BLINDNESS THAT DAMNS THE SOUL

2 Cor. 4:3-4

Morning Meditation 7/25/17

"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."

I have read of people who ignored the danger signs on the highways and drove their car over a bridge that was out into a river and the whole family was drown. Just this week we had a twenty five year old mother who had her five year old son in the car with her, drive her car into Red river and both were drowned. It is not known why this happened. It could have been several things that physically went wrong with her, but the point I want to make is that life can be snuffed out at any moment and we need to be prepared to meet God. Satan's primary task is to blind the eyes of the unsaved and if they die in that state of blindness, and are not saved, He (Satan) has won an eternal soul for hell and suffering forever.

The way the gospel is preached in the U.S., and how anyone would ever miss the message and die without trusting Jesus, is a mystery to me. I had a man this week to write me very upset because he was getting the mms and he considered them trash. He had fun sending each of them back with a snide remark criticizing me for doing such a thing. Well I have to confess I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut and not pursuing a little explanation that he would consider an argument. But by the grace of God I managed to keep my mouth shut realizing that he has a God given right to say no to the gospel. The only thing he does not realize yet is that he cannot say no to the consequences of saying no. That is predetermined and fixed and at the Great White Throne Judgment He will stand without an Advocate and give an account in that judgment and he will not have a chance to make things right. He will have sinned away his day of grace. And he will go screaming no, no, no!!! into the lake of fire never to have another chance. In this case my hands are clean of the blood of this arrogant rejecter of the gospel.

I would like to offer some things that cause the blindness of those who hear our gospel and are lost.

MEN ARE BLINDED BY PRIDE

2 Kings 5:11-13, "But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?" On a trip to Damascus Syria back in the early seventies I saw both of these rivers and Namaan was right. These rivers in Damascus were both cleaner rivers than the river Jordan. However, that was not the point. The point was that Elisha told him to wash seven times in the river Jordan. So after a little reasoning on the part of Namaan's men, he went and washed seven times in the river Jordan. And the seventh time he came up cleansed of his leprosy. It was simple pride that almost caused him to miss the miracle of healing.

How many times has Satan blinded men by pride when the gospel was presented to them? In their heart of hearts they knew they needed salvation, but to respond to an invitation and admit before the public eye that they were sinners like all sinners who need to humble themselves before the Lord and ask for His mercy was too much for them. Their pride caused them to put it off and wait for a more convenient season. And Satan won another victory.

MEN ARE BLINDED BY THEIR PERSONAL RIGHTEOUSNESS

There is a righteousness that is man's righteousness that is used for man to get along with others while on this earth. This is a good righteousness. It is not a saving righteousness but it is a good righteousness. How many times have you seen a man who was helpful, benevolent, and compassionate to his neighbors? And your comment was, "That is a righteousness man." And that is a good righteousness. This man provides for his family. He is a helper in the community. He will give to the poor and is ready to help any time called on. However, this righteousness will not save a person. Isaiah 64:6, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." This righteousness turns to filthy rags the moment this self righteous man offers this righteousness as a means of salvation. Man at his best is a sinner. He cannot rise to produce the kind of righteousness that is necessary to salvation. So God makes it plain that self righteousness no matter how good is as filthy rags when one offers it as a means of salvation. This righteousness man needs the righteousness of Christ to be saved. So he has to come to Christ the same way that any other sinner comes.

This is a case where a man's self righteousness can blind his eyes to the truth. Satan can say, "Look at what you do for the community. You are better than any on your neighbors even the ones who go to church." So Satan convinces them that they have done enough. But the truth is that we are not saved by what we do. We are saved by what Jesus did by dying for us one the cross. And the righteousness that stands the test before God is the righteousness of Christ imputed to us. Romans 4:5-6, "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,"

MEN ARE BLINDED BY RICHES

Luke 18:20-27, "Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved? And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God."

Jesus loved this man. He said to this same man in Mark 10:20-21, "And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me." Giving down here builds treasures in heaven. The rich young ruler was a good business man. However, there are poor people down here who are building eternal treasures. I believe the rich man will probably be in heaven. But he will probably be a poor man there.. You only save what you send on by supporting your church, missions, and giving to the poor.. Don't let Satan blind you and deceive you into thinking you are a good business man if you don't get the question of giving right. Satan is really deceiving a lot of people

SATAN BLINDS MEN BY WORLDLINESS

He did this on Demas. Paul said of Demas in 2 Timothy 4:10, "For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica;"

The words "hath forsaken" means, "to abandon, desert, leave in straits, leave helpless, totally abandoned, utterly forsaken." Then he gives as a reason, "Having loved this present world."

The word has always been one of the greatest temptations for the Christian. The world system is many faceted. It has so much to offer in the way of making money, sports, a having a good time. It offers the easy way out. There world doesn't necessarily tell you that serving the Lord is wrong, it just offers you something that you enjoy doing until it eats up your time and there is just no time left to serve the Lord. This of course has the same end result as all the other reasons that people give for stopping their service to the Lord.

There is disappointment in the life of Paul as he says, "Demas hath forsaken me," and then when he had to add, "having loved this present world." I think it would have been much easier if Paul could have said, "Demas is no longer traveling with me because he is sick and unable to travel. Pray for him." But no, he had to be honest and say that Demas had gone back to the old way of life. The world made him an offer and he took it.

To an apostle and missionary like Paul who was completely sold out to the Lord those where words that he never wanted to write. Demas was doing something that Paul had a hard time understanding. Paul was so over joyed in His service to the Lord that he had no room in his thinking for compromise in his associates.

When Paul's time to die a martyrs death came he said in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."

1. The words, "For I am now ready to be offered." John Gill comments: "Or poured out, as a libation, or a drink offering; or as the blood was poured out at the bottom of the altar; which is expressive of martyrdom, and shows that the apostle knew what death he should die; for which he was habitually ready; and this sacrifice of himself was not to atone for sin, his own, or others; Christ's death was the only sacrifice for sin, and that is a complete one, and needs no other to be added to it; but this was in the cause of Christ, and for the confirmation of the Gospel, and the faith of the saints in it: so covenants have been confirmed by libations or drink offerings of wine; and this was an offering acceptable unto God, in whose sight the death of his saints is precious; as the wine in the drink offering is said to cheer God, that is, to be acceptable to him:" Psalms 116:15 says, "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." My pastor used this verse at a funeral of one of our dear saints yesterday. And I thought he did a great job explaining why the death of a saint is precious in the Lord's sight. When one of the saints come home, he/she is coming to as a result of Christ's purchase at the cross.. When you look at it from God's standpoint it puts you on shouting ground to think the Creator of the universe loves us so much that He would send His Son to buy us out of the slavery of sin and set us free to be with Him forever. He wants our fellowship and when we die we come into His presence to fellowship with Him forever.

2. Paul said, "The time of my departure is at hand." The word "departure" according to Strong is, "a metaphor drawn from loosing from moorings preparatory to setting sail." When the Romans cut Paul's head off, they cut the chain fastened to the anchor and cut him loose to set sail on the sea of eternity and in moments He was in the presence of Jesus whom he served. I think when Paul showed up in the presence of the Lord he said, "Lord, that was just like you said, death didn't even have a sting to it!!!" Why should that surprise us? Jesus said He took the sting out of death. Amen, Praise God, and Hallelujah!!!

It is a definite fact that one of Satan's great tactics is to blind men to their need of Christ. If he can do that, he can take them to hell with him. Hell was not made for man. It was made for the devil and his angels. If a man goes to hell, he will go as an intruder because God has made a way for all men to escape that awful place. Matthew 25:41 says, "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:"

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White