heard it, they
hadn't heard it. One who has not heard of God's
sovereignty could be talking about his own will. One who hadn't heard where it
says, God says, I have spoken it, I will do it, I have purposed
it, I will bring it to pass. Ezekiel 37, I will, I will, I
will, I will, I will. I'll give them a new heart. I'll
save them. I'll cleanse them. I will, I
will." Where the Lord said, not my will, but thy will be done.
Where the Scripture says, it's not of him that willeth or of
him that runneth. It's of God that showeth mercy.
Where the Scripture says, it's not born of the will of man or
the will of flesh, but of God. If they haven't heard that, they're
going to be talking about my will, free will, man's will. They're going to be talking about
how they must accept Jesus. If they haven't heard Ephesians
1, 6, they're going to be talking about accepting Jesus as their
personal Savior. But everybody who's heard it
said, we are accepted. We're the ones on the auction
block, sold unto sin like Hosea, like Gomer. We're the ones standing
on the auction block when our blessed Redeemer comes by and
says, that's the one I'm buying. and chooses and elects that one
and saves them and brings them home. She didn't even know her redeemer
was out there, did she? Gomer didn't know he was out
there. He knew her. No, that's all that mattered.
She knew afterward, didn't she? After the fact, she knew. When
she went home with Gomer, or with Hosea, She knew, hey, he
bought me. He sought me. He bought me. He
brought me. Salvations of Hosea. And everybody's heard that. They're
going to say, salvations of the Lord. Not me accepting him. Tis not that I did choose thee,
for Lord, that could not be. For if thou had not chosen me,
I would never have chosen thee. That's election. God's people have a problem with
it. They've heard it. They've heard his voice. I've
chosen thee. I'll just not choose me. I've
chosen thee. They've heard that. And from
that day forward, that's what they say. I didn't accept him. I didn't choose him. I didn't
do anything. He did it all. If they've not heard of Christ's
glorious person and his finished work, they're going to be talking
about their own. If they haven't heard of Christ's
finished work, that is the only thing God accepts on behalf of
sinners, they're going to be talking about their own. Right? They are deaf, natural man is
deaf to the voice of Sovereign Death. And they're going to have to
come hear it. They're going to have to hear him speak from heaven,
who says, I am the Lord. There's none else. You are the
Lord with me. I am God. Beside me there's none
else. Not your will, not your decision,
not you, no man, no nothing, not Satan. He ain't God. I'm
God. I'm God. Beside me there's none else.
That's what they're going to have to hear. These old weirdos
are going to have to be unstoppable. And they'll talk right after
that. They'll quit saying, I. You know, I'll get out of their
vocabulary. Man, when they see the sovereign God, they'll quit
saying, I, I, I, I. They'll start saying, Him, Him,
Him, Him. They'll quit singing songs about
how I accepted Jesus, and they'll sing hymns, H-I-M-S, hymns. Unto him that loved us, and washed
us from our sins in his own blood. Unto him be all honor, and glory,
and strength, and power, and salvation. Unto him the Lord
belongeth salvation." Hymn! Hymn. Ain't many hymns in here,
you know that? There's a few. That's speech impedimentally. Verse 33. Look at this. Verse 33. They brought him to
Christ and they beseeched him. Verse 32. They beseeched him
to put his hand upon him. Folks, you ain't going to open
nobody's ears. You're not going to do it. I've
tried. I've talked to people. They're
blue in the face. After a while, it looked like I'd learned that
they shut their ears about halfway through the conversation. rise
then you talk to him and not listen to you buddy if God says
you will listen to me that's the only time that's the only
time he's the only one it says he took them aside look at this
this is good verse thirty three he took them aside from the multitude
and put his fingers into his ears put his fingers into his ears
you know He took him aside from the multitude. The Lord saves
people individually. He saves one on one. He took
him aside from the multitude. The Lord is going to have to
take you away from the preacher, away from the soul winner. If those folks in these crusades
and revivals were really seeking the Lord, when they'd come down
front and some fellow would get in front of them and say, get
out of my way, I wasn't looking for you. Preacher said, come down front,
you'll be saved. Where is he? Who? The Lord! That's who I'm
looking for. So, Winter gets, get, get, get!
That's what they say. The Lord took him aside from
the multitude. Get out of this mess! He'll take you out of religion. The Hebrew says, let us go forth
unto him without the camp. Without the camp. Get out of
that organized religion. Get out of it! Go to where Christ
is. A smattering of corn on the mountaintops.
That's the type of His church. Here and there. Yum. Not on every
corner. A smattering. There's so much
noise and confusion out there. So much clamor and religion.
Men and women need to hear God speak. That's the first thing
God's going to do is put His fingers in your ears and not
hear man anymore. I'm not going to hear what they
say anymore. Lord, would you speak to me? Would you speak to me? I've heard
so many reports. I've heard this and that and
the other. Would you tell me the truth? Verse 33, He took him aside,
put his fingers in his ear, and he spit, or that is, the Lord
spit and touched his own tongue and then touched the man's tongue.
That's what happened. In other words, no, this is God
in human flesh. And he takes from his mouth and
puts it in his mouth. That's the only way, that's the
only way a man's going to hear God. God's going to have to close
his ears and touch his mouth. He's going to have to close his
ears and open his ears. And if a man's going to speak
the truth, he's going to do away with his speech impediment God's
going to have to take a coal from the altar and put it on
his lip. Blister his lip. You know what the first thing
blistered lips do to you? Have you ever had blistered lips
or a fever blister on your lip? You don't feel much like talking,
do you? That's what Isaiah said in chapter
6. He said, you took a coal and
put it on my lip. You don't feel much. The first
thing God, when He touches you, is He shuts your mouth. I'm a man of uncleanliness."
But this is from God's mouth to his mouth. That's what this
was. Look at verse 34, "...and he looked up to heaven," Christ
did, that is. "...Christ looked up to heaven,
and sighed, and saith unto him, Ephetha." That is, be opened. "...And straightway his ears
were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he
spake plainly." His ears were open and his tongue
was loosened. What were his ears open to? What
was the first thing the man heard? He heard the Master's voice. That's the first thing he heard.
The Master's voice. The voice of the Sovereign Christ.
That's the first thing he heard. Wouldn't that be a blessing?
That's what Fannie Crosby, who wrote so many hymns, who was
blind, born blind. Somebody asked her if she had
any regrets about being born blind. She said, oh, no. She
said, you know why? She said, because when I awake
in glory, the first face I'm going to see
is Christ. And that subject, you'll hear
of a Christ crucified. A sovereign Christ. That's what
you'll hear. Not until then. And tongue loose. His tongue was loose. And says
he spake plain. What do you reckon he said? What
do you reckon the first thing out of his mouth? Says he spake
plain. Says it doesn't say what he said.
I believe I know what he said. That's what he said. Prove it. Well, he didn't. I believe he
did. Psalm 126 says, When the Lord
turned again our captivity, we were like them that dreamed.
And then it says, Then our mouths were filled with laughter, and
our tongues with singing. He loosened the tongue. Nobody's
ever going to sing these praises until they really believe that
God did save them. His tongue was loosed,
and he spake plainly. Paul said, seeing we have such
hope, we use great plainness in speech. What did he say? What
did he say? He said, salvation is of the
Lord. He said, it's of the Lord's mercies
that I'm healed. He said, this whole thing's of
grace, is what he said. He spoke plainly. He said, I'm
in grace. I didn't do anything. Grace.
G-R-A-C-E, he said. And that's sovereign. Ain't no
other kind. If it's grace, it's got to be
sovereign. Do you know that? You know, you
don't need to add that word to it. If it's grace, it's got to
be sovereign. If it's mercy, it's got to be
sovereign. Think about it. Go and learn what that means.
Ain't no other kind of grace but sovereign grace. Hmm? Huh? Yeah, it's grace. It's no more words. If it was
words, it'd be grace. Right? That's what the man said. He spoke plainly. How do you
say it? Grace? Grace. Speak plainly, man. Grace. Read my lips. How will you say
that Christ who did it? You and it? No. Yeah, he spoke
plainly. Yeah, not me, not under us, not
by words of righteous. Yeah. How did you receive your
sight? He gave it to me. He spoke plainly. He gave it
to me. How did you receive your hearing? He opened them. He opened them. He spoke plainly. And folks, I'm just here to tell
you, I'm just going to say it plainly. Anybody that speaks
otherwise ain't heard his voice. And I use ain't for emphasis.
Ain't heard his voice. Or else they'd speak plainly
of Christ. All their speech would be of Christ. All right, turn over to chapter
8 now, very quickly. A few more minutes. I spent 35
minutes on one. I have 10 more to spend on this.
Ah, boy. This is tough. Try it sometime.
I said a while ago in the morning Bible study, I said, You need
five hours on Romans 8 or Romans 3. Fifteen is it? Twenty-five? Twenty-five? And you know what? I didn't even
touch it. John, I didn't touch it. I had five minutes and I
didn't touch it then. Brother Ralph will. He'll give
you another forty-five minutes. He'll start there. Forty-five
minutes and he'll touch on it. Chapter eight. It's about the
healing of a blind man. Mark eight, verse twenty-two.
He cometh to Bethsaida, and they bring a blind man unto him, and
besought him to touch him." Same thing here. This man was blind. He had to be brought to Christ,
and they asked Christ, Lord, he's blind. Heal him. Lord, only
you can heal him. Heal him. They besought him. Anybody of you know this blind
to the truth? Do you know anybody, a friend,
a neighbor, a relative, that is blind to the truth? I mean,
they don't see it. You can show it to them. Henry,
do you know anybody? Poor Henry. The public comes
into his filming station, you know, and they just load him
down with their religion. And most of them are blind, aren't
they? Do you know anybody that's blind to the truth? Just blind. You can show it to them in black
and white. Here's what it says here. I don't see that. Well, that's
what it says. I don't see it. But it says it.
How about you, Stan? It says it. I don't see it. You're
blind. Well, who's going to heal him? Then you quit trying. And start asking him who's the
only one that can. Beseech him, Lord. She's blind. You're going to have to make
her see. I've tried, and I failed. You make her see. You want somebody's
eyes open, a relative, a friend, what? Start beseeching him. Beseech. You know what that means? I beg you. I beg you. Verse 23. Mark 8, 23. And he took the blind
man by the hand and led him out of town. Here it is, isn't it? Come on, let's get out of here.
He took that blind man, and there's a whole big crowd of people,
and people are just, come on, let's get out of here. That kind of made me
think of there being a big, huge crusade coming to town. And we
have them, don't we? Little old Rocky Mount has them.
These vultures, I mean, these preachers come in. They swooped
down on this town, you know, these highfalutin, big name,
Hollywood style fellas and women that come in here. And they had
their big crusades and it's announced all over town. You better get
out of town the day that happened. Get out of town. Find you a little
country church. And not necessarily the truth
in the country churches either. Spurgeon preached in a mighty
big city church. At any rate, find you a country
preacher. I wrote that down. That doesn't
mean you're a good preacher, country preacher. Woo, some of
those hurt. At any rate, get away from the
religious hoopla and Hollywood, from the extravaganza of religion.
You know, all the saying and swaying and swooping and whooping.
Get away from all that. all that entertainment, and you
find a man somewhere who's actually preaching. I mean actually preaching
the Word of God line upon line, precept upon precept. A man that
says, open your Bible to Romans 1, we're going to go verse by
verse and see what God says. Find somebody like that. That's
how God speaks. He doesn't speak through a man's
He doesn't speak through a man's emotion. Just because a man gets
emotional, doesn't mean God's in it. Just because a man speaks
loud, doesn't mean he's got power. The loud you heard is still a
small boy. He saw thunder and lightning and all that. Didn't
hear God. You heard it's still a small
boy. Just because a man looks apart
doesn't mean he is. Probably means he isn't. Just
because there's a song that sways you and tingles up your spine
doesn't mean that God's in it. Huh? When you hear Christ preach,
that's where God is. When you hear God exalted and
man abased, that's where God is. That's where God is. Get out
of town. Find somebody that's doing that. Find a man who's
more interested in you knowing God than himself. What was your
name again? A man that won't even greet you
at the back door because he didn't come here for you to see him.
He wants you to see who God is. Find you a man who's more interested
in God's glory than man's approval. find you a man who's preaching
sovereign mercy and sovereign grace in Jesus Christ and lays
man in the dust and calling on God to do the saving, not on
men. Find that man. Get out of town. You might have
to get out of town to find him. And you might see the glory of
God if you did. Verse 23, it says that Christ
Look at verse 23, took the man by the hand, let him out of town,
spit. I believe he did just what he did with that deaf man. He
spit on his fingers and touched his eyes and put his hands on
him. He asked him if he saw anything. Do you see anything? He took
it from his mouth. Again now, this is God took from
his mouth. That's the Word. You're going
to see. You're going to see it in this book. If you're going
to hear, you're going to hear it from this book. He touched
his mouth and touched the man's eyes. He said, what do you see? What do you see? Verse 24, the
man said, I see men, but they look like trees. I take my glasses
off. That's what you look like. You
know, you could be sitting there starting naked and I wouldn't
know it right now. I wouldn't. I wouldn't know it
at all. I can't see you bill. This man's way so spiritualist
but this is why man is by nature spirit when God begins to work
and your own case you you admit this when when God first began
opening your eyes to the truth how much did you know. For that
matter how many years has it been how much do you know now
You say, well, I see some things. I see some things, but we all
see through a glass dimly. I preach. Oh, man, it's pitiful
preaching. The reason I run out of here
sometime, I think. That's a passive word. We preach in part. We know in
part. We see in part. But I tell you
what a man will see when God first begins to open his eyes.
Like I said, he'll see God as God. What do you see? You'll
see man as what he is. Just a creature. I see men as
trees walking. Trees walking. Do you remember
that illustration? He'll see God's glory and salvation,
something of it, all of it. Do you see, John Davis, that
God saved you for his glory? I mean, for his glory. He said
it, didn't he? He said, I'm not doing this for your sake, but
for my holy name's sake, whom you profane. Do you see election? You see it, don't you? But you
really don't see it, John. Someday you're going to see it.
You're going to see your buddies. You're going to see your cronies.
You're going to see your friends. Your family may be in hell while
you are with Christ. Then you're going to see, He
elected me. Right? I believe in election. Do you now? If you saw that every
time I said the word, you'd say, what? You would, wouldn't you? If we really saw that, Henry.
Not another Henry. You! God elected you! Right? Christ's person and work. How
much do we see with this person? Oh, the unsearchable riches of
Christ! Who shall their greatness declare?" His person and His work. Imputed
righteousness. Could you even say the word?
John Sheesley, could you even say the word when the Lord began
to open your eyes? Huh? You believe imputeâ€”I believe
imputed, impotence, imparted, impersomptent, But if they asked
you, how are you accepted with God? You'd say, Christ. A man would say, it's imputed
righteousness, John. It's imputed righteousness that
Christ lived the life for you. It's not you living the life.
It's Christ living it for you and giving that to you. You'd
say, that's right. That's right. That's right. Right? Later on you learn to pronounce
it. Like shibboleth. You remember that story? It's
like shibboleth. And there's some fellas that would claim
you unsaved if you couldn't say shibboleth. Go learn what that
means. All right. Mr. Thief on the Cross,
what do you know? Hmm? What do you know? What do you
see? Huh? What do you know? What do you see? What have you
heard? I know He's Lord, and if I get
the glory, He's going to take it. That's salvation. Huh? I see
men pretty as trees walking. And later on, you'll see more
clearly. You'll see the knotholes. You'll
see all that. You'll see those things. Well,
he put his hands on him again. Look at it. Verse 25, and I'll
quit. He put his hands upon his eyes and made him look up. Y'all just saw that. I didn't
see it the first time. He made him look up. Don't look at that
prick. Don't look at him. Look yonder,
hanging on that crop. Look up. Look up. under the hill from whence come
with your head. Mount Calvary. And he was restored
and he saw every man clearly. I see clearly now. What do you
see now? I see God. I see God. He is God. Ain't no doubt in my mind. He's God. Huh? What do you see? He's God. What do you see about
yourself in the Word? I'm filthy. What do you see about
Christ? He's salvation. Have you had
your ears lined up? All right, I hope so. All right,
what's that hymn, Joe? 236, isn't it? Maybe, just maybe,
you can sing hymn number 236. Hymn number 236, verse 1. Just maybe you can sing this
now from the heart. I don't know, if I can. Verse 1 says, Amazing grace,
how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me, a wretch like
me. I once was lost, but now I'm
found. Now, let's sing the first and
the third stanza. First and the third. Amazing Grace How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me I once was lost, but now I'm
found. Was blind, but now I see. Through many dangers, long and
burdened, I have already come. His grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead
me home. Heavenly Father, we do beseech
you that you would open the eyes of the blind and the ears of
the deaf as only you can. We beseech you on behalf of many
and ourselves, O Lord, open my eyes, open my ears, continue
to open them until we see him as he is and hear his wonderful
voice. In Christ's name we are met.
Amen. you.

The Deaf Hear And The Blind See

What does the Bible say about spiritual blindness?

How do we know God heals spiritual deafness?

Why is understanding Christ's sovereignty important for Christians?

What role does faith play in hearing God's voice?

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The Deaf Hear And The Blind See

What does the Bible say about spiritual blindness?

How do we know God heals spiritual deafness?

Why is understanding Christ's sovereignty important for Christians?

What role does faith play in hearing God's voice?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

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