Eyes Opened

Eyes Opened

(No. 3117)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1908.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING,
NOVEMBER 5, 1874.

"And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray you, open his eyes, that he
may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and
behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round
about Elisha." 2 Kings 6:17.

[Another Sermon by Mr. Spurgeon, on the same text, is #2215, Volume
37–YOUNG MAN! A PRAYER FOR YOU]

THE Believer in Christ sees much more than any other man sees. There is
a proverb which says, "Seeing is believing," but that is not true, for
there are many things that we see, which, if we are sensible persons,
we shall notbelieve, since our eyes are very apt, indeed, to be
deceived, and optical illusions are very common. If you turn the
proverb around the other way and say, "Believing is seeing," you will
often find it come true. The man who has believed has "the evidence of
things not seen" as yet. He is like Moses who is described as "seeing
Him who is invisible." Faith is to a man like new eyes–eyes with a far
wider range of vision than natural eyes ever have–eyes which see the
Truths of God, which natural eyes often do not–eyes which wax not dim,
but which, as age increases, grow yet more bright and farseeing!
Blessed is the man who has the eyesight of faith! Elisha had it and,
therefore, when he saw the hosts of Syria, with their horses and
chariots encompassing the city of Dothan, he also saw the angelic hosts
with their horses and chariots of fire which God had sent to guard him
from the Syrians.

The eyesight of faith produces, in the man who possesses it, a calm and
quiet frame of mind. Elisha's servant said, "Alas, my master!" but
Elisha did not say, "Alas, my servant!" for there was nothing to cause
him to be alarmed. The servant said, "What shall we do?" but his master
said nothing of the kind–with those horses and chariots of fire
visible to his eyes, he had no need to be dismayed and no reason for
asking the question, "What shall we do?" It is a grand thing to have a
calm, serene frame of mind, so as not readily to be put out of temper
and to grow angry, or to become depressed and anxious, but to possess
one's soul in patience and peacefulness. This is to be a king among the
sons of men! When others are driven here and there, like the
thistledown upon the hillside, this man stands like the royal oak in
the midst of the tempest, too deeply rooted to be easily swept away. He
is the man who is not "afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed,
trusting in the Lord." He can say, with David, "My heart is fixed, O
God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise." And he is of the
same mind as that Psalmist who said, "God is our refuge and strength, a
very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the
earth is removed, and though the mountains are carried into the midst
of the sea." Oh, that we all had these eyes of faith, that we might
enjoy such calm, quiet patience as Elisha enjoyed! If we could see what
Elisha saw, we would be as quiet and serene as Elisha was. But most men
have not this calmness of mind because they have not the spiritual
eyesight which would bring it to them. The narrative before us, if we
use it as a kind of illustration, will help us to realize the blindness
of those who as yet have not had their eyes opened. And I trust that it
will also lead us to admire the rich Grace of God which has been
manifested in those of us who have had our eyes opened that we may see
the things of God.

I. My first observation shall be that THE NATURAL EYES ARE BLIND TO
HEAVENLY THINGS.

Man boasts that he can see, but he cannot. He sees natural things and
he often sees them very clearly. His penetrating eyes have looked deep
into the earth and the depths of the sea, and has peered among the
stars. Scarcely anything has been able to conceal itself from the
wondrous power of research possessed by the human mind. For natural
things, the natural eyes are sufficient but, as the natural man
understands not the things of the Spirit of God, seeing that they are

spiritual and must be spiritually discerned, so the natural eyes
discern not spiritual things. Let me prove this, as I can very readily
do.

For instance, God is everywhere, yet sin-blinded eyes see Him not When
our eyes are opened, we can see God everywhere! It would be impossible
to place a Christian where he would not feel the Presence of his Maker
in creation. Whatever landscape his eyes gaze upon, he says at once,
"My Father made all this," and he can see traces of his Father's
handiwork, not merely when he looks upon the face of the earth, but
also when he looks up to the stars. Not only in a calm, clear night,
but amidst the hurly-burly of the tempest, the Christian realizes that
God is there–he does not need anybody to point out to him the fact
that God is present, for he knows it. How often have some of us walked
out when the storm has been raging–and delighted to look up to the
flashing lightning because we saw in it the glances of our Father's
eyes–and to listen to the peals of thunder because we believed them to
be our Father's voice, that voice of the Lord which is full of majesty
and which "breaks the cedars of Lebanon."

Yet the natural man can go through the world and not see God at all.
Yes, and he will even have the audacity to deny that God is there! And
he may go further, still, and say that there is no God at all! David
says that such a man is a fool, but the modern name for him is,
"philosopher." In David's day, no one but fools said that there was no
God, but now, those who say that there is no God claim that they are
among the wise ones of the world! Yet, how can they see if they are
blind? We need not think that any strange thing has happened, for Paul
wrote, long ago, about those who lived in his day, "Professing
themselves to be wise, they became fools." They said, "We can see," and
therefore their sin and their blindness both remained.

So blind is man that in addition to not seeing his God, he does not see
the Law of God. Go into a parish church and you will usually see the
Ten Commandments printed legibly before you. Yet I am speaking the
truth when I say that men cannot see the Law of God with their natural
eyes. You can scarcely go into a house in this country without finding
a Bible–and in this Bible there are the Commandments that God gave to
Moses–yet, notwithstanding that, the natural man does not see the Law
of God, for even if he reads the Ten Commandments, he concludes that
the mere letter of them is all that they mean. He reads, "You shall not
kill," and he says to himself, "I have done no murder, so I am clear,"
not knowing that "whoever is angry with his brother without a cause"
has broken that Commandment. He reads, "You shall not commit adultery,"
and he says, "I am clear," forgetting that even a lascivious look is an
infringement of that Commandment. The Law is spiritualand has to do
with thoughts, imaginations and secret wishes, as well as with words
and actions! So who among us can stand unabashed in its awful
presence?–

"No strength of Nature can suffice

To serve the Lord aright

And what she has, she misapplies,

For need of clearer light."

Instead of asking that our hearts may be inclined to keep this Law, it
would be better far for us to look up to Him who has kept the Law on
His people's behalf and whose precious blood can cleanse us from the
stain of the innumerable infringements of that Law of which we have
been guilty. Till we see Christ's face in Glory and are perfect through
His perfections, the Law will be far above us and will continue to
condemn us for our shortcomings. But the great reason why men do not
comprehend the high spirituality of the Law, its exceeding breadth and
wondrous severity, is because they are blind.

Being thus blind to God and to His Law, they are also blind to their
own condition. He who has his eyes opened but for a moment will
perceive that his soul is as full of sin as an egg is full of meat and
that sin comes out of him as naturally as water flows from a fountain.
He sees that every action he performs is stained with sin and that he
is so guilty before God that condemnation has already passed upon
him–so guilty that he can never make any atonement for the past and
that nothing he can do or suffer can ever save him! He must feel, if
once his eyes have been opened, that he is lost, ruined and undone by
nature and by practice, too–and that only a supernatural act of Divine
Grace can deliver him from the danger into which he has brought himself
and the guilt into which he has plunged himself! We say this to men,
and we have said it hundreds of times, but they cannot see it. And when
they do not, we ought by no means to be surprised, but simply to say,
"Of course. This proves the truth of what we have already said. The
very fact that men cannot see it proves that they are blind–if they
saw it, we would have spoken falsely in charging them with not haying
sight."

And inasmuch as men are not able to see their sin, and to see their
danger, therefore they do not see the way of salvation. They may attend
a purely Evangelical ministry and hear the way of salvation put as
clearly as ever it can be put, yet they will not understand it unless
their eyes are opened by a miracle which only the Holy Spirit can work.
It is strange that when people are convinced of sin, though they have
attended the plainest possible ministry from their childhood, we have
to teach them the very A B C of the Gospel and we have the greatest
possible difficulty in making them see that faith in Jesus, faith in
the Divinely-appointed Substitute for sinners, does in a single moment
save the soul! The inward spiritual perception of what Justification by
Faith really means comes to no man except it is given him from above.
And because man does not see his sin, he does not see the remedy for
that sin. Not understanding his danger, he is not in a position to see
the wondrous scheme by which he is delivered from that danger through
the Grace of God, by the atoning Sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through the effectual working of the ever-blessed Spirit!

This is the reason why men do not admire and love our blessed Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ They cannot see His beauties, or they would be
enamored of Him. If you tell me that any eyes have been turned to the
Lord Jesus Christ and yet that the possessor of those eyes has not
trusted, loved and adored Him, I tell you at once that those eyes must
be blind eyes, for could they see, they would be charmed with Him.
Could they really behold Him, they would be fascinated by Him! Well did
our hymn-writer say–

"His worth, if all the nations knew, Then the whole world would love
Him too." But man is so blind that he cannot see the light of the Sun
of Righteousness! Jesus shines full in his face in all the splendor of
His Infinite Love, yet the blinded soul cannot behold that supernatural
radiance!

This need of spiritual discernment makes man ignoble. Samson with his
eyes open is a hero, but Samson blinded is a sorry spectacle–from a
judge in Israel he sinks to a slave in Philistine. Men believe in the
keenness of their intellect, but it is to them their greatest
shame–though they do not know it–that they cannot see the things of
God, but grope like blind men in the dark!

It is their blindness that makes them so contented to be what they are.
Could they but see themselves as they really are in God's sight, they
would not rest a moment without crying to Him for mercy. Could the
ungodly man truly know what he is and where he is, the cry, "What must
I do to be saved?" would constantly go up in every House of Prayer! And
in every private house, men and women and children, too, would be found
praying to God to save them! But the blind soul says that it sees and
it is perfectly satisfied to remain blind even though that blindness,
unless it is miraculously cured, will end in eternal death! Oh, that
God, in His Infinite Mercy, would now give spiritual eyesight to any
here who are thus blind!

Until He does so, this blindness of theirs will keep them proud of what
should be their shame. They are covered with rags, but they think they
are decked out in the choicest apparel! They are poor and miserable,
but this blindness of their soul makes them boast of being princely in
their riches! And, therefore, they will not come to God for the true
Light, true life and true wealth, but remain self-deceived and
unhumbled. This blindness of theirs places them in great danger If God,
in His Sovereign Mercy, does not open their eyes, they will fall into
the ditch and probably drag others down with them! Or they will go
struggling on in the self-conceit of their fancied knowledge and will
never be led into the Light of God! And they will be only undeceived
when, in Hell, they open their eyes for the first time to find that
they are cast out from God forever and ever!

This is our first point, that the natural eyes are blind to heavenly
things.

II. The next Truth of God is that GOD ALONE CAN OPEN MEN'S EYES.

We may lead blind men to Jesus, but we cannot open their eyes. We can,
in a measure, indicate to them what spiritual sight is and we may
explain to them what their own sad condition is–but we cannot open
their eyes! Neither can anyone but God alone open their eyes. There are
some who, in mockery, give them artificial eyes and try to make them
look as if they could see. They teach them to trust in an imitation of
Christianity which has a name to live and yet is dead. But nothing less
than vital godliness will avail for them–nothing but the real work of
God the Holy Spirit upon the soul! It is all in vain for you to wash
your eyes in baptismal water, whether it is in a few drops or in the
deepest river–you must have your eyes miraculously opened by God or
they never will be opened! It is all in vain for you to be orthodox in
your creed and to be a member of what you believe to be the best church
under Heaven, unless there has been in your soul a

Divine enlightenment so that you have seen yourself, seen your Savior
and seen your God with your inward eyes. Unless God opens your eyes,
you must still abide in the darkness of spiritual blindness!

Why it is that God alone can open men's eyes? It is because to open the
eyes of blind souls is an act of creation. The faculty to see is gone
from the fallen spirit–the eyes have perished–the optical nerve has
died out through sin. God will not merely clean the dust out of old
eyes, or take cataracts away from them–but old things must pass away
and all things must become new! He gives new eyes to those who have
totally lost all power of sight. The act of creating a soul anew is as
much a work of God's Omnipotence as the making of a world!

Remember also that those who have their eyes opened by God were born
blind. The man who was in that sad condition and whose eyes Christ had
opened, truly said, "Since the world began was it not heard that any
man opened the eyes of one that was born blind." It is so
spiritually–this old original sin of ours, this inwrought blindness of
our nature is not superficial–it has not merely to do with eyeballs,
optic nerves and the like, but it has to do with the heart, the will,
the conscience, the understanding and the perception of spiritual
things–and Divine Power is needed to remove such blindness as this.

We must remember, too, that man is willfully blind. Our old proverb
says, "There are none so deaf as those that won't hear, and none so
blind as those that won't see." It is not merely that man cannot come
to Christ, but he will not come to Christ that he may have life! It is
not merely that he cannot see the Truth of God, but that he loves
darkness rather than light and does not want to see! You cannot
convince a man who is resolved not to be convinced. If sinners were
only willing to see, they would soon see, but their will itself is in
bondage and utterly estranged from God. And, therefore, it is that only
a Divine Power–the will of God–can overcome the desperately wicked
will of man!

It must be a Divine work and, therefore, it was set down among the
Covenant blessings that the Lord Jesus Christ, when He came, would open
the eyes of the blind. But why it should have been put down as His
special work if others can do it, I cannot tell! But no others can do
it–God alone, God in the Person of Jesus Christ our Savior–by the
effectual working of the ever-blessed Spirit, must come and open the
eyes of those who are spiritually blind–

"If You, my God, are passing by,

Oh let me find You near!

Jesus, in mercy hear my cry,

You Son of David, hear!

Behold me waiting in the way,

For You, the heavenly Light!

Command me to be brought and say,

'Sinner, receive your sight'"

III. Now, thirdly, though we cannot open the eyes of the blind, WE CAN
PRAY FOR THEM THAT THEIR EYES MAY BE OPENED.

This is what Elisha did for his servant. The young man could not see
the horses and chariots of fire and Elisha could not make him see them,
but he offered this prayer for him, "Lord, I pray You, open his eyes,
that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he
saw." How often we feel our helplessness in dealing with sinners! Godly
parents, have you not realized your helplessness in dealing with your
own children? If you have had the notion that you could convert them,
you have soon had it driven out of you. When you have gathered the
little children in the Sunday school around you, perhaps you have
pictured to yourself the power and influence you would have over them
to lead them to Christ–but I will guarantee that you who have long
been earnestly engaged in such holy service as that have learned, as
the Reformer did, that, "old Adam is too strong for young Melancthon!"
And you have lifted up your heart to God, finding prayer to be the only
resource you had in such an emergency. It is a blessed thing to be
driven to despair as to any ability of our own to do any good, for we
never rely wholly on God's power as long as we have any confidence in
our own. While the preacher imagines that he can do something, he will
do nothing. While teachers or parents entertain the belief that there
is some innate power in themselves with which they can do God's work,
they are not on the right track, for God will not work through those
who believe in their own self-sufficiency. But when you say, "I can no
more save a soul than I can open the eyes of a man born blind, I am
utterly helpless in this matter," then it is that you begin to pray.
And beginning to pray, you are taught how to act–and God uses you as
His instrument and eyes are opened–yes, opened by you, instrumentally,
but God has all the Glory!

Now, when should you specially pray for those who are blind? I think
this narrative teaches us that we should do so whenever we see them in
trouble. This young man said to Elisha, "Alas, my master!" So that was
the time for Elisha to pray for him, "Lord, I pray you, open his eyes,
that he may see." Carefully watch those about whom you are anxious and
pray most earnestly for them when they are under affliction or
difficulty. I am sure that trials are Providentially sent to
unconverted men in order to help the ministry guide their minds and
hearts in the right direction. If they were left without trials, we
might scarcely find a joint in their harness where the arrows of the
Truth of God might enter. If they always continued in prosperity, they
would become so proud and presumptuous that they would be unwilling to
listen either to a rebuke or to an invitation. It is a grand
opportunity for you when you visit a man in the time of sickness, or
when you find him depressed in spirit, or hear him saying, "Alas!
Alas!" Then is the time to speak to him about God and to speak to God
about him!

It is also a good time to pray for sinners when we hear them enquiring.
This young man said to Elisha, "What shall we do?" Be always ready,
when you hear them asking, "What shall we do?" or, "How shall we do?"
to point them at once to Jesus and also to take their case to Jesus in
prayer.

It is also a good time to pray for them when we ourselves have had a
clear sight of the things of God. You ought, by the very clearness of
the vision which you have enjoyed, to pity those who still sit in
darkness, and to pray that they may be brought into the Light. Elisha
had himself seen the horses and chariot of fire and, therefore, he
prayed for his servant, "Lord, I pray you, open his eyes, that he may
see." When it is well with you, speak to Christ on behalf of poor
sinners. When you have good times, yourselves, remember those who are
starving away from the banquet–and pray the Master of the feast to
give you the Grace to "compel them to come in."

It is well to pray for sinners, too, when their blindness astonishes
us. I know that, sometimes, you are quite amazed that people should be
so ignorant about Divine things. It surprises you that intelligent
people should have such mistaken notions concerning the very simplest
Truths of God's Word. Even if you are astonished, do not be vexed at
them, but pray earnestly for them. I have sometimes heard two Christian
men arguing because they did not agree in doctrine. One of them has
been quite sure that he held the Truth and equally certain that his
friend was in error. But, instead of being thankful that he could see
more than his friend could, and praying God to bring his friend to see
the same, he has grown angry and struck out right and left, as if the
way to make his Brother see was to smite him in the eye! But it is not
so– controversy very seldom brings any Truth of God home to the heart.
We can secure that result much better by praying for others than by
fighting with them. Pray, "O Lord, open their eyes." That is a far
wiser thing than abusing them because they cannot see!

Let us also remember, dear Friends, that when we received our spiritual
eyesight, it was mainly because others had been praying for us. Most of
us can probably trace our conversion to the intercession of a godly
father, or mother, or teacher, or friend. Then let us repay those
prayers which were offered for us, in years gone by, by pleading for
others who still are blind–

"PTay that they who now are blind, Soon the way of Truth may find."

It will glorify God to open the eyes of the blind. Therefore let us
pray for them with great confidence. When we are asking for anything
about which we are somewhat doubtful as to whether it will glorify God
or not, we may well speak with hesitation, but as we are sure that it
is for God's Glory that men should see Jesus and rejoice in Him, let us
crave this gift for them with great importunity and much holy
boldness–and we shall certainly have our heart's desire.

Now father, mother, sister, brother, friend, just at this moment
breathe the prayer to Heaven, "Lord, open my children's eyes! Open my
brothers eyes! Open my husband's eyes! Open my wife's eyes!" Let such
prayers as those go up perseveringly, eagerly, expectantly, for verily
there is a God that hears prayer! Make this the burden of your daily
approach to God for anyone in whom you are specially interested, "O
Lord, I pray You, open his eyes, that he may see!" IV. Fourthly, there
is this blessed fact, in the narrative before us, that GOD DOES OPEN
MEN'S EYES. God can do it and, according to this narrative, He has done
it in an instant A moment before, this young man could see no horses or
chariots of fire, but as soon as Elisha's prayer was registered in
Heaven, his servant could see what was before invisible to him! The
processes of human surgery are often slow. Man requires time for his
operations, but the great operation of the soul's salvation is
instantaneous! The soul is dead and it is made alive in a single
moment! The soul

is in total darkness and it is in bright light the next instant! The
moment anyone believes in Jesus, spiritual eyesight is given to him
with which he can see his God! How I delight to think that whenever
anyone comes into this House of Prayer and the Gospel is being
preached, my Lord and Master can, at any moment, apply it with power to
the soul and give to anyone present, immediate, instantaneous
salvation! God's Word, like a hammer, can smite the rocky heart–and
out of it the waters shall gush. The Lord touches the eyes, they look
to the bronze serpent and healing is instantly given!

my Brothers and Sisters in Christ, pray fervently that the blind may
have their eyes opened, seeing that God can do it, and can do it at
once!

The Lord specially does this for the young. Our text says, "The Lord
opened the eyes of the young man." Certainly He can give sight to the
oldest, but here is comfort for those of us who are concerned about our
children–He can also do this for the young. Their eyes are often
blinded by the glitter and glare of the world. They say that they want
to see life and to see pleasure, but God can so open their eyes that
they shall be able to see life and to see pleasure in a higher and
truer sense in Jesus Christ! Young people who are here now, I pray the
Lord graciously to grant that you may not go any further in the journey
of life being blind, but that even now He may open your eyes. If He
were to do so, you would see your sin, you would see Jesus Christ as
your Savior, you would see yourselves saved by faith in Him and you
would then see before you a happy future and a glorious reward at the
last! I pray the Lord to open the young men's eyes and the young
women's eyes. He can do it and He will do it in answer to prayer! Let
us go to Him and ask Him to do it now!

Dear friend, He can open your eyes. I know that you are saying, "I wish
I could see Christ and read my title clear." Well, I do not know what
your character may have been and I cannot tell what scales may have
come upon your eyes, but

1 know that there was a man of whom it is written, "There fell from his
eyes, as it had been scales," as though there had been many scales upon
his eyes. However many there may be, the Lord Jesus Christ can take
them all off at once! And He can do it for all the blind people in this
building right now. O God, I pray You, open the eyes of every sinner
here to see Yourself, Your Son, Your Truth, Your Law, Your Gospel, Your
holiness, Your Covenant! If You will do this, it will be Your work,
alone, and you shall have all the Glory of it!

Do you not remember how it is written of Hagar, "God opened her eyes"?
I wonder whether there is anyone like Hagar here? She had been sent
away by her mistress, and she and her son, Ishmael, were famishing. She
had put him under one of the shrubs, out of her sight, and she thought
that all was over with both of them. But "God opened her eyes and she
saw a well of water." The well was there before she saw it, but truer
eyes needed to be opened that she might see it. So, the Lord Jesus
Christ is nearer to the sinner than the sinner imagines, as Paul says,
"The righteousness which is of faith speaks on this wise, Say not in
your heart, Who shall ascend into Heaven? (that is, to bring Christ
down from above). Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to
bring up Christ again from the dead). But what does it say? The word is
near you, even in your mouth, and in your heart: that is, the word of
faith which we preach; that if you shall confess with your mouth, the
Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him
from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto
righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
Sinners do not understand the simplicity of salvation until their eyes
are Divinely opened. They are looking about for salvation and there it
is, all the while, close at hand!

I remember my dear old grandfather looking about his study to find his
spectacles while he had them on! He was looking through the spectacles
to find the spectacles and there are many who act just as
inconsistently as that with regard to salvation! There is Jesus Christ
Himself helping them to find Him–and they would not begin to seek Him
without help from Him in the seeking! Yet they think He is far away
from them. There is water close to you, yet you are dying of thirst.
There is bread by your side, yet you are perishing of hunger. May the
Lord graciously illuminate your understanding that you may see that you
have not to doanything, or to beanything, or to feelanything, but
simply to let Jesus Christ be everything to you and you yourself be
nothing at all! To rest in Jesus Christ simply and entirely–that is
all that is needed–but until men's eyes are opened they cannot see
that. But our comfort is that God can open their eyes–may He do so
this very hour!

V. My last remark is that EVEN THOSE PERSONS WHO CAN SEE NEED MORE
SIGHT.

We all need to see more in the Scriptures. Each of us needs to pray to
the Lord, "Open You my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of
Your Law." There are some brethren who have weighed us all up and
declared that we are not sixteen ounces to the pound, as they say. And
they set us down as being unsound. But as they were never

appointed by God as inspectors of weights and measures, their judgments
upon us cause us no alarm whatever. We do, however, confess that we are
not Infallible–we do make mistakes about the meaning of
Scripture–mistakes for which we are very sorry. It is well for a
minister, when he is preaching, to sometimes say, "Friends, so much as
this I think I do know, but there are some things which I do not know."
It might be a comfort to us to hear that the preacher did not know
everything, for we would then see that he was like ourselves. Here is
the Bible and if any of us imagine that we perfectly understand
everything there is in it, that is proof that we know very little of
it! "Oh the depths, oh, the depths!" Jerome used so say, "I adore the
Infinity of Scripture!" And well he might! He who is a superficial
student of Scripture picks up a few grains of gold, but he who digs in
this mine gets nuggets–and he who digs still deeper finds solid beds
of gold! And the further he descends into the very heart of the Truths
of God, the more he discovers that the riches of it are incalculable!
And he often has to stop in his search and cry, "Who can fully
understand Your Word, O God? We can no more understand that than we can
understand Yourself to the fullest."

We also need to have our eyes opened as to the great Doctrines of the
Gospel. I meet with some who mix up the Covenant of Works with the
Covenant of Grace in a most remarkable manner and talk to the children
of the free woman as if they were children of the bondwoman and make
salvation to depend partly upon self and partly upon Christ–which
would be a salvation neither worth preaching nor believing! If we have
begun in the Spirit, let us not seek to be made perfect in the flesh.
If salvation is of Grace, then it is not of works–otherwise Grace is
no more Grace! But if it is of works, let us say so, for then it cannot
be of Grace–otherwise work is no more work. A clear line of
distinction between merit and mercy, between desert and Sovereign
Grace, must always be drawn–and he who has cried to the Lord, "Open
You my eyes," until he has had his eyes opened concerning that
distinction, has much reason to bless and thank God. Oh, for a clear
testimony, throughout all our Churches, to the grand fundamental
Doctrines of Grace! Pray that you may give it yourself and that you may
hear it every day.

We also need to have our eyes opened with regard to Providence. [See
Sermon #3114, Volume 54–god's providence; What blind eyes we often
have with regard to that! We cry,

with poor old Jacob, "All these things are against me," at the very
moment when they are all for us! We cannot see how a certain thing can
be right though it would be impossible for us to prove that it was
wrong! We are often unable to find any promise to sustain us even
though there are thousands of promises stored up for us in God's Word!

Oftentimes we need to have our eyes opened to see ourselves. We imagine
that we are growing in Grace when we are really growing spiritually
leaner every day. We need to have our eyes opened with regard to
temptation, for we may think that we are not being tempted at the very
moment when we are in the greatest danger from temptation. We need to
have our eyes opened as to what is most desirable, for we often aspire
after the high places when the lowest are the best– and seek wealth
when poverty would be the better soil for the growth of Grace–

"Gold and the Gospel seldom agree– Religion always sides with
poverty"– says John Bunyan, and I think he is very near the truth. We
need to have our eyes opened that we may see a great deal more of our
Savior. The strangest thing of all is that though the Lord has opened
our eyes and we have seen Jesus as our Savior, we know so little of Him
after all. Brothers and Sisters, are we not all too much like the man
who saw men as trees walking? We see things in a muddled and confused
manner–not at all clearly. I pray the Lord to open your eyes and mine
to see what it is to be a lost soul, that we may sigh and cry over
souls that are being lost by the millions! May He open our eyes to see
the true character of sin and the desperate condition of those who are
steeped in it–to see the terrors of the wrath to come, that final
judgment of God which shall overwhelm the wicked! Then may He open our
eyes to see the reality of His eternal love, the cleansing power of the
precious blood of Jesus and the almighty efficacy of the ever blessed
Spirit. And may He open our eyes in such a way that, seeing these
things, we may be startled into earnestness, amazed in devotion,
constrained unto consecration and may give ourselves up, from this time
forth–spirit, soul and body–to serve the Lord!

O Young man over yonder, if your eyes are opened by God, you will see
that what you are striving to get is not worth getting and you will
begin to ask how you can live to the Glory of God! Young woman, if your
eyes are spiritually opened, you will no longer find any joy in that
sinful pursuit of yours–you will find that there is no true joy save
in trusting Christ and living wholly for Him. Brother ministers, if our
eyes are opened as they should be, they will more

often be full of tears than they now are! Elders of the Church, if your
eyes are opened as they should be, you will watch for souls as those
that must give account to God! Teacher, if your eyes are truly opened,
you will look upon your children in a very different light from that in
which you now see them–they will then be very precious in your sight.
I pray the Lord that where the eyes are not opened, they may be opened
now! And that where the eyes are opened, they may be opened still more
till to each one of us that promise shall be fulfilled, "Your eyes
shall see the King in His beauty; they shall behold the land that is
very far off." God grant it, for Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.