Lord, Please Open Our Eyes!

Matthew 11:25-27 (emphasis mine, also see Luke 10:21-22)  “At that time Jesus said, ‘I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have REVEALED them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to REVEAL Him.'”

Luke 24:13-16;30-32 “And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. BUT THEIR EYES WERE PREVENTED FROM RECOGNIZING HIM…..When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. THEN THEIR EYES WERE OPENED AND THEY RECOGNIZED HIM; and He vanished from their sight.”

Don’t worry, this isn’t another attempt to beat Arminians over the head with the Sovereignty of God in salvation. If anything, I could spend paragraphs and cite hundreds of examples of the need for Calvinist to put into practice their professed beliefs. Rather, this post is to advertise the solution to a problem that seems to escape well meaning believers (that’s us) at times.

I have come to notice a trend in our day. Whether it be in the area of evangelism, preaching, or apologetics, many well meaning Christians have forgotten one major thing, IT TAKES A SUPERNATURAL WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN ORDER FOR ANY MAN OR WOMAN TO COME TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH, INCLUDING YOU AND I!

Take a personal survey of the latest or most popular evangelism method. Or how about the last sermon you heard on false converts. Or how about the last apologetic discussion you heard on the existence of God. How much emphasis was put on dependence in the Holy Spirit to take the method or information and apply it to the heart of the one who needed it? Can you confidently say that the “4-step method” of evangelism, the “exegesis/exposition” of the text, or the logical argument, were not themselves the feature star of each presentation? Wasn’t the attitude more in the line of “trust me this method works” or “faithful, accurate preaching is only sure fire way to ensure the church is pure” or “trust me, the atheists have no answer for this”?

Or what about the last theological debate you had with another Christian? How much were your emotions affected by the discussion? Was there any moment where you had distain for your brother or sister? Was there any moment where you judged them in your heart as possibly being unsaved? Was there a moment where the Spirit said to end the discussion but you had to get in another point? And once the discussion was over, did you mine your bible for prooftexts to use as belittling weapons against that person the next time the subject came up?

Now, while I definitely love the zeal of anyone who goes out and evangelizes (with just about any method) and I love exegetical/expositional sermons, and my personality just fits right into apologetics, (which sometimes leads to very unbecoming confrontations with other believers) none of these bear any fruit without the Spirit. How do I know? Well, it should seem obvious that since each of these is employed by us as fallible, sinful men and women, on our best day, we can no more be effective at changing the hearts/minds of men than we can at changing the rotation of the sun. But unfortunately it is not so obvious.  Even the apostle Paul had to remind the Corinthians, “So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. (I Corinthians 3:7)”

Sometime ago, I wrote an article entitled,  “Is my Ipod causing me to sin?”. But it wasn’t my Ipod. It was pride. It was arrogance. It was having a suspicious and judgmental heart. It was not recognizing that the Spirit was at work in me to come to the knowledge of the truth. It was folly. You see, the only thing that helped me to see that Albert Mohler, Matt Slick, John MacArthur, Paul Washer, etc. were wrong in the areas with which I disagreed with them, was the kindness of God giving me revelation. And guess what!? I yet have many blind spots! So therefore, my grace and mercy for these men should have been as vast as that that I desire and expect from Our Lord Jesus. Because again, it takes REVELATION and ILLUMINATION to make Christ and the things of Christ known to any of us.

So the next time you’re involved in a potentially contentious discussion with another believer or the next time you hear another believer (yes even a famous theologian or apologist) say something that you know to be wrong, instead of reacting with contempt, take a moment and ask God to be merciful to us all and open our eyes.