Now, if you'll take your Bibles
and turn back with me to Matthew chapter 13, let me talk to you
for just a little bit on this subject, blessed eyes. In a conversation, and I've told
you about this many times, with my nephew, he asked me several
questions, but this one in particular stood out. He said, you say you
are a preacher of the gospel. Now these questions took place
after about a two hour discussion over what I did for a living
and where I was and what I was doing in that part of the state. And he said, you say you're a
preacher of the gospel and you say that there are many out there
in the world who claim to be so, but who are not. You say
that what you preach must be heard and believed to be saved,
and to refuse to believe it is a sure course to damnation. So how in the world is someone
like me that was not raised in religion at all supposed to be
able to tell who is called of God and who isn't, and who's
preaching the truth and who's preaching a lie? How can I tell? How can I listen, turn my radio
on and listen? And of all these preachers that
are out here on the internet and on the radio and on the television
and out here up and down the streets and up and down the land,
there are churches everywhere. All of them have different names.
All of them preach different doctrines. How in the world is
a man who was not raised in religion going to tell the difference?
How am I ever going to know the difference? And this is what
I told you. But by the grace of God, you never will. You never
will. Now that's just the truth. I
don't have a little three or four word explanation that I
can, what men call the simple gospel. I saw a booklet advertised
in a magazine I have at the house that said the gospel simply put.
The gospel is something that has to be revealed. Revealed. Salvation is of the Lord. And
it's of the Lord by His eternal purpose and decree. Salvation
is not something in time. In time, the Lord came and accomplished
salvation. And in time, He calls His own. For whom He accomplished? And
in time, we die and go to be with the Lord. But salvation
is not a thing of time. It's eternal. It's eternal. Our God, the one true and living
God, is eternal. He said, I am God. And there's
none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient
times the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel
shall stand and I'll do all my pleasure. There is nobody else
like that. I am God and there is none like
me. It is of God in its eternal purpose
and design. This thing is of God. And it
is of God in the means of its accomplishment. God decreed,
when He decreed salvation in the beginning, He decreed the
means too. I want you to listen to this. I quote this to you all the time.
2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13. And I'm picking this up in the
middle of the verse. God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth, whereunto He called you by our Gospel to the obtaining
of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. When did God purpose
this? In the beginning. in the beginning. It's of God in the means of its accomplishment,
and it's of God in its accomplishment. He tells us in 2 Corinthians
5, he said, all things are of God who hath reconciled us to
Himself by Jesus Christ. He brought in the everlasting
righteousness of God, and by His death He satisfied the holy
justice of God. And it's of God in its application. Listen to this Scripture here
in Galatians. He said, Because ye are sons. How did you get to be a son? God predestinated us unto the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will. That's what it says in Ephesians
chapter 1. That's how we got to be sons. God predestinated
us to be sons. And because you're sons, He said,
God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts,
crying, Abba, Father. Because He chose you to be a
son and predestinated you to be a son, and Christ accomplished
that which was required on your part, now God sends forth His
Spirit into your hearts, and He calls you, and you cry back,
Abba, Father. It's of God in its application. As many as received Him, to them
gave He power to become the sons of God. Even to them that believe
on His name which were born, not of blood, nor the will of
the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. And it's of God in
its ultimate perfection. In 1 Corinthians 15, verse 54, It says, so when this corruptible
shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put
on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that
is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where
is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
Are you listening? but thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." And so our Lord
looks at His puzzled disciples who could not discern why He
spoke to these religious men in parables, and He said unto
them, because it's given unto you, unto you, to know the mysteries
of the kingdom, but it's not given unto them. No man, no woman, no boy, no
girl will ever come to a saving knowledge of Christ but by a
divine intervention. God has to step in. If God doesn't
step in, they're going to go on their way. They're going to
go on their way. I tell you this all the time.
They're going to go on in this world. They're going to marry
a wife. They're going to form a philosophy. They'll mix a little
worldly philosophy in it and a little religion in it, and
then they'll go around until they find a preacher and a church
that's doing something that appeals to them, whatever it is. And
that's where they'll park, and that's how they'll go out and
meet God. Nobody is ever going to be saved. Nobody is ever going
to understand that what they are hearing is the message of
God unless God intervenes. And the calling of God's saints
is not a general calling, but it is effectual in their hearts
and minds and wills to bring them to a saving knowledge of
God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. You read carefully. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 on
how Paul knew the election of the Thessalonians. And he talks
about that Word coming in power and in the Holy Ghost and its
effect upon their heart and they're following Him and they're becoming
examples and all of those things. And then in 1 Thessalonians chapter
2, In verse 13, he said, "...for this cause also, think we, God,
without ceasing. Because when you received the
Word of God which you heard of us, you received it not as the
Word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God which
effectually worketh also in you that believe." How do I know
when I've heard the Word of God? It's effectual in your heart. That's how you know. That's how
you know. I tell you, my mother, rest her
heart, she had nine kids and I was the last of the nine. And
she'd come over to the stairway and holler upstairs. Now I know
now why she didn't want to go up and down steps. I only got
four steps in my house and I don't like them. But she'd come over
there and she'd holler for us to get up. Get up! Get up! She'd holler five or six times.
But I tell you, my dad just spoke one time. And you knew the next
time, you'd be going down the steps on your rear end. His call
was effectual. Effectual. And when God speaks
through His gospel, it's effectual. It's effectual to cause you to
turn to Him. It's effectual to cause you to
believe the words of this book. It's effectual. This divine calling requires
the divine authority of the governor of the universe to arrange his
providence in such a way as for the preacher to have opportunity
to speak, a message to preach, and for you to have opportunity
to hear. All of that's required. Gospel
preaching and hearing is not left to chance, but it's of divine
appointment. He worked all these things out.
I don't know how it's going to be. I don't know. I don't know
how it's going to be. But I know God arranges His providence
in such a way as to bring His own to hear and to make that
hearing effectual. God's providence is arranged
to suit His eternal purpose of grace And it's inclusive of all
men and all things. We have obtained in Christ, he
said, an inheritance, that which was declared from the beginning,
that which God purposed from the beginning, he said. And we
have obtained in Christ an inheritance being predestinated according
to the purpose of Him, now listen to this, who worketh all things. after the counsel of His own
will. There may be a thousand second
causes, but the first cause is the Lord and His Gospel. That's
the first cause. And it'll do that which it's
designed to do. And it'll do it in both the saved
and the lost. To the one It's a savor of death
unto death. He don't want to hear it. I've
heard it. I've heard it. I've heard it. I don't want to
hear it. I don't want to hear it anymore. I know I have to
be here, but I don't really want to hear it. It's a savor of death unto death.
And to the other, it's a savor of life unto life. And Paul said, as of God in the
sight of God speak we in Christ. Are you beginning to see what
the Lord is saying here to His disciples? It's given unto you. Why would we gather here? Most
of y'all drive over an hour to get here. Why would you do that?
There are churches everywhere all along the way over there.
Texarkana is full of them. El Dorado is full of them. Shreveport
is full of them. You don't have to go that far.
Taylor, I think, has five and we only have 600 people. It's given unto you to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it's not given. And
then he said, blessed are your eyes. I've just got two points
for you to consider this morning. The eyes of the sinner and those
blessed eyes. First, let's look at the eyes
of a sinner. Let me take you back in the Scriptures
and show you what's going on here. Put a little meat on this
thing of blessed eyes. Back in Genesis 3, verse 7, having
eaten of the forbidden fruit, it says, and the eyes of them
both were opened. They were opened. These are the
eyes of the sinner now. Grace. Fallen from the presence
of God. Not open with the fruitful knowledge
of things useful and pleasant, like the old serpent promised
them. You be like God's. You be like
God's. They were open to see their deception
by the serpent. They were open to their own nakedness
and shame. They were open to see uncontrollable
lusts and passions. They were open to see that they
had offended their Creator and their God. And they were open
to see nothing but foolishness and ignorance. That's what they
saw through these eyes. Their perfect standing was gone,
their perfect nature was gone, and their perfect minds were
gone. Their eyes were open to ruin. They looked through ruined
eyes. You say, why would people listen
to this gospel and go out and make stupid comments like they
do sometimes? Because they are looking through
ruined eyes. Why would they make decisions?
Because they are looking through ruined eyes. Why won't they bow
to the Word of God? Because they are looking through
ruined eyes. A natural man looks through ruined
eyes. Behold, David said, I was shapen
in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. He tells
us in 1 Corinthians 2, he said, I hath not seen nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man the things which
God hath prepared for them that love him. It's never entered
into his heart. His eyes have never seen these
things because he looks through ruined eyes. And then secondly,
over in Proverbs chapter 27 and verse 20, listen to this scripture. Hell and destruction are never
full. Never full. So the eyes of man
are never satisfied. Never satisfied. The natural
man has greedy eyes. Greedy eyes. It's like a great
hole in man that never can be filled. He has insatiable greed. Give him the world. It doesn't
matter what you give him. Give him the world, he'll want
another. He'll want another. He wouldn't be satisfied if he
sat on the throne of God. He'd want another throne. And this insatiable greed keeps
men from finding a satisfaction in Christ. Many as the man who
have saw these things, they saw them in doctrine, saw them in
word only. They see it. Recognize it. Own them up to be the truth of
this book. Own them up to be a true gospel.
Like Demas. But Demas hath forsaken me for
this present world. Why? Because he had greedy eyes. Man's greed goes beyond worldly
things. He covets and robs God of His
glory. And if he could, he would dethrone
God. The natural man looks through greedy eyes. And then thirdly,
here in Isaiah chapter 5 and verse 15. Look at this with me. Isaiah chapter 5 verse 15. Isaiah said, And the mean man shall be brought down, and the
mighty man shall be humbled. And the eyes of the lofty shall
be humble." The sinner looks through lofty eyes. Lofty eyes. He always sees himself in a better
light than God sets him forth in. Always does. Because he looks
through lofty eyes. Man sees himself worthy of God's
blessing, but God said they are together become unprofitable. I'll never forget one night a
friend of William's came over here. He'd been drinking a little
bit. He got his times messed up and
got here early. And I was here, Kathy and I,
we were fooling around with the church and I think Winston was
here. But he kept telling me what an awful sinner he was.
Oh, he said, I'm just such an awful sinner. And I finally got
him to sit still So I could preach to him. And when I finished,
he stomped out of the church mad. He said, I'm not as bad
as he made me out to be. Lofty eyes. Lofty eyes. Man sees himself with the ability
to seek the Lord at his own discretion. But the Scripture said, there's
none that seeketh after God. Man sees himself with the ability
to do good, but Christ said there is none good but God. And there
is none that doeth good, no, not one. Man sees himself with
the ability to understand all things, but the Scripture said
he walks in the vanity of his mind, his understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that is in him because of the blindness of his heart. And man
sees himself unjudged. Not as yet brought before the
bar of God. God's wrath not stirred. God's mind not made up. But the Scripture said, by the
offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. And it tells us that this condemnation
was manifested in this, that light came into the world and
men loved darkness rather than light. It tells us that in Adam
all died. The sinner looks through undisturbed
eyes, no fear of God before their eyes. There's no hurry, no reason
for desperation. He doesn't see himself being
judged and awaiting execution. Man sees himself intelligent,
wise, and prudent, but the Scripture said, what seemeth right unto
a man always ends in death and destruction. He thinks the law only applies
to outward deeds and ceremonial rituals, but the Lord looks on
the thoughts and intents of the heart. You know, David said, when the
Lord brought him to an understanding, David said, I was as a beast
before them. And when God brought Nebuchadnezzar
down, that's the same thing He taught him. He was as a beast
before him. Man sees himself as the true
judge. I'm a true judge of character.
And he rests in his judgment of himself and others. But the
Scripture says that which is highly esteemed among men is
an abomination with God. And the sinner looks through
the eyes of self-justification. And he sees himself through the
eyes of false religion. He looks in the light of their
principles and ways and sees himself in good standing before
God. He sees himself by the way of
his decision that he made or the commitment that he made and
his profession of faith. He sees himself in the light
of that aisle that he walked, the sinner's prayer that he prayed,
the Roman road that he was brought down, the church that he joined,
the pool he was baptized in. He sees himself in the light
of his accepting Jesus as his personal Savior, or some catechism
that he learned. And he sees himself in good standing
with God. A man highly favored of God. But the Scripture said, man at
his best state is altogether vanished. And our Lord said back
through the prophet Isaiah, He said, You say that we've made
a covenant with death and with hell we're at agreement, and
when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it's not
going to come down to us. It's not going to get us. That
judgment's not going to get me. For we have made lies our refuge,
and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. And now by the great foundation
stone, the Christ of God and His Gospel, He said, Judgment
will I lay to the lion, and righteousness to the plummet, and the hail
shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the water shall overflow
the hiding place, and your covenant will be disannulled then. You
see why He said, the sinner has lofty eyes. He doesn't see himself
under the judgment of God. He doesn't see himself the sinner. He doesn't see those things because
he looks through lofty eyes. And then fourthly, the sinner
has worldly eyes. John said, for all that's in
the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and
the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. What are these worldly eyes?
Worldly eyes weigh truth in the eyes of worldly philosophy. They
take what's preached from the pulpit, what's read from the
Word of God, and they take it home and they apply that mixed
with worldly philosophy. And they mix the two and they
come up with a compromise. Worldly eyes have an appetite
for the things of the world. Worldly eyes that crave the acceptance
and praise of this world. In them, our Lord said, is fulfilled
the prophecy of Isaiah, which said, By hearing you shall hear,
and not understanding. And seeing you shall see, and
shall not perceive. Matthew 13, 15 For this people's
heart is wax gross, And their ears are dull of hearing, and
their eyes they have closed. And then very quickly, let me
give you my second point here, these blessed eyes. He said,
blessed are your eyes, for they see. They see. Blessed are your ears, for they
hear. I'm going to tell you something.
It's not difficult to teach a man whom God has healed. It's not
a hard thing at all. Not a hard thing at all. He has
blessed eyes. He can see what you're saying.
He lights up like a light bulb. He lights up all over because
he can see. It's something sometimes from
up here to watch the reaction of men and women when they come
in here to hear the gospel. It's amazing. One of them will
light up. He'll just light up all over.
He sees it. He rejoices in it. It's my hope. He's talking to my heart now.
And the other one is like this. Isn't that amazing? Blessed,
He said, are your eyes. There stood the Pharisees. And
here's His disciples. Blessed are your eyes. Paul said, I cease not to give
thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the
God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give
unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge
of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may
know the hope of His calling and what the riches of the glory
of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness
of His power to us who believe according to the working of His
mighty power. Blessed eyes are eyes open to
the truth. He said, if you continue in my
word, then are you my disciples indeed, and you shall know the
truth, and the truth shall set you free. Blessed eyes are spiritual
eyes. He that is spiritual, Paul said,
understandeth all things, yet he himself is understood of no
one. That's II Corinthians 2.15. Our Lord said, My words are spirit,
and they are truth. And the natural man, he cannot
know the things which are revealed by the Spirit of God, because
they are spiritually understood. They require spiritual eyes. And I'll tell you this, blessed
eyes are seeing eyes. He said, blessed are your eyes
for they see. They see. They see what even
the princes of this world could not see. Had they seen it, they
wouldn't have crucified the Lord of Glory because God hath revealed
it unto them by His Spirit. And I'll leave you with this.
Blessed eyes are converted eyes. He said, lest at any time these
ones whose eyes could not see, these ones whose ears were dull
of hearing, these ones whose eyes they closed, he said, lest
at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their
ears and should be converted and should understand with their
hearts and should be converted. Converted. Born of God. Created anew by Him. Touched
by Him whose touch can raise the dead. Our Lord put a little
dust in His hand and spat in it and made a little batter and
rubbed it on that man's eyes. And He said, now you go down
to the pool and wash. And you'll see. Touched. Touched by the Master's
hand.