The Visions of God's Strength
TGP A Kingdom Divided • Sermon • Submitted
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· 49 viewsGod opens peoples eyes to see the spiritual realities around them so they will trust in Him. (in big and little issues)
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Have you ever been in a situation where for whatever reason you could not see something that someone else could?
I experience this all the time whenever I am driving around near dusk with my wife. I don’t know if it is because she grew up in the country and I grew up in the city, but she always sees deer before I do. I know to watch out for deer, that is what driving defensively in the county looks like. In the city driving defensively is about watching for other cars, but out here things are a bit different but no matter how attentive I am, she alsways sees the deer before I do. She could be turned around and handling something in the back seat as I am am fervently keeping an eye out and then she turns around and say…deer. She has better vision when it comes to seeing deer on the side of the road.
always sees them before me.
And of course, missing a deer in a picture is one thing but missing it while driving is something that can be very dangerous.
Tension
Vision, or having the ability to see something that others cannot is a common theme throughout the Bible. While God has given us the ability to see things with our natural eyes, He has also given his servants the gift of “Supernatural Vision” to see what He is up to in our world. We have encountered it many times in our Gospel Project this past year, where God opens peoples eyes to see the spiritual realities all around them.
God gave Job vision to see His majesty and might at work in all the created world
And of course, missing a deer in a picture is one thing but missing it while driving is something that can be very dangerous.
God gave Joseph vision to see things that would happen in his future and the vision to see and interpret Pharaohs dreams
God gave Balaam the pagan soothsayer... and his donkey... vision to see the warrior angel that stood sword drawn in their way.
And you may remember even others, but this morning we will read of supernatural vision that God gave to the prophet Elisha, and more than that we are going to see how he prayed for others that God would open their eyes that they too might see.
everything from Balaam’s donkey who saw the warrior angel he couldn’t, to the angels that filled up the sky in the nativity story.
Last week we talked about the significance of Elijah’s name, how it meant “The Lord, He is God” and how Elijah’s calling was realized when the people of Israel turned their hearts back to God in the showdown at Mount Carmel and they declared these very words. Well Elisha’s name means “My God Saves” and as we look deeper into his story today we will see how God used Elisha to save people in many different situations.
In our Gospel Project this year we have encountered several stories where God gave supernatural sight to someone. From Balaam and his donkey to the
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Sometimes when we talk about “God saving us” we limit the extent of that salvation to just the biggest things. Certainly our eternal salvation is the highest point of the salvation that we have in Christ Jesus. But God not only saved us from the when He sent Jesus to die on the cross, He is also daily saving us every day through the process of sanctification and he , but it is the only point. God saves us
10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.
32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
- blindness of the believer in the New Testament - Elisha’s servant was blind to God’s steadfast love and strength in comparison to what he was seeing in the the army of Syria.
And as crazy as this story may seem, there is such a rich application for each one of us here that I want to make sure that none of us miss. While this is an Old Testament story, this same theme of having the right vision rings true in the story of every New Testament believer. When someone becomes a Christian, it is a literal “eye opening” experience. Our spiritual eyes, the eyes that are opened by our faith in Jesus Christ are opened to supernatural realities that we could not see before. We have been awakened to the message of the Gospel in ways that we were previously blind to. And, just like God did in Elisha, He has called us as believers to testify to what we have seen and to prayerfully request that God would open the eyes of others to see the beauty of the Gospel as well.
So we are going to dive right into the Old Testament story this morning, in order to have adequate time to make these applications plain. So open up with me to , pg. 312 in Bibles in the chairs, I’ll pray and we will dive into this together.
Paul stops and prays because more information won’t change their hearts or open their eyes, only God will in faith!
Cross reference to Paul having his eyes opened - after God blinded him.
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Eph 3:14-
Truth
So at this point in the history of God’s people the prophet Elijah has been taken up into heaven and his apprentice Elisha asked for... and received a double portion of his power. I love how the Biblical writers lay this out for us, because if we were to look carefully over the ministries of these two prophets as they are presented in the text we would find that God used Elisha to demonstrate his power in exactly twice as many events as Elijah. And in your continued study this next week I would encourage you to read through these stories in 2 Kings chapters 2-8, because they are each fascinating in so many ways.
Elijah - means the Lord, He is God
Elisha - means, my God saves
Elisha is used to handle seemingly small issues - axe head, individual crisis - Namoth’s leprocy and national crisis - war with Syria.
Some of these mighty acts affected the whole world at the time as wars were avoided, and mighty generals were cleansed of disease.
Others affected only select individuals like the purifying of a pot of stew and a water source or making an axe head float because it was lost in a river by someone who borrowed it.
There was even echoes of Elijah’s ministry in that Elisha also cared for a widow by providing oil that did not run out and raising the widow’s son to life.
My favorite sign of God’s presence in Elisha’s life is one that happened after he was dead. 2 Kings chapter 13 tells the story of a man who was quickly thrown in Elisha’s grave because a raiders were attacking and when the dead man hit the bones of Elisha he was popped back up on his feet again. Kind of makes me wonder, if they tried than again, I probably would have.
But the idea behind all of these signs of God’s power working through Elisha was to show them that God was with Elisha and because of this they should listen to the Word of the LORD that Elisha spoke to them. This was especially true for those who walked the closest to him. Just like Elijah had Elisha, Elisha also had servants who traveled with him and he too was looking to teach his servants to have eyes that were spiritually open as his were.
Our first theme for this week is...
Elisha - My God saves
God’s Servant sees that which is unseen by others ()
God’s Servant sees that which is unseen by others ()
8 Once when the king of Syria was warring against Israel, he took counsel with his servants, saying, “At such and such a place shall be my camp.” 9 But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are going down there.” 10 And the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God told him. Thus he used to warn him, so that he saved himself there more than once or twice.
So Elisha is working with the King of Israel here, using the sight that God gives him to keep the children of God from being ambushed by their enemy, the king of Syria (Aram). This got the Syrian King to thinking...
11 And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled because of this thing, and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel?”
:11-
The King of Syria thinks that they have a rat in their midst. A mole. A traitor. Someone who is leaking secrets to their enemy, but it wasn’t a traitor from the Syrian side. God have given Elisha vision to see the plans of their army, and because of their previous run ins with Elisha they knew about it.
12 And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” 13 And he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him.” It was told him, “Behold, he is in Dothan.” 14 So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city.
12 And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.”
Anyone else find this curious? They couldn’t surprise the armies of Israel because of the Elisha but they are somehow going to be able to “sneak” up on him in the middle of the night? Not sure how that follows a logical thinking path, but anyway...
15 When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” 16 He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
2 Kings 6:1
12 And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” 13 And he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him.” It was told him, “Behold, he is in Dothan.” 14 So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city. 15 When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” 16 He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
2 Kings 6:12
2 Kings 6:
8 Once when the king of Syria was warring against Israel, he took counsel with his servants, saying, “At such and such a place shall be my camp.” 9 But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are going down there.” 10 And the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God told him. Thus he used to warn him, so that he saved himself there more than once or twice. 11 And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled because of this thing, and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel?” 12 And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” 13 And he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him.” It was told him, “Behold, he is in Dothan.” 14 So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city. 15 When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” 16 He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
Elisha had eyes to see things that his servant could not see.
Notice that it says “the” servant of Elisha - in other words Elisha has just the one servant. So there are two of them, but Elisha says that those who are with us are more than the army surrounding them. Well this sets up our next theme, when...
God’s servant prays for the eyes of others to be opened ()
God’s servant prays for the eyes of others to be opened ()
17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
2 Kings 6:
Elisha saw what his servant could not see. He had the vision to see that the presence of the Lord was with them in such a way that they had no reason to fear. And while God could have just unleashed these horses and chariots on the Syrian Army, he chose instead to continue to work through his Prophet Elisha.
17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18 And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha. 19 And Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samaria. 20 As soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” So the Lord opened their eyes and they saw, and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.
18 And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha. 19 And Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samaria. 20 As soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” So the Lord opened their eyes and they saw, and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.
Elisha’s servant has his eyes open to how God is protecting them and the Elisha prays and then is able to pull some sort of “Jedi” mind trick on an entire army. Right?! “These are not he droids you are looking for” kind-a-thing, only it was “This is not the way and this is not the city”. Because they were not blind in the sense that everything went dark - that would have thrown an army into a panic - it was a kind of hypnotic disillusionment where they were just conscious enough to follow along with Elisha’s suggestions. And he marches this army from the defenseless little city of Dothan, 12 miles into the heart of Samaria, the capital city of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. It was at least a three hour trip, I wonder what they talked about or if they even talked at all.
and this one man marches this army from this defenseless little city about 12 miles into the heart of Samaria, the capital city of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. It was at least a three hour trip, I wonder what they talked about or if they even talked at all.
Can you imagine the look in their faces when they finally woke up to what was happening? I mean think about it! This intimidating military force complete with horses and chariots went down to this sleepy little town to capture one man and with a few prayers that one man ends up capturing the entire army.
I mean think about it! This intimidating military force complete with horses and chariots went down to this sleepy little town to capture one man and that one man ends up capturing the entire army. Crazy story, lets read what happens next:
I wonder what will happen next? Our third and final theme is
It has to be one of the biggest, “Oh crap” moments in the Bible. The whole army went down to this sleepy little town to capture one man and that one man ends up capturing the entire army. Crazy story, lets read what happens next:
God’s servant calls for mercy and grace ()
God’s servant calls for mercy and grace ()
Crazy story, lets read what happens next:
your army ends up being captured by just that one man. putn God’s servant calls for mercy and grace ()
God’s servant calls for mercy and grace ()
God’s servant calls for mercy and grace ()
21 As soon as the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “My father, shall I strike them down? Shall I strike them down?” 22 He answered, “You shall not strike them down. Would you strike down those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.” 23 So he prepared for them a great feast, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the Syrians did not come again on raids into the land of Israel.
Our third and final theme for this week is
21 As soon as the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “My father, shall I strike them down? Shall I strike them down?” 22 He answered, “You shall not strike them down. Would you strike down those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.” 23 So he prepared for them a great feast, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the Syrians did not come again on raids into the land of Israel.
God’s servant calls for mercy and grace ()
God’s servant calls for mercy and grace ()
21 As soon as the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “My father, shall I strike them down? Shall I strike them down?” 22 He answered, “You shall not strike them down. Would you strike down those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.” 23 So he prepared for them a great feast, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the Syrians did not come again on raids into the land of Israel.
Elisha delivers these Syrian forces to the King of Israel and he doesn’t know what to do with them. Remember that all the kings of the Northern Kingdom of Israel “did evil in the sight of the LORD” so they had a complicated relationship with the prophets of God. They had to respect him because there was no denying that God spoke and worked powerfully through them, but they didn’t really like them because they were always calling them out on their wrong doing.
Elisha delivers these Syrian forces to the King of Israel and he doesn’t know what to do with them. Remember that all the kings of the Northern Kingdom of Israel “did evil in the sight of the LORD” so they had a turbulent relationship with the prophets of God at best. They respected them because it was clear that God spoke and worked powerfully through them, but they didn’t really like them because they were always calling them out on their wrong doing.
So the first thing that came to the mind of this evil King is just to kill them all, but Elisha steps into that flawed thinking to remind him that even if he had captured them himself, with “sword and bow” God would not be honored with their murder. In this case, God had brought their surrender and so he was to show them the mercy and grace of God.
Mercy - in that he did not kill them for warring against him, and grace - in that instead of death, he gave them a great feast. And the result was that these men’s hearts were changed as they did not return again to raid the land of Israel.
And the result was that these men’s hearts were changed as they did not return again to raid the land of Israel.
Gospel Application
Gospel Application
And as I said, this story is found in the middle of so many stories of powerful works that God did through Elisha, but I wanted us to see this strong connection between the themes of this story and the applicationmessage of the Gospel that I want to draw out for us today. In this story, we find two different groups that were blind to God’s strength, and the same two groups exist today.
The first group was really just made up of one person in this story, the servant of Elisha. The young man who was a believer, but responded in fear because he did not have eyes to see the power of God at work in his life.
That second group is made up of the unbelievers, the pagan Syrian army in Elisha’s story, who were blinded to the power of God way before Elisha prayed for it.
Let’s look at these two groups one at a time.
Believers
hat they would . Their lack of vision has to do with their f in Jehovah God and was faithfully following him and yet he lacked vision to see how God was working in this world.
Most of us can probbly relate to this group can’t we? There have been... or are right now…in times in our lives when even though we believe in a all powerful God - we meet circumstances in our lives with a sense of fear. We might even have stories, just like the servant did, of times when God did incredible things right before our eyes, but we encounter a new challenge and respond again in crippling fear.
The other group is the Syrian army. They were not believers as the charged forward to capture Elisha only to find their vision blurred and their focused so lost that they ended up being the ones captured instead of the ones doing the capturing.
I think the thing that we need to remember is that Elisha’s prayer did not call for the presence of the fiery chariots. He prayed just that his servants eyes would be opened to that which was already there. Do you understand the significance between those two things? God was already working in the situation. He was already there, the servant just didn’t have the eyes to see it yet.
Think about how this could completely change our lives! If we faced every new day in our lives with a clear understanding that God is already working in it. What would happen If we were able to set every challenge, every set back, every threat, every worry and concern up against a back drop of the presence of our all powerful God. Wouldn’t everything we struggle with take a new place in line? We would be able to see, as Elisha and his servant did that day, that there is nothing too big for God. That there is nothing impossible with God. And if He is already working in everyone one of our circumstances, then what is causing us to fear?
A loss presence of the LORD in our lives is greater than any situation we face.
The Apostle Paul was one who knew a think or too about being blind. His encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus caused him to be “blacked out, stumbling around in the dark, all panic-y” kind of blind. But it was in that season of physical blindness that God was able to teach Paul how to truly see.
15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
In the book of Acts chapter 26 Paul is telling his story of the day that he met Jesus to the King of Israel:
15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ 19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,
14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
Acts 26:
God opened Paul’s eyes and called him to do the same to others. Throughout his ministry, he made “supernatural sight” a major theme in his teaching and training of other believers. In his letter to the Church in Ephesus explained:
When the Apostle Paul was teaching the Church in Ephesus to be strong in the Lord he was talking about being strong in the matters of
8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
encouraging them to be strong in the LORD, and then he explained why this kind of strength was needed.
ostle Paul was teaching the Church in Ephesus to be strong in the Lord he was talking about being strong in the matters of
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
As believers we have to have eyes of faith that are opened to the spiritual realities that are going on all around us. We may not be able to see these things with our physical eyes, but we can know that they are there and that God is working them out to His intended ends. That is why even when things are not going in ways that seem pleasurable at the time, we can still say with Paul that
28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Romans
8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’
Unbelievers
The second group is the Unbelievers, which in Elisha’s story would be the pagan Syrian Army. They exhibited a blindness way before Elisha prayed for it, in that they thought that capturing Elisha would end the problems with their enemy. They were blind to the fact that Elisha was not their problem, their problem was with the God that Elisha served. They had set themselves up as enemies of their creator God and Elisha was just the messenger. Elisha’s prayer for a type of physical blindness, was just to show them how spiritually blind they were. That they thought that an army would make any difference at all when coming up against the God who created and sustains their every breathe. That is a much more powerful delusion than any Jedi mind trick, and that delusion is one that the enemy of God is still employing today.
Our enemy, Satan, is working overtime to keep unbelievers from seeing that there is anything that exists except for this this material world. Because Satan has some cards to play in our physical world, but he knows that because of the cross of Jesus Christ he is bark with no bite when it comes to spiritual things. This is what Paul meant when he said in
Even though they willingly aligned themselves as enemies of the One True God by warring against His poeple, they thought that they could make all their troubles go away by just capturing the prophet Elisha. This is spiritual blindness and they could not see that Elisha was not their problem. Their problem was with their creator God. Elisha prays for a type of physical blindness to show them how spiritually blind they are. You cannot use material military plans to stop God’s plans! That is a dilusion!
They came to arrest one man, when they You cannot use material military plans to stop God’s plans! That is a dilusion!
Speaking of those who are perishing, Paul says in
(speaking of the unbelievers, or those who are perishing)
4 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.
or
18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
or again in...
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
An unbeliever suffers from a spiritual blindness that keeps him from responding to the message of the Gospel and so we pray with Elisha, “O Lord open the eyes of these men that they may see.”
to God’s strength in ways that they are not ever aware of. This is the most dangerous kind of blindness isn’t it. It is one thing to be blind and know you are blind so that you can take steps to deal with the effects of you blindness, but this blindness is so deceiving that you don’t even realize that you are blind.
So we pray with Elisha, “O Lord open the eyes of these men that they may see.”
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 16 They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; 17 they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. 18 Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them.
Psalm
Landing
O Lord open the eyes of these men that they may see.
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
Jesus spoke of the spititual blindness of the people in his day as well, he said:
Matthew 13a;15
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
and then he said
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.
- blindness of the believer in the New Testament - Elisha’s servant was blind to God’s steadfast love and strength in comparison to what he was seeing in the the army of Syria.
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.
Paul stops and prays because more information won’t change their hearts or open their eyes, only God will in faith!
Cross reference to Paul having his eyes opened - after God blinded him.
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Landing
So where do you find yourself this morning. Are you a believer struggling with fear because of a temporary blindness toward the greatness of your God who is at work all around you? Hold fast to the promises of God, Christian.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
Psalm
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 16 They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; 17 they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. 18 Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them.
or maybe you are here and you wonder if you have ever opened up your heart and mind to spiritual things. You may have been a faithful church goer for many years, but all you have ever really been able to see is the physical world. You are missing out, sitting in blindness where Jesus is calling you to see.
He promises that if you turn to him, he will heal you so that you too can see with your spiritual eyes all that you have been missing.
As always if you have any questions on these things, please come see me. I would love to talk through things with you one on one, even pray with you, that your eyes would be opened to how God is already working to accomplish his perfect purposes in your life.
Let’s pray.