But then again . Hardships and sufferings %PDF-1.5 Because thats the way Jesus healed me; thats the way he does it!, Then the second man began to get angry. Sin causes blindness, and blindness begets more sin. Knowledge plays a huge role in our Gospel reading today. Its OK. Go ahead and take a look at your own life. Also both/and not either/or. The church of God will stick out like a sore thumb in the midst of perversion. What if it IS God, and I dont believe? What defiles us? :I have met people spiritually blind who have no vision of what By this time in Johns story, Jesus has been travelling around the region for some time and has performed a dozen or so miracles, including changing water into wine, healing people of various diseases and feeding 5,000 with a few fish and loaves of bread. What does finding God mean. endobj WebLam 3:65. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. Then we get the wonderful interaction between Jesus and the blind man. Orthodox. He showed me how to Well consider just the first half of it this morning and the next Lords Day complete that study, but the basic issue in this portion of Matthews gospel is the subject of spiritual blindness - spiritual blindness. <>>> Picture # 10 in series: The 14 Candid Snapshots of the Maturing Christian as found in the Gospel of John. read more, Scripture: It is based on the observed fact that the eye, as an organ, is dependent on the mind and the will. The process of our salvation is seen in the picture of the man born blind. Had Jesus just sat still and told the man that his sight had been restored, we might never have gotten to the real exchange between the Pharisees and Jesus. Spiritual blindness and spiritual sight Back to all sermons. As the Psalmist says, Gods thoughts are not our thoughts, and we cannot attain to God thoughts. But what stood out for me this week was the discussion of blindness its causes, its cures and whose blindness remains. WebSpiritual Blindness in The Magicians Nephew Jesus is clear that it is dangerous to close ones ears, eyes, and heart to the leadings of the Holy Spirit. I+QmE-=C:.5M1#hq/-K Ml"{=@. read more. Prelude read more, Scripture: Fr. But to those who refuse to acknowledge their blindness, the brilliant shining of the true light only blinds them further. But each time they looked, they saw nothing they saw with the eyes of religious authority, not with the eyes of faith. Ignorance is no excuse. Thanks be to God that today those Pharisees arent around, huh? Sermonette by David C. Grabbe. +O. Blindness of the Mind II Cor. Pentecostal. What did Jesus bring for the poor, the brokenhearted, the blind, and the oppressed? I am so thankful that we dont have Pharisees around today. 4:3) He was alive but his x[m A"EIE@v/iS4EPA?xmoV]v-m_!/hC-p^}?gMv]v>LTy_"+uVU.e/u~W_f~(f?eYD[tF_fy={/D3[7!a6vvnf +QEBE"Zt]$ Ol>/y~lU#g,#6e&dcs-2 GOD OF JACOB OPENS THE EYES OF THE BLINDS.GOD OF THIS WORLD SATAN BLINDS THE EYES OF PEOPLE!BELIEVE JESUS&ANOINT YOUR EYES, IT WILL BE ENLIGHTENED!! Are we noble like the Bereans, studying our Bibles daily to see what God says? shall they not both fall into the ditch? Check out these helpful resources This story from Johns Gospel is long and detailed. And In my off-the-cuff remarks, I said that what bothered me was that the Mormon Church pretended to be Christian in order to make themselves more acceptable in this predominantly Christian country. WebThe title of the sermon is: Beware of Spiritual Blindness Were going to talk about five points today in the subject of being aware and constantly on guard against spiritual blindness. Robert Woody . Christ is worthy of the long journey to find him and worship him. No one sees Jesus truly who will not see his suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection as the heart of God's plan for the salvation of lost sinners. In the Bible the What a great promise from God: "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go." John 9:1-41. Luke 6:39, Denomination: How God chooses to do Gods work and through whom God chooses to do the work of salvation is not for me to determine. The Pharisees find out about what has happened and begin to question the man. WebSpiritual Blindness. In Episcopalian 101 a couple of weeks ago, I was asked some questions about comparative religion and I expounded for a few minutes on The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. To stay in spiritual blindness, reject the gift of sight that Jesus offers to you. Verse 41 is a gracious offer of salvation: If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, We see, your sin remains. Jesus is saying, If you would admit your blindness, I would heal you and you would not come into judgment. What are some others (give biblical references)? Sin causes blindness, and blindness begets more sin. The man born blind was in his condition of blindness so the works of God might be displayed in his life (John 9:3; Romans 8:28; I Corinthians 3:15,16). Subscribe to the CompellingTruth.org Newsletter: Spiritual blindness is a condition that an individual has when they are unable to see God, or understand His message. We all have areas of spiritual blindness. Right or wrong, I have in my mind what constitutes Christianity. There is a very deep verseit is so simple, we seldom For some people this is their desire while many others would rather remain in blindness. 1. Copyright 2011-2023 Got Questions Ministries - All Rights Reserved. Gaining spiritual sight, confessing Jesus as Lord, and worshiping Him are three evidences of genuine saving faith. Part 2 of 5 of the Praying Your Family and Friends to Christ Series. WebSpiritual Blindness: Choosing a Curse Sermonette by David C. Grabbe God proclaims a cause-effect relationship between sin and madness, blindness, and confusion of heart. Resources to inspire you and your congregation! read more, Scripture: Those people who were faced with the signs and wonders of God Incarnate in their lives and yet couldnt see who and what Jesus was. Jesus, when delivering the sermon on the Mount, described it this way. I. Judas Betrayed Due to Blindness (v. 14a) read more, Scripture: For some time now, as I have been reading about trends in spiritual fashions, as it were, Ive noted that one of the currently fashionable things is mystery. As near as Ive ever been able to tell, mystery in these (The "HEART" acronym that is being used for this series is taken from Jesus comes to us, and anoints us, Christ opens the eyes of our hearts, our eyes are opened. read more, Scripture: Sermon on the mental and spiritual blindness of the unbeliever. There had been numerous opportunities for the Pharisees to take a look at Him and discern for themselves whether they thought He was the Incarnation of God, or just a political messiah. His eyes were blinded to who Jesus was Methodist. The world has been blinded since Adam. THERE ARE NONE SO BLIND AS THE ONE THAT REFUSES TO OPEN THEIR EYES The man born blind repeatedly admits, "I don't know." Are your eyes open? 2 0 obj WebLuke 11:33-36 If we indeed allow God's light to be placed within the lamp, us, and then do nothing with it, it is like hiding it in a secret place.This is true in our everyday experiences and within the church. Lets look at Matthew 15:10-20 and see what Jesus has to say about R. Tuck. Jesus tells his listeners that neither the man nor his parents had caused his problem meaning that their entire line of questioning was wrong. We are born blind in sin. Spiritually, blindness refers to our inability to recognize the truth of God in any situation. Luke 19:42-44, Denomination: Luke 4:14-21. Christopher M. Nerreau Mark 8:11-26, Denomination: 1 0 obj What He could have told them was, Its nobodys fault. We will find forgiveness. TRY SERMONWRITER! They who were so clueless that they bordered on hopeless. They talked about the wonder of sight, the color of flowers, the glory of sunrises, the faces of children and grandchildren. Their guilt remains. Todays story from Johns gospel is about a solitary human being who was born blind. What if it IS God and I dont believe? Thats a tough one for us to face. We dont think were that bad. Open thou mine eyes. BUT when Jesus, this brand new picture of God in the world came along, they closed the eyes of their hearts they figuratively plucked out their own eyes rather than see that even as their faith went along, something new could also be happening in the interaction between God and humanity. Spiritual Blindness (Part Three): Choosing a Curse 'Prophecy Watch' by David C. Grabbe This year you are studying: Questions Jesus Asked from Marks gospel. Luke 6:39 And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? WebThe prophets prophesy falsely and my people love to have it so" ( Jeremiah 5:31; 16:1113 ). endobj Matthew 5:8, Denomination: Today we look at John 9:13-41, the follow-up to the miracle given to the man who was blind from birth, and we read: They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. Used by permission. Date: March 11, 2018. Most of us will not officiate at a wedding between a believer and an unbeliever, believing Do you live a blessed life? The aftermath conveys the journey from spiritual blindness to saving faith. One day they decided to visit a nearby palace. In short, those who reject Christ are spiritually blind and they are lost (John 6:6869). We must accept that there are some things for which we do not know the answer, and not all the things we 'know' are necessarily true. Nothing opens eyes like a good question. When they arrived, there was an elephant standing in the courtyard. 3. But it is also a warning. What a question that is. Even though sin offers fleeting pleasure, we must learn to intensely hate sin, regarding this product of Satan as a destroyer of everything God loves. WebMany, even in the church, would say that one can reject the message of Jesus Christ as Savior and still be good and virtuous. 1. 2. We live as if He didnt exist or matter. In The Magicians Nephew, a With our eyes opened, we are no longer blinded by the dark. He was blind to the plan of God Jesus is the saving, redeeming, and creation-filling light of the world. This figure of speech is a familiar Eastern one. Power of the Spirit You still have mud in your eyes. But sometimes I let my self-important, pharisaical nature make me think Im God. Luke 19:41-44 I did a Google search on the phrase, "I live a blessed life." Web20 views, 2 likes, 1 loves, 5 comments, 0 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from First Baptist Church of Jericho: Sermon Topic: "The Days of Our Lives" Scripture: Psalm 90:10-12 Sermon Notes: 1. A person who does not see God, does not know God, and unfortunately they are spiritually perishing (2 Corinthians 4:34; Revelation 3:17). Copyright 2003-2023 | Outreach, Inc., All rights reserved. Christ healed the blind, lepers, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics, and every kind God proclaims a cause-effect relationship between sin and madness, blindness, and confusion of heart. Chris Schofield, I was trained by a very fine hunter who took time to teach me to shoot, scout and prepare my game. God didnt make this man blind as a punishment. Lets examine Jesus' words in Luke 4:14-21. WebThe Enormous Consequences of a Single Misplaced Dot Mistakes are easily made and its often too late to rectify the situation by the time someone notices. Do You See Anything? *** He had never seen a sunrise or the beauty of a flower. We try to follow the rules and get a handle on what it is God wants from us. Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh. A. Web9 Bible Verses about Spiritual Blindness, Consequences Of Most Relevant Verses Romans 1:20-22 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and Copyright 2009, John Bedingfield. Lee Eclov. The man who had been unable to see because of his physical blindness now had both physical eyesight and spiritual eyesight. He could see that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ. In response he worshiped Him. His worship reveals that he knew Jesus was God. Anglican. 2. - Spiritual blindness, if not dealt with through the power and strength of the Holy Spirit, has great consequences on the life Zech 12:4. Remember that John tells us it was the Sabbath. The urban spirit converts people who had conservative values into liberals. 1. 2. get holiday so many times he put the drops of liquid from a tree,that makes his eyes blood red Scripture: Mark 8:22 9:13. Jesus is dealing with blindness. They talked about the power of having seen the face of Jesus. The first blind man touched the side of the elephant and said, An, There is an old fable about six men blind from birth who lived in India. Here is one example out of my life of many examples. B-25, Mark 10:46-52 . The whole system of slavery was largely perpetuated by sincere ignorance. Both the literal and metaphorical meanings of blindness are always present every time the words "blind" and "to It is not static, but leads to destruction. Youre the one whos still blind!. 11 29 2015 A Journey from Blindness to Sight: John 9:13-41 Matthew 26:14-16, The same judgments that befell Jerusalem will befall those who refuse to recognize the time of Christs visitation. Although God is working all around us, pursuing us and showing us His glory, some people cannot perceive His divine workings (Acts 28:2627). Not what if it is not God and I believe that it is but What if it is God and I believe that it is not? That is the one question the Pharisees forgot to ask. Priest, professor, preacher and writer extraordinaire, Barbara Brown Taylor says that the Pharisees in this story, in their eternal hunt to root out sinfulness, committed the bigger sin. When they arrived, there was an elephant standing in the courtyard. It is a promise that if we humble ourselves and admit our spiritual blindness, we will find the light. Tools. The Pharisees in this story werent wrong for being the teachers and protectors of Jewish law. As were going to see, God also allowed Satan to blind Ancient Israel. In our sermon today will see the parallels between the judgment of Jerusalem and that of the lives of those who recognize not Thy visita, RECOGNIZE THY VISITATION I do NOT, however, know the mind of God. And this is talking about all men. 14 Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his Spiritual blindness is a lack of understanding what Jesus made available to all of us by faith. The movie Braveheart tells the story of how a 13th century Scottish commoner named William Wallace led his country to freedom from an oppressive Sign up for our newsletter: 52-week preaching calendar to help you plan your sermons, Customizable sermon manuscripts for verse-by-verse preaching, Preach with creativity and impact throughout the year, Help your church understand God's plan in pain, Call your people to experience a higher freedom, Proclaim the gospel to the ends of the earth.