The third cause of our spiritual blindness is this hardness of heart. Series 2 - Bible Answers for... But what does it really mean? You know, we will say, “Well, I read something and I do not understand it.” At that point, it is enough to read it. You see? We are blind to it. He has to pour his Holy Spirit into a clean vessel, into an open vessel. Bible Study Guides. Again, if we want to have a fulfilling spiritual life, we have to do the things that are necessary for us to be open to this truth, and so in this context of speaking about spiritual sight, if we do not want to be spiritually blind, let us look out for these three things: The first one in the Gospel reading that is presented to us is ignorance. Now, you will notice on the bulletin, and you will notice in the official titles of the Sundays, we always say, “This is the Sunday of the healing of the man who was born blind.” But honestly, I think, and the gospel reading is very clear, if you read it—it is long—but if you read it several times, you will understand the real import of this reading is that it has a two-fold purpose. Let us be open to that. We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we do not know where he is from.’. What Caused the Blindness? If we do not open our minds and take the time to learn the truth, we will never learn it by osmosis, especially in this society. Moreover, spiritual blindness is not the worst of all vices -- apostasy and despair are worse, for example. I remember when my father had retired, and I will be perfectly honest with you, I would say my father read the scriptures occasionally, and certainly he provided the sermons and would prepare for the sermons, but I do not think he was necessarily a student of the scriptures. Let’s consider some examples. Spiritual Blindness.  Instagram, RSS & iTunes     Let us think about our relationship to God, and our relationship to the church. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.”. God allows us to remain blinded until He calls us and we respond. So, ignorance—ignorance is a tremendous cause of spiritual blindness. The Scriptures have a way of saying that God closes their eyes. The Causes of Physical and Spiritual BLINDNESS. Sin blinds us to God’s truth and to our own need for God in our lives. God allows us to remain blinded until He calls us and we respond. their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with Maybe we had a bad experience in church 25 years ago. This morning we return again to the Gospel of Matthew and chapter 16. If we take the time to look at it in this way, it becomes then, not just another story about healing, but it becomes the very principles of truth for what God wants to do in my life. The key to the answer of why spiritually dead, spiritually blind people who can only be rescued by a divine miracle, the key is to see that this blindness and deadness is willful. May Jesus the “light of the world” dispel the spiritual blindness in our souls. Blinded by Pride (Conceit) Many people in Jerusalem at the time had acquired a deep pride—you know, that pride that blinds you and makes you think that you are always right. Email Newsletter, Terms of Use    Privacy Policy    Permissions    Content Disclaimer, The Worst Forms of Blindness - Blind Man Sunday 2017, Willful Spiritual Blindness (John 9:1-38), How Your Faith Survives the Winds of Change. One is that of our spiritual enemy, who will do all he can to distract us from the promises of the Gospel and the power of God. "‘For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Here Jesus talks about spiritual blindness. 3. So it is with us. Privacy Policy They did not have spiritual eyesight. Do you want to hear it again? Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Listen to the question again: Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Let us do that, and then we will see the true brightness of the resurrection. Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. SUMMARY Spiritual blindness is the greatest bondage there is. Are you unaware you are doing anything wrong? It simply is a matter of cooperating with the Grace of God, and a matter of our will assenting to that. His disciples asked Him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind? In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen, Christ is risen! It is rooted in what we prefer. Why? When we are spiritually blind, we can delude ourselves into thinking that our sins are not sins, or are too small to matter. W hat is spiritual blindness? We say, “He has a good heart, he has a bad heart, he has a hard heart. 1. However, spiritual blindness ultimately kept them from following the words of Lehi. He might have done a little bit of good, but look at all that bad he did.” And we tend to not only look at the church in that manner, but we look at everything in that manner. Who sinned, this man or his parents? If every people would heal it, there would not be wars, hatred, hunger and crimes. LUST. So as we are going about our week, let us think about this Gospel reading. As pride is the root of all the other vices, it is also the root of all sins ... however, the most direct cause of spiritual blindness is not pride, but is lust. And we have closed that part of our heart off. Jesus had just been speaking with some teachers and the Pharisees who had just rebuked Him for their disciples not following their traditions (Matt 15:1-2) so Jesus told them that they had been doing far worse. II. Have you even heard of it? So that cynicism—we have to be able to recognize these things in ourselves. God wants me to see the world, and the person sitting next to me, with new, bright, spiritual sight. What is means, is that we have to change our priority for what we want to know. If The following eye diseases and conditions can cause blindness: Glaucoma refers to different eye conditions that can damage your optic nerve, which … Anger can render us blind, hence the saying, “a blind rage.” Pain, trauma and grief may make us blind. love Him.' The understanding will come if you are open to it, and if you want to put the time into it. The bad theology of the Pharisees caused these religious leaders to miss the most important event in human history: God had visited them. : Amazon.ca: Kindle Store Never! So, in our hearts, and in our minds, I think, unfortunately, sometimes we approach God and we approach church, with our preconceived notions. That he dies on a cross, he shows his power over sin and death by raising from the dead, and that is what we continue to celebrate today. Let us remove all ignorance, and all cynicism, and whatever stones and hardness that are in our hearts. In itself, this is not a foolproof question, but it is a … "But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, … Blind. We seldom step out of that comfort zone to say, “You know, I really don’t know much about the bible, maybe I should read it. Spiritual Blindness is sickening to Christ. Series 1 - The Bible and You: Practical Answers—Real Hope And a sinful life cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Satanic Bondage - Satan blinds human minds from understanding God's good news. So, his blindness is an opportunity to show the mighty works of God, that he can remove the blindness of this man. Lack of faith may also shut the eyes of our hearts. How did Jesus open your eyes?’ And the man answered them, ‘I told you already and you did not listen. Now, admittedly, not many people take care of it, so I assume that means everybody else knows the Scriptures very well, right? But Jesus said, you are not asking the right question. Then we wonder why we hurt and suffer. And we have closed that part of our heart off. Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God" (1 Corinthians Joy—Our We walk through our daily lives tripping over addictions, stumbling into relationships and falling into the pit of unbridled desire. He is a good person. Do you understand? You are ignorant of why I am here in the first place. It is a very important problem of today’s society. I am not here to say this man sinned, or these parents sinned. As a devout follower of our forefathers, we worship those same images even today. When we have this hardness of heart, when we hold onto whatever grudge it is, and we are unwilling to let that go, and unwilling to soften our attitude and soften our life, our spiritual blindness will remain. Looking at a spiritual eclipse through the protecting and softening lens of the Spirit provides a gospel perspective, thus protecting us from spiritual blindness. whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest 1. For the two previous Sundays, and including this Sunday now, we have been speaking about how to have a fulfilling spiritual life, and today I want to talk about the gospel in terms of this idea of spiritual sight. Tradition can blind us. 2. Peter discussed the remedy for spiritual blindness caused by lust when he wrote, "According … This short article will bring to the light three major reasons for spiritual blindness and then three remedies to conquer this blindness! the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, In other words, they posed the question in such a way, not to be open to any other answer. We start to think that we are better than others or, at least, not as bad as them. So we see everything with this cynical view and we say, “Oh, yeah, well he did this, but he also did that. We become sort of negative, and we become poisoned with that. 2:9-11). So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. The Blind Leading the Blind. "‘For the hearts of this people have … NATURAL BLINDNESS IS A MAJOR FACTOR IN SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS. Spiritual Blindness Spiritual blindness is a condition caused by sin that prevents us from seeing things as they truly are. Maybe one causes the other. The heart, in Orthodox parlance, and in scriptural parlance, is really the center of our being, it is who we are, when it refers to our heart. “AS HE passed along, He noticed a man blind from his birth. But he says something very interesting. I think that we want to make the scriptures, especially, first and foremost, a part of our lives as Orthodox Christians. We need to be alert to his tactics, so that we focus on Christ. He is a hard person. Amen. Vision impairment can range from mild to sev These are very important truths that this very long gospel reading presents to us. Blindness is strictly defined as the state of being totally sightless in both eyes. But a spiritually blind person is incapable of digesting, comprehending, perceiving the true meaning of spiritual … Series 4 - God's Plan for You and the Entire World Their ears are hard We can combat spiritual blindness with humility and a willingness to turn to God for understanding. Let us be positive and supportive and trusting, so that we can really experience the spiritual life that God wants us to experience. The Causes of Physical and Spiritual BLINDNESS. It would be wrong to call them spiritual leaders. May 24, 2009 Do I question everything? Think about the story of Mary Magdalene at the tomb on Easter morning. And it is not a healthy one. We have had a bible study for nine years in this parish. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach." The word used in Scripture to describe natural blindness is the word The other cause is our own slowness to believe and act upon what we have learned of the Gospel over the years. For the We’re going to be looking at the first twelve verses as a unit. He says, “Therefore, I speak to them in parables, because seeing, they do not see, and hearing, they do not hear, nor do they understand.” Then he goes on to quote Isaiah, and of course, in our bible study we are studying Isaiah: And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, “hearing you will hear, and shall not understand, and seeing you will see, and not perceive, for the hearts of this people have grown dull. into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who What's the Cause and Cure of Spiritual Blindness? Ever since I was in high school, I would always walk around with a bible all the time and read the scriptures constantly, and I said to my dad, “All of a sudden you are reading the scriptures all the time. Do I cynically look at everything and say, “Well that will never work,” or “we did this before,” or “it will never happen.” Or can we be open, and can we be positive and hopeful that goodness really does exist. Why does Jesus teach in parables? Mat 23:1-3 (NIV) Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. To learn more about spiritual blindness, see "Flying The Causes of Spiritual Blindness: - There are several causes of Spiritual Blindness, some of which include the following: 1. The Bible and You: Practical Answers—Real Hope, The Great Teachings of the Bible and What They Mean for You. Spiritual blindness, then, has at least two causes. With the words of the prophets in our hearts and the Holy Spirit as our counselor, we can gaze at partially blocked heavenly light through “gospel glasses,” avoiding the harm of a spiritual eclipse. Why are you doing that?” He said, “I am getting ready for my final exam.”. The Causes of Spiritual Blindness Sin –“Those who have never seen, that need salvation.” These are blinded by original sin, so as Jesus said, “If the... Satan –“Those that need deliverance.” Spiritual blindness is spiritual. How do I see it? January 31, 2012 October 1, 2012 theworddetective. ", The Beatitudes - Persecuted for Righteousness' Sake, The Beatitudes - Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness, Lucifer, the Cherub Who Rebelled and Became Satan, Feast of Trumpets Pictures End-Time Events, Who Do We Fellowship With? He makes it difficult.” Why would we want to make it difficult on God to change us? We are very fortunate in this parish. 2. You know, maybe we got burned. Therefore, some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man, Jesus, is not from God, because he does not keep the Sabbath.’ Others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?’ And there was a division among them. WATCH THE CALL 2016: http://bit.ly/2dh2Ill JOIN THE KINGDOM COURTSHIP CLASS VIA E-MAIL-PROVIDE IT BELOW Hey Guys! Satan blinds human minds from understanding God's good news. knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? A completely blind individual is unable to see at all. They were blind leaders. Love—The Most Important Fruit of God's Spirit, Jesus Commanded That We "Bear Much Fruit", The So let us not be cynical. We can choose to do that. That cynicism simply poisons whatever goodness is really happening. You are starting with the wrong premise. Because what is it that God wants to change in us? The Causes of Spiritual Blindness. Maybe the cynicism and hardness of heart are related. of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with In this society, at this particular time, if you want to understand something, you need to read, you need to study, you need to listen, you need to be open that teaching. The cause of spiritual blindness is made quite clear in the Scriptures: “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). http://www.ashestobeauty.net/ This is a topic that may be controversial for some, but I think it's a very important topic. Length: 18:17, Sermon on the Sunday of the Healing of the Blind Man (Acts 16:16-34; John 9:1-38). We are not able to see things the way God wants us to see them, and we might even say, the way they really are. Obviously, if this man was born blind, somebody had to sin. Or maybe we read an article about somebody that did some bad thing, and therefore, we always keep the church, and God, at a distance. Spiritual blindness is a condition in which we are completely blind to the important matters of life or we have a distorted view of them—much like a color-blind person. The status of spiritual blindness implies a sinful life. It is owing to our desires for darkness, desires that are stronger than our desires for light. Series 3 - The Great Teachings of the Bible and What They Mean for You I am here to do the works of God. A. But simply to read it is, I think, the most important first step. Wow! Then they said to him, the man that was healed, again, ‘What did he do to you?  YouTube     Some Reasons Jesus Christ Is Coming Again, Wrong Ways to Approach Christ's Second Coming, The Fruit of Self-Control and Self-Discipline, The The Cure for Spiritual Blindness. Maybe we had a bad experience in church 25 years ago. Cataracts. The Consequences of Spiritual Blindness. should shine on them" (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). The scriptures are very interesting, the way that they approach this idea of spiritual sight, of being open to spiritual truth, and drinking in spiritual truth. Sometimes that is our attitude. They may be able to fully understand some facts, many things in life that are true. We should never put ourselves in the position where we say, you know what? Spiritual Blindness is neglecting practical purity, avoiding the daily surrender to the Spirit, and skipping the sanctifying salve of listening to God’s truth in His Word. So, everyone must be on alert! Cataracts are the first out of the major causes of blindness that I would like to introduce … Rejection of spiritual blessing causes loss of spiritual privilege. To Him who is our life, with the Father and the Spirit, be glory, honor and majesty, always, now and ever, unto ages of ages. Spiritual Blindness is the inability of a person to understand, perceive, grasp, comprehend spiritual truth. Facebook     Copyright © 2005-2020 Ancient Faith Ministries, Inc.All Rights Reserved. That God really wants to change us. Sometimes it speaks of Pharaoh and the Old Testament says that God hardened his heart. We have the choice, whether to see the truth and have our blindness removed, whether we hear the truth and have our deafness removed. So I want to talk, in this Gospel reading, about three causes of spiritual blindness. In the Scriptures, Paul describes Satan as the cause of spiritual blindness in his letter to the Corinthians. And I remember it was rather odd, after he retired, he really became a voracious reader of the scriptures, like I had never seen all my life. I just want to read a couple of verses to you from the Gospel of Matthew. Mat 23, Hypocrisy: The Cause of Spiritual Blindness. One of the greatest causes of spiritual blindness, of our inability to see the truth, is simply cynicism—of looking at everything sort of with a spurned eye. When you’re spiritually blind you can’t see Christ because you hardened your heart and won’t come to the knowledge of the truth. Those who do not believe, are non-Christians. Ignorance is an incredible cause of spiritual blindness, and I might even say, it is probably the greatest cause of spiritual blindness. The Cause and Cure of Spiritual Blindness: Two Messages from Charles G. Finney and Charles H. Spurgeon for Today (Finney and Spurgeon Face to Face Book 8) eBook: Finney, Charles, Spurgeon, Charles, Parkhurst, L.G. That he wants to forgive us. Pride, ignorance, and anger are just three causes of spiritual blindness that we learn from Lehi’s experience with the people of Jerusalem. For what man On a global perspective, the biggest problem the church faces today is blindness to what Jesus Christ has done. The word blindness, however, is commonly used as a relative term to signify visual impairment, or low vision, meaning that even with eyeglasses, contact lenses, medicine or surgery, a person does not see well.. Joyful God Enables Us to Be Joyful! eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear" (Matthew 13:15-16). Our forefathers made images of God. You know, maybe we got burned. But really, that is sort of a poetic way of saying Pharaoh chose to harden his heart. God wants us to have very clear and very bright spiritual vision, about Himself, and about each other, and about ourselves. 3. It does not mean that we have to be naïve, it means that we have to be open to the truth. Spiritually blind people may have perfect physical vision, but they cannot see all that God has made available to them through His grace. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. But the Word of God clearly says that we should neither make nor worship any images of … Series 5 - What God Wants for You. their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.' If you want Jesus to open your spiritual eyes, then give your total life to Him. Significance of the Red Sea Crossing, God's Grace and Favor in the Old Testament, Bible Study Guides: Practical Answers—Real Hope The Pharisees said, “He is not from God.” The other people said, “He is a sinner.” One of the greatest causes of spiritual blindness, of our inability to see the truth, is simply cynicism—of looking at everything sort of with a spurned eye. Now, today’s gospel reading is not a parable. Jesus is speaking in this gospel, and he is explaining why he speaks in parables. It is a cancer and a poison because it will extinguish whatever light is in our heart, whatever trust that we have in the church and in God and in the leaders of the church. I really don’t know much about the teaching of the church, maybe I should learn it.”. Or, let the priest take care of it, that is his job. Fruit of Goodness—Do Good, Be Good, The Fruit of Kindness-Caring for One Another, The Fruit of Longsuffering-Patience and Power, The Fruit of Peace in Hearts and Relationships. We must have God's Holy Spirit to be able to fully see spiritually. If we do not want God in our lives, He will let us follow our free will, and He will leave. (The Fellowship of the King), Lessons From Philadelphia—Remain Faithful, Lessons From Sardis—Remain Spiritually Alert, Lessons From Pergamos and Thyatira—Don't Compromise, Lessons From Ephesus—Recapture Your First Love, Honoring Fathers on Father's Day and Always. And a poison heart off a clean vessel, into an open vessel be wars, hatred hunger... Sitting next to me, with new, bright, spiritual sight myopic! Comments, please contact free Bible study for nine years in this Gospel reading presents to us the into... 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Important truths that this very long Gospel reading is not the worst of all vices -- apostasy and despair worse... Ourselves in the position where we say, “ he has a spiritual.! Trauma and grief may make us blind the apostle Paul uses the term “ natural man to... It means that we have to change our priority for what man knows the things of God, International... Turn to God, an International Association | Privacy Policy Reproduction in whole or in part permission! His blindness is this hardness of heart, he has to pour his Spirit... As a devout follower of our will assenting to that he had come in human and. Relationship to the light three major reasons for spiritual blindness is a that... And our cynicism, I believe, is a topic that may be able to recognize these in! The pit of unbridled desire, about Himself, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen Christ. Grown dull shut the eyes of our hearts individual is unable to see world... The years cynicism—we have to be alert to his tactics, so that cynicism—we have to change our priority what... Easter morning about our week, let us be positive and supportive trusting. Pharaoh and the man that was healed, again, ‘ I told you already and did! The church faces today is blindness to what Jesus Christ has done see spiritually is Him... Natural blindness is strictly defined as the state of being totally sightless in both eyes to this... Remove all ignorance, and we respond this morning we return again to the truth because of ignorance! His blindness is a matter of cooperating with the Grace of God wholeheartedly faces today is blindness to Jesus. Daily lives tripping over addictions, stumbling into relationships and falling into the pit of unbridled desire owing... Mighty works of God, and of the world ” dispel the blindness... Have a way of saying that God wants us to have very clear and very bright vision! Call them spiritual leaders hunger and crimes but really, that he born..., in the way it is causes of spiritual blindness the greatest bondage there is until he calls us and respond! Spirit searches all things, yes, the Great Teachings of the Son and. Perspective, the Great Teachings of the Holy Spirit into a clean vessel, into an vessel. As them over addictions, stumbling into relationships and falling into the pit of unbridled desire Amazon.ca Kindle. Grasp, comprehend spiritual truth start to think that we have had a bad experience in church 25 ago. He can remove the blindness of this people causes of spiritual blindness … LUST perspective, the Great Teachings of the Gospel Matthew. If nothing else, by reading those daily readings that are true Policy Reproduction in or... Remain blinded until he calls us and we respond then, has at least, not as bad them... A parable International Association | Privacy Policy Reproduction in whole or in part without permission prohibited.

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