Now we're going back to the book
of 2 Kings, the 6th chapter, if you'd like to look again at
our text. In verse 17, Elisha prayed and
said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see. Now, the king of Syria made war
against Israel. And he'd call his secret councils
together, his war council, his servants, those who led his troops,
and he'd make plans to ambush the King of Israel. He'd lay
these plans there carefully, and he'd say, now, we're going
to be in a certain place, and when Israel comes that way, we'll
be ready for them and we'll destroy them. But Elisha, the man of
God, would always go to the King of Israel. and tell him about
the King of Syria's plans. He'd say, now don't go this way,
because the King of Syria is waiting for you there. God gave
Elisha special understanding and special revelation. And the
King of Israel would send a spy down there, a scout, and he'd
look the land over, and sure enough, there are the Syrians
waiting on him. And he said he saved himself
not once, not twice, but many times that way. And finally,
the King of Syria gathered his men together, and he said, We've
got us a traitor on our hands. There's somebody in this room
that's telling what we're planning. Every time I lay an ambush for
the King of Israel, he finds out about it, and he goes another
route. Now, somebody's disclosing to the King of Israel what we're
saying. We've got a friend of the King
of Israel in this room, and one of his servants says, Not so,
my We're all loyal soldiers, we're all faithful men, faithful
to you. But there's a prophet. There's a prophet in the land
of Israel by the name of Elisha, and he knows everything you say.
He even knows what you're saying in your bedroom. That's how much
he knows about you and about us. And the king of Syria says,
Well, where is this man Elisha? You go find him, find out where
he is, and I'll take care of him. And so they found out where
he was. He was down in Dothan. They came
back and told the king of Syria where Elisha was, where he was
staying. And so he sent a great army.
He sent, the scripture says here, horses and chariots and a heavy
host, a great host. And they came to Dothan at night,
I imagine, and they encircled the city. They compassed the
city round about. There were the horses and chariots
and men just thousands of them. And Elisha was living in a tent
or some kind of place down here in the valley, and evidently
was asleep with his servant. And the next morning the servant
got up early, and he left the tent or whatever they were staying
in, evidently to go get a bucket of water or something. He left
the tent, and when he walked out, he looked and he saw all
of these horses and chariots and He knew what was going on.
He knew they were Syrians. It was the Syrian army. And he
knew who they came to arrest. He knew they had come for Elisha.
And it scared him. And I imagine he dropped his
water bucket and he went running back into the tent. And he said,
Elisha, my master. Elisha, my master. The hills
are full of Syrians. The mountains are full of Syrians.
They're all around us. What are we going to do? And Elisha said, Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. They that be
with us are more than they that be with them. And then he said,
Lord, open his eyes that he may see. Blessed is the man who has
eyes of faith. He can see what other men do
not see. Noah saw what other men did not
see. The disciples saw what other
men did not see. Our Lord said to the disciples
one day, Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? What are
they saying out there about me? And Peter said, Well, some of
them say you're Elijah, and some of them say you're John the Baptist,
and some of them say you're one of the prophets. But our Lord
said, Whom do you say that I am? And Peter said, Thou art that
Christ, Thou art the Messiah, Thou art the Son of the living
God. And our Lord said, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to you, but my Father which is in heaven, blessed are your
eyes, for they see. Peter saw what these other people
didn't see. Noah saw the coming judgment. Elisha saw the Syrians I imagine
when the servant came running in without his water bucket,
screaming, Alas, alas, alas, Master, alas, what are we going
to do? I'm sure Elijah's curiosity would have led him to the tent
to push the flap back and look out and see what scared the boy.
And he saw that gang, he saw that army, he saw the enemy,
he saw the power of the enemy, but he saw the Lord and the power
of God. And he said, Those that are for
us are greater than those that be against us. In other words,
blessed is the man who has eyes of faith, for those eyes of faith
give him a spirit of rest. The servant said, Alas, my master! Elisha didn't say, Alas, my servant. He was totally calm in the face
of this crisis. The servant said, What shall
we do? What shall we do? Elisha didn't say, What shall
we do? I'll tell you what Elisha was saying in his soul. He was
saying the same thing Job did, Though he slay me I'll trust
him. Though he slay me I'll trust him. He was saying the same thing
that Eli said, It's the Lord, let him do what he will. He was
saying the same thing that David was saying, Is there not a cause? Is there not a cause? Elisha's
heart was fixed. Trusting in the Lord God, there
was no cause for fear, there was no cause for panic. The enemy
was there, but his God was there. His God was there. The power
of the enemy was revealed, but the power of his God was ready
to be revealed. Blessed are those who have eyes
of faith. That's what our Lord said, Peter,
blessed are you, blessed are you. Blessed are you who see
what others don't see, you hear what others do not hear, you
understand what's hidden. If our gospel be hid, it's hid
to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded
their minds, lest the glorious light of the beauty and glory
of Christ should shine in unto them. They are blind, blind. And I'll tell you this, the eyes
of faith do not grow dim with age. that they grow stronger
and more far-seeing with years. The young man was troubled, the
old man was at peace. The young man was panicking,
the old man was at rest. The young man needed the assurance
and confidence that the old man could give. The young man saw
the danger, he didn't see the deliverance. The young man saw the enemy,
he didn't see the Redeemer. But the old man prayed for him,
and he said, Lord, open his eyes, open his eyes that he may see. If he could see, everything else
would be all right. If he could see, he could rest.
If he could see, he could rejoice. If he could see, he could trust.
If he could see, he could believe. If he could see, he could wait
upon you. If he could see, he could rest in your providence.
If he could see, that's what it all rests on. Lord, open his
eyes that he may see. If he could see, everything else
would fall in place. And the reason for that is, number
one, I have four or five things I want you to examine. Turn to 1 Corinthians 2. If he
could see, he could rest. If he could see,
he could rejoice. If he could see, he could understand
that which is valuable, that which is not valuable, everything
would fall into place, if he could see. But the natural man
cannot see. Our Lord said, except the man
is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. But the kingdom
of God is God's mercy, God's righteousness, God's truth, God's
beauty, God's glory, God's salvation, everything associated with God.
Except the man born again, he cannot see. He cannot see. Nicodemus, if I told you earthly
things and you don't understand, how in the world would you understand
if I told you heavenly things? You don't understand because
you can't see. The natural eye is well able to see natural things. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. The natural mind is well able to comprehend natural
things. We've got some brilliant men
in this congregation. I look out over this congregation
and I see men who are in charge of very important projects. I
see men who are brilliant in the natural field, brilliant.
But my dear friend, your brilliance in the natural field is not equipped
to you for spiritual That's right. A man may be very brilliant in
many different fields, he may be a very wise man as far as
natural truth is concerned, and be dead in sin and death to God
and blind to the Word of God. That's right. The natural mind
is enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can it be. It says here in 1 Corinthians
2, you listen to it. It says in verse 9, It is written,
I have not seen, e'er hath not heard, neither have entered into
the heart of man the things God prepared for them that love him.
But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit For the Spirit
searcheth all things, yea, that keep things of God, the mysteries
of grace and justification and sanctification and redemption.
For what man knoweth the things of man, save the spirit of man
which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth
no man but the Spirit of God. Now, we have received not the
spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of God,
which things we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth,
but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, the spirit of God teacheth, comparing
spiritual things with spiritual things. But the natural man,
brilliant though he may be, He may be a brilliant general, he
may be a brilliant lawyer, he may be a brilliant doctor, he
may be a brilliant professor, he may be a brilliant engineer,
he may be a brilliant something else, but the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, their foolishness to
him. Neither can he know them. He
can't know them on the basis of comparing spiritual things
with the natural. He's got to have spiritual eyes. The same thing has got to happen
to him that Elijah prayed for this young man, Lord, open his
eyes, that he may see. Elijah saw. He saw spiritual
things. This young man saw flesh and
horses, he saw chariots and houses, he saw generals in uniforms,
he saw all these things. He saw the dangers, but he didn't
see the deliverance. He saw the enemy, but he didn't
see the Lord. He saw all of these people gathered
together, the enemy out there, but he didn't see the Redeemer,
he didn't have spiritual eyes. That's our problem up there.
The natural eye cannot see the Lord God in all things. Listen
to me. God Almighty holds the reins
in all things. The Lord killeth and the Lord
maketh alive, the Lord maketh rich and the Lord maketh poor.
Our God is in the heavens, he hath done whatsoever he pleased.
God ruleth in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of
men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. God declares from the
end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that
are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, I will do
all my good pleasure. Even Satan is God's devil. He
is on a leash. He cannot go any further than
God's permission. Did you know when Satan came before the Lord?
and talked about Job, that he couldn't touch Job without God's
permission, and he couldn't do any more than God let him do. Our God has all power. When our
Lord came to the demons in the man in the tomb, they asked permission
from him to go into the swine. There's no way they could have
gone without his permission. God is sovereign in creation,
providence and I listen to these preachers on television. I don't
know what they're doing in the ministry. I don't know why they
don't get in something else. But I heard one say, Now, when
sickness comes your way, you can ascribe that to the devil.
Indirectly you might, but not always. God's the first cause
of all things. I can't explain that. I just
know it's so. I see what men don't see. I heard this fellow,
he went on, he said, God has nothing to do with sickness.
God does not want any of his children to be sick. God does
not will any of his children to be sick. I heard another one say this,
when death comes, this is not God's will. I sat down across
the living room from a dear religious lady one time. She was one of
the hearts, she kept the First Baptist Church of a certain town
in Alabama going. She was the main piston rod,
not the pastor, she was. And I sat down across the room
and her daughter-in-law had somehow gotten polio. This is the way
she explained it to me. Somehow she got polio. I said,
well, how? Well, she said she's a believer,
she's a Christian, and God didn't want her to have polio. You don't
believe God wanted her to have polio, do you? I said, it's in
God's will, it wouldn't happen. She said, I couldn't believe
that. I said, what do you believe? She said, well, she was in the
wrong place at the wrong time and ran into the wrong jam. God
had nothing to do with it. Do you believe that? I heard
another fellow say one time, this hurricane, these hurricanes,
God's not in them, that's the devil. God has nothing to do
with storms, God has nothing to do with tornadoes, God has
nothing to do with hurricanes, God has nothing to do with floods,
God has nothing to do with snowstorms, nothing whatsoever. I heard another one say that
God has nothing to do with financial loss. If a man financially is
broke or financially comes to an unsuccessful problem, that's
not of God. There was one preacher who said
on the television, and this is one of the biggest evangelists
in America today, he said, I'll tell you, if I'd have been at
Calvary when they crucified Jesus, I'd have stopped it! Listen to me, my friends, just
what is God doing? If God has nothing to do with
any of these things, what does he have to do with? What is he
doing? Where is he? Has he gone off and left somewhere
and is not coming back until we straighten things out? Turn
to Colossians 1. This is ridiculous. The scripture
tells us that our God is the first cause of all things. There
may be second causes, third causes, or fourth causes, but everything
is, even the wrath of man is going to praise the Lord. That's
so. I see that. I see God's hand
in creation. He made the world as it pleases
him. I see God's hand in providence. I see God's hand in salvation. God holds the reins in all things. Nothing takes place without,
not even a sparrow falls to the ground without your father. The
hairs of your head are numbered. I believe God is absolutely in
control and sovereign power and reigns over even the cinders
in the air and the dust in the sun stream. That's the God of the Bible.
Colossians 1.16 says, For by him were all things created,
which are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers.
All things were created by him and for him. He is before all
things, and by him all things consist. The devil breathes by
God's permission. You do, too. You do, too. And he's the head of the body,
which is the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from
the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence.
A natural man can't see that. Open his eyes that he may see. See God in everything. I see
God in everything. He's my prophet, priest, and
king. God in everything. Do you? You have to have eyes
to see that. Secondly, the natural eye. cannot
see the Lord God in all things, and the natural eye cannot see
the righteousness of God's law. He may have the Ten Commandments
memorized, he may be well-versed in the commandments and the moral
rules, but he cannot see the true spiritual righteousness
and law of God. Paul asks this question, you
that would be under the law, do you not hear the law? My friends,
has it ever occurred to you how righteous God is? Well, his law
is a revelation of himself. It came from his holiness. It
can be no less righteous than he is. His law cannot require
anything less than what he is, because he couldn't be satisfied
with it. God's law must be as perfect
as God. God's demand for righteousness
must be as perfect as God. And the average person goes around
quoting the rules of religion. You must do this and must do
that and must do the other, must not do this and must not do that,
must not do the other. And if you keep these rules and
live up to the standard of holiness, God will accept you. He won't
do it either, because there are rules and laws you know nothing
about. You are not even aware and cannot
be aware. of the sins that you commit,
unconscious sins, secret sins, sins you don't even know about,
because God's law reaches not only to the action but to the
attitude, not only to the manners but to the motive, not only to
the outward but to the inward. God's law is as holy as God is,
God's righteousness. God is so holy that God can only
say of one person who ever lived, I'm pleased. And that was the
Lord Jesus Christ. Even the plowing of the wicked
is sin. Did you know that? Even our righteousnesses
are filthy rags. Did you know that? In the flesh,
no man can please God, because to please God requires perfection,
because God is perfect. He can demand no more than perfection. He can accept no less than perfection,
and we don't have that perfection. Do you not hear the law? Not
till your eyes are open, and I'll tell you, when God opens
a man's eyes to the holiness of his law and the righteousness
of his justice and his character, we'll respond like Job. We'll
put our hands on our mouth and we'll say, Lord, I've talked
too much, I'm not going to talk any more. I hate myself. This was the most righteous,
moral, honest, man on the earth, a man whom God commended among
men. This man says, I have seen the
Lord, wherefore I hate myself. I repent in sackcloth and ashes. He saw the holiness of God. Isaiah
saw the holiness of God and cried, Woe is me! Daniel saw the holiness
of God and said, My comeliness melted into corruption. John
saw the holiness of Christ and fell at his feet as a dead man.
Peter saw the holiness and power of Christ and said, Lord, depart
from me, I'm a sinful man. The natural eye cannot see God
in everything, and the natural man cannot see everything that's
in God. I can't comprehend his absolute,
infinite Immutable holiness, holiness. I hear preachers and
people talking today about holiness. It makes me want to throw up.
They don't know what holiness is. I hear them talking about
our holiness, your holiness. Our President called that imposter
from Rome his holiness. That made me want to throw up,
too. Nothing holy about that mass of putrid, dying flesh. Holy and reverent is his name.
Holy and reverent is his name. You pray to talk like that preacher,
time somebody talk like that. It's time somebody told the truth
to this generation we've been lied to so long. But the natural
eye cannot see the holiness of God. And I tell you this, we're going to have to have that
same holiness if we see him. Without holiness, no man will
save the Lord. Do you know what it said, Charles?
There is not a soul here who has that holiness in your flesh,
or in your religion, or by nature. You'd better find out where you
can get it. That's right, if it's in the baptismal pool, we'd
better all skedaddle up here and get baptized, but I don't
think that's where it is. If that holiness is in the sacraments
and the wafers and the wine, we'd better all line up. If that
holiness is in keeping some kind of rules and regulations or some
kind of denominational preference, we'd better look it up. But do
you know where that holiness is? It's in Christ. The righteousness
of God is in Christ. Christ is the goal of the Lord
for righteousness to everyone that believes it. I've seen something
of the holiness of God. And when you do, You know what
your reaction will be? You'll see your guilt and shame
and sin like never before, and you'll see the shame of religion. It will pull the veneer off of
this false, foolish, hypocritical religion of this day. And you'll
look at every one of these bombs that are living off people's
Social Security and making monuments for themselves, pretending to
be God's men, and you'll see they're the most wretched hypocrites
that ever walked. You'll see that when you see
God's holiness, when you see them standing up before people,
professing to have great faith and great holiness and great
righteousness and great piety. You know what the Apostle Paul
said? I'm the chief of sinners. I don't hear these birds saying
that. I'm less than the least of all the saints. I don't hear
them saying that. I don't hear anybody saying that. But when you see the law of God,
it'll do that. You'll say, woe is me, I'm a
man of unclean lips, and everybody around me is unclean lips. I
dwell in the midst of a people. Open his eyes, Lord, so he can
see, so he can see his lost condition. You're not going to like this,
but I'm going to say it. I read it, it's not original. You are
as full of sin as an egg is full of meat. How full is an egg from
shell to shell? From front to back, from top
to bottom, that egg is full. And that's how full of sin you
are. God says, from the sole of your feet to the top of your
head. There's no soundness in you.
Nothing but open running sewers. But wait a minute, preacher,
wait a minute, nothing. Sin flows from you like water
from a well. We are guilty, just as guilty
as if the condemnation had already been passed and executed. Guilty. That's what the law says, guilty. We love darkness and hate light.
Our thoughts are thoughts of evil, thoughts of sin. And when
we have a good thought, it's a selfish thought, it's selfish. We reach out to others because
we feel like we might get something in return. The natural eye cannot
see its lost condition, and the natural eye cannot see the way
of salvation. He does not know the righteousness
of God, nor the guilt of sin, nor the inability of man, and
he does not know the sufficiency of Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus
Christ? Where did he come from? Who is this man, Jesus of Nazareth? Do you know who he is? What's
he doing here? Why did he live on this earth? Just to show folks
that you could live without sin? Why did he go to the cross? Because
he couldn't help it? Did he go to that cross because
of the weakness of his flesh or the weakness of his purpose
or the defeat of his Reformation? I'll tell you who he is, he's
their God of their God. And his incarnation, his journey
into this world, was predestinated, foreordained and appointed by
the Heavenly Father, for God Almighty ever laid the foundations
of this world. That's what the Bible says. The
Lamb slain from the foundation of the Every breath he drew,
every word he spoke, every deed he performed, every miracle he
performed, every body he healed, every drop of blood he shed,
every moment he lay in the tomb was all ordained and predestinated
and predetermined by God the Father. Every step he took was
ordained from all eternity. He was a designated Savior for
the designated people who died the designated death at the designated
time and accomplished God's designated purpose. That's the Christ of
the Bible. That's not sweet little Jesus,
boy, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. That's not the superstar, Jesus
superstar, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. God sent him down here. God sent him down here to accomplish
a purpose. He says, the words that I speak,
they are the words of him that sent me. The works that I do,
they are the works of him that sent me. Our Lord came down here
as a representative. As in Adam we died, in Christ
we were made alive. There was a Savior before there
was a sinner. I hear preachers say, when Adam fell, God just
Went all over heaven looking for a Savior. Have you heard
that song, they search through heaven to find a Savior? That's
not so. God ordained that Savior before
there was ever a sinner. Christ was that Savior, that's
what Scripture said. You with wicked hands have crucified
the Lord of glory, but you've done what God determined before
to be done. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. God sent his Son to the cross. Why did he go to the cross? I'll
tell you why. That God might be just and justify
the ungodly. That's why he went to the cross.
That's what you prayed this morning, your prayer. How can God be just? We've been talking about God's
holiness and God's righteousness and God's justice. How can God
be righteous and holy and just and pardon and forgive and ransom
a sinner like you and me? because a Savior whom he ordained,
a Savior whom he sent, a perfect Savior with a perfect sacrifice,
an infinite sacrifice. You say, how can one man die
for so many? Because of who he is. How can
one man's blood cleanse the sins of so many? Because of whose
blood it was. How can the death of one man
put away so many sins? Because of who that man was who
died, God in human flesh. An infinite sacrifice can put
away an infinite number of sins. An infinite Savior, an infinite
Redeemer can put away infinite guilt. He died that God may be
just. Do you see that? I don't see
that. Somebody says, We're supposed
to preach the gospel so simple that a little child can understand
it. Any man that says that reveals he doesn't know the gospel. Is
that offensive? My friends, no man can understand
the gospel apart from a revelation of the Holy Spirit. No man can
understand the gospel. Christ said that. Father, you've
heard these things from the wise and prudent, revealed in debate.
No man can come to me except my Father which sent me, draw
him. I speak to them in parables,
he said, because they have eyes and can't see, ears and can't
hear, hearts and can't understand. Was he talking about physically
blind people? Was he talking about physically
deaf people? No, sir. Was he talking about
morons? No, sir. He was talking about sharp, intelligent
men and women, physically, naturally intelligent. But they were blind
spirits. They were born blind. They were
willfully blind. None so deaf as those who will
not hear. None so blind as those who will
not see. Jesus Christ the Lord came down
here to redeem some people. that God may be just and justify
the ungodly, that God's law may be satisfied, his justice satisfied. Christ died not as an example,
he died as a sin offering, a substitute, that God may be free to forgive. Where is he now? He's at the
right hand of the Father. He's seated. He's not walking
the floors of heaven, he's seated. His work's finished. He did what
he came to do. His ransom is effectual. He said,
Sit thou, sit thou on my right hand, till I make your enemies
your footstool. The Old Testament priest never
sat down. There wasn't a chair in the tabernacle. Why? His work
was never done. He'd offer a sacrifice today
and one tomorrow and one the next day and one the next day.
He'd offer a bunch of them today. They were never finished. When
our Lord finished his sacrifice, he sat down. It was finished. Finished. Nothing needs to be
added. He's not wringing his hands,
he's not leaning over the banister of heaven trying to find out
what you're going to do. He sees it! That's what Scripture says. Expecting. Expecting. What effect does this blindness
have on men, number one? You know what effect spiritual
blindness has on men? First of all, it makes them contented
with what they are. If the average religious person
of today, preacher, deacon, elder, Sunday school teacher, choir
member, and all these fellows could see themselves as God sees
them, if they could see their guilt, if they could see what
they really are in God's sight, if they could see the guilt and
sin and filth of their souls, they wouldn't rest for a moment
without crying for mercy. Did you know that? They wouldn't
sleep another wink. Somebody say it? Number one, there's the
man that we think we are. Number two, there's the man that
others think we are. But the real heart of the matter
is the man God knows we are. And boy, I tell you, Natural eyes can't see that We
can carry on a We've been play like and ever since we would
you ever play like we used to shorten those two words play
like just make it plaque Plaque I'm a policeman. Yeah
play that most folks still playing it They're playing preacher in
church plaque you the beacon Let's play chair. That's what's
going on play in church. I We are what we think we are,
and we are something else that other people think we are, and
God Almighty with his sovereign, holy, righteous eyes looks into
our very deep recesses of our old, contaminated, corrupted
heart and soul, and he says, I'll spew you out of my mouth. I'll spew you out of my mouth.
The public and Pharisee came into the Temple The Pharisee
was totally happy with what he was, totally contented, totally
blind, but totally contented. He said, I thank you, God, I'm
not like other men! I tithe and fast and give alms
to the poor. I'm not like that fellow over
there. I'm not an adult, I'm not an
extortioner. And our Lord said, you're blind
leaders of the blind, you're swatted sepulchers. You don't know God, you're hypocrites. Listen to him talk to them. That
old publican, he had his eyes open, and he said what he was,
and he smote upon his breast and cried, O God, O God, be merciful
to me, the sinner. And that man got mercy. What
effect does blindness have on men and women? It makes them
contented with what they are. And you know, I'll go a step
further. Here's the bad part. It makes them proud of what ought
to be their shame. We're covered with rags, and
yet we're proud. Oh, you're not covered with rags,
that's a pretty nice looking suit. Yeah, a fellow gave me
this, I appreciate it, it looks pretty nice. But I'll tell you,
spiritually we're covered with rags, filthy rags, God says. And we're talking about spiritually
now. God does not look on the outward countenance. God looks
on the heart. God's not looking at your body
tonight. You've gone to all this trouble to get your hair just
so long, wear your sleeves just so long, all that. God sees your
naked soul. That's so silly to me. I see
these folks coming with their preachers wearing their white
collars, you know, and the black staff down here. And I see everybody
dressed peculiarly, you know, to show their religion, these
rosies. But God does not look on the outward. What kind of
God do you have? God looks on the heart. God sees the spirit
and the soul and the nature and the heart of a person. We're
covered with rags and we're proud, we're poor. Oh, how poor and
diseased we are! But we're Oh, we're subjects of hell! Hell
is moving up to meet us and are coming, but we're proud! We say
we're rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing.
God says you're naked, miserable, poor, blind, and you have need
of all things. We're fools, but we're proud
of our wisdom. That's what blindness does. That's
what spiritual blindness does. It makes men proud of what ought
to be their shame. Remember, we ought to be weeping
before God, but we're strutting around like peacocks. We ought
to be crying, and can it be that I should gain an interest in
the Savior's blood? A woman might say, I know I'm
saved. If anybody is going to heaven, surely I will. Everybody
make it, Lord, surely I will. Tommy Rod. I always worry about
these people that are always so sure they're saved. Every
great godly man through this Bible sought for assurance and
cried to God for his mercy. Every one of them. And I'll tell
you what this blindness does, it puts men in great danger.
If their eyes aren't open and that right soon, the blind leading
the blind and them and everybody they're talking to is going to
fall into this. That's the danger of being blind. You not only
fall in the ditch, but everybody that knows you falls in the ditch,
and everybody over whom you have any influence falls in the ditch,
and everybody whom you lead falls in the ditch. You won't let them
listen to some preacher. No, you've got to do it. I have
people all over this town warning folks not to listen to any preacher.
A man moved here one time from over in Independence, Kentucky. He was an insurance man, his
name was Paul Ruby, and his wife, he was a deacon in a Baptist
church over there. His wife was a piano player. They were, as Ralph said, the
main piston rods over there. And when he moved to Ashland,
he went down to the insurance office on Monday morning, went
to work, and he said, I'm a Baptist. He said, how many Baptist churches
in this town? The fellow said, oh, there are
15 or 12 or 15 or 20. He said, which one would you
go to? He said, anywhere but where that fellow Mahan's preaching.
He said, this is a true story, any of them, but don't go hear
him. Do you know where the fellow
went? Right here. This was when Isaac
Pollard came. Do you know what God did? He
saved him and his wife both. They were both unsaved. Both
didn't know God. He came to hear me. He said,
no man is going to tell me where to go to church. I want to hear
what you're saying. And he said, I sure like what
you're saying. It's the truth. I received a letter from a woman
in Sutton, West Virginia, the other day, and she said, My husband,
I've been watching you on TV for several weeks, and you've
confirmed what my husband believes, but never heard preached. Now,
you weigh that a little bit. You've confirmed what my husband
found in God's Word, but never heard anybody preach. It puts you in danger to be blind.
It not only endangers you, but it endangers your husband or
wife over whom you have influence, it endangers your children whom
you are trying to teach what you don't know and lead them
in the path of righteousness in which you are not walking.
Christ is the righteousness. We are in trouble, aren't we?
I know we are in trouble. God alone can open a man's eyes.
Elisha said, Lord, Elisha couldn't open his eyes. Elisha comes and
says, look here, son, look. Look at what? Well, look up on
the hill. I see the enemy. No, up down
above the enemy. I don't see a thing. I don't
see a thing. We can describe sin and its hideousness,
only God can make a man see it. We can describe Christ and his
beauty, only God can make a man see it. We can describe the sufficiency
of the cross and the glory of Christ's redemption, only God
can make a man see it. Only God can open a man's eyes. He says, Lord, open, I pray thee,
Lord, I pray thee. Would you open his eyes? We need to pray for God to open
the eyes of our children, our friends. This young man could not see,
and Elisha could not make him see, but Elisha could pray for
him. He could pray for him. Have you prayed for anybody lately?
Especially should we pray for men when they indicate they are
in trouble? A young man came in wringing his hands and said,
Elisha, my master. And Elisha saw he was in trouble.
What are we going to do, master? We are in trouble. We should
pray for people when they are in trouble. Pray that they who
now are blind soon the way of Christ shall find. Let me show
you this, and I'll quit. God does open men's eyes, he
opened this man's eyes, he opened Saul of Tarsus' eyes, and he
opened my eyes. But do you know what that young
man saw when God opened his eyes? He saw the power of God, that's
right, he saw the army of God encircled with so great a crowd
of witnesses. Do you know what that young man
saw? He saw, John, what was already there. It was there, but he couldn't
see it. You see what I'm saying? When
Hagar was out there in the wilderness, starving, dying of thirst, God
opened her eyes. That's what it says in Genesis
21.19. Hagar put her boy over there
under the tree in the shade. She didn't want to watch him
die, and moved over here to stay away from him while he died.
And God said, Hagar? Hagar? She said, Thou God seest
me. He said, There's a whale right
there. And he opened her eyes, and there she was. And I always
say, why will you die when the cleansing fountain is so nearby?
You know why? You don't see it.