All right, now we're ready for
the reading of the scripture. Matthew chapter 13 and verse
9 through 17. Who hath ears to hear, let him
hear. And the disciples came and said
unto him, why speakest thou unto them in parables? And he answered and said unto
them, because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of
the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall
be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whosoever hath
not, from him shall be taken away, even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in
parables, because they seeing see not, and hearing they hear
not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the
prophecy of Esaias, which saith, by hearing you shall hear, shall
not understand, and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive. For this people's heart is wax
gross, their ears are dull of hearing, Their eyes they have
closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, hear
with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should
be converted, and I should heal them. Blessed are your eyes,
for they see, and your ears For they hear. For verily I say unto
you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those
things which you see, and have not seen them, and to hear those
things which you hear, and have not heard them." And Proverbs
20 and verse 12. the hearing ear and the seeing
eye, the Lord hath made even both of them." I would like to
begin in this manner, by comparing the natural and the spiritual
members of the body. Paul, in writing to the church
at Corinth, concerning their gifts and such like, used the
analogy of a human body to illustrate to them the working of the body
of Christ in the church, telling them, in verse 12 and in verse
14 of that passage of the scripture, that the body is one body, but
that it is comprised or made up of many members, and that
each of those members serves a particular purpose in the functioning
of that particular body. And he names some for us, the
foot, the hand, the ear, the eye, and the head, which are
members of the body. Way back in the Old Testament,
David, in writing, in Psalm 139, is contemplating how God possessed
him even while he was unborn and yet in his mother's womb. And he said this in verse 14,
I am fearfully and wonderfully made, for the human body is indeed
a wonder of God's creative act and power. And that human body
is so divinely designed It is a divine workmanship who could
deny, so much so that one expositor that I have on the book of Proverbs
said, if anyone studies the design, the makeup, and the operation
of the human body and denies that God has made it, then quote,
he is beyond reach. of argument," unquote. Any that
deny that the body is designed of God is out of the reach of
a solid argument. Now, that being said, we recognize
that scripture very often spiritualizes the members of the body as we
are seeing today, and especially, particularly, the eye and the
ear and the understanding. We might include the heart. We
frequently read in the scripture of the eyes and the ears, yet
not the physical eye and ear of the body, but the eyes of
our understanding, as Paul calls it in Ephesians 1 and 18, saying
to them, he prayed that they might know what was the hope
of their calling, the eyes of their understanding being enlightened,
to understand the riches, of the glory and all that is involved
with that holy calling from God. We'll look at more of that later
on in our study. But our text and our subject
today from Proverbs 20 and verse 12, the hearing ear and the seeing
eye, the Lord hath made even both of them. Now, not just the
ear, but the hearing ear. And not just the eye, but also
the seeing eye. And the Lord hath made even both
of them. The ear that hears and the eye
that sees. In Psalm 94 and verse 9. He that
planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye,
shall he not see? Now this was an answer to those
who doubted that God took an occasion to see them in their
wickedness, and whether or not he knew about it. Their wickedness
in Psalm chapter 94, verses three through eight. And the two senses
are members. that are often set forth before
us in the scripture are, again I'll say, the ears and the eyes. And these are, those two senses
are members of the body, both physically and spiritually, by
which most instruction and light is taken in in our being is conveyed
in and through these two members, either the eye or the ear. There's no doubt that these two
members or these two senses are portrayed in scripture both from
the natural standpoint and also from the spiritual standpoint. Now, as for the distinction between
the physical or the natural or the origin and the spiritual,
between the natural and the spiritual, we consider their origin. Who hath made them? Who hath
given them? And while the natural senses
and the natural members are common to all that are born into the
human family. They're part of the makeup of
the humanity. The scriptural senses can only
be by the special internal sovereign work and power of an almighty
God. As says our text, the hearing
ear and the seeing eye, the Lord, hath made it even both of them. Now think for a moment. I know
you have. Think for a moment how it would
be to be without hearing and to be without sight. Both of
them. Not just one, but both of them. Unable to hear and unable to
see in the flesh. How restricted would we be? And yet scripture teaches us
that the unregenerate, the lost, are both deaf and blind to the
truths of God Almighty. To spiritual matters, they have
no ear and they have no eye. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, I believe,
Paul said to the Corinthians, about the third and the fourth
verse. If our gospel be hid, it is hid,
literally veiled. There is a veil over it to them
that are lost. That is, in or among those that
are lost is the gospel hid and veiled from them, the unsaved. To those not born again, this
inability to apprehend the gospel and the spiritual things of God
is not because the gospel lacks a sufficient glory to impress
them and to overcome them. It is not because we need a great
skilled orator who might overcome with his ability their unbelief,
or that it needs repetition again and again in order that it might
be learned, or that it needs to be better explained so that
the lost, therefore, are able to comprehend it. No, it is because
their eyes are blinded and their ears are stopped. Paul said in
2 Corinthians 3 and 15 concerning the Jew that unto this day, he
said, the veil is upon their eye when Moses is read. And whether this great blinding
be of Satan or whether it be of God, the result is one and
the same. The light of the glorious gospel
of Jesus Christ does not shine into that heart with saving effect. I think one of the best illustrations
that we might be able to give would be that of a blind person
and the sun. Howsoever bright the sun might
be at noonday, The blind eye cannot see it at all, and though
its brightness is that and very glorious. And then, how about
the deaf? The sweetest music cannot open
the ear. The sweetest words will not open
the ear of itself, for it is deaf and has not the ability
to hear those sounds or music or whatever it might be. Now
before we get any deeper into this study, let's see if we can
agree upon something at this point. And that is that the faculty
of the ear and of the eye are indeed two great choice, useful,
blessing members of the human makeup. How different, I'll say
again, would it be if we were deprived of our sight and of
our hearing? So let us consider the marvel,
if we might, of the natural, that we might consider the marvel
also of the spiritual, the eye and the ear. What marvels are
they of the handiwork of God. In thinking about that, I went
to The Chef. I got out again my book by Fred
Mildow, and the title of it is Why We Believe in Creation and
Not Evolution. And I reread what wonderful things
are in that book concerning creation. I reread the marvel of the ear
and sound and the eye and sight. That next to, perhaps, the brain,
the part of its humanity that it played, the eye and the ear
are wonderful endowments to God's creature, to help them function
and imagine if nothing in the world had sight. Imagine if no
creature, man, or beast had any sight. The eye is a marvel and
a wonder when we think about it. Here are two camera-like
members that God has set in our body, in a socket for their protection. With an automatic focus and an
ability to adapt to light, and to dark, and to discern colors
one from the other, from an organ that is less than one inch square
in diameter in our body, so that it is able to see. We have sight. It is made up of retina and optic
nerve and blood flowing and those kind of thing. And another marvel
is the ear in order that we might hear sound and voices and music
and such thing. And in that ear is also a marvel. There are the crystals. There's
the eardrum. The ear has much to do with our
balance as we go about in our life. But by it is received,
instruction that is able to make us wise unto salvation. There's the outer ear, there's
the middle ear, and there is the inner ear, as we know. And the vibrations of the bones,
so that we're able to discern and to hear sound. The fluid
in the inner ear. What a marvel is the eye and
the ear. Now in the fleshly body, There
are these two members with age, they begin to fade or to fail. And so we thank God for glasses
and hearing aids to help us and aid us in that. But Solomon is
speaking in our text. not of the natural members of
the eye and of the ear, but of spiritual graces that are bestowed
upon us by the sovereignty and the grace of God, an inward work
of God's grace, a hearing and a seeing, which is actually synonymous
with being capable of understanding. we can understand or perceiving,
discerning spiritual truth, to see and to hear spiritual truths
as they are indeed spiritual truth. Now, the Lord told his
little flock on a special occasion of many of the Jews at that time
whom he said, Matthew 13 and 13. because they seeing see not,
and hearing they hear not, and neither do they understand. So in speaking of the them who
heard and heard not, and saw but saw not the prophecy of Isaiah
was fulfilled, which said, this people's ear is dull and their
eyes are blind that they cannot see and be converted and I would
heal them. I want to turn to the book of
Deuteronomy. It would be chapter 29 that we're
interested in. And read a few verses here from
this place in the scripture. In Deuteronomy 29, the verses
are verse 2 through verse 4. And Moses mentions this to them. Moses called unto all Israel
and said unto them, you have seen all that the Lord did before
your eyes. in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh,
and unto all his servants, and unto all his land. The great
temptation, that is the plagues, which thine eyes have seen, the
signs and those great miracles. Watch verse 4. Yet the Lord hath
not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to
hear unto this day. Now looking at that text we see
there, we have two headings in this passage. In verse two and
verse three, what they saw, what they observed personally with
their own eye of the Lord's great power, his help unto them. They saw the plagues upon Egypt,
and yet they were not hurt by them. They saw what God did to
the land. They saw his hand in the wilderness
again and again. You realize, sometimes we forget
or overread it, that for 40 years in the wilderness, the shoes
they wore did not wear out on their feet, and their clothes
did not wear out on their body. 40 years we find that to be true
in Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 4. But then in verse 4
of Deuteronomy 29, yet they had not been given, that is the Lord
had not fully illuminated them in their heart and in their mind
to perceive. They did not have hearing ears
and they did not have seeing eyes until this day, even after
what they saw of God's mighty hand toward them and toward their
enemy. They had been helped by God in
so many ways and delivered in so many ways. God had preserved
them. Their needs had been met. God's
hand revealed. Manna came down from heaven and
water actually came out of a rock that they might drink and quench
their thirst. They had all these steps and
all of these advantages and still they had not their understanding
enlightened to these spiritual truths that were contained in
the manna, in the water, in the rock, and all of those things. They saw not beyond the physical
acts or effects of God's work. And again, Moses tells them,
the Lord hath not yet to this day given you an eye to perceive
and an ear to hear. And then getting back to the
New Testament and this teaching, we find the Lord saying, describing
that generation, that generation under which he came. And no doubt,
the reference of our Lord is from Isaiah chapter 6. I'd like
to turn there and read. If you want to turn, it's the
sixth chapter of the book of Isaiah and a prominent prophecy. Isaiah chapter 6. And we'll read
verse 5 through verse 10. When Isaiah saw the Lord high
and lifted up, then said I, woe is me, for I am undone, because
I'm a man of unclean lips. and I dwell in the midst of a
people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the King, the
Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims
unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken
with the tongs from off of the altar, and he laid it upon my
mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips, which he hath
taken, and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the
Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then
said I, Here am I, Lord, send me. And he said, go and tell
this people, hear ye indeed, but understand not, see ye indeed,
but perceive not, make the heart of this people fat, make their
ears heavy, shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes,
hear with their ear, understand with their heart and convert
and be healed. And the Lord's Christ referred
to that passage of scripture and applied it to his generation
of Jew, Matthew 13, 11 through 15, saying, In the 14th verse, in them is
the prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled, and they would not hear, they
would not understand, they would not see, they would not perceive,
and the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears
are dull, and their eyes have they closed. Well, again, that
passage from Isaiah chapter 6 is referenced by John in his gospel,
chapter 12, and verse 39 through 41. And in the 37th verse, though
he had done so many miracles before them, yet they did not
believe upon him. And in verse 39 and 40, they
could not believe because the prediction of Isaiah. John Gill wrote, he, that is,
Isaiah, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, had foretold
this to occur in prophecy, and they were the people spoken of
in that prophecy, says our Lord. In John 12 and 40, He had blinded
their eyes and hardened their heart. In Acts chapter 28, Paul
also makes reference under this scripture. In Rome, under house
arrest, yet granted the privilege of preaching the gospel to those
that came unto him, and he referred to this passage in Isaiah chapter
6. The occasion was the same as
the former two. the unbelief of the Jewish nation
as a whole. Verse 26, he quotes the words
of the prophet. And in verse 27 of Acts 28, he
draws the same conclusion and the same application as did the
Lord Jesus and John, that the heart of this people is waxed
gross or gross. Now see the two words together
wax gross in the King James Version as they're translated for the
word waxen or wax means to advance or to become or to grow and gross
is a word that means to become dull, to become thickened, or
to fatten. And we see this in regard unto
the Jew. Three things come together to
accomplish the purpose of God, and the gospel be taken from
the Jew and given unto the Gentile, as it is declared in the scripture. Paul twice declares in the book
of Acts that he would turn from the Jew to the Gentile. Chapter
13, here again in chapter 28. But the three things that I wanted
to emphasize are as follows. Number one, these three things
coming together. Number one, the ministry of the
gospel, the preaching of the gospel, and the setting forth
of Messiah in the hearing of those Jews. The bringing to bear
the gospel upon the Jew. And as Isaiah complained, chapter
53 and verse 1, Lord, who hath believed, I report. And to whom
is the arm of the Lord revealed? And how Paul said in 2 Corinthians
2, 14-16, where he compares the knowledge of Christ, which he
preached in every place, to a sweet aroma. So when I preach Christ,
it's a sweet incense. It's a sweet odor. It's a fragrance
of delight where he preached Christ, whether among the saved
or among the lost, among them that were being saved and among
them that were perishing. And in verse 16, he makes a statement
that the preaching of Christ can be and is A savor of death
unto some and a savor of life unto many. A sweet fragrance
of life and a sweet fragrance of death. Some heard our Lord
and heard Paul and others And instead of believing, they blasphemed
and called them enemies of Moses. So the gospel brought to bear
upon them caused some to blaspheme. Rather than all to believe and
be converted, it caused some to blaspheme. Secondly, There
is what one expositor called the suicidal unbelief of the
Jewish nation, unquote. In that they, Matthew 13 and
15, their eyes, they have closed. Acts 13 and verse 46. They put
away the word of God from among them and judged themselves by
that unworthy of everlasting life. They rejected or they set
aside the chief cornerstone that David talked about in Psalm 100,
And verse 18, and in that they stand self-condemned for they
have closed their eyes. They have judged and condemned
themselves by their action toward the gospel of the Lord. By their
conduct toward Christ and the gospel and Christianity, rejecting
their very own Messiah, they have brought destruction and
trouble upon themselves. But then the third one that I
mentioned, there is the judicial agency of God in this matter
of blind eyes and deaf ears. The truth of the Messiah, John
12 and verse 40. He has blinded their eyes and
hardened their heart that they should not see with their eyes,
nor understand with a heart, and convert, and I heal them."
Now, judicial blinding and hardening is something that is strongly
taught in the Scripture, the Word of God. Did God harden Pharaoh's
heart? The Scripture many times said
that he did. Did he blind Israel? The Scripture
declare that he did. Does he blind individual and
the reprobate? The Scriptures say that he does. And in Revelation chapter 3,
verse 7 and verse 8, we might paraphrase. What God opens, no
man can shut. And what God shuts, no man can
open. There's talking about doors like
Paul does in 1 Corinthians 16 and 9. And apply the same to
the eye and the heart of individual. What eyes and ears God opens,
none can shut. But what eyes and ears God shut,
none but a divine work and power is able to open them. The preaching of the gospel in
its purest form by the greatest preacher ever cannot open the
eyes of the spiritually blind and the deaf. The greatest orator
that ever spoke the word of God is not able to open the deaf
ear. Only God can do that. The hearing
ear and the seeing eye, they are the creation of God. Reaching
back again to that old economy as the Lord, or as Moses, reminds
the people what they had seen and what they had heard at the
hands of God. Deuteronomy. 29, two and three,
we read it. You have seen all that the Lord
did before you in the land of Egypt under Pharaoh, his servants,
his land, the sign, the great miracles, and so forth. In Exodus
19 and verse four, you have seen what I did unto the Egyptians
and how I bear you on angels' wings and brought you unto myself,
and yet not all of them had seeing eyes or hearing ears." Now, compare
those sites with what that generation of Jews saw when Jesus appeared
among them. Yes, the Jews at Sinai and forward
saw many great works of God. But how about those who saw in
the flesh our Lord and Savior? And Acts 2.22 describes it very
well. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by signs, by miracles, by wonders, which he
did in your midst as ye yourself also know. This is a weighty
verse. and it has much content to it
concerning our subject. First notice to whom they are
spoken. You men of Israel hear these
words. Could anything be clearer? These
things are spoken to you in the context of the Old Testament
prophecy to show that Jesus of Nazareth is and was the Messiah. Not you, not Rome, not the Gentile. Jesus of Nazareth is to whom
this is addressed, you men of Israel. Secondly, Peter tells
them, His great miracles and works and wonders prove him to
have been sent from God, that what they saw proved him to be
a messenger of God. Nicodemus admitted, no man can
do these miracles that you do except God be with him. And God
did them by or through the Lord Jesus Christ. He did them in
the midst of you, not yonder in the desert out of sight, not
hidden in a corner, but in the very midst of you, in the middle
of you, in plain sight. for you to see and behold. The fame of Jesus' miracles spread
throughout Jewry and were heard in every corner. And this point
is not to be missed in these words from the apostle, that
these works had a divine significance unto the Jew, a particular divine
significance unto the Jew. They had a special purpose. to
Israel and to Jesus and the connection, which was they were proof that
he was the Messiah come from God. Linsky puts it this way,
quote, they accredited him to the Jew for which reason they
were wrought in their midst. unquote. They accredited Jesus
as the Messiah, just as the miracles of the apostles accredited them
as the apostles of our Lord. Let's see if we might hear a
couple of quotes from the Lord Jesus Christ himself. John 5
and verse 36. In the fifth chapter of John,
The Lord speaks quite a bit. They said to him, look, you're
bearing witness of yourself. You're testifying of yourself.
Your witness is not true. And so he brings out there in
chapter 5 several other witnesses unto him and whom he was. And
in John 5 and 36, I have greater witness than that of John. For the works
which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that
I do, bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me." Then
over in John 14, 11, in the upper room discourses, believe me that
I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me for
the very works sake." Hence again, the words of the Apostle Peter
in Acts 2 and verse 22, Israelite men, Hear these words, Jesus the Nazarene,
a man accredited of God among you, attested and exhibited by
the great works of power which God worked in the midst of you,
even as ye also know. Now their blindness is attested
by the fact that not even the mighty works of Christ among
them converted them. Even some accuse the Lord of
doing his miracles by and in the spirit of Beelzebub, the
prince of devils. And others disclaimed his miracle
because they were done on the Sabbath day. And others because
they considered him a sinner. And a sinner could not do such
great miracle. Now, as to the things of God
and his word, his saying, his doctrine, this is the litmus
test. This is an indicator. It is to
distinguish or to discriminate between the hearers. them that
have ears to hear, and those that do not. Our Lord often said
this, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. These words are
appended to all seven letters to the churches in Revelation
chapter 2 and 3. Those with hearing ears Let them
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. And the Lord used
that formula as in Matthew 11 and verse 15. He that hath ears
to hear, let him hear. He did it again. Matthew 13,
9. 13, 43. and Luke 14 and 35. So, let us finish the study with
two passages. One in the Old Testament, one
in the New Testament. From the Old Testament, Psalm
119 and verse 18. Listen to these words. The psalmist
writes this. Open my eyes that I may behold
wondrous things out of thy law. That's his prayer. No doubt this
is not the prayer of first conversion of the psalmist, not at all,
but that revelation is by degree, little by little, here, there,
some, and there a little bit. Open my eyes is practically synonymous
with teach me. Instruct me, enlighten me. Open to me the further deep things
of Almighty God. Increase my knowledge of the
things of God. Open my eye that I may behold
wondrous things out of thy law. Thomas Manton, the Puritan, wrote
that these words signify, quote, unveil my eyes, unquote. Unveil my eyes, give more light. divine teaching. Anytime we come
to read, anytime we come to hear the word of the Lord, I think
our prayer perhaps ought to be the same. Lord, open thou mine
eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thine law. Let the scales fall off of my
eyes and infuse the light." And this is not extraneous revelation,
something above and outside and beyond the word or law of our
God. This is the word or the law of
God. John Gill wrote on this verse,
even the people of God need to have their eyes and their ears
sharpened. Yes, need their ears circumcised. Stephen told the Jewish council
that they were uncircumcised in heart and ear in Acts chapter
7 and verse 51. You see that in Deuteronomy chapter
30 and verse 6 and Jeremiah 6 and verse 10. For uncircumcised was
the term that the Jew applied unto the Gentile, the heathen,
and the idolater." The uncircumcision. It was a derogatory term, as
Stephen used it unto them. Oh, yes, he said, you have that
physical circumcision in the flesh, but your ears and your
heart are yet uncircumcised. And those Jews who murdered Stephen
boasted in their fleshly circumcision, but they lack the true circumcision
of ear, eyes, and of heart. Now, the second passage, quickly,
is from Paul in Ephesians 1, 17 through verse 20. Please forgive if I don't take
time to read it all. It's Paul's prayer in behalf
of the Ephesian believers for deep spiritual enlightenment. into the hope of their calling
and the connection of the spiritual blessing that God had blessed
them with. And the gift in the prayers he
makes for them in this particular place, verse 17 and verse 18,
would give them the spirit of wisdom. revelation, knowledge,
the eyes of their understanding being enlightened. Now, with
inflexing, let's emphasize some words here. Wisdom, revelation,
knowledge, understanding, enlightened. All those words Paul manages
to use here. that they might have enlightened
eyes to know what indeed God had ordained for them and the
work that he had done in them, that they might know the spiritual
knowledge that is involved with this great work of God in choosing
them in the Lord Jesus Christ. A threefold truth here. Number
one, the hope of their calling. Number two, the glory of their
inheritance in the saint. And number three, this is one
of my favorites, the power exerted to bring them to believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul equates it with that
power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. That the power
that raised up Christ out of the grave is the power that has
brought us to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So he raised up
Christ, he has quickened you out of your deadness in trespasses
and in sin. We can only say thank God for
a seeing eye and a hearing ear in regard to the spiritual truths
contained in his law, in his Bible, in his work. Thank God
for that work that he has done. It is not us. It is not any kind
of religious salve. It is a work of God to have the
ear unstopped and the eye opened. Thank God.