Spiritually Blinded

Romans 11:8

“Just as it is written: God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.”

The cause of blindness was questioned by the disciples of the Lord in John 9:2 in regards to the man that was born blind. Their question, “who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” was a common misconception to the cause of suffering. Jesus would reply that neither had sinned but “that the works of God should be revealed in him” (John 9:3). While it may be the case that people are blind for various physical reasons; born blind, macular degeneration, accidents, it would stand to reason that most people do not choose to be physically blind. Those that would purposely take their eyesight have a psychosis that needs to be dealt with. 

However, those that would purposely choose to be spiritually blind have a greater problem than those that would choose to be physically blind, one with eternal consequences. Perhaps instead of asking “what sin causes a person to be physically blind” the better question would be “what sin causes a person to be spiritually blind?” Paul states in Romans 11:7 that Israel had not obtained what they were looking for, national salvation. The elect, however, found salvation by the grace of God. He further states that those that have not obtained salvation, fleshly Israel, were blinded to God.

The word “blinded” in this passage carries the idea of hardening, to petrify. It is derived from a Greek word meaning “to cover with a callus, dulled spiritual perception”. Another word that could be used is “unimpressible.” Why could the Jews not obtain salvation? They were “unimpressed” with the works and message of Jesus Christ! John writes in his gospel, “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (20:30, 31). Consider the seven miracles Jesus did in the gospel of John: water to wine (ch.2), healing the nobleman’s son (ch.4), healing the man at the pool of Bethesda (ch.5), feeding the 5000 (ch.6), walking on water (ch.6), healing of the blind man (ch.9), and the raising of Lazarus from the dead (ch.11). These seven miracles show Jesus is the Master of quality, distance, time, quantity, nature, misfortune, and death. And still, the Jews were so unimpressed with Him because they purposely blinded themselves to Him spiritually!

To further press the point, Paul uses a mixture of Old Testament passages to describe their condition in verse 8, “God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.” The first part of the verse comes from Isaiah 29:10 and the second half from Deuteronomy 29:4. They had a “spirit” (Hebrew roo-akh) meaning their life and their mind is in slumber or sleep. The Jews became lethargic in their senses to follow Jesus spiritually. Like the prickling sensation one might receive in the arms and legs of the body when these extremities “fall asleep,” so did the Jewish mind. 

Paul also quotes from David in Psalm 69:22, 23 to describe the blindness the Jews had to God, “Let their table become a snare before them, and their well-being a trap. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see; and make their loins shake continually.” Paul takes these imprecatory (invoking judgment or calamity on one’s enemies) verses to highlight the total and complete desolation of the house of Israel. The same desolation Jesus described “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate” (Matthew 23:37, 38).

Although the Law of Moses was designed to bring the Jews to Christ, when they rejected Jesus and chose the law, the law made them stumble and caused them to fall from God. This quote by Paul shows that God never intended for the basis of salvation to come through national Israel, but there was the basis of the covenant God would make with the people through Christ. This is the same condition of those that still reject God today, “And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:11, 12). God has always rejected those that reject Him. 

My Team

You’ve probably heard, or even said, in regards to a sports team something like, “We won a hard fought game” or “I can’t believe we traded our best player away.” Although I may have no financial stock or responsibility in a team, because I am a fan, I may refer to them as “my team.” I do this because I am emotionally invested in the team. I want to see them succeed. I show up and support them anytime I possibly can. I don’t care if it’s hot or cold, dry or wet, I will be at their games. It doesn’t even bother me when people act hypocritical, people that are not as “devoted” as me but they show up anyway. We will usually say and do these things most generally about anything we are a part of…until it comes to the church.

Suddenly, we talk about “those” people. We talk about what “they” are doing or not doing. We can’t attend worship if it’s too cold or too hot. And don’t get me started about the hypocrites that show up.

I want to make it clear…the church belongs to the Lord (Matthew 16:18), and He bought it with His blood (Acts 20:28). I know that the Lord added me to His church when I was baptized into Christ (Acts 2:47; Romans 6:1-4). The church, in those terms, does not belong to me. But I am emotionally invested in it. My whole life is centered on my association with the church. If I start to talk in terms of the church as “them” and “they” instead of “us” and “we”, perhaps I am the hypocrite.

If I think the church isn’t doing enough as far as evangelism, will I complain about “them” or will I talk about what “we” can do?

If I think the church isn’t doing enough as far as benevolence is concerned, do I bemoan “their” lack of love or will I examine “myself” as part of the problem?

If I think the edification I need from “those” people is lacking, can “I” be more uplifting?

Notice the words of our Lord, “Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20, 21).

The kingdom of God, the church, is within us. Let us act and speak accordingly.

A Journaling Bible

Last Christmas my wife and I got our oldest daughter a “journaling Bible.” If you’ve not seen one of these, its a Bible with wide margins on the sides of the pages. There are lines to write notes on but the popular thing is to draw or write something artistically about a verse on that page. Our daughter is an AMAZING artist and has drawn several pictures. Here is one she has done:Most ideas she finds online that others have done but she still has to draw them in her Bible. To be honest, at first I thought this was weird. I’m a preacher and I write many notes in the margin of my Bible…why would a person draw a picture in their Bible?

The answer is simple…it helps with the memorization of the Scripture. The Greek language, of which the New Testament was written, is a language that produces pictures in the mind of the one listening. Those pictures of the mind help remember what is taught. The pictures our daughter draws leave a lasting imprint on her mind to remember valuable Scriptures that will guide her in her walk with God.

Memorization of Scripture is important to the Christian. We have a great example in the book of Matthew, chapter 4 verses 3-11:

“Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD.’ ” Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,  and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘HE SHALL GIVE HIS ANGELS CHARGE OVER YOU,’ and, IN THEIR HANDS THEY SHALL BEAR YOU UP, LEST YOU DASH YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’ ” Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘YOU SHALL NOT TEMPT THE LORD YOUR GOD.’ ” Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND HIM ONLY YOU SHALL SERVE.’ ” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.”

Jesus used the Scriptures of the Old Testament to resist the temptations of the devil. He didn’t have to call a preacher to find the right verse. He didn’t have a Bible app to look up a verse. Jesus had the word in His heart! I encourage you to use whatever method you can to memorize the Scriptures. Follow the admonition of the Psalmist:

“Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You” Psalm 119:11.

Back Pain and Reflection

Over the last three days, I’ve been doctoring my back. It all started while in my first full time preaching work in 1997. I’d like to say I hurt it doing something heroic, but sadly, I was sitting at my desk in the office and got out of the chair awkwardly. I don’t know how I hurt it but after a couple of days it stopped. From that time, I’ve been careful about how I move, but inevitably, I do something that makes it almost impossible to walk. After two or three days of a heating pad and pain pills I’m right as rain.

Last Sunday morning I moved wrong again, the pain shot through my back and down my right leg. Thankfully, I was able to preach both lessons but Monday morning around 2:00am I tried to get out of bed and could barely move. The pain was so intense I almost passed out. If it were not for my loving wife keeping me from falling I probably be in the hospital. For the last two days, I’ve been pretty much confined to the chair, binge watching FRINGE on Netflix and reading books about church growth and evangelism (a weird combination, I know). I tell this story not for sympathy, but to explain why I’ve had time to think and reflect.

I think about folks who are in worse medical conditions then I am. Sure my back hurts, but it is and will continue to improve. Most people do not. My prayers for them the last few days have been more fervent, more numerous. I think about many that go through life with such pain and still express joy for the God that made them. It makes me feel pretty small when I get mad that I can’t go to grocery store with my wife because my back hurts.

I think about the church here in Fairfield and what a wonderful, loving group they are. How after Sunday morning service the elders saw the pain I was in standing up front because of my back and offered to have a song practice that night to help me out. But I’ve been on the other side of the coin too. The church I was working with 18 years ago when my son was born couldn’t understand why I would miss a Wednesday night service because my wife was in labor in the hospital. I know that my family, God’s family, in Fairfield cares about us and I love them and I pray for them every day.

I think about what an incredible, godly wife I have. In the early summer of 1995 I remember the most earnest, fervent prayer I ever uttered. I was about to start preaching school and I begged God to send a girl that would love me, encourage me, and stand with me until the day I die. Of course God went above and beyond with Kristina. When I’m at my lowest, physically, emotionally, or spiritually, she is always…ALWAYS…with me. I think about that prayer that night and thank God for hearing me. I pray for husbands and wives that are struggling in their relationship. I pray that I can help them have a marriage like God wants them to have.

I know my back will soon be well. I know that I’ll not have the luxury to sit in the chair and read all day much longer. I wrote this note to let you know what I’ve been thinking about, but hopefully use it to remind me later on as well.

Keeper’s of the Aquarium!

When Jesus called His disciples, especially the fisherman of Galilee, He called them to be fishers of men. No longer would they spend their days doing the work of catching fish, they would be sent out to teach people the good news of Jesus Christ. This teaching had its culmination in the great commission, when Jesus instructed these same disciples to take the gospel into all the world and convert people to the cause of Christ. However, not only was this command for the disciples then, it equally applies to us now. Have we gone from being fishers of men to keepers of the aquarium? Are we satisfied with our lack of evangelism? Jesus said there would be few that would be saved, but are we using that as an excuse not to teach the lost?

The Lord’s church must be busy in three main areas, edification, benevolence and evangelism. It’s an easy thing to lift the spirits of others and help those that are in need, but we fall short of the great commission. We cannot make excuses, the fields are white unto harvest and the laborers are few! Paul gave us a good description of how evangelism is to be done in 1 Corinthians 3:6:

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gives the increase.”

We must plant the seed, which is the Word of God (Luke 8:10), continue to “water” by not giving up, continue to teach and instruct at all times (2 Timothy 4:2) and God will add daily to the church (Acts 2:47). Notice it is not our place to do God’s work and He will not do ours! That may be why we are not as effective at evangelism, we confuse the roles. We can only do what is in our power to do, and that is to teach the Word of God.

Everyday we come in contact with a lost and dying world, invite them to worship services. Encourage them to enroll in a Bible correspondence course. Hand them an issue of House to House/Heart to Heart. Let them know you care about them not just as a friend, but as a soul that need salvation found only in Jesus Christ!