Kaleo San Diego Church > Sermons > Spiritual Blindness

Spiritual Blindness

David Fairchild
Nov 25, 2007
Series: Acts

Acts 13:4-12: "So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them. 6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, ‘You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.' Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord."

STUDY

We likely do not consider this story all that relevant to our experience. Other than those who pander New Age thought and various forms of Spiritual Mysticism which pervade our media, we are for the most part inoculated from such "magic," or so we think.

In the days of this story, "magic" focused on the manipulation of supernatural forces for the benefit of individuals or for the harm of their enemies. Magic promised control of your fate, favor with the gods and other humans, and ultimately control over romance, birth, money, illness, death, business and travel.

By invoking the name or names of one or more gods, the magician assured his clients that he could heal them, ward off demons, and warm the heart of a reluctant lover.

To a people crushed by an impersonal, immutable fate, magic gave them the possibility of manipulating and controlling fate.

Yet if we're honest, most of our travail in prayer and frustration with God is due in large part to His seeming inability to do simply what we ask. As we are crushed under what feels like impersonal, immutable fate, we make our requests to God with fervor and seek His personal intrusion.

Often our heart's affection is easily directed away from the Giver of good gifts to the gifts themselves. We make romance, money, health, work, and other gifts into an ultimate passion which displaces, or at least diminishes our affection for the Giver. So we seek Him in what feels like vain cries to deaf ears, not because we want Him, rather we want what He can give us. God has become our sugar-daddy and we try to hustle Him and use Him as currency to purchase our idols. We know only He can give it to us, so we beg Him like junkies trying to get a fix so that we can scurry off into a dark corner, away from His sight, to worship the real treasure of our hearts.

I know you've been promised the right to the American dream: 2.4 kids, a fat home in a nice neighborhood, a job that appreciates the talent you are and rewards you for ingratiating them with your presence, a husband or wife that seeks only your pleasure, and tailor made relationships which affirm and recognize that glory that is you.

Simon of Samaria

The story of Simon the magician in Samaria in Acts 8 is not much different than this one. We're told in Acts 8:10 and 11 that the Samaritans "paid attention" to Simon. He loved it. He wanted the approval of others and was willing to do anything to get this approval. For him, power was a means to approval. Simon was undone because the Samaritans were "all paying attention to" Philip (v. 6). They had been amazed by Simon's magic (vv. 9, 11), but now Simon became "amazed" as he saw the true power of God through Philip (v. 13). Simon was willing to manipulate to control the power of the Holy Spirit so that everyone would continue to call him "the Great Power of God."

Simon attempted to treat God's grace as a means to an end, rather than the means and end of His desires. In other words, he didn't want God's grace; he wanted what God's grace could give him.

In Deuteronomy 29:18, Moses warned Israel against those who would turn from God to idols. Simon claimed to be a divine power but was instead chained to the idol of approval as its slave.

Bar-Jesus of Cyprus

Simon had impressed the Samaritans with his power. Bar-Jesus impressed the proconsul with his knowledge. Simon wanted to wow people with show for the applause of men. Bar-Jesus wanted to impress people with his knowledge.

Simon sought approval. Bar-Jesus sought power. These are two powerful idols.

I. The Cause of Spiritual Blindness

Verse 8: "But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith."

a. Specific Unbelief

This wasn't unbelief in general. Bar-Jesus believed, but he believed in something other than the Word of God. It isn't simply that he failed to believe the Word of God as a concept, but the contents of the Word which is the Gospel. This was the Word being proclaimed by Saul and Barnabas. They were going about proclaiming the Gospel of grace.

Disbelief in the Gospel is never simply general unbelief. It is always specific. It isn't that people have no faith; it is that they have no faith in the message of Jesus. It's important to see that to not believe in the Gospel is to believe in another story for our hope, our security, our meaning, and our joy. It is to say to one story, "I can't believe you," for the sake of another story which is believed by faith.

b. Opposing Unbelief

Not only did Elymas reject the Gospel, he opposed it and sought to lead the proconsul away from the liberation of grace.

This is very similar to Saruman who cast a spell upon King Theoden which caused him to be blind to the truth. It wasn't until Gandalf came and revealed his blinding glory that King Theoden's sight returned.

Unbelief isn't simply a passive disbelief in the facts about God, but active unbelief in the content of God's Word, the Gospel of grace, which reveals a person, Jesus Christ.

Bar-Jesus placed himself as a leader of others and wanted to influence the proconsul so that the proconsul would not believe in the specific facts about the Gospel.

II. The Characteristics of Spiritual Blindness

Verses 9-11: "But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, ‘You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.' Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand."

a. Spiritual Blindness is at its root an orphan identity (son of the devil)

Paul plays on Bar-Jesus' name which means "son of salvation" and instead calls him a "son of the devil." Spiritual blindness ultimately is an identity of an orphan, not a child. An orphan mentality tries to impress to procure the favor of a parent. A true son rests in his identity as a child and instead of seeking approval, has approval and lives out of gratitude because he's already accepted.

b. Spiritual Blindness is an enemy of true righteousness (enemy of all righteousness)

c. Spiritual Blindness is deceiving (full of deceit and villainy)

d. Spiritual Blindness twists the Gospel of Jesus (making crooked the straight paths of the Lord)

e. Spiritual Blindness is both the cause and the curse ("you will be blind and unable to see...immediately mist and darkness fell upon him.")

The one who was trying to lead (turn) the proconsul and others is now begging for others to lead him by the hand.

The point of all the blindness passages points to the profound truth that what really keeps us from God is our "damnable good works." It is a self-justification that is at the root of our blindness. It is a blindness to grace. Many think, "grace is too easy." Is it? If it is, then why won't you believe God gives His love by grace? The fact that we reject it and work so very hard to earn it is proof that it is far from easy to apprehend grace unless grace opens our eyes to see.

Self Righteousness is Idolatry

Matthew 23:23-27: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! 25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. 27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness."

Listen to the state of those who think they have everything they need in themselves and need nothing. Jesus says they're wretched, pitiable, poor, naked, and blind. Gerstner says, "All you need is need, and all you need is nothing!" But most of us don't have it. We need what we don't have and have what we don't need, need itself!

Revelation 3:17-18: "For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see."

His counsel to them is to buy from Him gold refined by fire. This purchase is not from the works of men, but the purchase price of Christ's redemptive work. The purchase price is the rejection of all self-righteousness. This is connected to Isaiah 55:1 where we're told that everyone who thirsts is called to come to the waters, and he who has no money is to come, buy and eat without money and without price.

Isaiah 55:1: "Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price."

Idolatry is blindness

Isaiah 42:16-18: "And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them. 17 They are turned back and utterly put to shame, who trust in carved idols, who say to metal images, ‘You are our gods.' 18 Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see!"

Christ, the Chosen Servant of the Blind

Isaiah 42:1-8: "Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. 2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; 3 a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. 4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law. 5 Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: 6 ‘I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, 7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. 8 I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.'"

Luke 4:16-21: "And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18 ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.' 20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.'"

In the NT, Jesus' healing of blindness was a demonstration of Christ bringing about the Kingdom of God. Many of the blind had their sight restored by Jesus:

The Faith of the two blind men enabled them to be healed by Jesus.

Matthew 9:27-30: "And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, ‘Have mercy on us, Son of David.' 28 When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?' They said to him, ‘Yes, Lord.' 29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, ‘According to your faith be it done to you.' 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, ‘See that no one knows about it.'"

When the religious idolaters heard about this, they claimed Jesus was conspiring with Satan to perform these miracles. They claimed it was power which came from darkness. Oddly enough, they were in the dark and refused to see.

Jesus healed a blind and dumb demoniac.

Matthew 12:17-23: "This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: 18 ‘Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. 19 He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; 20 a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; 21 and in his name the Gentiles will hope.' 22 Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, ‘Can this be the Son of David?'"

Jesus heals the blind in the Temple to restore them to a worshipping community!

The response of the religious idolaters was to scorn and mock what Jesus was doing by claiming that He was casting out demons by the power of Satan (Matt. 12:24)

Matthew 21:10-14: "And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, ‘Who is this?' 11 And the crowds said, ‘This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.' 12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13 He said to them, ‘It is written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer," but you make it a den of robbers.' 14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them."

This story again is followed by religious idolaters who were indignant at what Jesus did (Matt. 21:15).

Ultimately their works of self-righteousness could no longer bear the grace of Christ so they murdered Him.

The judgment of Jesus is towards the self-righteous who think they can see. This is the answer to why Bar-Jesus (Elymas) was blinded and why the story is found in the NT.

John 9:39-41: "Jesus said, ‘For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.' 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, ‘Are we also blind?' 41 Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, "We see," your guilt remains.'"

Jesus is the Light of the world

John 8:10-12: "Jesus stood up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?' 11 She said, ‘No one, Lord.' And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.' 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'"

Immediately the Pharisees respond by basically telling Jesus that His witness is not true. They consider His word illegitimate.

The Village is a movie about those who think they can see but are blind and the one who is blind can actually see! They wanted to stay away from the wicked and immoral, but they came to find that it is in their own camp. Their stories of brokenness and pain cause them to become good, moral, safe people and they create an entire life built upon a lie to cover their shame and past. They created a monster to hate so they could protect themselves. We do the same. We villainize others so that we can look down on an object of our scorn to keep our self-righteous quest alive and well!

In The Sixth Sense, those walking around think they're alive and don't realize they're dead.

This judgment was outwardly demonstrating his inward condition. It was gracious of God to show him that though he assumed he could see, he was really blind. God made him physically what he was already spiritually.
This is why the Scripture so often speaks in these metaphorical terms: that a man can't see, that a man can't hear, that he has a hardened heart, that he can't taste goodness, or worst of all, he's dead without any senses. There are various ways in which these inward conditions are outwardly experienced for the express purpose of demonstrating the reality of our condition before God.

2 Corinthians 4:3-6: "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

Have you ever attempted to explain color, light, shapes, or beauty to someone born blind? How do you share with them the vast blueness of the sky, the lush green of a rolling hill, the deepest blue of the sea or the blinding glory of the sun (v. 11)? If you know someone or know of someone that is blind, there is probably a sense of empathy for them. It's hard to have sympathy, since sympathy isn't just an intellectual apprehension or appreciation for their condition, but a heart felt and shared emotion of what the person is going through. Unless of course, you've been without sight at some point in your life. If somehow you've been blinded for a day or a few days and have had your sight restored, then you'd be able to truly sympathize with that person, even if in a small way.

But truth be told, we really have only empathy for the blind because we've never been in their shoes. To have sympathy would require our willingness to experience and feel what they feel. If we're honest, most of us in our right minds would never, for any amount of money, give up our sight because it is so precious to us.

III. The Cure for Spiritual Blindness

Verse 12: "Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord."

a. Belief in the Gospel (Then the proconsul believed)

Not just in general, but specifically in the power of the Gospel message. What amazed the proconsul was not the raw power of a curse that caused the magician's blindness, but rather he was astounded by the "teaching about the Lord" (v. 12).

The magician was using words to manipulate forces surrounding and individual, trying to bend them to the magician's will, but the words of God's messengers address the heart of its hearers, and by grace bend their will to the gracious lordship of Jesus.

b. Worship from our new affection

We become what we worship.

Psalms 135:15-18: "The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 16 They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; 17 they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. 18 Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them!"

When we give ourselves over to anything other than Jesus as our Savior, we have become idolaters. As we worship these idols we become like them. We become blind like them and can't see the beauty of Jesus. Bar-Jesus became blind like his idol.

The word for worship is proskune_ and means to lie down in reverence while kissing the ground. It means to adore and revere. It is a position of total submission to the object we're worshipping. It's giving oneself fully to the object of our worship. When we give ourselves to idols, we're submitting ourselves to the object in reverence and adoration because we believe it is worthy of our affection.

If it is true that we become like what we worship, it makes sense that the only way to grow into the image of Jesus is to worship Him.

Thomas Chalmers sermon on The Expulsive Power of a New Affection:

It is seldom that any of our tastes are made to disappear by a mere process of natural extinction. At least, it is very seldom, that this is done through the instrumentality of reasoning...it is almost never done by the mere force of mental determination. But what cannot be destroyed, may be dispossessed and one taste may be made to give way to another, and to lose its power entirely as the reigning affection of the mind.

It is thus, that [a] boy ceases, at length, to be the slave of his appetite...it is because a more mature taste has now brought it into subordination...it is because the idol of wealth has become the stronger and gotten the ascendancy and that even the love of money ceases to have the mastery over the heart of many a thriving citizen, but it is because drawn into, the whirl of city polities, another affection has been wrought into his moral system, and he is now lorded over by the love of power. There is not one of these transformations in which the heart is left without an object. Its desire for one particular object may be conquered; but...its desire for having some one object...is unconquerable...The heart must have something to cling to...and the only way to dispossess it of an old affection, is by the expulsive power of a new one.

It is when released from the spirit of bondage...and when admitted into the number of God's children through the faith that is in Christ Jesus, the spirit of adoption is poured upon us - it is then that the heart, brought under the mastery of one great and predominant affection, is delivered from the tyranny of its former desires, in the only way in which deliverance is possible.