What does the Bible say about spiritual blindness?

The Bible describes spiritual blindness as a state where individuals cannot see or hear the truth of God due to their sin (Romans 11:8). The Scripture passage in Romans 11:8 states, 'God hath given them the spirit of slumber; eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear.' This describes a judicial act of God allowing certain individuals to remain spiritually insensible as a result of their sin. Such blindness is a significant theme in Scripture, depicting those outside of Christ as being in a stupor, unresponsive to the urgency of salvation. Paul emphasizes that this condition is present 'unto this day,' highlighting its continual relevance in the lives of those who are not part of the elect.

How do we know election is true?

Election is affirmed in Scripture, demonstrating that God chooses certain individuals for salvation based on His sovereign grace (Romans 11:8). Election is a doctrine rooted in the unchangeable sovereignty of God, as highlighted in Romans 11. The passage demonstrates that while some are given over to a spirit of slumber, others are chosen to receive the spirit of life. This distinction underscores God's sovereign prerogative in choosing His people, not based on their merits or decisions, but solely out of His grace. Through various biblical texts, we see that God's election is a fundamental aspect of the Gospel message, emphasizing that it is He who initiates and completes the work of salvation in those whom He calls.

Why is recognizing spiritual stupor important for Christians?

Recognizing spiritual stupor helps Christians understand the gravity of sin and the need for God's grace in salvation (Romans 11:8). Awareness of spiritual stupor is critical for Christians as it reveals the dire condition of the unregenerate heart. In Romans 11:8, the state of being in a stupor or slumber signifies a lack of spiritual awareness and responsiveness to divine truth. This understanding instills a sense of urgency in the Christian message. By recognizing that many are ensnared by sin and cannot respond to the Gospel on their own, Christians are compelled to proclaim Christ's saving grace earnestly, knowing that it is only through God’s intervention that spiritual awakening can occur. This recognition fosters humility and gratitude among believers, understanding they, too, once stood in need of grace.

How does God sovereignly grant spiritual life?

God sovereignly grants spiritual life by calling individuals out of their state of spiritual death through His grace (Ephesians 2:1). In Ephesians 2:1, we are reminded, 'And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.' This quickening, or granting of spiritual life, is entirely an act of God’s sovereign grace. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, God revives the spiritually dead, enabling them to see and respond to the Gospel. This divine action is affirmed in the context of Romans 11:8, where the elect are distinguished from those who remain in spiritual stupor. It is by God's initiative that those who were once dead in sin are awakened to the beauty of Christ and fully capable of embracing the salvation He offers.

The House is on Fire - Chris Cunningham

One verse this morning Romans
11 8 according as it is written God hath given them the spirit
of slumber Eyes that they should not see and ears that they should
not hear Unto this day we know in this very context that the
Lord has given some a the spirit of life and eyes that they should
see and ears that they should hear. And what Paul said there at the
end, unto this day, we can say that now the Lord has given unto
this day, the Jews that he's talking about, generally speaking,
certainly And in the broader sense of this, anyone who is
not his elect, some may be sitting here this morning, certainly
in so-called churches around us this morning, who are not
the elect, who are not the remnant, that God hasn't reserved, they
have this spirit. It's a spirit of slumber. That
doesn't mean they're asleep here in the sense that we think of
that. Although that is spoken of in the scripture too. It's
time to wake up out of sleep. He's talking to his people there. This slumber here, it means a
stupor. It means to be insensible, which the verse explains. Insensible
means your senses aren't functioning. You can't see, you can't hear,
you're a stupor. I've seen people in that case,
physically speaking, and there are many different reasons for
that physically, but the spiritual application here, the cause of
it is sin. God gives them this as a righteous,
judicial reward for their sin. They're insensible. What a description
of our religious generation. And we must say, as Paul did,
unto this day, God does that, has done that. God's preachers
wherever they may be scattered around this country. We say like
Lot, remember what Lot said? He said, up, get you out of this
place. For the Lord shall destroy this
place. But we seem to them as those to whom Lot spoke as one
that mocks. That's what it says there. He
said, up, get you out. God's going to destroy you. And
this place is the place of rebellion against God. It's not a building. It's not a country. It's the
place of rebellion against God and his son, the place that we're
born in. Get you out of that place. God's going to destroy
that place and you with it. And it said there that he seemed
to them as one that mocks. And we've used this illustration
before. If you say that to someone in
some earthly situation, like if the building is on fire, and
you say, oh, get you out of this place. This place is going down.
Or if you're in any situation where you're telling somebody
something that it's absolutely vital that they respond to. And they're incapable of responding,
or they refuse to respond. If they don't respond to imminent
danger, there's four reasons that could be the reason for
that. Number one, they don't believe
you. They just flat don't believe you. The building's on fire. Well, I don't smell any smoke.
I don't believe you. Number two, they're insane. They're out of their mind. They
have no idea about reality. Number three, they're already
dead. If you come upon somebody in a burning building and they're
covered with debris and their flesh is burning and you see
that they're not moving, get out or go on to somebody else,
they're gone. Or number four, like in our text
here, they're in such a stupor, maybe they're overcome already
by smoke inhalation or whatever, they've been knocked senseless
by some falling timber or something and they're insensible to your
cries of emergency. And all four of these are true
in the case of the unregenerate sinner, all four of them. And
the Word of God is very clear on that. We see number four in
our text. But the first one, they just
don't believe you. Well, why don't sinners get out of the
place that they are in by nature? God's going to destroy them in
that place. Why don't they get out? They don't believe what
we're saying. They just don't believe it. They say, well, my
good, I know I've done some bad things, but I'm not in that bad
of shape. I don't believe you. But God is sovereign, he's holy,
he must punish sin. I don't believe that about God.
I think he gives everybody a chance and I've made my decision for
Jesus and everything's fine between me and the man upstairs. Get
you out of that place. There's an urgency to escape
that kind of thinking. And they just flat don't believe.
John 3, 18, he that believeth on him is not condemned. But
he that believeth not, is condemned already because he hath not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Number two, as our
Lord plainly demonstrated in his encounter with the madman
of Gadara, we are by nature self-destructive madmen. He went around cutting
himself and crying and nobody even wanted to go near him. If
we could see ourselves as we are in our sin, as God sees us. And it's only by the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ that any sinner can ever be found resting
in Him and clothed in His righteousness and these key words, in their
right mind. We're not in our right mind.
We're in the mind that we're born with, but we're not in the
mind that Adam had before the fall. We're not in a mind to
glorify God with all that we do, and all that we say, and
all of our very thoughts. Number three. Maybe you're dead. Maybe that's it. If you don't know the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is life, then you are dead. Dead. Oh, but bless
God, you hath he quickened who were dead, in trespasses and
sins. And then number four, of course,
our text is clear that this stupor is such a one that we can't even
see with our eyes nor hear with our ears. My father, who I love very much,
he had a stroke and thereafter, for as long as he was alive thereafter,
he was in a stupor. He couldn't, he didn't know we
were in the room. He couldn't hear what we were saying. He
was insensible. That's what this is talking about.
The unbeliever is all four of these. Can't see, can't hear,
and God has given this spirit of slumber, as we said, because
of their sin. This is what all sinners deserve,
to be given over to a reprobate mind. So bless God he hasn't dealt
so with every sinner. These four fatal conditions are
so of the rest. There is the election as we saw
in the content and the rest. Everyone who is not elect is
in this condition, those mentioned in verse seven, but it's no longer
so with his elect. We've been there. We know what
it is to be dead. We know what it is to be in a
stupor. We know what it is to not believe,
to be like Thomas when he said, I will not believe. But bless
God. We also know what it is to see
the Savior and hear his call. Thomas, come hither and reach
hither thy finger and be not faithless, but believing. By His grace, we've experienced
His saving power. We're eternal debtors to His
almighty free grace. He's met our every need in all
four of these cases. Number one, we don't believe
God by nature. We don't realize what a crime
that is, what a sin that is. God who made you, is speaking
to you, and you say, I don't believe that. By God's grace, having heard
the word, as we saw in chapter 10 of our text, God sends a messenger,
and he preaches, and he preaches the gospel, and we hear it, and
by God's grace, we lay hold of Christ, who is the gospel, by
faith. And then we say what Hebrews
12, 2 says, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of
our faith. And in the second case, we know
what it is to be madmen. We know what it is to hurt ourselves,
to be self-destructive. Paul said, Timothy, teach those
that oppose themselves. They're killing themselves. And
he gives this spirit to those who deserve it. But in the case
of some who deserve it, he does. He gives another spirit. Paul
said in Second Timothy 1-7, God hath not given us the spirit
of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. We were insane. We thought we
could do something to please God. That's insanity. We thought
God was altogether such in one as ourselves. That's insanity. That's the worst kind. But God
has given us the spirit of a sound mind. Given some the spirit of
stupor. And then number three. You being
dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened
together with him? With who? With Christ. Comma,
having forgiven you all trespasses. That's what life is. How are
we dead? We're dead in trespasses and
sins. But he quickened us. How did
he do it? He forgave all of our sins. And then number four, Matthew
13, 16. Blessed are your eyes, for they
see You deserve, just like them,
just like the rest, to be given over to your natural blindness
and deafness, your stupor, your insensibility to the truth of
God. But by His grace, blessed are
your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. May God give us grace to just this morning, while we're here, to truly praise Him from our
hearts for His grace, His grace upon us. Let's bow and pray together
again.

The House is on Fire

What does the Bible say about spiritual blindness?

How do we know election is true?

Why is recognizing spiritual stupor important for Christians?

How does God sovereignly grant spiritual life?

Sermon Transcript

About Chris Cunningham

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The House is on Fire

What does the Bible say about spiritual blindness?

How do we know election is true?

Why is recognizing spiritual stupor important for Christians?

How does God sovereignly grant spiritual life?

Sermon Transcript

About Chris Cunningham

Comments

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