Spiritual Blindness – Spiritual Sight

“And Jesus answered and said unto him, ‘What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?’ The blind man said unto him, ‘Lord, that I might receive my sight.’ ” Mark 10:51 SD 126 Just like the natural man described in Cor. 2:14 there is a way that seems right to us, but the end thereof is the way of death. Prov. 14:12 The flesh fools us. Jesus judges us according to the deeds of the flesh. Is. 11:3 Christ would not judge by sight, nor hearing but with the eyes of the Spirit. So, what are we to do? The very thing that seems right to us, only leads to death. Well, we must start to see by the light of God’s word, and submit our carnal, human minds to Him. Rev. 2:4

The Church at Ephesus – Now if anyone had light and sight, it certainly was this church – at the very beginning of the gospel way, was when the Holy Spirit was working through the apostles to bring people into the church by the thousands working powerfully and directly. Wouldn’t we like to see that kind of manifestation of the Spirit of God, today? But what’was Ephesus admonished for?

Leaving their first love. First we should define what love is – What do you think love is? Rom. 13:10 tells us that love is the “fulfilling of the law.” So what would first love be? Warm, ardent affection – clear sight, but again, not necessarily physical sight but a spiritual knowledge and insight to see with the eyes of the spirit.
What are some of the things that we need to see? Firstly and most importantly: We must see ourselves. To remember who and what we are. Remember the very first beatitude: Blessed are they who recognize their need; in other words, spiritual poverty.

No position ever made man righteous or more prone to salvation than His fellow Christian. Actually, I see the opposite: the more highly anyone is placed within an organization, the more they tend to guard their own position, which leads them back to self-deception. It doesn’t always happen that way, but quite often it does.

What is the only way to have this sight? To accept the Holy Spirit reproving us for our sin.. .And to keep coming back there. John 16:8-11 To know righteousness – what is the only way? It is to see something of the holiness and goodness of God in contrast to our own complete and total unrighteousness.

Ungodliness always leads to unrighteousness – it may be sooner, or it may be later, but it will always lead that way. How many people try through psychoanalysis, primal scream therapy or other fleshly ways to know themselves but keep coming up empty.

Ministry of Healing tells us that it is not wise to look to ourselves and study our own emotions, this is only to perplex us and entangle us in difficulty. But we’re told that we must confess our faults to one another, isn’t it? Isn’t the only real way we’re going to know ourselves is to know our God?

Oh yes, you can perhaps understand a lot of things about your own reactions in different situations by exposing yourself to them, but finally knowing God means knowing one’s self. Ps. 19:12:14 The message of Christ Our Righteousness shows us that man’s natural condition is to think that we’re alright when we’re all wrong – the greatest deception that man can have. But that is exactly what spiritual blindness is all about. If you came to church to congratulate yourself on how good you are in comparison to others, you can be sure that is spiritual blindness. Or perhaps you come to justify yourself, and explain your faults and errors to others, but that can be spiritual blindness as well. But isn’t that what we’re supposed to do with our faults? No we’re to confess them, which means acknowledging that, that is all we are without Jesus. There is a great power and freedom in confessing our sins to God and faults to one another. To waste no time in self-recrimination, not to explain ourselves because others have blamed us, but just to throw open the darkened chambers of mind and soul to the healing love of Calvary’s cross.

When an eye surgeon performs an operation he has to make sure that the eye is actually connected to the optic nerve leading to the brain, or else there won’t be sight. But it’s not only that: he has to put the patient in care and make sure that the eyes have time to rest and only slowly, gradually be exposed to the light. If there are any sudden, abrupt exposures to the light, the eyes may go blind again. So it is with our spiritual sight. We must be connected to the source of light, if we would have sight, but we must also work as He worked for fallen man.

We must patiently, yet earnestly bring people back to the truth. We must also have the foresight to help them and ourselves to prepare for Christ’s second coming.. .It is this truth that explains and expands upon every other truth that we have and hold. I mean: why be a Sabbath keeper, or vegetarian, or pay our tithe – where is your treasure?

If it is in heaven, then all that you have and all that you are will ultimately be consecrated to God. All these things are how the redeemed act in heaven. And our message is all about Eden lost to Eden restored; spiritual blindness to spiritual sight. Sometimes people wander away not because they are bad, necessarily, but because they have only natural devotion. And this has blinded them. Do you know what I’m saying? Now, natural devotion is a good thing, but in this area, like everything else, Satan gives only the good to rob us of the best. Gal. 4:22-26

Paul is not dealing with sin in this chapter of Galatians, but with the revelation of the natural to the spiritual. The natural must be turned into the spiritual by sacrifice, otherwise a tremendous divorce from God will be produced in life. God’s order was that the natural should be transformed into the spiritual by obedience; it is sin that made it necessary for the natural to be sacrificed. Abraham had to offer up Ishmael, the natural son, before he offered up Isaac. Some of us are trying to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God before we have sacrificed the natural. The only way in which we can offer a spiritual sacrifice to God is by presenting our bodies a living sacrifice.

Sanctification means more than deliverance from sin, it means the deliberate commitment of myself whom God has saved to God, and that I do not care what it costs. If we do not sacrifice the natural to the spiritual, the natural life will separate us from God and produce a continual complaining. This is always the result of an undisciplined nature. We go wrong because we stubbornly refuse to discipline ourselves, physically, morally or mentally. We say, “I wasn’t disciplined when I was a child.” You must discipline yourself now. If you do not, you will ruin your life.

God is not pleased with our natural life, especially while we pamper it; but when we put it out in the desert and resolutely keep it under, then God will change the natural to the spiritual life; and He will open up wells and oases, and fulfill all His promises for the spiritual person. You see, the Jews were very self-righteous people, but their devotion was only natural. Was it enough to be outwardly faithful? Unfortunately, not. That’s the real theme of this chapter in Galatians, and perhaps we could say the whole book of Galatians, the natural vs. the spiritual. Some have tried to dismiss this book as only an argument against trusting in the ceremonial law for salvation.

So what are we to trust for salvation? Of course, only Jesus Christ. Unless we keep this fact always before us, we will end up thinking we are all right, when we are all wrong. Then we will tolerate glaring sins in our own private lives, and condemn others for their little sins. We cannot trust in outward obedience of the law for our salvation like the Jews did, because natural devotion will fail of accomplishing God’s righteousness. They lost their spiritual sight for they walked by merely their natural sight and natural devotion. Ps. 19:12 I think that this should be our prayer, isn’t it?

How is it with you and I today? John 9:32 It was never heard that a man was bora blind and then received his sight, but many are born blind. As far as spiritual sight is concerned, the natural person is blind. If Jesus is our best Friend, he who has given us sight, then we will love to introduce others to Him and tell them of everything He has done for us…

Every time this previously blind man saw anything beautiful, who would he be reminded of? The one who had given Him his sight, of course. So every blessing of health, strength, and life itself should lead us to clearer sight and deeper gratitude for Him who has loved us and died to save us.

It’s a very high calling, isn’t it? But this is exactly what you and I, weakened and helpless sinners need, in order to see once again. May God grant us light that we may see, and His love that we may hear the cries of others who need us.
AMEN.

By Jerry Eaton