The Gaining of Spiritual Sight
I. The Need for Spiritual Sight
- A. Born blind apart from Christ - John 9:1; Eph. 2:12; 4:17-18
- B. Blinded to the divine view and understanding of life - John 9:2-3;
Rom. 8:28-29;
Heb. 10:32ff
- C. Blindness immobilizes and impoverishes - John 9:8-9; Heb. 12:5,
12-14
- D. The reasons for spiritual blindness
- 1. Blinded by ordinances and tradition - John 9:13, 16a; Mark 7:1-13;
Matt. 23:16ff;
- Eph. 2:14f
- 2. Blinded by prejudices and belittling - John 9:16b, 24, 28-29,
34; James 2:1-5
- 3. Blinded by rejecting Christ - John 9:39
- 4. Blinded by pride and presumptuous self-conceit - John 9:40-41;
1 Tim. 3:6; 6:4;
- 2 Tim. 3:4; Rev. 3:17
- 5. Blinded by satanic thoughts - 2 Cor. 4:4
- 6. Blinded by hate - 1 John 2:11
- 7. Blinded by lack of supply and revelation - 2 Pet. 1:9 (cf. vv.
4 and 11)
II. Experiences of Receiving Spiritual Sight
- A. Being blind - John 9:1; Acts 9:8-9, 17-18
- B. The organ of spiritual sight - Eph. 1:17-18; Matt. 6:21-23
- C. Being the object of God's grace in our fallen condition - John
9:4; 11:4;
Eph. 2:1-5; Titus 3:2-7
- D. Being motivated in daily life by vision with a sense of mission
- John 9:4-5, 7;
Acts 26:16-20; Eph. 5:15-17
- E. Being anointed - John 9:6; Rev. 3:18; 1 John 2:20, 27
- F. Acting with the obedience of faith - John 9:7, 11; Rom. 16:25-26
- G. Experiencing spiritual reality - John 9:25
- H. Having the ability to recognize Christ - John 9:30-33
- I. Seeing into the future - John 8:56; Heb. 11:1
III. The Scenery of Spiritual Sight
- A. Seeing the Son of God and believing in Him - John 9:35-38a
- 1. The Object of faith itself infuses the experience of faith -
Gal. 3:1-2
- B. To see Him is to love and worship Him - John 9:38b; Heb. 1:1-6;
John 4:22-24
- C. Seeing God's eternal purpose - Eph. 1:17-18; 3:9-11
- D. Seeing the church vs. the synagogues - John 9:22, 34-35; 10:1-5,
16
- E. Seeing the kingdom and the Holy City - Matt. 13:10-17; Rev. 21:1-2