0770. Satan Blinds Eyes to Coming Glories

Satan Blinds Eyes to Coming Glories

"The god of this world hath blinded the minds * * lest the light of the glorious Gospel * * should shine unto them" (2Co_4:4).

Bartimeus was blind. As Christ passed by he cried, "Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me." Jesus stood still and commanded the blind man to be called. Bartimeus came and Christ said unto him: "Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole." Immediately the blind man received his sight.

1. The men of this world are blind. Satan hath blinded them. They are groping about in the dark. They know not whither they go. The unbeliever is blind to his own need; blind to the power of the Cross of Christ, but he is particularly blind to coming glories.

2. Satan blinds the eyes of unbelievers lest the light of the glorious Gospel should shine in upon them, and convert them. The glorious Gospel is, in truth, the Gospel of the Glory. This Gospel of the Glory is the Gospel of the Lord’s return and all the riches of grace that He will bring with Him when He comes. It is the Gospel which outlines satan’s dethronement and the Lord’s enthronement. It is the Gospel that is the harbinger of a better day.

3. There is no message satan hates and combats so strongly as the message of the second coming of the Lord. There is no message that the Lord more honors to the salvation of sinners. It is a message effulgent with glory. The devil knows that if the sinner once gets a real vision of the blessed hope, he will soon count all of this present world as a passing show. He will gladly cast everything overboard, that he may be found in Christ.

4. God pity preachers who refrain from preaching the "glory note" of the Bible. They are, perhaps unwittingly, vassals of the devil. There is no message more clearly, more strongly, or more decidedly set forth in the Bible than the message of the "glory of Christ." There is no message more hated of satan, more honored of God. Then why should men not hold forth the Word that shines through the present darkness and reveals the dawning of a new and all-glorious day? Let not satan deceive any Christian into hiding the light of the Lord’s return. Let no one put on the soft pedal where the Bible puts on the loud. Why should we be ashamed or why afraid to give a full testimony? Let others mock, let satan withstand; we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR