This morning, I would invite you to take your Bibles and turn once again to Mark's gospel. We are in Mark chapter eight, continuing to make our way, verse by verse, through what the Spirit has revealed to us. In these texts this morning, we will be looking at verses 11 through 26, under the heading, "Permanent Versus Temporary, Spiritual Blindness." And this will be demonstrated to us in a very profound way in this text. Mark eight beginning with verse 11. Follow along as I read the text. "The Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven to test Him. Sighing deeply in His spirit, He said, 'Why does this generation seek for a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation." Leaving them He again embarked and went away to the other side. And they had forgotten to take bread and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. And He was giving orders to them saying, 'Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.' They began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread and cheeses. Aware of this said to them, 'Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? Having eyes Do you not see? And having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember when I broke the five loaves for the 5000? How many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?' They said to Him, '12.' 'When I broke the seven for the 4000, How many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?' And they said to Him, 'seven.' And He was saying to them, 'Do you not yet understand?' And they came to came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to Jesus and implored Him to touch Him. Taking the blind man by the hand, He brought him out of the village. And after spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, 'Do you see anything?' And he looked up and said, 'I see men for I see them like trees walking around.' Then again, He laid His hands on his eyes and he looked intently and was restored, began to see everything clearly. And He sent him to his home, saying, 'Do not even enter the village.'"

This morning, I wish to address a terrifying reality. A horrifying certainty that is so universally hated, that it will instantly evoke rage in those that it describes. It's a chilling inevitability that most people will spend their entire life trying to suppress through mockery, and through violence towards Christ and those who belong to Him. It is a shocking truth that is so indicting that it not only resulted in the murder of the Lord Jesus Christ and millions of his followers, but it is now the primary object of societal scorn in our country, and frankly, around the world. And what is this terrifying reality? It is simply this that God permanently blinds the spiritual eyes of those who persist in rejecting the truth of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when they do, God will eventually seal their fate in the everlasting torments of hell. This is the bad news that makes the good news of the gospel so glorious, right? The good news of the Gospel is that there is a way to prevent this. And that is through faith in Christ, whereby we can be reconciled to God have our sins forgiven. Because of man's sinful nature, we know that all men are born blind to the truth of their need to be reconciled to God, through repented faith in Christ. And for many people, this is only temporary, but for most, it is permanent. And the reason for that is because God knows their hearts. And eventually God will abandon them, and the darkness of their cherished rebellion. He removes all restraint and allows their moral degradation and idolatry that they love to eventually destroy them. We read about this in a number of passages of Scripture, for example, in Romans one, verse 21, we read that "Even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened." When people reject God, God eventually rejects them. Their thinking becomes futile. The term literally means useless, worthless. And it's characterized throughout Scripture as darkness, their beliefs and their desires will destroy them. We're all aware of the mass shooting that happened in Texas, just what was it yesterday. And I was reading that we've now had 198 mass shootings, so far and 2023 in America. This is unrestrained depravity. Criminals are now promoted and protected by liberal leftist, they will even make martyrs out of criminals and on and on it goes. Verse 24 of Romans one goes on to say,"Therefore, God gave them over to th lusts of their hearts to impurity so that their bodies would be dishonored among them." He continues, and he says in verse 26, for this reason, God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural. And in the same way, also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman, and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts, and receiving in their own persons to do penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind to do those things, which are not proper." Their minds are literally unable to make rational, much less righteous, moral judgments. We see this in the transgender insanity, that promotes irreversible physical mutilation and chemical castration, so a child can pretend to be what he or she could never be and that is the opposite sex. By the way, folks, this is not mental illness. Sometimes there may be a component of that. But this is human depravity and divine judgment. The wrath of divine abandonment upon those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, those who knew God, but refused to honor Him as God or give thanks. This is an example of the futile speculations that the apostle Paul talks, about a foolish heart that God has darkened. So amazing, isn't it that our society is so dark and that it actually believes that personhood can be defined by the individual rather than the Creator that made them in his image, male and female, absolutely incomprehensible. And the state believes it must preserve a person's civil rights to be or do what they want. So in their mind, we must eliminate gender distinctions. And frankly, along with it, we need to eliminate marriage and we need to eliminate family. Now society is expected to celebrate painted up pedophile perverts known as drag queens. Pedophiles are now even seeking protection, legal protection status based on their sexual orientation. I mean folks, these things are purely satanic. Satan's lies are always in opposition to God's designs, always in opposition to God's purposes, to bring glory to himself. And they are certainly appealing even to the farthest extremes of human depravity. And when man exchanges lies for the truth, in defiance of God's revealed will, God will permanently hardened their heart and abandon them to the damning eternal consequences of their rebellion. Should be no surprise that apostate evangelicals who embrace the woke lies of the left are a part of all of this. Embrace the ludicrous virtue signaling trends of our satanic culture, ranging from the use of preferred pronouns for self loathing, drag queens, and transgenders. And even having drag queens in libraries, reading stories to children and even in so called worship services. I cannot imagine a greater blasphemy to the Lord our God, than what we're seeing in our culture today. I'm reminded of what Paul said in Titus one, verse 15. These are" those who are defiled and unbelieving, to those who says who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but by their deeds, they deny him being detestable and disobedient, and worthless for any good deed."

I might add, however, that God's hardening and apostate Christianity is not only manifested in its embrace of the sexual perversions of our culture, and the Neo Marxist woke propaganda, propaganda that's sweeping the country, but also in its acceptance of virtually every form of heresy that a person can think of. From the social justice to the prosperity gospel. I was reading were in a recent chapel service at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, the seminarians sing a Buddhist worship song about becoming one with the world. And examples like this just go on and on and on. I'm reminded of what Jude said about these kinds of people, these sexual perverts and predatory preachers, that ascend pulpits, and so called churches, Jude four, he says, "For certain persons have crept in unnoticed," referring to coming into the church. "Those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ." Dear friends, my point is simply this, if you reject the truth long enough, God will reject you, and He will abandon you. And these people today have not only rejected the truth, they mock it. And as a result, they have crossed a line of Divine Mercy and God has judicially hardened their heart. These are the ones according to Second Timothy four, beginning of verse three that Paul described. Those who "will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled or they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." The Greek grammar is fascinating here, the first part, "to turn away their ears," is in the active voice. That indicates that this is a determined deliberate rejection of what they know to be true. But the second phrase is in the passive voice when it says" they will turn aside to myths," And what happens there is the myths will overpower them and overtake them without them even realizing it's happening. They deliberately reject the truth because it conflicts with their desires, and as a result, they allow themselves to wander into religious errors and are overtaken by them. They are beyond repentance. Their eternal fate is sealed. Dear friends this is the permanent spiritual blindness that we see even illustrated in our texted Today, this is the consequences of God's wrath upon those who willfully and persistently and militantly reject the gospel. This is what caused Jesus to openly sob over the inhabitants of Jerusalem. People that embrace the religious lies of their leaders, and rejected Christ. In Luke 19, beginning in verse 41, we read of this, "When he approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, 'If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now," catch this, "Now, but now, they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you and your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side and they will level you to the ground and your children within you. And they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.'"

In our text here this morning, in Mark eight, we see a dramatic illustration of God's permanent, blinding judgment on those who reject him with full knowledge. But we also see God's mercy upon those who by His grace embrace the truth. And dear friends, I pray that each of you are among the latter and not the former. I want to divide the text into two very simple categories that contrast one another. First, we will see the divine sentence of permanent spiritual blindness. And secondly, we will see the divine remedy for temporary spiritual blindness. May I remind you of the context, for the last two or three months, Jesus and his disciples have been in the northern regions of Tyre and Sidon, pagan, Gentile territory; the Lord has been preaching, he has been performing many miracles. And then he traveled south with His disciples on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee down to the region of Decapolis on the south eastern shores, and now they have returned by boat to the Jewish region near Capernaum. In the Galilee, and as they arrive, we pick it up in verse 11. "The Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test Hm." Matthew's gospel gives us a little more insight as to what happened. In Matthew 16 Verse one we read, "The Pharisees and Sadducees came up and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven." Now, this is most remarkable, dear friends, because the Pharisees and Sadducees were hostile adversaries. They might be likened to the Conservatives and the Liberals that we see in our culture. Now remember, the Pharisees, the term literally means separated ones, the Pharisees were fastidious keepers of the law, legalists of the first order. They obeyed all of the manufactured rabbinic traditions and rules and regulations. And they were determined to avoid any association with a Greco Roman culture. The Sadducees however, were a bit different. They were the wealthy upper class. They were the aristocrats. They were the ruling class priests, and they rejected oral law. The only thing they accepted was the written law alone. So they denied for example, the supernatural, they denied the resurrection from the dead the existence of spirits and angels, retribution in a future life and so forth. Their lives literally orbited around the temple. They gave oversight to the temple services. In fact, that was the source of their income. And it was a very lucrative business. They ran the whole money changer scam, as well as the sale of sacrificial animals. They might be likened to a temple mafia. And you will recall when Jesus occupied the precincts of the temple, he took a whip and he ran them out. He called called what they were doing a den of thieves. So that's the Sadducees. But isn't it interesting when it came to Jesus, oh, They were united in their hatred. Like the old adage, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And we see a similar dynamic in the ecumenical movement in our culture today where diverse religious groups that hold to beliefs that are even hostile to one another, will come together in their hatred of Biblical Christianity. Remember, anything other than Biblical Christianity is satanic. And Satan doesn't care what you believe as long as it is a lie. And he has a smorgasbord from which you can choose in every culture so you can pick your poison.

So the Pharisees and Sadducees came up to meet Jesus and the disciples as they get off the boat, and testing Jesus, they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. Now, why a sign from heaven? Why not just a sign? Well, it's because they believe that demons could work miracles. After all, they saw this in Pharaoh's court. We read about that in Exodus seven. And by the way, that's why they attributed Jesus miracles to Satan. But they believed that only God could perform miracles in the sky and they were convinced that Jesus couldn't do that. And so they set a trap for him. I might add, that Jesus had already provided miracles in the sky. Remember when he rebuked the wind and calm the sea, and Mark 4:39. And when even when Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan, we read in Mark one, verse 10, "Immediately coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opening." And by the way, there would have been others there that would have seen that as well. Word would have gotten around that that's what happened. "They saw the heavens opening in the Spirit like a dove descending upon him, and a voice came out of the heavens, 'you are My beloved Son, in You I am well pleased.'" But you see, Jesus knew that any further miracles weren't really going to have any effect upon them. And he had done 1000s of them already. Nothing would change their mind. They had already settled in their unbelief. It's interesting that Nicodemus understood this. We read in John three verse two Nicodemus, by the way, being kind of the leading rabbi, "he came to Jesus by night," the text says, "and said to him, 'Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do the signs that you do, unless God is with him.'" So again, there was more than enough proof to validate Jesus claims that he was indeed the Messiah, the Son of God. And consequently, Jesus knew that the persistent rejection of those unbelievers had already sealed their fate. They were willfully blind. They had seen the light, but they chose instead, the darkness. So what we see happening here, dear friends is a terrifying reality. God is going to shut the vault door on the tomb of darkness that they love, and seal them in it forever. In Matthew 8:12, Jesus called Hell quote, "outer darkness; n that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." And again, we see this all around us, unfortunately. And we're not for God's grace, we would be among the scoffers. What a tragedy. Jesus declared in John 8:12, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." But he also said in John three beginning in verse 19, "This is the judgment that the Light has come into the world. And men love the darkness rather than the light for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed." Therefore, Jesus said in John three and verse 36, "He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son will not see life but the wrath of God abides on him."

So again, in verse 11, "The Pharisees come out and they began to argue with him," the text says. Now we're not told the exact nature of the argument, but it must have related to his claims to deity, because he goes on to say they were, "seeking from Him a sign from heaven to test Him." And then notice verse 12, "Sighing deeply in His spirit He said, 'Why does this generation seek for a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.'" Beloved, here we see the first of the points that I have given you this morning, here we see the divine sentence of permanent spiritual blindness. "Sighing deeply" is the phrase that is used here, "sighing deeply in his spirit." The term in the original refers to groaning with intense pain or displeasure, or dissatisfaction. And in this case, Jesus deep distress was over the determined unbelief of the religious leaders, but also those who followed after them. Moreover, Jesus knew that any further light would only result in more extreme denunciation on their part, and therefore greater punishment in hell. If I can dwell on that for a moment. Yes, there are degrees of punishment in hell. So fascinating reality. Jesus warned, for example, those regions that rejected him and Matthew 10 and verse 15, saying, "Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah and the day of judgment than for that city that rejects the gospel." Even those who never hear of Christ we know will go to hell because of their sin, yet their punishment will not be as severe as those who hear the gospel and understand the gospel, and yet willfully and persistently and arrogantly rejected. Romans two and verse five. Paul says, "Because of your stubbornness, and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself and the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God." The writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews chapter 10, beginning in verse 26, "For if we go on sinning WILLFULLY, after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment." And then in verse 29, it goes on to say "How much severe punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified and has insulted the Spirit of grace?" So Jesus groans in sorrow, he groans in anger and rebukes the Jewish leaders and says, "Why does this generation seek for a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation." Matthew's Gospel adds further clarity in Matthew 16, beginning in verse one. There we read, "The Pharisees and Sadducees came up and testing Jesus they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven, but He replied to them, 'When it is evening, you say it will be fair weather for the sky red. And in the morning, there will be a storm today for the sky is red and threatening. Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times? An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. And the sign will not be given it except the sign of Jonah.' And He left him and went away." In other words, even with their primitive forecasting skills, by just looking at the color of the sky, they were able to have some kind of confidence in their ability to predict the weather. Yet, despite the countless miracles that Jesus had performed, they could not because they would not recognize their Messiah. The only sign they would later receive would be the sign of Jonah, a reference to his death and resurrection.

As I think about it, I find it interesting that a sign from the heavens is coming one of these days. Jesus speaks about it and his Olivet discourse in Matthew 24, beginning in verse 29, There we read, "But immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky." The sign here speaks of the ineffably glorious appearing of Jesus Christ, "the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming out of the clouds of the sky with power and great glory." Dear friends, you want to sign from heaven? That sign is coming. One that no one will miss. But until then Jesus said, "'An evil and adulterous generation seeks after sign and a sign will not be given it except the sign of Jonah.' And He left them and went away." The last phrase in Matthew 16 four is most telling, "And He left them and went away." Indeed, he left them in the spiritual darkness they loved and abandon them to it forever. And I fear for those today who are just like them. And I agree, you have to think that the perhaps there are some even in this church, you've sat under the teaching of the Word of God and you've heard the gospel countless times and yet in your arrogance, and in your stubbornness you refuse to believe. Dear friend if that is you, please examine your heart before it is too late and God seals you in your blindness. I've seen this over the years, arrogant fools, deceived by a depraved heart, double blinded by Satan. Those who blindly frolic in a fool's paradise as they party their way to hell. Today, we are watching our society descend further and further into an abyss of moral and spiritual darkness. All the while, believing they are creating some egalitarian, classless utopia of freedom and civil rights. When in fact, they fail to realize that God is merely allowing them to pursue their depraved minds, to pursue their lusts and embrace Satan's lies that will ultimately destroy them. This is tantamount to allowing a drug addict to pursue his desires or her desires to have all the drugs they want. Until they destroy themselves. Well, such was the fate of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, whom Jesus called in Matthew 23, "blind leaders of the blind."

So we've seen the divine sentence of permanent spiritual blindness. Secondly, I want you to notice the divine remedy for temporary spiritual blindness. Verse 13, "Leaving them He again embarked and went away to the other side." Now, here again, he abandons the apostate religious elite, and those that were following them and brings with him a small remnant of believers, one of whom was a devil. Think of the disciples now. They were often confused, hard hearted, they lacked clarity. But this was only temporary, because God was at work. And so Jesus and his disciples leave the Pharisees and the Sadducees behind and the darkness they loved and they cross over now to the north eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Verse 14, "And they had forgotten to take bread and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. And He was giving orders to them." By the way, the grammar here in the original language indicates that these were ongoing commands. "And he was giving orders to them saying, 'Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.'" Leaven, of course, is also yeast, you're familiar with that. Matthew 16 Six adds that he includes the leaven of the Sadducees. So beware. We all know that a small amount of leaven causes fermentation that will expand in dough or batter causing it to rise and, and in Scripture, it is used to symbolize influence both good and bad. And in this case, in the context, we see that it's bad influence. And Jesus is commanding them to beware of the wicked influence of the Pharisees and the Sadducees and Herod, and, of course, all of his sycophants known as the Herodians. And I believe each group is really representative of the unique forms of wickedness that has impacted the church down through redemptive history. I mean, think about this, the Pharisees again, these legalist, hypocrites show offs. They love to promote themselves, through their works righteousness, all of the rules and regulations that gave them an illusion of spirituality, religious phonies, of the highest order, and have we not seen that infect the church down through the centuries. And then you have the Sadducees and ancient version of modern day materialistic liberals. Rationalists, who deny the person and work of Christ, deny the supernatural, the doctrines of the resurrection and immorality, immortality of the soul and so forth. And they use their religious influence to amass wealth and power by fleecing the naive and the ignorant. Beware of their influence. And then, of course, the influence of Herod and Herodians. These were just purely ungodly, immoral, corrupt, secularist politicians that used religion to advance their political and personal ambitions. And we see that today, do we not? This whole social justice gospel is, is used by the Democratic Party, and even now by a lot of the Republicans to advance the Neo Marxist globalist agenda that they are trying to pursue. So Jesus now is talking about influence. But the disciples are a bit on the dense side here, they failed to make the connection, because they're hungry. I think the moral of the story here is don't teach spiritual truths to people that are hungry, because all they've got on their mind is eating. Verse 16, "They began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus aware of their said to them, 'Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart?'" You see, the disciples were concerned about a lack of food, and Jesus was concerned about a lack of discernment. That's what's important here. Yes, 11 of them were born again. But they lacked spiritual understanding. But this was only temporary. You will recall on the night before Jesus death, in John 14, verse 26, Jesus promised them, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you." And later, when the Spirit of God came upon them permanently at Pentecost, they began to grow exponentially, and their spiritual maturity. And the Spirit of God even inspired them to write the inspired word in the scriptures. But what Jesus is talking about here is frankly, consistent with the great doctrine of illumination whereby the indwelling Spirit will give understanding when the scriptures are read, and when they are heard.

You will recall in Ephesians one, verse 17, the Apostle Paul prayed "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom, and of revelation in the knowledge of God, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints." Beloved, this is why God has given to us the Holy Spirit to take up residence within us. This is why he has given scripture I might even add, this is why he has called and gifted pastors, teachers, for the church Ephesians 4:11 and following. This is for "the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith referring to doctrinal unity, and the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ." But again, prior to the arrival of the Spirit, the disciples struggled in their understanding. We read for example, what Jesus said in John 16 beginning in verse 12. He said, "I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak and He will disclose to you what is to come, and He will glorify me for he will take of Mine and will disclose it to you all things that the Father has are mine, therefore, I said, that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you."

Now, friends, there is a lesson to be learned here. Please hear it accurately. Faith alone is insufficient to produce Christian maturity, apart from theological understanding. You must grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Without an understanding of the truth, you'll never be able to apply it. It's just like physically, if you expect to grow strong, and be able to do all that your body is capable of doi, you don't live on Pepsi's and cotton candy. You have to nourish your body with the proper food. A lack of spiritual discernment will lead to a hardened heart. That's what Jesus was concerned when he said, "Is your heart hardened?" Jesus warned them of that. You see, a heart that is merely focused on the cares of this world is a hard heart, a heart that is theologically ignorant. And when you're theologically ignorant, you will be vulnerable to Satan's deceptions. And they are absolutely ingenious. This is why the Apostle Paul warns us in Ephesians six and verse 11, "to put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil." I might remind you that that phrase "put on the full armor of God" is linked to an earlier instruction about putting on the new self, which was created to be like God and, and true righteousness and holiness we read about in chapter four, verse 24. And this cannot be done apart from the illuminating work of the Spirit of God to help us understand and apply scripture.

So Jesus instructs them "'Having eyes do you not see? Having ears do you not hear? Do you not remember when I broke the five loaves for the 5000 how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?' They said to him? 'Twelve.'" In other words, why are you guys worried about food? Good grief? Don't you remember what I did? Are you that dense? Verse 20, "'When I broke the seven for the 4000 how many large baskets full of broken pages did you pick up?' And they said to Him, 'Seven.' And He was saying to them, 'Do you not yet understand?'" By the way, can I give you some good news? Thankfully, Matthew records this in Matthew 16, verse 12. "Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Boy, I'm glad you know, I was beginning to question the IQ here, you know. But folks don't miss the profound contrast here that we see in the text. The Pharisees and the Sadducees were permanently blinded because of their deliberate and persistent unbelief. But the disciples were just temporarily blinded to the light of Christ, they were granted spiritual eyes to see, spiritual ears to hear. But it was only through the word of Christ and later the indwelling Spirit and the Word that they began to grow in the grace and the knowledge of Christ.

Now, what happens next in this narrative is truly remarkable. Here we see Jesus providing a vivid illustration of how lingering spiritual blindness can be cured by the master, even as he gives sight to this blind man and Bethsaida. Despite the fact, may I remind you of this, despite the fact that Jesus had already sentenced the residents of Bethsaida to permanent spiritual blindness, because of their persistent, unyielding unbelief, even in the face of all of the miracles, they would not believe. Remember what he said in Luke 10 beginning of verse 13. "Woe to you Woe to you Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had been performed to Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you." So here's what's going on now. After dealing with the permanent spiritual blinding of the religious phonies, and the temporary, spiritual blindness of his disciples, Jesus now is going to physically heal a blind man. And in so doing, he will further clarify all that he has been trying to teach them. And he's going to do it in a way that they will never forget.

Verse 22, "And they came to Bethsaida. And they brought a blind man to Jesus and implored Him to touch him. Taking the blind man by the hand, He brought him out of the village." Isn't that interesting? What tender, compassionate care. Take him away from all of the peering eyes, take him to a private place with his disciples to care for him intimately and personally. "And after spitting on his eyes," which probably what he did was spit on his fingers and touch the eyes so the man could feel; "And laying his hands on him, He asked him, 'Do you see anything?' And he looked and said, 'I see men for I see them like trees walking around.' And then again, He laid his hands on his eyes. And he looked intently, and was restored, and began to see everything clearly. And He sent him to his home saying, 'Do not even enter the village.'" Can you imagine the look of the disciples face, not to mention the look on the blind man's face, as they witnessed this miracle. And again, what Jesus is providing for his disciples is a preview of the coming Messianic kingdom. When all disease and death will be greatly diminished, I think of Isaiah 65:20. 'No longer will there be in it," referring to the kingdom, "an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days, for the youth will die at the age of 100. And the one who does not reach the age of 100, will be thought accursed." So they get a glimpse of the future kingdom on earth, and all that the Messiah can do. And I believe also, they must have thought to themselves, oh my, like this blind man, spiritually speaking, we were blind, but now, the Lord has given us eyes to see. This was truly an astounding miracle. But also, it's followed by a strong prohibition, that we don't want to neglect, to not even enter, this blind man, I don't want you to even enter the village of Bethsaida and allow them to witness another miracle.

And with his prohibition, what he is doing is underscoring the permanence of their spiritual blindness. This is the wrath of divine abandonment upon them. Where there are so many today who fall into this category. Because of the hardness of their heart go, God no longer even allows them to hear the gospel, much less respond to it. We don't know who they are, so we keep presenting the gospel. But they are sealed, you might say, in the darkness that they love. They have been permanently blinded and abandoned by God. Oh dear friend, I trust the veil of spiritual darkness has been removed from your eyes, so that you see the glory of Christ and his saving grace. And I pray that you have trusted in him as your only hope of salvation. For indeed, He is the true light according to First John one nine, coming into the world, that enlightened everyman. You know, I've known many men and women over the years who know and understand the offer of God's saving grace, but they want absolutely nothing to do with it. They don't even want to talk about it. They live for themselves, they indulge the lusts of their flesh, as if God doesn't even exist. And we're told in Scripture that there is pleasure in sin for a season but because of their persistent stubborn unbelief, what I've seen happen in their life is they drift further and further and further away into the darkness of rebellion. And God finally just abandons them there. I've lived long enough to witness this gradual degradation and misery. I've seen it in people with broken marriages, broken families, broken people. We see it today with people that are desperately trying to find something to anesthetize the pain of a purposeless life. To suppress the truth of who God is in their unrighteousness. Why do you think stadiums are filled with people to watch a bunch of guys or a bunch of gals kick a ball around? Why do you think there's such drug abuse in our country they depend upon these things to somehow anesthetize the pain. They live out their lives, and eventually, they get sick, and they die. And they enter into the eternal torments of hell. But not all are spiritually blind and on a permanent basis, like the 18th century Atlantic Slave trailer, John Newton, man who lived a life of want and debauchery in rebellion against God. Then God used a violent storm off of the coast of Ireland to open his eyes to the truth of the gospel, caused him to cry out to God for undeserved mercy. And to make a long story short, God saved him by his grace. His spiritual blindness was only temporary, not permanent. And because of this, he wrote those words that we've sung so many times. "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind, but now I see." Oh, thank you, Lord. Let's pray together. Father, thank You for the eternal truths of your word, that have such penetrating clarity. To those that you have redeemed, and those that you will lumen by the power of your Spirit, we give you praise. Because this is all of your grace. May we